I’m not Anglican Catholic, but I thought this post was a pretty good (and humorous) use of Tolkien.
It may not seem fair at first since Julie Andrews’ character goes into a crisis after her first song among the live hills (and that is something of a Tolkienish emphasis).
But Tolkien’s epic is a much better portrayal of the Christian life. The writer is correct to point out that Christian portrayals of following Jesus should not make it sound like a Musical.
The contrast between the stories is really stark when you think about their different endings. The Grey Havens and the wound that never heals are far from the way the musical concludes.
Truthfully, the way the LOTR ends is probably the greatest thing about it, if any one element can be singled out (of course, no one element probably can be singled out).
There was quite a bit of singing in the Tolkien epic, but it certainly wasn’t as happy. The real-life story of the Von Trapp family had a lot more verisimilitude. Ending in the mountains of Vermont.
A Czech friend of mine escaped from a Nazi camp with a Swiss friend who had taught him to play the guitar and introduced him to Christ while in the prison. He told me “You know that film, The Sound of Music? It was like that ending, except we had no shoes and we left the guitar back in the camp.” They crossed the alps into Switzerland without shoes–like Hobbits.
As soon as I read this, Michael, I want to retract the above and say the greatest thing about the Tolkien epic was that he included singing.
The guy makes good points about Tolkien, but does he have to be so cranky about The Sound of Music? Julie Andrews twirling around and singing about the mountains singing sounds enough something out of the Psalms that it bugs me that the guy calls it “inane.” Incomplete, yes, but not untruthful within the proper context. While the grand story of the Christian life looks more like The Lord of the Rings than The Sound of Music, it strikes me as just plain cranky (not to mention false) to cut out the happy dancing and exorbitantly joyful anthropomorphism. If they reflect the totality less well, they’re absolutely necessary in the mix.
Reading a little farther on the site, I can see why he’s cranky, but it detracts from his point.
“enough LIKE something out of the Psalms…”