Anti-Anti-Arwen Post
Poor Arwen always gets it worst of all the characters in the Lord of the Rings who are bashed. I'm sick of this, so I'm defending her.
Before I start, let it be known that Arwen is not my favourite character. Nor is she one of them. She's not even in my top fifty favourite characters, I'll wager. But I'm defending her, because there aren't enough people who do so.
This jewel was one found on an Arwen-bashing shrine. '101 Reasons to Hate Arwen' or something like that.
1. She's too perfect.
Let's see some proof, shall we?
... No? Moving on, then.
(Besides, you're ranting on about why you hate her, and your first excuse is that she's perfect? Hah.)
2. She's unrealistic.
Ooooh, I think the proof ran away screaming in terror from this. >.>
3. She keeps being compared to Lúthien; she is nothing like Lúthien.
Really? So Tolkien was wrong, when he compared Arwen to Lúthien? Several times? Do you even know who Lúthien is, dear?
4. She usurps Glorfindel and steals Asfaloth.
Glorfindel would have had the one major scene in the entire trilogy. I just don't see the point of sticking him in, saying 'he's Glorfindel, and he's important', and then never showing him again. It was something they did when they turned the books into movies.
5. She's a coward. As soon as she sees those Ringwraiths she looks terrified.
Anybody who isn't a) completely stupid b) a creature of Sauron or c) uber-powerful would be afraid of Ringwraiths.
6. She is a gold-digger. She was never interested in Aragorn until he told her he was going to be made king.
Oh dear, silly me! I thought the appendices of the books, which say that Arwen loved Aragorn for some sixty years, were right! You know, since he was twenty-ish?
7. Her scorning of mortal men and women. Would anyone like the idea of their queen believing them to be wicked fools?
Is it ever said that she openly scorns Men? No? Moving on, then.
8. She is a tart with pointy ears. All of her movie costumes are so low cut it doesn't leave much to the imagination.
That's the fault of the costume-makers, then, not Arwen's.
9. When she realises the reality of her choice, she runs away at her father's prompting.
She never actually does that, you know.
10. That dreadful forced ethereal voice.
Okay, so Liv Tyler can't do voices like that. Neither can I; you going to hate me, now?
11. She abandons her children and goes off to Lórien to mope after Aragorn dies.
It's called 'grieving for your true love'. You know, the stuff that people in true love do? Something tells me you've never been in love...
12. She is incestuous. Aragorn is not only her cousin by blood, but also her adopted brother.
Aragorn and Arwen are first cousins some sixty-four times removed, and they never actually met when he was a boy. Incest, yeah. -_-
13. She won't go to Valinor to see her Orc-raped mother Celebrían.
For a good reason. She'd be absolutely miserable without Aragorn. Besides, it's not canon that Celebrían was raped... surely you, who knows canon better than Tolkien himself, would know that?
14. She snaps at Aragorn when they first meet, because he mistakes her for Lúthien.
Of course she does! Names are really precious to Elves, and Arwen would like to be called by her proper name. Or it could have been modesty of the 'I'm not that pretty' type. You know, a nice personality trait?
15. Book!Arwen is the epitaph of boredom. She has no personality, and sits pretty waiting to get married.
As opposed to getting in the way and probably getting herself killed. Smart Arwen.
16. Her talents do not go beyond the art of sewing banners.
That you know of.
17. The Evilstar. It looks like a piece of plastic out of a fifty pence toy machine.
Aww... I pity you. You can't even spell Evenstar right. That and it happens to be beautiful, or at least not horrid, to people who aren't obscenely biased and jealous harpies.
18. She reminds me too much of a high school trendie. It's the posy-posy, look-at-me-look-at-me attitude.
Where is this displayed? Tell me that.
19. Her doll is hideous! It looks like Mr. Spock dressed in drag.
And this is Arwen's fault how? Blame the doll manufacturers like a mature person.
20. Her WETA "Bust" looks like it is severely constipated or has Down Syndrome.
See above answer, switching 'doll manufacturers' with 'WETA' in the appropriate place.
21. She moans and complains to Aragorn on his deathbed, so Aragorn spends his last hours comforting her.
Evidence of this?
22. Liv Tyler fails to remain in character during photo shoots. She doesn't look like Arwen, she looks like Liv Tyler in a Mediaeval dress.
Liv Tyler's fault, then. Liv Tyler =/= Arwen.
23. The real reason why she gave Aragorn that evenstar thing was so that she could watch his every move and make sure she puts him off falling in love with anyone else by mysteriously appearing in his dreams.
Nice totally made-up pseudo-fact. Can I take a picture?
24. Arwen merchandise is the queen of tack.
Please reference the answers to questions 19 and 20, and add: how can merchandise (plural, inanimate) be a queen (singular, animate)?
25. The Arwen action figure looks like an orc in a dress (or was that because the makers were being realistic?).
I'm rolling my eyes here. See the answers to questions 19, 20, and 24.
