Only Choice

Only Choice

For the last few nights, we've been watching the Lord of the Rings movies.  I watched them once when they first came out and never revisited them.  I never read the novels, so when the movies were released, I wasn't overly excited.  I saw them because I knew Lord of the Rings was a big deal and the films were sure to be Epic. And they certainly were.  (They also made a sensation out of director Peter Jackson.  Even though many scenes from the trilogy were visually stunning, the directing really wasn't anything special.)

Anyway, the part of the movie I'm about to refer to doesn't have to do with directing.  It actually concerns the screenplay.  Recall the scene in the Fellowship of the Ring (if you've seen it) where the fellowship is being formed.  The secret council is trying to decide how (or who) to dispose of the "one ring."  The camera zooms in on the lead elf, Elrond, and he declares emphatically:

"We have only one choice!"

(He's talking about how Frodo has to take the ring to Mount Doom.)

(Yes, that's the creepy agent guy from the Matrix.)

Now, I've posted about oxymorons before and they should never, EVER be ignorantly inserted into such a well-respected series like Lord of the Rings.  "One choice?"  Not really much of a choice, is it?  If there is only one option, then there is no choosing to do.  Duh.  I understand that whoever wrote that line was just trying to be dramatic, but it was poorly executed.

What Elrond should have said was, "We have no choice!"  It's just as dramatic yet grammatically inoffensive.

The rumor is that The Hobbit might soon become a film, made by the same folks.  (I actually did read that one.)  So . . . if anyone knows the decision makers over there, let 'em know you know a good screenplay writer (at least, a better one).  :)