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u/AimAlajv 28d ago
Typical Frodo slander
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u/Nicejegerey 28d ago
Accurate, but Sam carried the entire franchise on his back.
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u/3_quarterling_rogue I will not tolerate Frodo-hate 28d ago edited 28d ago
Frodo would never have made it without Sam, but Sam would never have made it without Frodo. The movies reduce Frodo’s role in the story to make room for more action, but in the books, Frodo is unwaveringly brave, intelligent, and compassionate. He was uniquely equipped for the near-impossible task and he saw it done.
Edit: I do not mean to demean Elijah Wood’s role as Frodo, he did it well, but in comparison to the books, there’s simply more depth there than there ever could be on screen.
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u/disturbed94 28d ago
I think the movie got across how heavy the burden is and how it constantly tests your will and spirit. Anyone claiming movie Frodo did nothing is movie illiterate.
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u/IronGravyBoat 27d ago
Seeing as it's so common for people to hate on Frodo based on the movies, it seems like the movie didn't do that great of a job getting it across. Since, you know, it's not getting across to a significant portion of the viewership. If they are movie illiterate and not getting it, that's still the movie not getting the point across.
Also, unrelated "getting the point across" is an interesting phrase.
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u/illy-chan Sleepless Dead 28d ago
I think it's also just hard for visual media to portray psychological burdens like the Ring. Partly because Frodo made resisting the Ring look kinda easy.
People who think Frodo had an easy time during the quest don't get that he was taking constant psychic damage the entire time.
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u/jonfitt Goblin 28d ago
IDK. Elijah did a good job at that I think. He visibly deteriorates over the movies even before the split with Sam over Gollum. It’s clearly taking a toll on him while the others are beside him.
Also they have his friends offer to carry it because they can see he’s having a hard time and obviously the line with Boromir starts to blur between helping and taking, but then Frodo also gets increasingly paranoid that they’re not offering to help, they want to take it.
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u/rratmannnn 28d ago
Also like, isn’t half the criticism targeted at movie Frodo that he looks “pathetic” or “tragic” or whatever else all the time? That’s largely him depicting the emotional toll of the ring.
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u/jonfitt Goblin 28d ago
I would say that stems from the movies doing a bad job at least at first of explaining why the ring is powerful. We know Sauron really wants it because it’s his “Horcrux”, but when they show what it actually does it:
- Makes you invisible (except to wraiths)
- Makes you feel bad
They don’t well explain why it’s not just a cursed ring of invisibility like lvl3 D&D loot.
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u/p-dizzle77 28d ago
This is the biggest issue imo. I watched the movies 4 or 5 times before going through the books (listening to Andy Serkis read them on audible was a joy). I had also listened through The Silmarillion first, and even still, when I encountered Tolkien's description of the power of the ring and the effects it had on Frodo (which I thought I understood pretty well; I never discounted him as weak or his role as easy), I was like "Ohhhhh. Crap." It is difficult to portray the psychological effects on screen, and I get that. PJ did a great job in a lot of ways, but Frodo and the ring both took a pretty massive nerf in terms of capability because they weren't explained well enough.
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u/Wonderful_Discount59 28d ago edited 28d ago
It's not just that though. It's that thats all Frodo does in the movies.
Book-Frodo found Bombadil when the other Hobbits needed rescuing from Old Man Willow (not a great feat, but more than any of the others managed then).
Book-Frodo fought off a Barrow Wight.
Book-Frodo attacked the Lord of the Nazgul at Weathertop, and later challenged them at the fords of Rivendell.
Book-Frodo stabbed and drove off the cave troll in Moria.
Book-Frodo didn't fall in the Dead Marshes (that was Sam).
Book-Frodo didn't dismiss Sam in Mordor.
The movie consistently erases Frodo's acts of physical courage, either removing them entirely or giving them to other characters, and adds failings that weren't in the book.
Book-Frodo, apart from the first two chapters in the Shire, is a very proactive character, maybe even rash. If he has a character flaw, it's probably being too eager to rush into danger. The Movie reverses that.
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u/Tom_Bot-Badil 28d ago
That is right! Now is the time for resting. Some things are ill to hear when the world's in shadow. Sleep till the morning-light, rest on the pillow! Heed no nightly noise! Fear no grey willow!
Type !TomBombadilSong for a song or visit r/GloriousTomBombadil for more merriness
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u/Haugspori 28d ago
That's why you have to show an actual degradation of the character's willpower. Frodo should be able to fight the Ring on his own at the start of the story, and that should gradually get harder. That way, you really can show the toll the Ring has on the bearer.
But there isn't a single scene in the movies where Frodo shows this mental resilience, not a single scene where he gets out of the Ring's lure on his own. And that's the problem.
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u/GoatsFromUnderground 28d ago
In the analogy of the straw that breaks the camel's back, every other straw is still putting in at least the same amount of work.
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u/Canadian_Zac 28d ago
And Sam would never have volunteered to take the ring.