26. The Noble Collection evenstar looks like a uterus.
Please see the answers to questions 19, 20, 24, and 25. Running out of reasons already, are we?
27. Only Arwen could be tacky enough to be made into a furby.
Please see the answers to questions 19, 20, 24, 25, and 26.
28. Arwen attracts the pathetic-ness that is the fanbrat.
As does Legolas. Do I hear you complaining about him?
Of course, it could be said that you are quite the fanbrat yourself, what with this pointless bashing of a valued canon character using facts that you pulled from your nether regions.
29. She makes Aragorn wait thirty years before she decides she wants to marry him.
Wrong. It took Aragorn that long to claim the thrones to Gondor and Arnor, which was something that Elrond told him to do.
30. She has some of the most corny lines in the movie script.
Scriptwriters' faults, not Arwen's.
31. Arwenite scriptwriter Fran Walsh was obviously dissatisfied even with the most pointless extra Arwen scene that she suggested Arwen shows up at the battle of Helm's Deep and-- wait for it….
Then it's Fran Walsh's fault and you're maligning Arwen for no reason. But we've already established that.
32. Slays the Witch King instead of Eowyn! Then, not only would she have stolen Glorfindel's role, but Eowyn's as well.
... And this is Arwen's fault how?
33. "Arwen's fate is tied to the ring". WTF?
Ring is destroyed, Aragorn lives and reclaims his thrones so she can marry him. Ring returns to Sauron, Aragorn dies, Arwen is killed later, or she dies of grief because her love was slain.
34. That dress! Not the purple dressss, preciousss, it burnssss.
Random dislike of a colour and lame Gollum impression on top of the other stuff. This is amazing stuff.
35. The key lime pie dress. Owww! My eyes, my eyes!
So the costume makers didn't have a good collective eye for colour. Point?
36. The wedding coronet. She looked like she had spider web on her head.
That's your opinion. Take it up with the costume makers.
37. The make up artists made her look like a beached whale on her wedding day.
So it's Arwen's fault how? Blame the make up artists.
38. All of Arwen's dresses in ROTK are exactly the same, only in different colours. Did she buy them in a multipack from Asda?
The costume makers did something that would probably have happened and made several dresses with the same design. So, you know, they didn't have to come up with dozens of designs?
39. The patheticness and clichédness of XenArwen….
You mean Movie!Arwen, who was mainly dictated by the actress and director.
40. She only ever cries out of one eye.
And that's a reason to hate someone, hm? Who does meet your standards?
41. The unstableness of her personality-- one minute she's running into action armed with a sword to rescue a defenceless Hobbit, the next minute she's sitting pretty, sewing and reading.
You mean she's going from her movie enhancements to canon. That's bound to happen in any book turned movie, to any character.
42. She lazes around in her beautiful palace while everyone else is out giving life and limb in battle to save Middle Earth from Sauron and his minions….
See the answer to question 15.
43. Time is running out for Frodo when in comes XenArwen. Instead of immediately picking up the immobile Hobbit and dashing off back to Rivendell, Arwen trades valuable escaping time for flirting with Aragorn.
Rebuking Aragorn for carelessness, is more like it. And a quick discussion on how suicidal it would be to get the Hobbit and the Ring to Rivendell without becoming 'Wraith-bait.
44. She didn't get the idea of mortality=death until she was on her deathbed.
Neither do mortals, half the time.
45. She gets to sing a song about herself that was meant to be used in yet another pointless Arwen scene. Not only that….
So singing is bad? Wow.
46. It was instead used in the HOH for Eowyn and Faramir! What torturous irony….
These reasons are getting worse and worse. And I don't find it particularly ironic.
47. She is a spoilt brat who has no idea what it is like to live in the real world-- unlike Eowyn.
Her father is overprotective of her, granted, but there is no evidence she doesn't know the 'real world'. And are we seeing hints of 'Eowyn is better'? My, my, how fanbrattish.
48. The cut script for Arwen's Scene at Helm's deep is one of the corniest pieces of script writing I have ever had the misfortune to read.
This is a reason to hate Arwen, as opposed to the scriptwriters?
49. Giving Arwen a sword is attempting to rewrite the history of Tolkien's Middle Earth.
It's Middle-earth, hon. And it would only rewrite the Third Age... Unless you mean that Elven ladies don't use swords? I wonder what Aredhel would say to that. You know, Galadriel's cousin? How about Haleth? You do know who she is, right?
50. Why does she have to put the stupid sword against Aragorn's throat? If she truly loved him, why would she almost kill him? One false move could result in Aragorn's throat being cut.
Arwen was obviously sure that there wouldn't be a false move, and Aragorn could have shoved her aside at any time, if he'd wanted. But he didn't. Speaks well for her, doesn't it?
