I always say that everyone needs a friend like Sam and they should strive to be a friend like Sam. There is nothing “gay” about loving your friends deeply.
Letter Tolkien wrote to his daughter after CS Lewis died: So far I have felt the normal feelings of a man of my age-like an old tree that is losing all its leaves one by one: this feels like an axe-blow near the roots.
I’m so glad that you point out how they dont share a sexual love, only the original bond of genuine and powerful friendship. People these days spend so much time “shipping” and pairing characters across a variety of relationships and bonds, we’ve seen a diminishing of people who acknowledge just simple yet strong friendships.
Completely agree. There is a lack of love in current day society for a myriad of reasons. Often times people gravitate to the most extreme forms of love and project that (to fill a void usually). They project this a lot with male characters (and ironically fetishize gay relationships) and do it to the point of annoyance.
Yep. Fandoms shipping has grown worse, the lmk fandom litterally ships every character that breathes. No this is not an exageration, I mean random side characters as well as the main.
Its because many people have very little real idea or concept of what a romantic loving relationship is and what a close friendship is. Or what a relationship of any kind is. When "love is love" supposedly means sex is love and when people have sex so casually they confuse so many shallow things for love then the whole concept of what a relationship is in the first place is confusing (there is not really any standard apart from physical touch) especially when you put the whole "everything is relative" idea into it. Then people just define relationships how they want to (fantasy fetishes basically).
"Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam." "Now mister Frodo you shouldn't make fun, I was being serious." "So was I." That is what Frodo gives Sam, acknowledgment, praise & faith
Thank you for covering this, I hate the gayification of Frodo and Sam's friendship. Men who go into battle must have a bond of a good friendship to survive.
I think theres more nuance to it that outright rejecting a queer premise but I do agree that the highest form of love in many cases is platonic. Considering that gay men are still men, there is still value in seeing Sam and Frodo as intended: platonic strictly. However, in a similar vain like how a lot of male female platonic friendships turn into romance, you can have the same thing develop in the same fashion. Many of the queer readings of Sam and Frodo'w relationship wasnt to demean the idea of platonicism, since romantic love and affection, even in same or opposite sex relationships, DO still have those innocent things. I think the media analyses on LGBT relationships are getting better at emphasizing this and Ive seen more queer creators turn around and make that distinction. Many gay men like myself have straight friends that I would definitely ride or die for, but only via a platonic way. Bromance is essential in a healthy society. Its just that interestingly enough, if you think about it, a gay love story is a life long bromance (with the sexual veneer of course) . We complement each other but since we're both men, its almost like a life long union or partnership. Eitherway, I do agree in the context of battle and morale, regardless of sexuality, every man needs to have a good friendship. Humans thrive off communal connections.
The number one reason I hate the gay-gaze of their friendship and most friendships between two people of the same gender is because it actually shows gay people in a bad light. It means gay people only get involved with people just to get in their pants and are not capable of platonic love at all with someone of the same gender. That's very wrong and unkind.
@@innitbruv-lascocomics9910 it unintentionally does demean them in frodo and samwise's case. Considering that sam actually has a wife, both are cannonically straight, and with CS Lewis and Tolkiens thoughts on friendship. Shipping them is pretty much going against the whole reason they were created, and erases completely the message those two characters bring.
@dragonsman4733 Exactly. Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic, and inserting a modern view of close male relationships, i.e the view that men can't have close, platonic friendships that go beyond simply meeting once or twice a week to so something, and instead they *have* to be gay is something he would have outright scoffed at and rejected.
@@Aethelhart To be more general, it's the main theme of the Jupiter movement from Gustav Holst's 'The Planets' suite. Holst's suite is where the tune originates from, and it's so good it's been reused numerous times since for hymns and patriotic songs. The movements in the suite depict the planets according to the Roman gods they're named after. Jupiter is the bringer of joviality, hence it makes a lot of sense for Master Samwise to play this theme talking about the value of the joy we get from friendship. And yes, I also loved hearing it :D
"The truest of friendships are so often forged in the darkest and most dreadful circumstances imaginable, and yet they are made for times of tranquility." I think that speaks to the eternal value of friendship and marriage, especially when we get to heaven, a place of tranquility the earth has never seen.
Tolkien basically applies this to everything in the “Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth”. Finrod says that men love things because they remind us of something else. Beautiful but yet somehow a pale imitation. And it’s true. Of what and where we don’t really know. We can guess, hope and believe. We can have faith but we can’t really know for certain. At least not in this lifetime.
This is why, despite every serviceman, former or current, having a seemingly endless list of complaints about the military, we still miss it. The friendships you find in the service are the stronger and fiercer than any you will find anywhere else in life. Even if you couldn't be more different, you still end up loving each other truly like brothers
Tears every time. Sean Astin acted the heck out of that moment, and that music swelling into a full-on rendition of Into the West?! UGH. STRAIGHT TO THE HEART.
