*ooof*: Hero Worship

Once again Guylty reacts to the events in RL and overthrows her schedule. My little reunion with RARA is not happening. With Sir Ian McKellan and Orlando Bloom leaving the Hobbit set, and in light of yesterday’s overdue Hobbit vlog, the topic of the week is Thorin. And even more so when faced with Armitage’s conspicuous absence from the fun and games of the vlog. Yes, we saw him doing a couple of stunts and rehearsing with Sir Peter, but no snippets or interviews. Awww. So for today’s *ooof* I have chosen a Thorin still. (That is if it really *is* a still – it looks remarkably like footage from the film, but for the purpose of this *ooof*, let’s assume it is. A previous *ooof* on Thorin was featured here.)

The Majestic Hero Himself. Richard Armitage in a still from The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey. Source.

The image displays all the signs of an outdoor shot and hence my comments on the technical aspects of it will be sparse you’ll be delighted to hear. Illuminated from above left, we have Armitage acting Thorin Oakenshield in a decisive pre-plot scene that depicts the Battle of Azanulbizar. This is the scene that explains how Thorin gained his surname Oakenshield – with the said oak branch in his left hand, ready to defend himself against the killer of his grandfather, Azog. Thorin covered himself in gore and glory in that battle, cutting off Azog’s hand and winning the day.

Appropriately, we have a classic hero-shot of Thorin to conclude this sequence. The prince of the dwarves is seen here mid-action, his hair blowing in the wind (or in mid-movement), sword and shield in strong grip and a determined glare on his face. The photography makes use of perspective to convey the sense of witnessing a hero/heroic act: Thorin is shot from below, the typical perspective for the depiction of a hero. Symbolically, the perspective (already) places the subject on a pedestal. The viewer literally has to look up to him – as we usually have to if we worship at an altar or a sculpture of a deity. Or as was the case when approaching a monarch. The perspective thus references a couple of Thorin’s traits – placing him above us characterises him as a hero in his own right and as a descendant of kings.

The perspective from below also causes Thorin to be depicted in front of clouds. The clouds, of course, make for an ideal photographic backdrop: They are largely neutral space against which the solitary figure stands out with no distraction. However, we can read more into the decision to place nothing but clouds behind Thorin: The perspective implies that there is nothing that reaches beyond Thorin. Nothing is higher than him – neither trees nor buildings and certainly no other living beings. Nothing transcends him. Simultaneously this also places him in proximity to the realm of God, as heaven is where the deities dwell. Too far-fetched? Well, maybe the stormclouds behind Thorin stand for nothing else but his stormy temper…

The imagery is a classic example of hero-worshipping that makes use of a number of symbols that all apply almost too perfectly. The picture embodies Thorin’s heroic status and his claim to the throne with many fitting symbols. The cult of personality that surrounds Thorin in the story finds its expression in an idealised, heroic image. As is typical for such images, the depiction is characterised by unquestioning flattery, praise, adoration and admiration (in the film also expressed by Balin’s voice-over ending on “There is one I could call king”…). The cult of personality is something we are all familiar with. It has most often been associated with totalitarian regimes in which a single leader, who is seen as god-like, was invested/invested himself with the achieving of a vital goal for his nation (cf. Fidel Castro liberating Cuba, for instance). In this case we have Thorin on the quest for the re-taking of Erebor. Connected to that is also the interpretation and symbolic depiction of the hero as the “guide” – in Thorin’s case he is literally the one who can find the way to Erebor, as he has been given the map that shows the way. Occasionally, the cult of personality also found expression in the symbol of the benign father figure. (The cult of Stalin would be an example from RL.) The story and the dramatisation allow for that in the carefully depicted relationship between Thorin and his nephews Kili and Fili.

The still here is everything but still. This is Thorin caught in movement, raising himself, getting ready to attack. The detail that conveys most movement in this shot is Thorin’s hair, blowing in the breeze. Much has been made in fan circles about Thorin’s flowing locks. When compared to the other dwarves in his company, Thorin’s hairstyle looks rather plain. However, there may have been a reason for that. The flowing locks allow for dramatic “hair acting”, which has been used much in the film. A more braided, styled hair-do would have looked less dramatic in the fight scenes – another example of which we have just been given yesterday in the short glimpse of Thorin being hoisted onto a rock (?) where Nori catches him. (See Serv’s post from yesterday.) It is also quite possible or even probable that the scriptwriters were familiar with the symbolic quality of hair in the Middle Ages. Hair held divine power! For the Merovingian kings, for instance, long hair was a symbol of their sovereignty, their independence, their divine right to rule and the strength of their Royal power. (Thus, when the reign of the Merovingians came to an end in the 8th century AD, the last Merovingian king’s hair was publicly shorn off in a demonstrative show of the power of the Karolingians who took over.) In the context of this, Thorin’s long locks become a symbol of his physical strength, and his god-given right to assume the throne as an heir of Durin. Never mind the associations of unrestricted sexuality that the image of wild and flowing locks also evoke…

Props only take secondary roles in this image – we can see the eponymous Oakenshield in Thorin’s left hand and the hilt of his sword in his right. Fittingly, the sword comes with a number of interpretations in iconography that apply pretty well to this hero, too. The sword, after all, stands for omnipotence (noooo, not *that* kind of potence, girls *tuttuttut*) – a characteristic associated with a king, a leader and a hero. It is also a symbol of justice, which applies here in the sense that a king is often seen as the highest authority for the settling of disputes. Lastly, the sword also symbolizes ire – and we all know that Thorin is a cantankerous, temperamental sort of man. In Christian iconography, btw, the sword is the symbol for a martyred Saint – how fitting is that in the context of our dwarven hero?

Does all this talk of the cult of personality remind you of something, ladies? Let’s all blush collectively for a second. Yes, our own fandom is certainly familiar with hero-worshipping and the cult of personality. My rational side is screaming in frustration as I write this. We have honed in on one particular person whom we lavish with – and I shamelessly quote myself now – “unquestioning flattery, praise, adoration and admiration”. Well, no, that is a bit over-stated. But there are elements of hero-worshipping in the realms of fandom, too. Armitage doesn’t make it any easier for us to desist. He keeps playing heroic characters that more often than not get martyred and thus live on as shining examples of strength, character and power. Ooops, am I confusing the man with his roles? No, I am not. There is a massive difference between the two. But Armitage’s photographic “oevre” – or should it be called “modelling portfolio”? – certainly perpetuates the cult of personality through the cult of beauty. Maybe it is time to see more down-and-dirty Armitage? Sunday-morning, bed-hair, dirty tracksuit kind of pictures. As it stands, I suspect that we would even worship that as a feat of heroicism…

~ by Guylty on July 2, 2013.