51. In the movies, she became Peter Jackson's very own "Mary Sue".
Then blame Peter Jackson, for Elbereth's sake.
52. She shouts at Elrond "You saw my son!" if Elrond has the gift of Foresight, of course he would have seen a child, because man+woman=baby. Of course dopey Arwen doesn't have a clue.
You're missing the point. Elrond foresaw Arwen's son, which meant that Arwen would have a son, which meant that Aragorn would live to marry Arwen and have a son with her. Arwen is somewhere in the neighbourhood of two thousand years old at the time of the War of the Ring, so it's pretty impossible for her to be that naive. And calling her 'dopey' is completely uncalled for, as there is no evidence for it.
53. She has Elves, Men and Hobbits bow to her when she is crowned Queen, while Aragorn says ‘you bow to no one'.
She didn't force them to bow to her. They bowed of their own free will. The Hobbits, therefore, must be idiots to bow before Arwen! ... I don't hear any accusations of stupid Hobbits. Next!
54. She seems reluctant to bow to Frodo and his companions in the coronation scene.
That reluctance could be because of any of a number of things. Maybe her shoe got caught in her dress. >.>
55. She is cold, not Eowyn.
Proof?
56. She is selfish.
See above.
57. She lived a sheltered life for thousands of years. Can't have very good social skills.
Ah, so being the daughter of Elrond who hung around Rivendell for a long time, then travelled to Lothlorien and hung around there... She didn't talk to anyone? At all?
58. Her love for Aragorn was conditional. Aragorn has to be a king to deserve her. She certainly has her nose in the air.
That was the condition of Elrond. Aragorn becomes the king of two realms, and Elrond will give his consent for Arwen to marry him. Not Arwen's fault at all.
59. She chooses to stay at Edoras while Aragorn takes her father, brothers, and the rest of her family away to the Grey Havens, where she will never see them again. Why doesn't she see them off?
Because she's afraid she'll break down crying, or they'll break down crying, or she'll somehow be asked to go with them? She knows she's have to say no.
Besides, her brothers don't leave then. They stay to look after Rivendell, and her, and Aragorn. But mostly for Arwen. What does that say about the three of them?
60. When Aragorn dies, Arwen does not ask him to stay for a while because she loves him, it is only because she doesn't want to die herself.
Proof of this being?
61. When Aragorn is dying, she doesn't think of him in his hour of suffering, she only thinks of herself.
This is a repeat of question 21. See the answer to that question.
62. Rather than mourning Aragorn's death, she mourns her own mortal life, a life that she has chosen.
... Funny, I was sure she was mourning both? Silly me! I was reading Tolkien again.
63. Arwen is supposed to be a symbol of hope. It seems ironic that she abandons her family, friends and loved ones and dies alone.
She never abandons anyone. Unless, of course, wanting to grieve alone is abandoning them. And did you miss the part that said her brothers were with her?
64. She is weak. Afraid to leave behind her comfortably secure life.
If she wasn't afraid to go to a place she had never been, full of people she didn't know, and the vast majority of her friends and family would be leaving her there, a lot of people would have called her an idiot.
65. She both pities and scorns mortals. I wonder how Aragorn felt to be told that on his deathbed, that his beloved wife had a dislike towards his own people?
Her father was half-Elven. She herself is half-Elven. That means 'half-Elven, half human', by the way. She was pitying and scorning herself as well.
Plenty of humans in the here and now think humans should die. Take that as you will.
66. Movie!Arwen suddenly feels the need to be a poet. This might have been nice somehow, if she was any good at it.
Well it's not Arwen's fault that the person who wrote the poems can't write.
67. All the best music in the soundtracks are wasted on unneeded Arwen scenes.
Everybody has a different opinion on what constitutes good music and important scenes. They were playing up Aragorn's motivation in the movies, and Arwen was that motivation, so they played up Arwen and gave her more scenes. There's no problem there.
68. The "Kiss of life" scene. What a pointless scene to waste good music on. It's Casualty, Middle-Earth style.
See above.
69. She orders Elrond to have Narsil reforged.
As if he wouldn't have, had she not asked him?
70. In the "walking up to Frodo like an angel" scene, she does not walk like an angel. Instead, she walks like JarJar Binks.
Some people happen to like JarJar Binks.
So now Arwen is bad because of how she walks? The pettiness, the pettiness...
71. She's immature and childish.
I think you looked in the mirror and saw 'Arwen' staring back at you.
72. She's a drama queen.
See above answer.
73. She's too clingy.
I think I'm given up asking for proof, since none is forthcoming.
74. She is deceptive. She keeps her true intentions hidden.
See above answer.
75. She gets all teary when Frodo passes out. She doesn't even know Frodo or that he has the Ring. She's only known him for a matter of fifteen minutes.
Compassion is a bad trait?
76. She has too much screen time.
See the answer to question 67.
