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One could almost say, that there are two kinds of people: the ones who love fantasy, and the ones who hate it. So, I was wondering, where does that difference come from? Do we, Ringers for example, have a common characteristic that makes us adore LotR? Do you have to be a certain kind of person to "get" fantasy?

However, there are also these people that are not absolutely interested with fantasy in general but are just truly fascinated with LOTR and the world Tolkien had created (I personally belong in this league). On the other hand, I've also met a few people who are really into fantasy, but detest Tolkien. As an extension of the above posted question, does anyone have any insights into this strange phenomena?

I would love to hear opinions from all you wise people.

Same here, though I started reading far more fantasy after LoTR and at the moment I am getting really interested in it... but that all came after LoTR.

Strange is, I think, that Tolkien was the founder of modern typical fantasy , but his books arent really typical fantasy and the style is rather historical.

Tolkein was ostensibly copying other mythologies in creating a mythology for England. All writers copy what has been done before, since the dawn of time.

*whos that guy^^*

anyways, I am quite puzzled by your actual question but I will try and put my answer of what I think you atre trying to say....

I think it would all depend on the mind, you would have to have a good imagination and expand your mind and perhaps have a good lot of patience for the Fantasy genre.

I myself am in love with fantasy! I wouldnt know where it actually started but take Star wars for example, it may be sc-fi but it has dwelled fantasy in it (episodes 4,5,6 to be precise, not the new ones "boo",

I first got to read Fellowship of the Ring when I was 12/13 in school as an assingment, I found it quite interesting but at that point I did NOT have patience for books (I was shall we say "maturing" into the Kevin & Perry face of my life), so it took me a while to understand what was going on and ended up reading some chapters twice to get the full "jist" of it.

I do not have the patience to read a book and have read many to date, but still fantasy movies are for some and arn't. This could be because (take this quote for smodden's girlfriend aka soon to be EX girlfriend Amanda) "they are gay"

Discos - has spoken!

Hahaha Yesh, yesh, EX girlfriend Amanda


Anyways, I, myself, am a huge fan of fantasy. Fantasy is the only genre of books that I read. I can't stand anything that's too realistic. I don't know why. I guess it's because we live in the real world (unfortunately) and I just want a way to escape, so I read fantasy. I'm just fascinated by dragons and elves and hobbits and wizards and everything. And LOTR made me enjoy fantasy even more It's, in my opinion, the best fantasy anyone could ever make. Actually, it's the best book period haha. Anyways, I'm not sure why some people like fantasy and not LOTR, or vice versa. I love both. I don't know why. I just do What I do know is that I can't STAND non-fiction books or anything like that (biographies, historical books, etc.). I hate reading about stuff that has either happened/is happening/will happen or whatever. It's just too boring and, well, real. I prefer books that take you away from the real world and into an imaginary world of, say, hobbits and wizards and elves and, in some books, dragons. I love it.

I'm done. Buh bye!

i hated reading b4 i found fantacy i just didnt see the point all books bored me to death when i found fantacy i started enjoing books and now i read all the time

I lke fantasy, murder mystery books, and surreal modern books. Like Tom Clancy stuff.

Fantasy books and movies take us on an adventure that we will never face in reality, it takes us off and we don't really care about much but where you're going. Because our world is so imperfect we rely on books that others have imagined up for us so that we can use that as a sanctuary almost.

And for the fantasy haters, I guess they're more into their own world.

Yes, that's about right.

II happened to drop by a Fantasy writers session once, and this lady was giving a passionate speech about how the Fantasy genre addresses modern issues people are faced with everyday. Yes it is a form of escapism but it also invites people to think about how issues writers develop are relevant to today.

