I’ve mentioned before that I love the scene in Return of the King where Gandalf calls himself a “fool,” acknowledging that he and Pippin are a lot alike…..and that I also love how Gandalf and Pippin have the same basic character arc in ROTK– Pippin struggling with his guilt over failing to save Boromir, Gandalf struggling with his guilt over failing to save Frodo.

This has been building up to my ULTIMATE Gandalf vs Pippin hot take:

 In a way, Gandalf is to the White Council what Pippin is to the Fellowship.

 Gandalf is reckless and “foolish” in a way that most of the other members of the White Council–Saruman, Galadriel, Elrond–are not. The hobbits think Gandalf is very wise, but a lot of the more powerful people in Middle Earth disagree.

Saruman literally calls him: “Gandalf the White– Gandalf the fool!”

Denethor says: “You think yourself wise, Mithrandir, but for all your subtlety you have not wisdom.”

Theoden listens to Gandalf’s advice, but ultimately doesn’t trust his wisdom enough to take it.

And one thing I like in the Hobbit films is just how many “wise leaders who should know better” are dismissive of Gandalf– King Bard, King Thranduil, King Thorin, and King Dain all roll their eyes at him.

And the White Council (with the exception of Galadriel) are the same–skeptical and dismissive of him.

And tbh it kinda makes sense that these people look down on Gandalf?

Because Gandalf DOES have a silly, mischievous, “foolish” side that the other major power players in Middle Earth don’t have. His occasional silliness makes him easy to look down on.

Saruman is in Orthanc coldly preparing for war, using his magic to create an army….

Meanwhile Gandalf is in the Shire at Bilbo’s birthday party, dancing with hobbits, and using his magic to blow smoke rings shaped like boats and set off little fireworks shaped like butterflies.

Gandalf is goofy and human in a way that the “wiser” people of Middle Earth aren’t. This allows those “wiser” people to easily mock him– Saruman snidely commenting that “the love of the halfling’s leaf has clearly slowed your mind.”

I also think it’s interesting that Saruman tries to convince Gandalf to join Sauron by saying “it would be wise.”  So many people look down on Gandalf’s wisdom/intelligence– Saruman himself spent the previous scenes berating Gandalf for being an idiot–  so Saruman tries to present his offer as a chance for Gandalf to finally prove that he IS wise after all.  

But Gandalf’s response is obviously just.“Fuck that, I don’t care if you think I’m wise.”

And Gandalf’s “foolishness” ultimately turns out to be the real wisdom, in the end?

 In the books Gandalf says something like “we should trust now in friendship rather than wisdom,” and I think that’s his philosophy throughout the entire series. His friendship with Frodo is ultimately what saves Middle Earth.

Tolkien is constantly setting characters up against each other through actions and imagery that puts them in parallel.  Comparisons between the characters give you hints of what lessons Tolkien is attempting to convey.

So, you get a glimpse of this very dynamic at Saruman and Gandalf’s intro:  

“Hence the excitement of the hobbit-children. ‘G for Grand!’ they shouted, and the old man smiled. ”

versus

““So you have come, Gandalf,” he said to me gravely; but in his eyes there seemed to be a white light, as if a cold laughter was in his heart.”

In which Gandalf takes delight in beings who are decidedly less in power than he is.  They see him as something less than what he truly is, but this does not bother him.  Instead, he takes delight in their delight of him.  

Saruman, on the other hand, is cold, removed, and untouched.  His laughter is all about the delight he takes in his feelings of superiority.  

I find it fascinating that both wizards have studied the Enemy.  One has done it with his heart - which he gives freely and which saves Middle-earth in the end.  The other has done it with his head, and his heart is untouched.  Untethered by concern for others, Saruman falls to the lure of the Ring.  

Tolkien is very clear:  intellectualism and intelligence will not save you.  You may be smart, but your very belief in your intelligence will leave you vulnerable.  If you don’t have a genuine compassion and emotional investment in others, you are very vulnerable to the pull of power and can easily drift off the path of righteousness without realizing it.  