77. Why does she have to keep wearing those ridiculous hooded cloaks, with the hoods up? Honestly, is she auditioning for a tenth Ringwraith?
Hiding her face is a good idea. How many creatures of the enemy would recognise Elrond's daughter right away?
78. All that pathetic magic she starts weaving to make the river drown the Ringwraiths. She doesn't even have magic.
Elrond did that, in the books, but I don't hear you complaining about him. And I remain convinced that though it was exaggerated a little, the real power behind that river was Elrond. You know, with Vilya?
79. She usurps the roles of both her father and Gandalf at the ford.
See answer to above question.
80. In some of her promo photo shoots, she looks like a vampire.
See the answer to question 22.
81. She has the cheek to think she's better than Aragorn at horse riding….
That might be because she actually is, you never know. She's also lighter than he is, and she had a plan with Elrond.
82. and tell him.
Aragorn's not stupid; he probably knew the above.
83. She looks no more than twelve years old when she waves Aragorn off as she sets out with the Fellowship.
... This is a problem?
84. Tolkien never intended for Arwen to be an elven bimbo-- but that's what she ended up as.
Tolkien never intended for somebody to come up with 101 made-up facts about Arwen, either -- but that's exactly what happened.
85. Elves are supposed to walk around barefoot. So what on middle Earth was Arwen thinking wearing those lime green moon boots on her wedding day?
This one wins, period. There is no way anyone else could top the stupid right there.
86. Aragorn's time healing Eowyn was disrupted by his thoughts of Arwen, who was supposedly dying because she was tied to the Ring.
Supposedly dying? She was dying. Sorrow, legitimate angst... I doubt this would have been an issue if Aragorn had been healing Faramir, you biased twit you.
87. The drawing of the storyboard involving Arwen at Helm's Deep made her look like Felix the Cat in mediaeval Armour.
You meant medieval, right? Okay, now that that's settled, Arwen isn't covered in fur.
88. She puts on these ridiculous blubbery expressions when she's talking to Aragorn. It makes her look like a goldfish.
This is giving me a headache. She's worried her true love is going to die, of course she's upset. Nobody can control what they look like when they're upset.
89. what is so important about her giving up her immortality? She didn't have to plead with Mandos himself to make this choice, unlike Lúthien.
Lúthien wasn't half-immortal, half-mortal.
90. She banters on and on about all this hope there is in the world, but when it really comes to it, she is hopeless.
Proof of this being?
91. In the healing Frodo with Athelas scene, how does Arwen manage to get blonde streaks in her hair? Was she trying to copy Eowyn?
You do know that was probably the lighting.
92. In the photo shoots, Liv Tyler does the silly posy scene with the sword. She looks like she's about to chop her nose off.
See the answer to questions 22 and 80.
93. it appears that her people don't like her either. When she runs away from the party setting off for Valinor, why does no other elf (especially Figwit) chase after her and persuade her to continue, or even notice that she's gone?
Because they expected her to do something like that?
Come on, there is at least one text reference to Arwen being very dear to her people, and Elrond is overprotective of her. He obviously cares about her.
94. The fact that she returns to Rivendell in the movies. I was so gutted in having to deal with yet more Arwen scenes. She should have carried right on across the ocean.
And if she'd done that, you would have complained that she had abandoned Aragorn and her family, which was exactly why she didn't continue across the ocean.
95. She contradicts herself when she says ‘"It is mine to give to whom I will, like my heart". She never gave her heart to Aragorn, she gave it to the idea of being a Queen.
Correction: She gave it to Aragorn. See the appendices.
96. They way she puts on these puppy dog expressions when she is talking to Elrond.
She's Daddy's Little Girl, of course she does.
97. The way she puts on all the forced expressions in general.
Bad acting on Liv Tyler's part. Do I need to repeat myself again and say that this has nothing to do with Arwen?
98. The entire way Liv Tyler plays Arwen is forced. It is not natural.
See the above while I go off for pain meds.
99. All that time she spends daydreaming must be bad for her health.
Elves have a lot of free time.
100. After being alive for 2,000 years, you would think that Arwen would have gained some life experience. She hasn't. She just behaves like a lovesick teenager.
That happens to most people who haven't been in love before. Arwen is still young by the standards of her people.
101. Because she is Arwen!
Arwen sucks because she is Arwen! I knew it! I'm totally devoted to the anti-Arwen cause now!!!!
... Give me a Valar-damned break.
I can't stand all the mindless Arwen-hate. Sure, she's not perfect, but no character is, and none of them deserve to be treated like poor Arwen... Tolkien must have liked her a lot, given that he prized beauty and he compared her to Luthien several times, to the point of saying she was the most beautiful person in Third Age Middle-earth, and Luthien was one of his favourite characters.
(Luthien was unmistakably the most beautiful, and Elwing was apparently second only to her grandmother, so wouldn't that make Arwen third? Possibly fourth, after Galadriel when she was younger and untouched by shadow.)
