The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Stars: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard
Armitage
Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense
fantasy action violence, and frightening images
This is the first installment in a trilogy, and
I imagine that each movie of the series will have its own arc and focus, with a
huge over-arching message about self-sacrifice and heroism and such. But the spiritual message to be found in this
first installment is a very, very small one.
Gandalf:
Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that
is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary
folk that keep the darkness at bay...
A
brief synopsis:
Gandalf has enlisted Bilbo Baggins, a Halfling,
to serve as the thief on an expedition of dwarves (who are bigger than Hobbits,
but not by much) as they attempt to reclaim the land and treasure that was
stolen from them by Smaug the Dragon.
They don’t quite make it to their destination in this first installment,
but they do manage to face a mind-blowing number of obstacles, nonetheless.
Bilbo Baggins is qualified, according to
Gandalf, because Gandalf says so. He has
qualities that are unique to Hobbits and that are unique to him.
“Hobbits
are remarkably light on their feet, in fact, they can pass unseen by most if
they choose. And while the dragon is accustom to the smell of Dwarf, the scent
of a Hobbit is all but unknown to him which gives us a distinct advantage.”
But Bilbo feels, (and most of the dwarves,
especially Thorin, agree) that he is hopelessly unfit for these kinds of
adventures.
“He's
thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped
out of his door!”
Yet, through the course of many turns of events
and acts of desperation and bravery, Bilbo becomes indispensable to the
expedition.
"No, it's fine. I would have doubted me too."
Spoilers
follow
Bilbo is dismissed by Thorin because he is
small, weak, untested, and foolish, which, when you reflect on it, doesn’t
really make any sense. Thorin
Oakenshield’s name is derived from a pivotal moment in battle when he himself
was seriously overmatched and triumphed anyway.
“He stood alone against this terrible
foe, his armour rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield…”
It takes him some time (and experience) to
remember that it is in the small things that great things happen, that hints of
the awesome are found in the ordinary.
He does know it. He betrays that
knowledge when he is talking about the ragtag band of dwarves that he has
hinged the future of his people on.
“I would take each and every one of these dwarves
over the mightiest army.”
But we, watching the movie, are never allowed
to forget it. From the first moments of
the movie, our attention is brought to the pivotal nature of the small and
insignificant.
The Kingdom of the Dwarves rose into greatness
and then fell into ruin because of a gem the size of a dwarf’s hand, beautiful
and incredibly valuable but, when you come right down to it, a fairly small
thing.
Thorin’s defiance of the Pale Orc during the
battle was the small thing that rallied the Dwarf troops for one last mighty
push against their enemies.
Then, constantly throughout the movie we are
reminded about the small things defeating much greater things.
Bilbo Baggins: What are you saying?
That my sword hasn't seen battle?
Dwarf: Not sure it is a sword, to be
honest. More of a... letter opener.
Gandalf: These are Gundabad wargs.
They will outrun you!
Radagast: These are Rhosgobel
rabbits. I'd like to see them try.
Eventually, this story is going to come to a confrontation between a monstrous world-dominating power and a tiny, exhausted Hobbit, and the object that will decide the match will be a single, insignificant band of gold.
Why small things? Why is it so important to place our focus on the seemingly insignificant? Is it because the storyteller wants us to feel strong, even though we are weak? I’m not sure what Peter Jackson (or for that matter, Tolkien) had in mind. But I do know that they are not the first storytellers to feel that this was an important point to make.
"For truly, I say to you, if you have
faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from
here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:20
The stories that captivate us from the Old Testament and the New are the ones where a small act brings about a great change. One mother placing her baby in a basket changes the fortunes of the Hebrew people forever. One man standing against the giant with his slingshot changes the outcome of a hopeless war. One man refusing to pray to anyone but his own God, and believing even in a den of lions that this was the right thing to do, changes the heart of a king.
And of course, there is the biggest story of weakness defeating greatness.
“…rather, he made himself nothing… he
humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” Phil. 2:7-8
It is hard, sometimes, to look at evil’s hold on our world and think that we are capable of ever being true adversaries to evil. What are we? We have scientists pointing out to us that we are so microscopic compared to the rest of the universe that we may as well not exist at all, even while the same scientists are trying to bolster our opinions of ourselves by telling us that we are made out of star cruft. They’re talking about our bodies, of course, which is really irrelevant to our real size.
“You don’t have a soul. You have a body. You are a soul.” C.S. Lewis
I believe that we are fascinated by stories like The Hobbit because we know that there is an intrinsic truth. Good does not triumph over evil because good is strong. Good triumphs over evil because, even with all its frailty, good is ultimately indestructible.
Whatever plans evil makes, in the imaginary worlds or the real one, evil will lose. Evil has, in fact, already lost. Because of one man's sentence to die on a cross, evil has utterly, irrevocably, finally lost.
So when you really think about it, is anything that has aligned itself against evil ever really small?
No comments:
Post a Comment