The Hobbit

[David2010]

I guess the church has really been promoting “The Hobbit” from the Lord of the Rings series. . . .

What church do you go to?

It hasn’t been mentioned in my church.
And outside of church, the only advertising going on is the “Catholics Come Home” Campaign that started Dec 13, airing TV commercials.

Perhaps there are just a few individuals in your church who are excited about it.

 

[pwlj_christ87]

i did not want to see this movie because i thought it was contrary to the church sincei t had elements of to me what semeed like witchcraft and sorcery , but now i am somewhat intruged too bad my friends are watching it at a theatre now lol

 

[Razanir]

i did not want to see this movie because i thought it was contrary to the church sincei t had elements of to me what semeed like witchcraft and sorcery , but now i am somewhat intruged too bad my friends are watching it at a theatre now lol

Actually (as many have pointed out) Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He even said himself that Lord of the Rings was a fundamentally Catholic work. Also, the Hobbit was written first as a children’s story. I’d be no more worried about any “magic” in it that I would of magic in Brothers Grimm stories.

Explanation for the quotes around magic: Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, the Blue Wizards (Alatar and Pallando, if you were wondering) and even SAURON more have angel powers than anything. Okay. So with Sauron it’s more like demon powers, but you get the analogy. Then with the elves, Galadriel even said it’s not quite magic. “For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe: though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy.”

 

[Luvz2travel]

Nothings against Tolkein here I’m just not a fan of the stories so I’ll avoid this movie. I prefer Harry Potter. Less serious and more humor with a little drama.

 

[NewLifeNeil]

Some have already said this, but the Hobbit is not really catholic or uncatholic. Just a story. Later, Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings, and that really does take off into all kinds of catholic allegory, more than I can sum up in a few words.

I always have marvelled at how much song lyric inspiration Led Zeppelin borrowed from Tolkien’s work (esp LOTR). But, funny thing is, they must have totally missed its point, viewed it entirely through an occultish prism. Though I still like their music, I think they might have spawned a lot of the misconception about the genre, amputated its catholicity. Or maybe it also came to be thought of that way when Dungeons and Dragons was created and also borrowed so heavilly. Not sure.

 

[Tyler_Larew]

I have not seen the Church actively promoting The Hobbit. I imagine it’s happening in some places.

I have no idea about the movie but I don’t remember The Hobbit being nearly as reflective of Tolkien’s Catholicism as was The Lord of the Rings. And both stories are also heavily influenced by British folklore. Tolkien’s Catholic influence is subtle, (with the exception of the creation story in the *Silmarillion.) * his Middle Earth stories are not like some of C.S. Lewis’ fictional stories which have rather blatant Christian influences.

Well I have been hearing a lot of promotion for the story on the Catholic station EWTN. Other then that though I have not been hearing much about the hobbit. I was curios to why the station was promoting it, but after reading through the post on this thread it explained a lot to me.

 

[1ke]

On EWTN and the diocese here where I am puts out a paper to catholic households in the diocese containing movie reviews. Some movies are said to be morally offensive and so on but the Hobbit got good reviews. Maybe the usccb does the movie reviews.

I think it is an overstatement to say “the Church” is promoting The Hobbit. In fact, I would say that is not factually correct.

Neither an advertisement or endorsement on EWTN nor a movie review in a newspaper are “the Church” promoting anything.

 

[lutheran_farmer]

I enjoyed The Hobbit as a kid and our son will probably enjoy the book when he’s old enough. Perhaps I’ll read it to him, like I did The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe recently. The best way to keep the magic and fairy stuff in check is to point out the Christian themes. When you think about it, the promise that good will win in the end is a Christian theme, so most good guys vs bad guys stories can be called Christian themed.

That being said, I will not watch The Hobbit movie. The movie makers were unresponsive to complaints about animal neglect to the point where 27 animals died. Not cool. We’ll stick with the books.

independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/27-animals-died-during-filming-of-hollywood-blockbuster-the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-says-report-8965357.html

 

[Luvz2travel]

Yes, J.R.R. Tolkien was a Catholic. He did not consciously set out to write The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings to be a Catholic story, but he has said that his Catholicism certainly affected his writing.

Where are you seeing any promotion from the Church for “The Hobbit?”

Very true. Personally I’m more of a Harry Potter fan. The Hobbit isn’t really interesting to me from a story point of view but I see nothing wrong with it. I like less serious entertainment.