I guess freedom of speech doesn't go very far in Turkey. But I don't think there is any question that it is an insult, and that Gollum is only the "real hero of the series" in a very accidental way. Gollum might be pitiable, but he is undoubtedly evil, in all his incarnations.
ETA: Thanks to bringing this to our attention. I had not seen it before.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
From the article: "Insulting the president is a crime punishable by a prison sentence in Turkey, with more than 200 people investigated for "insulting the head of state" between August 2014 and March 2015."
Seriously??
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
Interestingly, the Telegraph article has a readers' poll on whether Gollum is evil or good, and the "evil" vote was less than 10% ahead when I checked.
The fact that insulting the head of state was made an offense is more concerning to me than anything else in the article. Was this made so by Erdogan, or was it the case before?
Erdoğan's 'Gollum insult' a mistake, says Lord of the Rings director
Tolkien film-maker Peter Jackson says images, which led to trial of Bilgin Çiftçi, depict only benign character Sméagol
“Sméagol is a joyful, sweet, character. Sméagol does not lie, deceive, or attempt to manipulate others. He is not evil, conniving, or malicious
Tell that to Déagol. Oh wait, you can't, because he was murdered by Sméagol!
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Yes, I was going to edit my post to make clear that I appreciated Jackson's efforts to help the cause of the defendant. But then the power went out, and just came back on.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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