I was in a lot of emotional pain the last few years. My best friend was there through all of it; she's been my friend for 12 years now and she's seen me decline. Sam carrying Frodo up the mountain always tugged my heartstrings, but now it makes me cry. She is my Sam. She didn't carry me up a mountain, but she helped me walk through the emotional struggle. Every day, she was there, loving and supporting me. I couldn't have made it here without my Sam.
Pointing out the servant part of the relationship was kind of important and something that I feel gets overlooked for an American audience mainly familiar with the movies.
I remember my grandfather saying "things aren't worse, they're just different." There is epidemic of loneliness in our society, and it always disappoints me when romantic implications are almost automatically assigned to great friendships, but, in the same measure, what may have been called philia we might now call found family. We may not need philia bonds as a matter of survival in the way Plato wrote of it, but with more and more people needing friendship to take the place family bonds because of whatever reasons, found family gives the same love and togetherness that philia does. You're Found Family are the people you want with you "at the end of all things", because things aren't worse, they're just different.
Your introductory comments (and that quote from Lewis) remind me so much of Bonhoeffer’s poem, simply titled “The Friend”, that a certain subset of people find it extremely hard to understand for no apparent reason. In the poem, he represents friendship as “a lovely cornflower” that grows beside productive, life-giving fields (representative of marriage and family), and he comments how friendship, like the cornflower, blossoms seemingly without effort and serves no purpose but to be enjoyed for its beauty. A strange thing it is. Under-appreciated in our modern day.
@@lepoisson3665 as an "eros gay" I completely agree with this view. There is a partnership and platonic role that all humans need, regardless of sexuality. To pervert one love for the other, negates both in their necessary nature for humans. It breaks the necessary boundaries that weve established for our good.
Love this take. I heard a different video recently talking about how lotr fantasy is good because it causes our imaginations to operate. But what makes it good is that, like the best ancient "apokalyptik" literature, it reveals fundamental reality.
And *that* folks is why the end of Return of the King never fails to make me cry at least a little. Master Samwise, another fantastic video. God bless you for just these simple things you're doing like this, reminding us about truer love, or truer friendship, or truer masculinity, etcetera, etcetera. It's a very bright light in this "World filled with sorrow from bleeding edge to bleeding edge" -Moebius N. It's very inspiring and hope inducing to have things like this to remind us
"A true friend shows love at all times And is a brother who is born for times of distress" Proverbs 17:17 My best friend passed away a few days ago and I bury him tomorrow. I have the honor of being a pallbearer. I really loved him and I tried to show him the Tolkien world. We only managed to watch the first 2 movies before he passed unfortunately. Maybe someday I can tell him all about it. He was truly a brother to me. And I will certainly continue to weep till the world's ending. For him and all my departed loved ones. Like Gandalf said "not all tears are an evil." We need more close platonic friendships like this. Especially in the modern western world.
13:32 This was the perfect quote to sum up TRUE friendship and brotherhood and it broke me. I should have seen it coming. But it’s just so perfect. We love despite the inevitable.
12:30 thank you so much for acknowledging this moment, I think it's so powerful in conveying what Jackson couldn't with the Scouring. Those who say the movies miss the point of the original and just give the hobbits a happily-ever-after don't seem able to appreciate cinematic nuance. How can you not watch this scene and feel how bittersweet this return is for them?
It's really a heartwarming and yet somewhat discouraging moment. The hobbits around them have NO idea what happened down south, and they likely never will. But that doesn't invalidate the sacrifice of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. It just deprives them of the hero's welcome they perhaps were expecting (like the one they got in Minas Tirith). Ultimately, however, it didn't matter. They did what they did not for praise or glory but because it was right, and for the love of each other.
@@master_samwise And the sweetness that their efforts preserved the Shire as they remembered. I admit that I wanted the Scouring in there to show the 4 Hobbit's leadership and growth, but I almost think now this scene is better in its humility.
Loneliness in men is on the rise. I feel it. I thought was good friends with some people, people I loved like family before they betrayed all the trust I gave. Now there are people I interact with whom I like, but I'm not sure I could call them friends. These days, it feels like you need a strong shield to protect yourself. Loneliness hurts, but not being vulnerable to betrayal feels like a worthwhile trade. I wish it didn't, but that's the difference between fantasy and reality.
C.S. Lewis did have something to say on that point as well --"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell." Far be it from me to suggest that you should bare your soul to the world based on the advice of a TH-cam commenter that you'll never meet, but to shut oneself up in solitude because it's safer than vulnerability is every bit as hellish as suffering betrayal and severing trust, it it doesn't end up being moreso.
