Teachers reflect on The Lord of Rings movies 20 years after their initial release

After posting my article on how students felt about The Lord of The Rings, I felt like I needed to dig deeper, so I decided to ask teachers their feelings on The Lord of The Rings to see if the series had an influence on their lives too.

All of the teacher’s watched the movie with someone such as world language teacher Elaina Loyd who said, “I was in college, and I binged all of them with some friends.” Similarly, math teacher Matthew Adams said, “My friend really liked it, so I watched it with him.” 

Counselor Andrew Eisenmen recounted the first time he ever saw one of the movies. “I don’t remember seeing the first movie, however, I do remember going to a midnight showing of The Two Towers. I was only 12 at the time, so my mom, bless her heart, took me to the screening. I ended up falling asleep during most of the movie and woke up just in time for the Battle of Helm’s Deep.”

There were diverse opinions of the series. Loyd said, “I do like the series. Fantasy encourages creativity, and you can immerse yourself in fun new worlds and ideas.” Eisenman said, “The Lord of The Rings trilogy and The Hobbit were some of my favorite books growing up. The fantasy of it all and the expansive worlds really kept my attention.” While Adams said, “I thought the storyline was a little weird. Someone explained the plot a bit more, and I was interested, so I’m considering reading the books over break.” 

None of the teachers read the books completely, but the series was on their reading lists.  Loyd said “I am excited to see if there are big differences” between the book and movie series and Eisenman said, “I had partially read the books before seeing the movies. At the time I remember thinking I’d rather watch the movie versus finishing the books; however, I’m the opposite way now. Now I try to finish the books before I see the movies.”

Eisenman said that “I was already into fantasy but the writing style of Tolkein and the directing style of Peter Jackson fueled my interest.” While the other two said they didn’t like fantasy that much. Adams said he “liked medical shows better,” and Loyd said, “I’ll have to explore more titles,” since she hasn’t read much of that genre.

Regarding whether the series ever influenced their careers or hobbies, Eiseman said, “I’ve never been much of an artist or writer; however, the movies did inspire me to get more involved with my school’s choir, band and theater programs,” and Loyd said, “No, but I know that it has inspired countless others.”

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