I like that moment in FotR where (as Gandalf leaves Bag End in a hurry) Frodo says “I don’t understand’ and Gandalf responds “neither do I.” 

And when Frodo asks if the Ring will be safe when he gets to Bree, Gandalf responds “I don’t know, I don’t have any answers….” 

Idk a big part of why I like Gandalf is because he’s *not*  all-wise and all-knowing? He’s extremely vulnerable and limited, and unlike proud self-righteous Saruman he acknowledges that. He acknowledges he can be wrong, acknowledges he can makes mistakes, acknowledges he can be a “fool.”

 And his willingness to acknowledge his limitations is what makes him wise!

What I’m saying is: Gandalf’s character reminds me of the alien from this comic:

Pippin: He took Buzzfeed’s “which Fellowship member are you?” quiz

Merry: Who’d he get?

Saruman pretends he’s “just being rational/wise,” he pretends he “just wants to have an intellectual debate,” he pretends he’s only becoming Sauron’s ally because complying is a “wise intelligent strategic move”– but it’s all a pretense.Saruman just wants power and will crush whoever gets in his way. Gandalf is intelligent but he actually cares about helping people, which means he acknowledges that he sometimes doesn’t have all the answers. Saruman just uses fancy words as a cloak for cruelty, and his “genius” as an excuse to support horrific things.

So what I’m saying is:

Saruman is an obnoxious twitter reply guy.

The Saruman vs Gandalf “should we join Sauron?” argument is basically just twitter

Gandalf: fascists are bad

When they were invented, they were millionaires, and that was a lot of money but didn’t require Bezos-like machinations to make. You could in fact become a millionaire just by having the right idea at the right time. Quite a few people did. And labor unions were strong, so while your employees would probably never be rich, they’d have a good quality of life and a decent retirement.

But a million isn’t really a lot anymore. Even small-company CEOs can make more than that in a year.

Cort Hair Appreciation Post

"What does that mean," he asks. "It's free if you're gay," he's told. "Ah. Would I have to like, prove it, or...?" "Just put in a check mark here."

SO YOU WRITE DOWN A WORD

BUT ITS NOT THE RIGHT WORD

SO YOU TRY A NEW WORD

BUT YOU HATE THE NEW WORD

AND YOU NEED A GOOD WORD

BUT YOU CANT FIND THE WORD

OH WHERE IS IT

WHAT IS IT

WHAT IS IT

WHERE IS IT-

Some fanart of this ancient figurine! Also got commissioned to draw her hanging out with a friend!

It’s a period piece romance. That’s cool, that’s all well and good, except that on the sidelines there’s an undead warlock who’s trying so hard to kill the protagonist, but all in ways that the protagonist either doesn’t notice or doesn’t accept as supernatural

And it isn’t a twist! The audience knows about the warlock! The warlock has a villain song! The warlock is one of the principal characters! But the protagonist spends 95% of the movie completely unaware of the warlock, and just spends the entirety of the movie doing period piece romance things while being repeatedly inconvenienced by the warlock until the climax, when the protagonist has to very suddenly

Acknowledge the existence of the warlock

Acknowledge the existence of the supernatural

See some real-ass goddamn magic

Kill the warlock

I have never seen a movie with a plot structure like this before, and I don’t think I’ll see one like it ever again. It’s like an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that turns Lady Catherine into a vampire who’s just repeatedly trying to drink Lizzy’s blood, but Lizzy doesn’t even notice until the climax whereupon she stuffs Lady Catherine’s mouth with garlic and cuts off her head (an adaptation I would kill to see, by the way). There are two completely different genres playing out at the same time, and one of them is trying to kill the other

you know what else came out that year

The Fifth Element

in which a red-headed protagonist is trying to save the world in a heroic manner with a shady cab driver

and the villain is, like, running guns? he might be in a heist and/or organized crime movie in his own head?

and again, the protagonist is completely unaware of the villain (she is aware of a DIFFERENT villain and thinks that is all she has to worry about) until he shows up with a big illegal gun