12:26 is my favorite scene in the whole trilogy: 4 people who share in events that others simply can’t relate to… their eyes say it all: there’s this disconnect because of those events; yet a stronger connection with the three other people at the table. They give each other a look; communicating everything without a word before lifting up their drinks to celebrate their fellowship with one another… simply beautiful.
Dude. Why do your videos that cover God of War and LOTR always bring me to tears? Friendships are something that people often forget are a choice. Those choices reflect who we are, and who we may become.
Really loved the video! Fraternity has always been an important thing for me and you did a great job explaining it through Frodo and Sam. Also, amazing choice of background music! I think Jupiter fits perfectly for talking about genuine male friendship for some reason. While I really don’t think there’s any harm in taking a gay reading of Frodo and Sam, I think the “gayification” of their relationship comes more from more people making videos and talking about a gay reading than a platonic one rather than it actually being the most popular way fans view the characters. I think most people know what their intended relationship is. But the great thing about art is that you can extract whatever meaning is important to you from it!
Another great example of brothers is Peter & Harry in Spiderman 2 PS5. Spoilers for the game: at the end, when Peter destroys venom, Harry is finally free but he’s dying. Before Harry passes out, Peter says “I love you”. It wasn’t romance, it was just an awesome family moment. Peter saw Harry as a brother. After this Harry leaves Peter a gift(A new suit) & a message in a side quest: “Hey Pete, I just want to say I love ya man. I hope you like the new Spider suit I made for you.” It was very well done. It did remind me of Frodo and Sam. Also, I am glad that Harry didn’t die in the end.
People seem to have this idea that acts of friendship need to be these big, over-the-top things in order for them to be meaningful, but the smallest of things can show how much someone cares about their friend. Sure, it COULD be Sam carrying Frodo up Mr. Doom. Or it could be Makoto Sunakawa from the anime My Love Story!! who ignores or rebuffs every girl he meets except the ONE girl who is nice to his best friend Takeo.
3 comments I want to make: 1) Great video on an important topic not mentioned much in our society. 2) Love the CS Lewis quotes - his works are some of my favorite to read/listen to when I have the chance. You could do a great video on C.S. Lewis's works, fictional, theological, or otherwise. 3) Is that Marty O'Donnell I hear in the background?
Such a beautiful video. Real stories versus realistic are just so much more inspiring and fulfilling, they make you want to be virtuous and constantly better. That’s not to say that realistic stories can’t be good, Stormlight is a perfect example, but I don’t know if they’re truly as inspiring or impactful
@ChildrenofZaun oh no, i'm not calling you homophobic against ME, i'm calling you homophobic in general based on what you said in your initial comment. hope that clears things up 👍
@ChildrenofZaun you brought up homosexuality when you said "i've seen people who thought they were gay find real love." (my spice tolerance is tragically low. i think cool ranch doritos have a kick to them and i'm not proud. a pad thai at full spice would kill me)
11:11 It is pretty cool that the swing back seems to be happening. "If it's gay to carry my boy up the mountain and cry with him for a journey well done, relief at an impossible task completed, and despair at a death soon to happen, then that's my pookie bear and I'm gay." I have no stats, only anecdotes, but it seems that this has been incorporated into this new generations male friendships to sort of block peer pressure that any deep philia friendship is eros.
13:13 Every time I rewatch the extended edition and I get to the end… I really keep struggling with holding back tears here. Every single time. Sometimes I do hold them back. Sometimes I don’t.
As I grow older and closer to having kids, I have started to reflect on manhood and what it means to me. Stumbling across this channel was such a treat. I especially love your video on God of War and fatherhood. Im not embarrassed to say that I shed a few tears watching that video. Your focus on preaching humility, open-mindedness, restraint, and responsibility is exactly what I believe young men need to hear. Thank you for creating the content you do. You have earned a subscriber for life.
In terms of shipping, which is probably where the "Frodo and Sam are gay" arguments come from, I think it's best to see those friendships as just that, philia. Profound, deep friendship. It should only be romantic (Eros) if the story shows the romance is explicit or gives more than enough subtext to make the natural conclusion obvious. Aragorn and Arwen, Faramir and Eowyn, Sam and Rosie, etc.
I had a boss who, when I told him I loved LOTR, said he didn’t like it because he didn’t like Frodo and Sam staring into each other’s eyes, and I have never been so off-put by a comment like that.
That reference to people in the cubicle engaging in servile work seemed like a nod to Leisure the Basis of Culture. Also if you like Lewis’s The Four Loves and you haven’t checked our Pieper’s masterpiece on Love, you need to get his book Faith Hope Love.
Great video! Reminds me of someone who was clearly in Tolkien's (and Lewis's) mind as he wrote this amazing story, who said: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (Jesus Christ in the Bible, Gospel of John 15:13; and he actually did this to rescue those who believe in him!)
