Yes, of course this comes on the heels of the Galadriel vs. Tauriel post, because that sentiment becomes particularly dumb considering how many women in prominent roles there could have been in the Hobbit… but aren’t, and people are still hating on one of the two prominent female characters we have?
What gets me most about that is the claim that the production team wanted to add “feminine energy“ into the androcentrism fest that is the book, created some entirely new characters (Sigrid, Tilda and Tauriel, all of whom I adore) and still missed out on so many opportunities. Let me count the ladies:
- Belladonna Took. Admittedly has a cameo in the first movie, but with her being so remarkable in book canon could have contributed so much more to movie!Bilbo’s development than chasing after him for a two-second snippet.
- Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. I’m holding out some hope that she will have a cameo in the final movie when Bilbo returns during the Bag End auction (if that even makes it into the movie), but I’m not terribly optimistic. She could have made a great shout-out to the LotR movies as well, as the relative never giving Bilbo a momen’t peace from early on.
- Dís. Thorin’s sister, mother of Fíli and Kíli. A runestone does not a female character represent.
- Other women of Thrór’s line. Wives, if no one else, must have existed. Could have had a place in the lovely three-generation family moment in the beginning of AUJ, didn’t even get a throne to sit on. I’m aware that Tolkien describes Dwarf women as indistinguishable from their men and usually sequestered away, but given the glimpses of Dwarf women in Dale in AUJ, that clearly doesn’t apply to movieverse.
- Glóin’s wife. Gets a shout-out in the locket scene, but that’s it.
- Beorn’s wife. Never named or mentioned in book canon, but Beorn had a son (Grimbeorn, ) rather than being the last of his kin as he is in movie canon.
- Thranduil’s wife. Never named or mentioned in book canon, but I highly doubt that Legolas popped out of thin air. According to a movie tie-in book, she is dead and the prime reason Thranduil is so obsessed with the white jewels that the Dwarves denied him. Another piece of rock instead of a female character.
- Bolg’s mother. Our only hint at the existence of orc women is that orcs procreate the same way Elves and Men do, and the so-called Munby Letter, but still – Bolg probably did not hatch out of a slimeball a la the Uruk-hai in the LotR movies. As for this orc woman in particular I even seem to remember (though can no longer find it) an interview with Peter Jackson hinting that her death may have been the driving force behind the orcs’ revenge quest. (Please let me know if anyone remembers this one.)
- Girion’s wife. Escaped the devastation of Dale by Smaug with her child in the books, could have made a lovely addition to the prologue (e.g. “but in secret, Girion’s line endured”) to foreshadow Bard’s descent.
- Bard’s wife. Must have existed in the books because of Bain, strongly implied to be dead in DoS, headcanon’d dead by Tilda’s actress as per DoS EE commentary.
- And although she’s not a book canon character, Tauriel’s mother. Also dead.
And we really don’t need to perpetuate that sort of behaviour in fandom by erasing one of the few female characters we actually got out of all the meaningful roles there could have been.
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