The book is better than the movie.

That’s what readers tend to lament. Sometimes it’s true and sometimes it’s not. I’m almost finished re-reading my favorite trilogy since childhood. While I did like Peter Jackson’s early 2000’s take on Tolkien’s masterpiece, there were some fundamental differences between the cinematic world and the one we find in books. Mostly, those differences are character interpretations. (For those familiar and who care, Aragorn should have been confident from the beginning and less trope-y, Faramir should have been way less sinister, and Eowyn’s badassery was way more complex than her simplistic portrayal in the movies. She’s one of my favorite characters.)

The main gripe I have with the movie is their portrayal of hobbits as things to be rescued.

Yes, hobbits need help along the way. This is true of all great leadership. No leader leads unto themselves.

But hobbits also stab Nazgûl and fight cave trolls. There is a courage about them that defies reason.

Leadership and courage walk together on the path to Mordor.
Courage isn’t the lack of fear.
Courage is overcoming fear and doing the right thing, no matter the cost.

That’s what leadership does.

Leadership is not for the faint-hearted.
Courage is required.

Leaders overcome fear and stab Nazgûl, knowing it might be the last thing they do. But knowing the last thing is the right thing inspires everyone around you to do the right thing.

That’s what leadership is all about.