This is so unbelievably depressing.
Before I start, let it be known that Arwen is not my favourite character. Nor is she one of them. She's not even in my top fifty favourite characters, I'll wager. But I'm defending her, because there aren't enough people who do so.
This jewel was one found on an Arwen-bashing shrine. '101 Reasons to Hate Arwen' or something like that.
1. She's too perfect.
Let's see some proof, shall we?
... No? Moving on, then.
(Besides, you're ranting on about why you hate her, and your first excuse is that she's perfect? Hah.)
2. She's unrealistic.
Ooooh, I think the proof ran away screaming in terror from this. >.>
3. She keeps being compared to Lúthien; she is nothing like Lúthien.
Really? So Tolkien was wrong, when he compared Arwen to Lúthien? Several times? Do you even know who Lúthien is, dear?
4. She usurps Glorfindel and steals Asfaloth.
Glorfindel would have had the one major scene in the entire trilogy. I just don't see the point of sticking him in, saying 'he's Glorfindel, and he's important', and then never showing him again. It was something they did when they turned the books into movies.
5. She's a coward. As soon as she sees those Ringwraiths she looks terrified.
Anybody who isn't a) completely stupid b) a creature of Sauron or c) uber-powerful would be afraid of Ringwraiths.
6. She is a gold-digger. She was never interested in Aragorn until he told her he was going to be made king.
Oh dear, silly me! I thought the appendices of the books, which say that Arwen loved Aragorn for some sixty years, were right! You know, since he was twenty-ish?
7. Her scorning of mortal men and women. Would anyone like the idea of their queen believing them to be wicked fools?
Is it ever said that she openly scorns Men? No? Moving on, then.
8. She is a tart with pointy ears. All of her movie costumes are so low cut it doesn't leave much to the imagination.
That's the fault of the costume-makers, then, not Arwen's.
9. When she realises the reality of her choice, she runs away at her father's prompting.
She never actually does that, you know.
10. That dreadful forced ethereal voice.
Okay, so Liv Tyler can't do voices like that. Neither can I; you going to hate me, now?
11. She abandons her children and goes off to Lórien to mope after Aragorn dies.
It's called 'grieving for your true love'. You know, the stuff that people in true love do? Something tells me you've never been in love...
12. She is incestuous. Aragorn is not only her cousin by blood, but also her adopted brother.
Aragorn and Arwen are first cousins some sixty-four times removed, and they never actually met when he was a boy. Incest, yeah. -_-
13. She won't go to Valinor to see her Orc-raped mother Celebrían.
For a good reason. She'd be absolutely miserable without Aragorn. Besides, it's not canon that Celebrían was raped... surely you, who knows canon better than Tolkien himself, would know that?
14. She snaps at Aragorn when they first meet, because he mistakes her for Lúthien.
Of course she does! Names are really precious to Elves, and Arwen would like to be called by her proper name. Or it could have been modesty of the 'I'm not that pretty' type. You know, a nice personality trait?
15. Book!Arwen is the epitaph of boredom. She has no personality, and sits pretty waiting to get married.
As opposed to getting in the way and probably getting herself killed. Smart Arwen.
16. Her talents do not go beyond the art of sewing banners.
That you know of.
17. The Evilstar. It looks like a piece of plastic out of a fifty pence toy machine.
Aww... I pity you. You can't even spell Evenstar right. That and it happens to be beautiful, or at least not horrid, to people who aren't obscenely biased and jealous harpies.
18. She reminds me too much of a high school trendie. It's the posy-posy, look-at-me-look-at-me attitude.
Where is this displayed? Tell me that.
19. Her doll is hideous! It looks like Mr. Spock dressed in drag.
And this is Arwen's fault how? Blame the doll manufacturers like a mature person.
20. Her WETA "Bust" looks like it is severely constipated or has Down Syndrome.
See above answer, switching 'doll manufacturers' with 'WETA' in the appropriate place.
21. She moans and complains to Aragorn on his deathbed, so Aragorn spends his last hours comforting her.
Evidence of this?
22. Liv Tyler fails to remain in character during photo shoots. She doesn't look like Arwen, she looks like Liv Tyler in a Mediaeval dress.
Liv Tyler's fault, then. Liv Tyler =/= Arwen.
23. The real reason why she gave Aragorn that evenstar thing was so that she could watch his every move and make sure she puts him off falling in love with anyone else by mysteriously appearing in his dreams.
Nice totally made-up pseudo-fact. Can I take a picture?
24. Arwen merchandise is the queen of tack.
Please reference the answers to questions 19 and 20, and add: how can merchandise (plural, inanimate) be a queen (singular, animate)?
25. The Arwen action figure looks like an orc in a dress (or was that because the makers were being realistic?).
I'm rolling my eyes here. See the answers to questions 19, 20, and 24.