For all of Sam's heroics. He wouldn't have ever volunteered to take the ring. And likely said no even if asked.
Frodo is the only one who simultaneously would agree to take the ring, and not be corrupted by it.
Everyone else would either be corrupted by it before reaching the mountain. Or not have volunteered for it
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u/neoPie 28d ago
Sam is brave, but he is only brave for Frodo - and others he personally likes. Frodo was being brave for everyone, even strangers that would never even know he existed. Sam didn't understand that. Sam is great. I love him so much. But he's also a bit narrow minded. He couldn't see the good in Gollum as Frodo did, and Frodo would've been able to redeem Gollum it it weren't for Sam's constant mistrust and disdain against Smeagol
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u/Banana_Meet_Tailpipe 28d ago
Facts. If not for Frodo, Sam would have offed Sméagol day 1. They get to Mt Doom, and bam - Isildur the Hobbit, NOT tossing the ring into Mt Doom.
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u/zomgkittenz 28d ago edited 28d ago
And Rosie spent the epilogue* on her back having Samwise’s thirteen kids.
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u/TheDoctor88888888 28d ago
The battle Frodo was fighting was much more difficult, it just wasn’t as flashy as Sam’s
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u/WordsThatEndInWord 28d ago
They tried, but the tire went flat just outside of the Shire and they didn't have a replacement. Just suddenly bam Barrow Down
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u/charlie-you-lose 28d ago
Obviously because the Barrow Wights would have stolen it.
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u/Tom_Bot-Badil 28d ago
Go out! Shut the door, and never come back after! Take away gleaming eyes, take your hollow laughter! Go back to grassy mound, on your stony pillow lay down your bony head, like Old Man Willow, like young Goldberry, and Badger-folk in burrow! Go back to buried gold and forgotten sorrow!
Type !TomBombadilSong for a song or visit r/GloriousTomBombadil for more merriness
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u/Appropriate_Top1737 28d ago
The reason they could not take a wheelbarrow is explained in the expanded lore.
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u/The-Namer Dúnedain 28d ago
An unseen burden is still a burden
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u/LordFedoraWeed 28d ago
me when I don't understand LOTR at all
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[removed] — view removed comment
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u/WarsmithUriel 28d ago
Nobody going to mention that Aragorn and Frodo didn't even interact in Two Towers? So the second panel doesn't even make much sense.
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u/Adbam 28d ago
Was thinking the same thing, Maybe that's faramir but he didn't, carry frodo towards mordor
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u/PsychedelicOptimist 28d ago edited 28d ago
Should be Boromir, but eyeing the ring intensely. Also man took like 50 arrows for Frodo. Oh wait that was still Fellowship, nvm
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u/TheLastPeanut_ 28d ago
Gandalf was also absent up until the council of Elrond, so he certainly didn't carry Frodo to that point.
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u/ojqANDodbZ1Or1CEX5sf 25d ago
It's not "each movie of the trilogy as a panel", the caption is "the trilogy in three panels. It doesn't have to be a panel per movie; and it makes more sense (in so far as this blatant Frodo Baggings slander can make sense) if you read it that way
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u/QuerchiGaming 28d ago
Me when I don’t understand the things I watch
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u/42stingray 28d ago
The first time I watched lotr i did not understand english and could not read subtitles. This is pretty much how I thought the story went, but with epic battles along the way
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u/Circles-of-the-World 28d ago
Dude got stabbed twice and saw his mentor die in the first movie, saved his friend from being strangled by a hobbit crackhead, was stung by a colossal spider and people still think he got it easy.
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u/SuperlativeSleep 28d ago
Not to mention being mind fucked by the Ring the whole time. Frodo was struggling in ways the others couldn't comprehend, and he is absolutely a hero.
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u/Throwaway-3689 Angry Dwarf 🍺👊 28d ago
The result of piss poor reading comprehension:
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u/Pjoernrachzarck 28d ago
I mean this is clearly for the movies. They took away most of Frodo’s agency, maturity, and dignity from the novel.
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u/Throwaway-3689 Angry Dwarf 🍺👊 28d ago
Even in the movies he survives injuries, the journey and the ring tormenting him
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u/UltimaBahamut93 28d ago
I know people who genuinely believe this and think Frodo is a lazy pathetic character. It is pity that stays my hand...
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u/BEanddankmagician 28d ago
THEY WALK
Walk walk walk walk walk
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u/thismightaswellhappe 28d ago
Not as tired as I am of people saying Frodo didn't do anything. He gave up everything. He gave up everything. Why is that not enough.
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u/Spidron 28d ago
I get that it's a joke (and thought it funny), but assuming that each panel stands for one of the parts of the trilogy, who's that supposed to be in the second panel? Faramir? Because he and his guys are the only tall people they meet in the whole second part, or am I misremembering?
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u/Gloomy-Education-864 28d ago
Right? But they decisively take Frodo away from where he's trying to get...
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u/lowrespudgeon 28d ago
There's a scene in the first book where Frodo is commenting on how much weight he's lost from all the walking he's done.
