LOTR might genuinely be one of the greatest things humans have ever put on a screen and I’m not even exaggerating. You can watch it as a kid and think it’s about hobbits and swords and this terrifying ring. Then you watch it as an adult and realize it’s basically about everything that actually matters. Power corrupts people and evil usually starts really small..Good people can be tempted and courage isn’t about being fearless. Friendship can literally carry you when you can’t carry yourself anymore. The smallest person in the room can change the course of history. You do the right thing not because you know you’re going to win, but because it’s the right thing to do. Honestly… I think it should be mandatory viewing for kids at some point. Not just “watch the movie” but actually dissect it. Why does Boromir fail? Why can Sam resist what other people can’t? Why does Frodo show Gollum mercy? Why is Aragorn a good leader when he spends half the story reluctant to have power? What happens when someone becomes consumed by resentment, fear, or the desire to control other people? Then make kids apply those questions to their own lives. Friendship, temptation, loyalty, courage, responsibility, choosing who you want to be when nobody is forcing you to choose correctly. There are probably more useful lessons about becoming a decent human being buried in those movies than in half the stuff we make kids memorize in school…and those are learnings and lessons that would stick and could carry you through all of life. My favorite part is that the heroes aren’t these invincible characters either. They’re tired, scared, tempted, and completely outmatched. Half the time they have no idea what they’re doing but they just keep going…. Then somehow Peter Jackson took ALL of THAT and made three epic movies at the same time, filled them with real sets, real landscapes, thousands of extras, incredible music,… and made something that still looks better than movies being made with $200M budgets 25 years later. I really don’t think we’ll ever get another thing like it.