Frodo and Sam's friendship is one of the GOATs, no doubt. Your video is so good, as always! I was most recently pleasantly surprised with the friendship between Raju and Bheem in RRR. Theirs was just such a genuine and great male friendship that was obviously the core of the whole movie. It's a three-hour Tollywood movie, and yet what they do together is compelling for the entire runtime! I mention it here to recommend that movie to anyone haha. But even the topic of male friendships makes it more relevant!
i remember the honest trailer for lotr came out saying to the effect of ''so much manly love, you'll think you're watching broke back mount doom'' and as funny as that was at the time, its kind of disappointing how common the more vain perception of masculinity continues to be, the hunger for sincerity is real and hopefully will pull us closer to being better to each other.
Yes! I agree with every word! True friendship between characters, both male and female, is completely missing from modern American entertainment. It's so frustrating that you can't make a pure friendship between two male characters (or even two female characters) without the shippers coming and saying it's a romance. This is one reason I started watching anime over most American shows. A surprisingly large amount of anime shows have positive, pure friendships between male characters. Here are just a few: Thorfinn and Einar from Vinland Saga, Shin and Hyou (and later Eisei) from Kingdom, Reinhard von Lohengramm and Siegfried Kircheis from Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Ed and Al (who are biological brothers, but the same concept applies) from Fullmetal Alchemist, Kenshin and Sonosuke from Rurouni Kenshin, etc. The list goes on, especially with shonen (made for 12-16 year-old boys) series (which I admit, I have only scratched the surface of). I know that a LOT of anime series tend to drive home messages of friendship. Sometimes it's an equal friendship with everyone (like with Luffy in One Piece), or there is genuinely a deeper friendship between two of the characters. What I mean to say, is if you want to see more positive friendships in entertainment at this time, you should watch some more anime.
Wonderful response. To add on the conversation of pure friendship in anime, I like to mention female friendships as well off the top of my head. Such as Marcille and Falin from Dungeon in Delicious, Akko and Diana from Little Witch Academia, Marnie and Anna from When Marnie Was There Studio Ghibli adaptation and more.
I have several friends that I would give my life for, but I fear they would not do the same, as they no longer speak to me. We haven't quarreled, and I've tried to keep contact, but at some point they either stopped responding completely or responds once a year at best... Though they still smile at me when we meet, I'm afraid they no longer regard me as a friend, as they're never there for me when I need it, and I am left all alone. I've made new friends, but it just happens again and again. My latest close friend invited me to a 2-day cruise ship, only to leave me isolated for most of the journey after having met up with the rest of the group. I tried making contact and arranging for everyone to get together the whole trip, only to get no response, and then to find they'd gathered to have fun without me, never bothering to contact me. I was close to throwing myself off the boat, and when I jokingly mentioned it, my friend told me: "Then do it. I don't care.", and in the months since then she's nearly stopped talking to me, rarely responds to my messages, and never mentions or apologized for the trip. I don't know what to do anymore...
As Master Samwise said, friendship is a gift. Freely given but expecting nothing in return. I am sorry that this person you went on a cruise trip with turned out to be terrible, and not worthy of your friendship. As for the others... growing apart is a common thing, in everyday life. We do not often go through the same trials as Heroes such as Frodo and Sam, and so our bonds can be weaker. Cherish the time you had with them, keep yourself available if they come to you. Continue to seek out others to spend time with, and know that the last person you spoke of is an outlier and not the norm.
Can you please make a video about male/female platonic love that is not based in a familial bond? Like blood relation or relation by law? Just plain and simple male/female friendship without romantic feelings whatsoever. There are people who claim these relationships are impossible, problematic, or a waist of time.
People forget that a real friendship is THE STRONGEST and deepest bond one can have. A sexual relationship is at the bottom of the fucking list. You can't prostitute a friendship.
The Holy Orthodox Church has the personal yet universal path to love and salvation the modern man so desperately desires. May the Lord God guide you all there. Christ is in our midst! ☦️
I have two friends that I share this with. Two. And I'm lucky. Gayifying Tolkien needs to be met with nothing but utter disdain. And well done with the Dick Winters reference.