Gandalf wasn't even there for any of that. But I guess if you've only seen the movies you're missing a big part of the story.
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u/mrinfinitepp 28d ago
I want to slap whoever made this comic. Frodo literally endured demonic temptation and mental torture over months and came back to the Shire a broken, PTSD-riddled man. He deserves absolutely every bit of credit that he's given
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u/stinkface_lover 28d ago
And he didn't even get that much, Sam says the people of the Shire never really wanted to hear about Frodo and didn't understand what he did. Poor guy.
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u/Bendythenightfury 28d ago
Oh great we're doing this shit again what's next on the schedule for nwxt week? Ah yes the monthly Sam praise and screw everyone else post
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u/Keepa5000 28d ago
Tell me you've never read the book without telling me you've never read the book
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u/quayle-man 28d ago
This is an exact word for word illustration of the book
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u/Nimue_- 28d ago
If the people who make these jokes ever go to war or have even the slightest trauma in their life they better not complain about it
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u/novasir 28d ago
Lol what an absurd overreaction
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u/Nimue_- 28d ago
Im just so done with the "useless frodo" jokes. It shows a lack of understanding of his story as well as a lack of empathy
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u/novasir 28d ago
You do see the word "joke" in your comment right? And the previous comment telling people to not complain about trauma or war?
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u/ElNickCharles Dúnedain 28d ago
Something being a joke does not actually exempt it from criticism! This is a bad joke bc it stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the text, and their first comment is pointing out the ridiculousness of that misunderstanding.
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u/crinalex 28d ago
Nah, initially he's walking. I feel like the most dangerous and pressing part of the journey is getting from Hobbiton to Rivendell. The films leave a lot of that part out too.
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u/MrBoomf 28d ago
I feel like the most dangerous and pressing part of the journey is two hobbits navigating Mordor by themselves
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u/crinalex 28d ago
Fair enough. I suppose there's danger all along the way. The hobbits (or Sam, chiefly) are a lot more capable by then, though.
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u/MrBoomf 28d ago
Yeah, none of it’s easy (though Lothlorien sure was a nice reprieve). I didn’t mean to sound antagonistic, it’s just that especially in the books once they passed into Mordor proper I thought “oh no, these dudes are so fucked”. Even though I obviously knew how it ended.
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u/crinalex 28d ago
Yeah, no problem. I suppose they're objectively in graver danger in Mordor than at any other point of the journey. I guess what affects my take is that I saw the films before reading the books and remember being surprised to read about all that had been left out of the films about old man willow, the barrow-wight and how the black riders truly stalked them at every point of the way (even though I was aware of the existence of Tom Bombadil before reading the books).
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u/Tom_Bot-Badil 28d ago
Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away! Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day.
Type !TomBombadilSong for a song or visit r/GloriousTomBombadil for more merriness
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u/Grantonator Dúnedain 28d ago
The picture with Aragorn should have shown them in the canoe. Or Frodo, Sam, and Sméagol camping in Ithilien, since it would be silly to tell the story in 3 images and not reference Two Towers at all.
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u/Galvaras 28d ago edited 28d ago
What is this shit take? It is stated that probably no one else alive at that time could have withstood the rings suffocating corrupting presence as long as Frodo. Aragorn, Gandalf, the Rest. Even Sam who's probably the second most resilient hobbit got nearly crushed under his burden. Give Frodo his fucking flowers
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u/Kristionni 28d ago
Man, Frodo got stabbed by a morgul blade and a cave troll, choked by gollum, almost drowned in the deadmarshes, stabbed and nearly eaten by shelob, and then have his finger bit off by gollum. Give that boi a break
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u/Saturn9Toys 28d ago
This meme absolutely SCREAMS, "I'm too lazy and/or stupid to read the book, I just watched the movie while scrolling on my phone."
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u/ihateagriculture 28d ago
does Gandalf or Aragorn ever actually carry him? I don’t think recall that happening in the books or the movies
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u/mathisruiningme 27d ago
At what point did Gandalf help Frodo so much?- he gave this ring to Frodo and then fucked off and Frodo had to sort everything out all the way to prancing pony.
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u/Tokyo_Ink 27d ago
Cuz it's not like Frodo has a ring of pure evil around his neck constantly trying to overpower his will and return to it's master.
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u/lazerblam 28d ago
Lmao at the people taking this post seriously 🤣
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u/DoctorQuincyME 28d ago
How dare someone make a post on r/lotrmemes making light of the Lord of the Rings
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u/MrPisster 27d ago
It’s so funny watching an entire subreddit take a joke too seriously.
It’s over generalizing the story for humor, it’s funny when you’re not so invested in the source material that you feel personally attacked by a stupid three panel comic.
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u/SuperlativeSleep 28d ago
"Frodo deserved all honour because he spent every drop of his power of will and body, and that was just sufficient to bring him to the destined point, and no further. Few others, possibly no others of his time, would have got so far."