26. The Noble Collection evenstar looks like a uterus.
Please see the answers to questions 19, 20, 24, and 25. Running out of reasons already, are we?
27. Only Arwen could be tacky enough to be made into a furby.
Please see the answers to questions 19, 20, 24, 25, and 26.
28. Arwen attracts the pathetic-ness that is the fanbrat.
As does Legolas. Do I hear you complaining about him?
Of course, it could be said that you are quite the fanbrat yourself, what with this pointless bashing of a valued canon character using facts that you pulled from your nether regions.
29. She makes Aragorn wait thirty years before she decides she wants to marry him.
Wrong. It took Aragorn that long to claim the thrones to Gondor and Arnor, which was something that Elrond told him to do.
30. She has some of the most corny lines in the movie script.
Scriptwriters' faults, not Arwen's.
31. Arwenite scriptwriter Fran Walsh was obviously dissatisfied even with the most pointless extra Arwen scene that she suggested Arwen shows up at the battle of Helm's Deep and-- wait for it….
Then it's Fran Walsh's fault and you're maligning Arwen for no reason. But we've already established that.
32. Slays the Witch King instead of Eowyn! Then, not only would she have stolen Glorfindel's role, but Eowyn's as well.
... And this is Arwen's fault how?
33. "Arwen's fate is tied to the ring". WTF?
Ring is destroyed, Aragorn lives and reclaims his thrones so she can marry him. Ring returns to Sauron, Aragorn dies, Arwen is killed later, or she dies of grief because her love was slain.
34. That dress! Not the purple dressss, preciousss, it burnssss.
Random dislike of a colour and lame Gollum impression on top of the other stuff. This is amazing stuff.
35. The key lime pie dress. Owww! My eyes, my eyes!
So the costume makers didn't have a good collective eye for colour. Point?
36. The wedding coronet. She looked like she had spider web on her head.
That's your opinion. Take it up with the costume makers.
37. The make up artists made her look like a beached whale on her wedding day.
So it's Arwen's fault how? Blame the make up artists.
38. All of Arwen's dresses in ROTK are exactly the same, only in different colours. Did she buy them in a multipack from Asda?
The costume makers did something that would probably have happened and made several dresses with the same design. So, you know, they didn't have to come up with dozens of designs?
39. The patheticness and clichédness of XenArwen….
You mean Movie!Arwen, who was mainly dictated by the actress and director.
40. She only ever cries out of one eye.
And that's a reason to hate someone, hm? Who does meet your standards?
41. The unstableness of her personality-- one minute she's running into action armed with a sword to rescue a defenceless Hobbit, the next minute she's sitting pretty, sewing and reading.
You mean she's going from her movie enhancements to canon. That's bound to happen in any book turned movie, to any character.
42. She lazes around in her beautiful palace while everyone else is out giving life and limb in battle to save Middle Earth from Sauron and his minions….
See the answer to question 15.
43. Time is running out for Frodo when in comes XenArwen. Instead of immediately picking up the immobile Hobbit and dashing off back to Rivendell, Arwen trades valuable escaping time for flirting with Aragorn.
Rebuking Aragorn for carelessness, is more like it. And a quick discussion on how suicidal it would be to get the Hobbit and the Ring to Rivendell without becoming 'Wraith-bait.
44. She didn't get the idea of mortality=death until she was on her deathbed.
Neither do mortals, half the time.
45. She gets to sing a song about herself that was meant to be used in yet another pointless Arwen scene. Not only that….
So singing is bad? Wow.
46. It was instead used in the HOH for Eowyn and Faramir! What torturous irony….
These reasons are getting worse and worse. And I don't find it particularly ironic.
47. She is a spoilt brat who has no idea what it is like to live in the real world-- unlike Eowyn.
Her father is overprotective of her, granted, but there is no evidence she doesn't know the 'real world'. And are we seeing hints of 'Eowyn is better'? My, my, how fanbrattish.
48. The cut script for Arwen's Scene at Helm's deep is one of the corniest pieces of script writing I have ever had the misfortune to read.
This is a reason to hate Arwen, as opposed to the scriptwriters?
49. Giving Arwen a sword is attempting to rewrite the history of Tolkien's Middle Earth.
It's Middle-earth, hon. And it would only rewrite the Third Age... Unless you mean that Elven ladies don't use swords? I wonder what Aredhel would say to that. You know, Galadriel's cousin? How about Haleth? You do know who she is, right?
50. Why does she have to put the stupid sword against Aragorn's throat? If she truly loved him, why would she almost kill him? One false move could result in Aragorn's throat being cut.
Arwen was obviously sure that there wouldn't be a false move, and Aragorn could have shoved her aside at any time, if he'd wanted. But he didn't. Speaks well for her, doesn't it?
51. In the movies, she became Peter Jackson's very own "Mary Sue".
Then blame Peter Jackson, for Elbereth's sake.
