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The comments on this thread make it seem more likely that your circle of people who disliked Tom is the outlier rather than those of us who thoroughly enjoy him

The comments on this thread make it seem more likely that your circle of people who disliked Tom is the outlier rather than those of us who thoroughly enjoy him as a character. Also, I submit as evidence this scifi.stackexchange thread: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/1586/who-or-what-was-tom-bombadil https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/1586/who-or-what-w... I think Tolkien fans, on average, have long enjoyed the mystery that is Tom.

ethbr0 4y ago
> I think Tolkien fans, on average, have long enjoyed the mystery that is Tom. If there's one thing a true lore fan adores, it's an ambiguous but textually-supported mystery. And also, it's fitting that Tolkien left a big "Is Deckard a replicant?" mystery untied in the Ring trilogy.
- sn41 4y ago
  Huh. It never occurred to me that Deckard could be a replicant. That truly did come out of left field :D But it makes sense.
  - ethbr0 4y ago
    Scott was unusually-for-a-movie subtle about it, and it's easily lost in the atmosphere. More or less, depending on which film cut. Makes re-watching even more fun though!
lief79 4y ago
I had to tell a couple people (generally college aged) to skip that chapter in order to get them to continue reading the books (around the time that the movies were coming out), as he wasn't important to the rest of the narrative. I know I was questioning if I wanted to finish the books when I read that part in 6th grade. The rest of it obviously made up for it. From your link, the set of comments under the first answer also shows there is clearly a debate.
- imwillofficial 4y ago
  Your experience isn’t everyone’s. Your friends missed out in my opinion. Tom = awesome
  - kagakuninja 4y ago
    That experience was mine, and I believe most of my college gamer friends.
    - imwillofficial 4y ago
      You need new friends
- dbingham 4y ago
  I'm not arguing that there aren't some people who don't enjoy Tom, only that it's not a clear and overwhelming majority. The comment arguing that Tom is extraneous has 5 votes, on an answer with over 400. Though, to be fair, that's a self-selected sample, because Tolkien fans who aren't that interested in Tom probably wouldn't click on the question. But still, I think more evidence has been provided in this thread and that one for Tolkien fans enjoying Tom as a whole than for fans not enjoying him. It's pedantic to argue about really, but hey, it's the internet! And what better way to take a break from beating one's head against one's cloud provider than to have a gently pedantic argument about something that matters not one bit on the internet ;)
jfengel 4y ago
I have a large circle of friends with a wide diversity of opinions about Tom. It's not representative, so I have no idea who is an outlier. But I understand why each of them sees it the way they do, and I'm certain that none of them is unique in their outlook. I believe a stackexchange conversation is a very skewed set of Tolkien fans, who are there specifically to discuss those kinds of questions. There are many ways to be a fan of Tolkien.

ethbr0 4y ago

> I think Tolkien fans, on average, have long enjoyed the mystery that is Tom. If there's one thing a true lore fan adores, it's an ambiguous but textually-supported mystery. And also, it's fitting that Tolkien left a big "Is Deckard a replicant?" mystery untied in the Ring trilogy.

sn41 4y ago
Huh. It never occurred to me that Deckard could be a replicant. That truly did come out of left field :D But it makes sense.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  Scott was unusually-for-a-movie subtle about it, and it's easily lost in the atmosphere. More or less, depending on which film cut. Makes re-watching even more fun though!

lief79 4y ago

I had to tell a couple people (generally college aged) to skip that chapter in order to get them to continue reading the books (around the time that the movies were coming out), as he wasn't important to the rest of the narrative. I know I was questioning if I wanted to finish the books when I read that part in 6th grade. The rest of it obviously made up for it. From your link, the set of comments under the first answer also shows there is clearly a debate.

imwillofficial 4y ago
Your experience isn’t everyone’s. Your friends missed out in my opinion. Tom = awesome
- kagakuninja 4y ago
  That experience was mine, and I believe most of my college gamer friends.
  - imwillofficial 4y ago
    You need new friends
dbingham 4y ago
I'm not arguing that there aren't some people who don't enjoy Tom, only that it's not a clear and overwhelming majority. The comment arguing that Tom is extraneous has 5 votes, on an answer with over 400. Though, to be fair, that's a self-selected sample, because Tolkien fans who aren't that interested in Tom probably wouldn't click on the question. But still, I think more evidence has been provided in this thread and that one for Tolkien fans enjoying Tom as a whole than for fans not enjoying him. It's pedantic to argue about really, but hey, it's the internet! And what better way to take a break from beating one's head against one's cloud provider than to have a gently pedantic argument about something that matters not one bit on the internet ;)

jfengel 4y ago

I have a large circle of friends with a wide diversity of opinions about Tom. It's not representative, so I have no idea who is an outlier. But I understand why each of them sees it the way they do, and I'm certain that none of them is unique in their outlook. I believe a stackexchange conversation is a very skewed set of Tolkien fans, who are there specifically to discuss those kinds of questions. There are many ways to be a fan of Tolkien.