Magnificent Obsession

The Mrs and I finished rewatching the extended Lord of the Rings blu rays over the weekend and I was suddenly struck by a curious thought that had never occurred to me after reading the books several times over the past few decades, seeing the movies repeatedly (including going to the theater in the 70s to see Ralph Bakshi’s animated version- which I highly recommend). It has to do with victims. Smeagol is the true victim of the story. Let’s dig deeper.

This poor guy go struck by gold fever and kinda killed his best friend. Which is a bummer and illegal, but he didn’t get arrested so there’s that. To repent, he went through this hella body transformation diet and hid in a cave for 500 years! Everything was cool and he was getting right with the higher power UNTIL and uninvited guest comes along and straight up robs him.

He couldn’t go to the Orcs to file a report so he took off in search of his jewelry. Who wouldn’t? It took him 83 years to track down his belongings and what does he get for it? Thrown into a volcano! How’s that for indignity?

The moral in this story can be one of two things depending on what sort of mood you are in: either jewelry is bad (my wife didn’t like that one) or never stop trying to achieve your goals. I leave that up to you.

Today is the final day Hammers in the Wind is heavily discounted. You can get your copy now and start a journey into darkness that probably won’t end the way you think it will. Regardless, we are right around 200 reviews. Who’s going to be that awesome one to get us there? Is it you?