Friendships are extremely important to me as an Aromantic and Asexual woman. I do not feel romantic attraction. I do not feel sexual attraction. I never have. So, I have never wanted a romantic partner. I don't really see a point to that type of relationship. I do have a best friend. She is my absolute favorite person, and I love her. My feelings are no less valid just cause there is no expectation that it leads to romance. This feels very validating to me specifically. Thank you. ❤
Hey MS. Recently I have replayed Laika: Aged Through Blood. Also, recently I witness a small discussion about the game's themes. And their opnions felt so out of bounds, it not only annoyed me, but got me to write a few points on it. I might consider trying to write a video on it, but I lack the experience in writting, in editting, and also the equipment to do so. I think you might enjoy the game's theme. Some stuff really resonated in me, and to put it very short, it is about duty, self-sacrifice, motherhood and abuse. So I would like to ask you to consider at least checking it out? Much appreciated for the content.
i also feel like, and this has nothing to do with friendship, it’s worth pointing out that there’s only two hobbits (as the ring really picked frodo) that gandalf handpicked: bilbo and samwise
I hate the notion that a romantic relationship is always seen as the pinnacle of relationships. Just because you’re romantically attracted to someone, doesn’t make e relationship inherently more valuable than friendship or family. I really don’t like the ‘more than friends’ saying. I understand where that comes from, but to be a good friend, to have been friends for years and just feel comfortable around that friend, comfortable because you know what to expect and comfortable because you can actually share deep conversations and things that trouble you. That’s super valuable.
How would you like to tackle Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit discussing what he got well and what he didn’t? I’d like to suggest this as a video idea.😊
I understand why people queer read Frodo and Sam. When you’re desperate to see something of yourself somewhere in beloved media, in beloved characters, who wouldn’t think “hey that’s a little bit gay maybe,” and I don’t think that’s inherently immature. That said, what I do think is immature is fandom’s general propensity to ship absolutely everything and devalue platonic love and friendship. Of course Tolkien never intended a queer reading, but I don’t think either is necessarily bad. (To be clear, I am personally deeply invested in the platonic friendships of Tolkien’s characters, but I am also queer and understand why those readings come about)
![ปฏิเสธไม่ไหว (Crush on you) - LIPTA feat. No One Else [TEASER MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VC689EgdSIw/mqdefault.jpg)
Bring back genuine platonic male friendships in entertainment.
Screw hyper reality. We need them irl.
Yessir.
And for women
@@ravens-crypt Yes I agree; that too. Platonic friendships in general.
They did that with Luca, but people still called them gay. 😅
I always say that everyone needs a friend like Sam and they should strive to be a friend like Sam. There is nothing “gay” about loving your friends deeply.
Very true. I can envision dying for a dear friend without anything romantic to it.
Letter Tolkien wrote to his daughter after CS Lewis died:
So far I have felt the normal feelings of a man of my age-like an old tree that is losing all its leaves one by one: this feels like an axe-blow near the roots.
I’m so glad that you point out how they dont share a sexual love, only the original bond of genuine and powerful friendship.
People these days spend so much time “shipping” and pairing characters across a variety of relationships and bonds, we’ve seen a diminishing of people who acknowledge just simple yet strong friendships.
Completely agree. There is a lack of love in current day society for a myriad of reasons. Often times people gravitate to the most extreme forms of love and project that (to fill a void usually). They project this a lot with male characters (and ironically fetishize gay relationships) and do it to the point of annoyance.
Agreed. Shippers are one of the worst portions of a fandom.
Yep. Fandoms shipping has grown worse, the lmk fandom litterally ships every character that breathes. No this is not an exageration, I mean random side characters as well as the main.
The "shipping" misses the point so hard
Its because many people have very little real idea or concept of what a romantic loving relationship is and what a close friendship is. Or what a relationship of any kind is. When "love is love" supposedly means sex is love and when people have sex so casually they confuse so many shallow things for love then the whole concept of what a relationship is in the first place is confusing (there is not really any standard apart from physical touch) especially when you put the whole "everything is relative" idea into it. Then people just define relationships how they want to (fantasy fetishes basically).
"Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam."
"Now mister Frodo you shouldn't make fun, I was being serious."
"So was I."
That is what Frodo gives Sam, acknowledgment, praise & faith
Thank you for covering this, I hate the gayification of Frodo and Sam's friendship. Men who go into battle must have a bond of a good friendship to survive.
I think theres more nuance to it that outright rejecting a queer premise but I do agree that the highest form of love in many cases is platonic. Considering that gay men are still men, there is still value in seeing Sam and Frodo as intended: platonic strictly. However, in a similar vain like how a lot of male female platonic friendships turn into romance, you can have the same thing develop in the same fashion. Many of the queer readings of Sam and Frodo'w relationship wasnt to demean the idea of platonicism, since romantic love and affection, even in same or opposite sex relationships, DO still have those innocent things. I think the media analyses on LGBT relationships are getting better at emphasizing this and Ive seen more queer creators turn around and make that distinction. Many gay men like myself have straight friends that I would definitely ride or die for, but only via a platonic way. Bromance is essential in a healthy society. Its just that interestingly enough, if you think about it, a gay love story is a life long bromance (with the sexual veneer of course) . We complement each other but since we're both men, its almost like a life long union or partnership.
Eitherway, I do agree in the context of battle and morale, regardless of sexuality, every man needs to have a good friendship. Humans thrive off communal connections.
