The hubby and I started a LOTR marathon today, watching the first two films. I must confess that, despite the fact they’ve been on our shelf for years, I don’t think I’ve seen them before, though I have read the books. And the striking thing was the similarities between LOTR and Harry Potter, particularly the later books/films (all if which we are familiar with). It got me thinking about the “Christ-child” figure in films again, after I had talked to students on Thursday about a book I read ages ago that talks about Harry Potter in this way. It seems that film makers have an urge to create a young, male (though not necessarily if you think of Hunger Games) saviour character, who conquers evil. Do we need a saviour child in film? I bet you can think of other examples…

Addition: We have now watched the third film. I totally forgot that Frodo ‘sails off’ with Gandalf in to the happy ever after at the end. In other words, Frodo is sacrificed for the sake of the others.