I hate those steroe-types who label you......I drink and party alot and be a teenager whilst still enjoy the greater expectations in life like Lord of the Rings

Discos - not your regular Geek

^^^^^@discos-i'm a geek too...


ahem...well, what kit said is close to my opp, on fantasy...escape

thats what i like is the escape, with the books and the movies...in fantasy books...(esp tolkien) You realy feel for the characters...and sympathise with their difficulties...and struggles....and relate them to your own....(by the way i think i'm most like PP)

i love how fantasy makes your mind think that maybee, your life isn't that bad at all...look at what frodo had to go thru...
or make you think that your life is truly good, and you can find some things that are the same in M:E and other fantasys...

you loose urself in the midst of searching for something to hide behind...like, you WANT to loose yourself...you WANT to feel free of the pain of this world...you WANT to just curl up behind your sofa and disolve into the pages of the book....and what beter way to do that then to read tolkien?....and for a little while at least you can be content finding out what the next page will bring frodo, or if the king realy will take his throne...even if you already now...its still a complete relief to know frodo's not dead....aragorn is truly the heir...its hard to explain the feeling you get when you complete the journey....and shut the book, and exit into the tangible world...the world we live in now...no words describe that feeling but everyone who has read "The Lord of the Rings" knows exactly what i'm talking about...

for me i think its just that i grew up with that stuff
i was playing D&D by the age of 10 but for the most part Lotr really brought me into the fantasy i haven't been ever to put the fantacy books down sense so for me it was a mix of things

i love being able to sit down and let these books carry me away for the cares of this world for a while i'm no longer in my room or a school but off on some great adventure
i absolutly love it

Bravo Smod! And Kit! You guys...*sniff*....have such a way with words Hehe.


I agree with everyone all of you guys have said. Fantasy books/movies/whatever are just ways to escape our world. Our plain, boring, imperfect, horrible, hateful, idiotic, bullying world. Enough adjectives, ya think? Hehe. Anyways, if not for fantasy, I don't think I could live. Life just gets too complicated and boring at times...most of the time, actually.....And with most fantasy books, I end up reading the whole thing faster than most people would (it depends on the size of the book) unless it's an awful book, but I don't think I've ever read a fantasy book that I didn't like, unless it's too much real and not enough fantasy. I've been into fantasy for as long as I can remember.....I've always been like the geeky kid haha. The only problem is that once you finish the book (which is pretty fast in my case.....I'm a fast reader...I can't help it), that's it. Sure, you can read it again and again (like LOTR, which doesn't EVER get old), but you already know what's gonna happen. And I kind of hate it when I finish a fantasy book. After you read the last sentence, you're back in the world of reality. At least, just until you get another book haha. I usually walk around school with two, possibly three, books (always fantasy....ask my friends haha) just in case I finish one. Yup, that's me And proud of it!!!! But what's weird is that I'm kind of like those "punk" people or those "gothic" (only I'm not gothic....I wuv God ) people....and I'm obsessed with books. Ey! I'm a gothic/punky geek! Whoop! Haha. Alright, I'm done.

Thanks for the reply people! (and so many geeks here..I'm so proud to be with such great company *sniff*.. )

However, I get it that fantasy is our escapism device, that's all clear for me.

But how come not all people love fantasy? Fantasy is good just like everyone said. It's perfect.

Why is it that when someone mentioned "fantasy"...several people will cringe and fully claim that they hate fantasy...that "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings" are stupid...that people who like them need to get a life?

Why are there several people who claim that they're too "cool" for fantasy? Why is fantasy attached to the words "nerd", "geek", "queer", "freak", "peculiar", "odd", "strange", "bore", "uncool", (or even "loser" ) at the first place?

What's so bad about fantasy? (for some people?) Where do they get that mentality?

And what are some certain kinds of characteristics that us "chosen ones" (LOL.. ) share to actually have the deep understanding regarding Middle-earth? (or fantasy in general) And just like I asked above, do you have to be a certain kind of person to be able to enjoy fantasy? (same case for those who loves only sports, or video games, or other things)

i think that the people who dont like fantacy just spend to much time in reality dont dweal on there good dreams or anything but i dont think there is something that makes us different to like fantacy its not like it has to do with something in the brain or whatever we just do cuz we can apresiat it

People who don't like fantasy are just more interested in the real world than we are. They, for some odd reason, enjoy reality. They can't stand thinking of any other worlds besides theirs. In my opinion, it's just too complicated for them Most of the people who don't like fantasy are preps/cheerleaders/jocks, you know: the popular kids. I'm not saying anything about us who love fantasy. Some of us are actually popular, though I've never met a popular person who loved fantasy. Anyways, fantasy-haters just don't like leaving their own world, like we do. They're happy in their own boring little reality place.