The number one reason I hate the gay-gaze of their friendship and most friendships between two people of the same gender is because it actually shows gay people in a bad light. It means gay people only get involved with people just to get in their pants and are not capable of platonic love at all with someone of the same gender. That's very wrong and unkind.
@@innitbruv-lascocomics9910 it unintentionally does demean them in frodo and samwise's case. Considering that sam actually has a wife, both are cannonically straight, and with CS Lewis and Tolkiens thoughts on friendship. Shipping them is pretty much going against the whole reason they were created, and erases completely the message those two characters bring.
Keep your ghoulish porn addiction to yourself, they arent queer and should not ever be viewed as such.
@dragonsman4733 Exactly. Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic, and inserting a modern view of close male relationships, i.e the view that men can't have close, platonic friendships that go beyond simply meeting once or twice a week to so something, and instead they *have* to be gay is something he would have outright scoffed at and rejected.
'Oh God Beyond All Praising' in the background paired with the bittersweetness of Frodo leaving his friends literally made me cry over here
I've been wondering for months what that tune was. Thank you.
@@Aethelhart To be more general, it's the main theme of the Jupiter movement from Gustav Holst's 'The Planets' suite. Holst's suite is where the tune originates from, and it's so good it's been reused numerous times since for hymns and patriotic songs.
The movements in the suite depict the planets according to the Roman gods they're named after. Jupiter is the bringer of joviality, hence it makes a lot of sense for Master Samwise to play this theme talking about the value of the joy we get from friendship.
And yes, I also loved hearing it :D
Yes! That song swelling under the scenes was wonderfully poignant! Well done Master Samwise, well done!
Same thought here! Hallelujah
"The truest of friendships are so often forged in the darkest and most dreadful circumstances imaginable, and yet they are made for times of tranquility." I think that speaks to the eternal value of friendship and marriage, especially when we get to heaven, a place of tranquility the earth has never seen.
Tolkien basically applies this to everything in the “Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth”. Finrod says that men love things because they remind us of something else. Beautiful but yet somehow a pale imitation. And it’s true. Of what and where we don’t really know. We can guess, hope and believe. We can have faith but we can’t really know for certain. At least not in this lifetime.
This is why, despite every serviceman, former or current, having a seemingly endless list of complaints about the military, we still miss it. The friendships you find in the service are the stronger and fiercer than any you will find anywhere else in life. Even if you couldn't be more different, you still end up loving each other truly like brothers
(Sam picks up Frodo on Mt. Doom) I'm not crying. YOU'RE crying!
Tears every time. Sean Astin acted the heck out of that moment, and that music swelling into a full-on rendition of Into the West?! UGH. STRAIGHT TO THE HEART.
Yes, yes I am.
Every damn time.
Not all tears are sad
Nods. "Let's cry together up the mountain."
I was in a lot of emotional pain the last few years. My best friend was there through all of it; she's been my friend for 12 years now and she's seen me decline. Sam carrying Frodo up the mountain always tugged my heartstrings, but now it makes me cry. She is my Sam. She didn't carry me up a mountain, but she helped me walk through the emotional struggle. Every day, she was there, loving and supporting me. I couldn't have made it here without my Sam.
Glad you found someone. May we all be so lucky.
I love a good true bromance!! Not enough of those in our fiction or in our world. Sam and Frodo are a wonderful example
Pointing out the servant part of the relationship was kind of important and something that I feel gets overlooked for an American audience mainly familiar with the movies.
I remember my grandfather saying "things aren't worse, they're just different." There is epidemic of loneliness in our society, and it always disappoints me when romantic implications are almost automatically assigned to great friendships, but, in the same measure, what may have been called philia we might now call found family. We may not need philia bonds as a matter of survival in the way Plato wrote of it, but with more and more people needing friendship to take the place family bonds because of whatever reasons, found family gives the same love and togetherness that philia does. You're Found Family are the people you want with you "at the end of all things", because things aren't worse, they're just different.
Your introductory comments (and that quote from Lewis) remind me so much of Bonhoeffer’s poem, simply titled “The Friend”, that a certain subset of people find it extremely hard to understand for no apparent reason. In the poem, he represents friendship as “a lovely cornflower” that grows beside productive, life-giving fields (representative of marriage and family), and he comments how friendship, like the cornflower, blossoms seemingly without effort and serves no purpose but to be enjoyed for its beauty. A strange thing it is. Under-appreciated in our modern day.
Having now watched the total video, I see that you too have experienced the “everything is Eros and everyone is gay” group. :p
@@lepoisson3665 as an "eros gay" I completely agree with this view. There is a partnership and platonic role that all humans need, regardless of sexuality. To pervert one love for the other, negates both in their necessary nature for humans. It breaks the necessary boundaries that weve established for our good.