52. She shouts at Elrond "You saw my son!" if Elrond has the gift of Foresight, of course he would have seen a child, because man+woman=baby. Of course dopey Arwen doesn't have a clue.
You're missing the point. Elrond foresaw Arwen's son, which meant that Arwen would have a son, which meant that Aragorn would live to marry Arwen and have a son with her. Arwen is somewhere in the neighbourhood of two thousand years old at the time of the War of the Ring, so it's pretty impossible for her to be that naive. And calling her 'dopey' is completely uncalled for, as there is no evidence for it.
53. She has Elves, Men and Hobbits bow to her when she is crowned Queen, while Aragorn says ‘you bow to no one'.
She didn't force them to bow to her. They bowed of their own free will. The Hobbits, therefore, must be idiots to bow before Arwen! ... I don't hear any accusations of stupid Hobbits. Next!
54. She seems reluctant to bow to Frodo and his companions in the coronation scene.
That reluctance could be because of any of a number of things. Maybe her shoe got caught in her dress. >.>
55. She is cold, not Eowyn.
Proof?
56. She is selfish.
See above.
57. She lived a sheltered life for thousands of years. Can't have very good social skills.
Ah, so being the daughter of Elrond who hung around Rivendell for a long time, then travelled to Lothlorien and hung around there... She didn't talk to anyone? At all?
58. Her love for Aragorn was conditional. Aragorn has to be a king to deserve her. She certainly has her nose in the air.
That was the condition of Elrond. Aragorn becomes the king of two realms, and Elrond will give his consent for Arwen to marry him. Not Arwen's fault at all.
59. She chooses to stay at Edoras while Aragorn takes her father, brothers, and the rest of her family away to the Grey Havens, where she will never see them again. Why doesn't she see them off?
Because she's afraid she'll break down crying, or they'll break down crying, or she'll somehow be asked to go with them? She knows she's have to say no.
Besides, her brothers don't leave then. They stay to look after Rivendell, and her, and Aragorn. But mostly for Arwen. What does that say about the three of them?
60. When Aragorn dies, Arwen does not ask him to stay for a while because she loves him, it is only because she doesn't want to die herself.
Proof of this being?
61. When Aragorn is dying, she doesn't think of him in his hour of suffering, she only thinks of herself.
This is a repeat of question 21. See the answer to that question.
62. Rather than mourning Aragorn's death, she mourns her own mortal life, a life that she has chosen.
... Funny, I was sure she was mourning both? Silly me! I was reading Tolkien again.
63. Arwen is supposed to be a symbol of hope. It seems ironic that she abandons her family, friends and loved ones and dies alone.
She never abandons anyone. Unless, of course, wanting to grieve alone is abandoning them. And did you miss the part that said her brothers were with her?
64. She is weak. Afraid to leave behind her comfortably secure life.
If she wasn't afraid to go to a place she had never been, full of people she didn't know, and the vast majority of her friends and family would be leaving her there, a lot of people would have called her an idiot.
65. She both pities and scorns mortals. I wonder how Aragorn felt to be told that on his deathbed, that his beloved wife had a dislike towards his own people?
Her father was half-Elven. She herself is half-Elven. That means 'half-Elven, half human', by the way. She was pitying and scorning herself as well.
Plenty of humans in the here and now think humans should die. Take that as you will.
66. Movie!Arwen suddenly feels the need to be a poet. This might have been nice somehow, if she was any good at it.
Well it's not Arwen's fault that the person who wrote the poems can't write.
67. All the best music in the soundtracks are wasted on unneeded Arwen scenes.
Everybody has a different opinion on what constitutes good music and important scenes. They were playing up Aragorn's motivation in the movies, and Arwen was that motivation, so they played up Arwen and gave her more scenes. There's no problem there.
68. The "Kiss of life" scene. What a pointless scene to waste good music on. It's Casualty, Middle-Earth style.
See above.
69. She orders Elrond to have Narsil reforged.
As if he wouldn't have, had she not asked him?
70. In the "walking up to Frodo like an angel" scene, she does not walk like an angel. Instead, she walks like JarJar Binks.
Some people happen to like JarJar Binks.
So now Arwen is bad because of how she walks? The pettiness, the pettiness...
71. She's immature and childish.
I think you looked in the mirror and saw 'Arwen' staring back at you.
72. She's a drama queen.
See above answer.
73. She's too clingy.
I think I'm given up asking for proof, since none is forthcoming.
74. She is deceptive. She keeps her true intentions hidden.
See above answer.
75. She gets all teary when Frodo passes out. She doesn't even know Frodo or that he has the Ring. She's only known him for a matter of fifteen minutes.
Compassion is a bad trait?
76. She has too much screen time.
See the answer to question 67.
77. Why does she have to keep wearing those ridiculous hooded cloaks, with the hoods up? Honestly, is she auditioning for a tenth Ringwraith?