Popular people who love fantasy?

PJ, Steven Spielberg, JRR Tolkien, George Lucas, James Cameron, Sir Chris Lee, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Cruise, the Wachowski brothers, and many more others, etc.

I know though that the reality-interested people have different mentalities, but why do they have to be so mean? (not in general though) It's not that I experienced being bullied or something, I never experienced that, but surely I'm not blind and I also read the newspapers, I'm watching talk shows, I have some acquaintances who's telling me those kinds of things. Again, I'm not referring in general, but why are there some "reality-fixated" people who really have to insult and bully some people who have different views than theirs?

yeah there the types that go out and watch "based on a true story" films and stuff they just like it more
either that or they are like the teacher at my school that are going for the start A political correct hard working citicen (and if you dont listen to these rule you get kick out of school cuz you have a bad image for them{it happend to me}) type and leaveing reality through a book or any form is to them wrong and should be agents the law (how i want to blow them up for making me feel so stupid )

yeah, i know, S_b
how the ppl I know can like Harry Potter and are big fiction fans, but they hate LotR
it's one thing i really can't stand- when ppl are so closed-minded, and just go by what they hear about the books being associated with devilry and darkness, and being far-fetched. I mean, it's completely different if they'd actually read the books and come up with their OWN opinions, i'd respect that, but it fretts me to have friends who just follow the majority's opinion

Someone in my class, she was reading Harry Potter, and when i asked if she liked LotR, she was just like Harry Potter's better than LotR, it's rubbish & "I mean talking, walking trees! That's just so ridiculous. What a movie! Let's have small people who live in holes- I know! Let's call them Hobbits!" she just sickens me... but i didn't say anything back, couldn't be bothered wasting my time to convince her anything

what face are you in now?







i like fantasy, because it adresses humanity on a level that has long been forgotten... in a world where the average persons primary concearn is what color phone to get, or how to save their company money by overworking and underpaying people... it's nice to have the option to look into someone elses imagination to a world they created where peopele have to unite and face a comon enemy and face death and sacrifice for something important...

..with some dragons and other creatures thrown in to spice it up.

I love tolkien, I've never read any other fantasy but i do love the genre,
it needs more films, at least enough to have it's own section in the video store, i'm sick of walking over to science fiction for fantasy... I'll never really like the fact that they got bunched up together. (I do like sci-fi though). but all we have in the genre outside of LOTR is Connan (a trilogy that never got finnished), willow, 1000 versions of the story of king authur, a few 70s flicks about dragons, that awfull D&D movie (I love Tom Baker but he's no elf, he's more a dwarf or Tom Bombadil type), and some cartoons.

and although LOTR is going to inspire a buch of cheap knock offs, at least it's sparked an interest in the field which will hopfully manifest through some rather noteworthy directors...

I MEANT popular people in schools and stuff, s_b You know, like those preppy people who are always surrounded by more preppy people, all wearing Abercrombie clothing and talking about cheerleading and sports. I've never met anyone of those people who like fantasy. They're just too caught up in their own world to realize how many other different and better worlds people like J.R.R. Tolkien have created.

LOL..I see...

Yeah, some of them are too reality-fixated, but I think there are 2 in a hundreds of them that could actually like fantasy..in secret or not.

Yeah. Usually, though, they keep their love of fantasy to themselves, probably in fear of becoming unpopular That's the good thing about us fantasy lovers. Most of us, if not all, don't care about being popular We love what we love. And, in this case, we love fantasy.