Love this take. I heard a different video recently talking about how lotr fantasy is good because it causes our imaginations to operate. But what makes it good is that, like the best ancient "apokalyptik" literature, it reveals fundamental reality.
And *that* folks is why the end of Return of the King never fails to make me cry at least a little. Master Samwise, another fantastic video. God bless you for just these simple things you're doing like this, reminding us about truer love, or truer friendship, or truer masculinity, etcetera, etcetera. It's a very bright light in this "World filled with sorrow from bleeding edge to bleeding edge" -Moebius N. It's very inspiring and hope inducing to have things like this to remind us
"A true friend shows love at all times And is a brother who is born for times of distress" Proverbs 17:17
My best friend passed away a few days ago and I bury him tomorrow. I have the honor of being a pallbearer. I really loved him and I tried to show him the Tolkien world. We only managed to watch the first 2 movies before he passed unfortunately. Maybe someday I can tell him all about it. He was truly a brother to me. And I will certainly continue to weep till the world's ending. For him and all my departed loved ones. Like Gandalf said "not all tears are an evil." We need more close platonic friendships like this. Especially in the modern western world.
13:32 This was the perfect quote to sum up TRUE friendship and brotherhood and it broke me. I should have seen it coming. But it’s just so perfect. We love despite the inevitable.
12:30 thank you so much for acknowledging this moment, I think it's so powerful in conveying what Jackson couldn't with the Scouring. Those who say the movies miss the point of the original and just give the hobbits a happily-ever-after don't seem able to appreciate cinematic nuance. How can you not watch this scene and feel how bittersweet this return is for them?
It's really a heartwarming and yet somewhat discouraging moment. The hobbits around them have NO idea what happened down south, and they likely never will. But that doesn't invalidate the sacrifice of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. It just deprives them of the hero's welcome they perhaps were expecting (like the one they got in Minas Tirith). Ultimately, however, it didn't matter. They did what they did not for praise or glory but because it was right, and for the love of each other.
@@master_samwise And the sweetness that their efforts preserved the Shire as they remembered. I admit that I wanted the Scouring in there to show the 4 Hobbit's leadership and growth, but I almost think now this scene is better in its humility.
Loneliness in men is on the rise. I feel it. I thought was good friends with some people, people I loved like family before they betrayed all the trust I gave. Now there are people I interact with whom I like, but I'm not sure I could call them friends. These days, it feels like you need a strong shield to protect yourself. Loneliness hurts, but not being vulnerable to betrayal feels like a worthwhile trade. I wish it didn't, but that's the difference between fantasy and reality.
C.S. Lewis did have something to say on that point as well --"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."
Far be it from me to suggest that you should bare your soul to the world based on the advice of a TH-cam commenter that you'll never meet, but to shut oneself up in solitude because it's safer than vulnerability is every bit as hellish as suffering betrayal and severing trust, it it doesn't end up being moreso.
Great video brother, Lord God Christ continue to bless you
Samwisw got me crying in the AM lol. Great video man
Can I just say that closing with Holst's Jupiter is entirely unfair, and I am weeping.
Much appreciated. I hope that the people who have never had true friendship don't try to cancal you for denying their favorite ship.
12:26 is my favorite scene in the whole trilogy: 4 people who share in events that others simply can’t relate to… their eyes say it all: there’s this disconnect because of those events; yet a stronger connection with the three other people at the table. They give each other a look; communicating everything without a word before lifting up their drinks to celebrate their fellowship with one another… simply beautiful.
I always found the statement "love is love" incredibly reductive.
It also has a connection to the normalise pedophile movement which is alarming.
Im always wary when I hear it said.
Dude. Why do your videos that cover God of War and LOTR always bring me to tears? Friendships are something that people often forget are a choice. Those choices reflect who we are, and who we may become.
Really loved the video! Fraternity has always been an important thing for me and you did a great job explaining it through Frodo and Sam. Also, amazing choice of background music! I think Jupiter fits perfectly for talking about genuine male friendship for some reason.
While I really don’t think there’s any harm in taking a gay reading of Frodo and Sam, I think the “gayification” of their relationship comes more from more people making videos and talking about a gay reading than a platonic one rather than it actually being the most popular way fans view the characters. I think most people know what their intended relationship is. But the great thing about art is that you can extract whatever meaning is important to you from it!
Another great example of brothers is Peter & Harry in Spiderman 2 PS5. Spoilers for the game: at the end, when Peter destroys venom, Harry is finally free but he’s dying. Before Harry passes out, Peter says “I love you”. It wasn’t romance, it was just an awesome family moment. Peter saw Harry as a brother. After this Harry leaves Peter a gift(A new suit) & a message in a side quest: “Hey Pete, I just want to say I love ya man. I hope you like the new Spider suit I made for you.” It was very well done. It did remind me of Frodo and Sam. Also, I am glad that Harry didn’t die in the end.
