First week's topic: Who is your favorite Lord of the Rings character (movieverse) and why?

Hey, this first one was supposed to be easy--why am I stuck???

Reading back through my blog entries from the beginning, I have pretty much stuck with the same three characters as the ones I consistently watched: Boromir, Frodo and Gandalf. Not surprisingly, two of the actors who played these characters were favorites of mine long before this movie even began, and the third has become a favorite since. Hard to separate the characters from the performances, and I can't even fall back on my favorite from the books, because I didn't really have one. (I did have a favorite race, by far: the elves. But much as I love both Legolas and Orlando Bloom, I'm not going to take that way out.)

OK, my decision is Boromir. Now I suppose I have to say *why*...

Boromir is a noble man, in all senses of the word. He sets out to try to do his best for his father and his country, and never wavers from that goal. He doesn't really understand what Elrond tries to tell him, or doesn't quite believe it is exactly as stated--which comes to the same thing. He sees one way out of the current situation and (misled to some degree by Galadriel, I firmly believe) tries to make that happen by the only means available to him, since no-one will listen: by using force. His good intentions are of no help when the Fellowship is broken, but he is allowed to redeem himself through death.

In some ways, I think Boromir is the noblest character of all in this first book, especially in the movie. We are shown that he is loyal, brave, and intelligent. We see him as caring, through his concern for Gimli and the others after they exit Moria. We see his deep inner conflict during his conversation with Aragorn in Lothlorien. And we hear his remorse, both as Frodo is fleeing from him and after the Uruk Hai take Merry and Pippin. He is a good man put in an untenable position, who does the best he can. What more could you ask of a character than that?