Net nuts drop Tolkein protest Nov 10 2002




By Martyn Leek, Sunday Mercury


A barmy internet petition calling for the new Lord of the Rings film to be renamed because of the September 11 atrocities has been called off.

Protestors claimed that director Peter Jackson had deliberately named the sequel The Two Towers in direct reference to the World Trade Center attacks.

They failed to realise that it was actually the original title of the Lord of the Rings sequel, penned by Midland author JRR Tolkien 50 years ago.

Now the petition has been cancelled after collecting 3,000 names from around the world.

The US-based Two Towers Protest Group had said they thought the title was "hate speech" and accused Mr Jackson of choosing an "offensive and morally repugnant" title.

It called on people to sign an internet petition which said: "Peter Jackson has decided to tastelessly name the sequel The Two Towers. This is clearly meant to refer to the attacks on the World Trade Center."

Owners of the site later put a disclaimer on it which said: "There is no evidence to suggest that Peter Jackson meant anything by continuing the same title other than faithfulness to the beloved Tolkien classics."

New Zealand-born director Peter Jackson had actually toyed with the idea of changing the name of the film in the wake of September 11.

But he rejected the idea saying: "It's true I thought about the title in the aftermath of the attacks - but the book is 50 years old and I don't think I could change the title even if I wanted to.

"If I were to mess about with it like that, I'm sure that Tolkien fans would kill me."

The inspirations for Tolkien's Two Towers were Perrott's Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks Tower in Birmingham.

The two gothic structures are just down the road from the Ivy Bush pub, which is the name of the tavern in Hobbiton.

Tolkien was inspired to write The Lord of Rings while at school in the city.





idiot people these days