The
chapter begins with Gilsdorf on a plane en route to New Zealand to experience
the locations where Middle-earth is depicted as. He explains that he is looking
forward to speaking with others who traveling to New Zealand for similar
reasons. His ultimate fantasy would be interviewing Peter Jackson, the director
of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Gilsdorf
claims this trip will be a pilgrimage of sorts, walking in the same places that
hobbits and elves walked. Ethan meets Paul and Kelly while waiting for the
plane and finds out that they are both fans to the trilogy as well and Paul has
a connection to Peter Jackson. He also explains how the Rings trilogy made New
Zealand a popular tourist destination for people who were inspired by the
films. Hoping to be an extra on the Rings set, Ethan has to settle with a Lord
of the Rings tour of Wellington in which he sees many of the iconic sites of
the movie and even catches a glimpse of Richard Taylor. Ethan eventually
ventures out by himself, taking side roads and using his movie location book.
On
the fourth day of his trip, Ethan goes to Hobbiton Movie Set where remnants of
the filming could still be seen. His excitement is almost uncontainable as he
recites quotes from the films as he passes the exact spots they were spoken.
Exhausted from the Rings tours, Ethan decides he wants to see the “real”
Middle-earth and finds that he is falling in love with the real New Zealand.
The
following day, Ethan goes to Arrowtown where one of his favorite scenes was
shot. He also meets Ian Brodie, the author of the guidebook he was using, in a
Fighter Pilots Museum. Brodie tells Ethan of fans who complain that they can no
longer see much of the movie, but he explains that before the movies, fans had
to use imagination for everything so this was like a dream.
By
Alexander Ravan
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