Hiding her face is a good idea. How many creatures of the enemy would recognise Elrond's daughter right away?
78. All that pathetic magic she starts weaving to make the river drown the Ringwraiths. She doesn't even have magic.
Elrond did that, in the books, but I don't hear you complaining about him. And I remain convinced that though it was exaggerated a little, the real power behind that river was Elrond. You know, with Vilya?
79. She usurps the roles of both her father and Gandalf at the ford.
See answer to above question.
80. In some of her promo photo shoots, she looks like a vampire.
See the answer to question 22.
81. She has the cheek to think she's better than Aragorn at horse riding….
That might be because she actually is, you never know. She's also lighter than he is, and she had a plan with Elrond.
82. and tell him.
Aragorn's not stupid; he probably knew the above.
83. She looks no more than twelve years old when she waves Aragorn off as she sets out with the Fellowship.
... This is a problem?
84. Tolkien never intended for Arwen to be an elven bimbo-- but that's what she ended up as.
Tolkien never intended for somebody to come up with 101 made-up facts about Arwen, either -- but that's exactly what happened.
85. Elves are supposed to walk around barefoot. So what on middle Earth was Arwen thinking wearing those lime green moon boots on her wedding day?
This one wins, period. There is no way anyone else could top the stupid right there.
86. Aragorn's time healing Eowyn was disrupted by his thoughts of Arwen, who was supposedly dying because she was tied to the Ring.
Supposedly dying? She was dying. Sorrow, legitimate angst... I doubt this would have been an issue if Aragorn had been healing Faramir, you biased twit you.
87. The drawing of the storyboard involving Arwen at Helm's Deep made her look like Felix the Cat in mediaeval Armour.
You meant medieval, right? Okay, now that that's settled, Arwen isn't covered in fur.
88. She puts on these ridiculous blubbery expressions when she's talking to Aragorn. It makes her look like a goldfish.
This is giving me a headache. She's worried her true love is going to die, of course she's upset. Nobody can control what they look like when they're upset.
89. what is so important about her giving up her immortality? She didn't have to plead with Mandos himself to make this choice, unlike Lúthien.
Lúthien wasn't half-immortal, half-mortal.
90. She banters on and on about all this hope there is in the world, but when it really comes to it, she is hopeless.
Proof of this being?
91. In the healing Frodo with Athelas scene, how does Arwen manage to get blonde streaks in her hair? Was she trying to copy Eowyn?
You do know that was probably the lighting.
92. In the photo shoots, Liv Tyler does the silly posy scene with the sword. She looks like she's about to chop her nose off.
See the answer to questions 22 and 80.
93. it appears that her people don't like her either. When she runs away from the party setting off for Valinor, why does no other elf (especially Figwit) chase after her and persuade her to continue, or even notice that she's gone?
Because they expected her to do something like that?
Come on, there is at least one text reference to Arwen being very dear to her people, and Elrond is overprotective of her. He obviously cares about her.
94. The fact that she returns to Rivendell in the movies. I was so gutted in having to deal with yet more Arwen scenes. She should have carried right on across the ocean.
And if she'd done that, you would have complained that she had abandoned Aragorn and her family, which was exactly why she didn't continue across the ocean.
95. She contradicts herself when she says ‘"It is mine to give to whom I will, like my heart". She never gave her heart to Aragorn, she gave it to the idea of being a Queen.
Correction: She gave it to Aragorn. See the appendices.
96. They way she puts on these puppy dog expressions when she is talking to Elrond.
She's Daddy's Little Girl, of course she does.
97. The way she puts on all the forced expressions in general.
Bad acting on Liv Tyler's part. Do I need to repeat myself again and say that this has nothing to do with Arwen?
98. The entire way Liv Tyler plays Arwen is forced. It is not natural.
See the above while I go off for pain meds.
99. All that time she spends daydreaming must be bad for her health.
Elves have a lot of free time.
100. After being alive for 2,000 years, you would think that Arwen would have gained some life experience. She hasn't. She just behaves like a lovesick teenager.
That happens to most people who haven't been in love before. Arwen is still young by the standards of her people.
101. Because she is Arwen!
Arwen sucks because she is Arwen! I knew it! I'm totally devoted to the anti-Arwen cause now!!!!
... Give me a Valar-damned break.
I can't stand all the mindless Arwen-hate. Sure, she's not perfect, but no character is, and none of them deserve to be treated like poor Arwen... Tolkien must have liked her a lot, given that he prized beauty and he compared her to Luthien several times, to the point of saying she was the most beautiful person in Third Age Middle-earth, and Luthien was one of his favourite characters.
(Luthien was unmistakably the most beautiful, and Elwing was apparently second only to her grandmother, so wouldn't that make Arwen third? Possibly fourth, after Galadriel when she was younger and untouched by shadow.)
This is so unbelievably depressing.