God Holst's Jupiter in the background gave me chills. One of the best ceremonial pieces of music.
I know it as 'O God Beyond All Praising' - I had no idea it had an extended edition
The specific melody called 'Thaxted' apparently
There's a reason it's in 80% of my videos.
This is such a powerful video, it deserves so much more than it has gotten already. Strive for meaningful friendships!
Man, I'm only listening to this as I do chores, but without even seeing the scene where frodo leaves his friends at the end it brings me to tears
People seem to have this idea that acts of friendship need to be these big, over-the-top things in order for them to be meaningful, but the smallest of things can show how much someone cares about their friend.
Sure, it COULD be Sam carrying Frodo up Mr. Doom. Or it could be Makoto Sunakawa from the anime My Love Story!! who ignores or rebuffs every girl he meets except the ONE girl who is nice to his best friend Takeo.
That show is so incredibly wholesome! The friendship between Takeo and Suna is just as important as the romance between Takeo and Rinko.
Great video! Platonic friendships are so amazing.
3 comments I want to make:
1) Great video on an important topic not mentioned much in our society.
2) Love the CS Lewis quotes - his works are some of my favorite to read/listen to when I have the chance. You could do a great video on C.S. Lewis's works, fictional, theological, or otherwise.
3) Is that Marty O'Donnell I hear in the background?
Good ears! There's some Halo 2 music in there.
Such a beautiful video. Real stories versus realistic are just so much more inspiring and fulfilling, they make you want to be virtuous and constantly better. That’s not to say that realistic stories can’t be good, Stormlight is a perfect example, but I don’t know if they’re truly as inspiring or impactful
I was getting worried you weren’t going to make a BOB reference, but you eventually delivered!!!! (Great video like always!!)
People can lead fulfilling lives without sex and romance, but they can't do without love. We need more good friendships in our stories.
The music selection in this video is absolutely top notch 👌🏻
Watching again and commenting to assist with the algorithm.
As an aromantic asexual person, thank you for highlighting such an important love that society tends to overlook ❤
@ChildrenofZaun i mean live ur life buddy, glad you figured yourself out, but you're just projecting all of your stuff onto me rn
@ChildrenofZaun the only thing that you said that has anything to do with me is that i love pad thai restaurants
@ChildrenofZaun are you a pad thai hater??? honestly i'm more appalled at you being a pad thai hater than i am at you being homophobic
@ChildrenofZaun oh no, i'm not calling you homophobic against ME, i'm calling you homophobic in general based on what you said in your initial comment. hope that clears things up 👍
@ChildrenofZaun you brought up homosexuality when you said "i've seen people who thought they were gay find real love." (my spice tolerance is tragically low. i think cool ranch doritos have a kick to them and i'm not proud. a pad thai at full spice would kill me)
Thank you. This was one of your best videos yet
Great video. Could you do one examining Elrond and his relationship with Arwen?
Beautifully said - a much-needed reminder. Thank you Samwise
11:11 It is pretty cool that the swing back seems to be happening. "If it's gay to carry my boy up the mountain and cry with him for a journey well done, relief at an impossible task completed, and despair at a death soon to happen, then that's my pookie bear and I'm gay." I have no stats, only anecdotes, but it seems that this has been incorporated into this new generations male friendships to sort of block peer pressure that any deep philia friendship is eros.
There is a reason why the "meme"; "kissing the homies goodnight" is popular.
Men need Friends
13:13
Every time I rewatch the extended edition and I get to the end… I really keep struggling with holding back tears here. Every single time. Sometimes I do hold them back. Sometimes I don’t.
As I grow older and closer to having kids, I have started to reflect on manhood and what it means to me. Stumbling across this channel was such a treat. I especially love your video on God of War and fatherhood. Im not embarrassed to say that I shed a few tears watching that video.
Your focus on preaching humility, open-mindedness, restraint, and responsibility is exactly what I believe young men need to hear.
Thank you for creating the content you do. You have earned a subscriber for life.
The one thing that made Tyler Durden so engaging was that he brough friendship into the Narrarator's lonely life.
Beautiful video. Chills the whole time. I’ve always loved and been moved by the love between Frodo and Sam.
Things like this are why Sam has become my favorite character in Lord of the Rings
Babe, new Master Samwise video just dropped!
How did I miss this video… it seems to answer something I genuinely struggle with and I’m subscribed??
Haven’t even watched the video yet, but the title alone? THANK YOU! You get it 😭😭
One of my favourite videos of yours
What did Frodo give Sam? He gave him the Shire, and Bag End.
Also, yes, that final farewell, the feels, every time. 😭😭
Guy friends! A computer made us roommates in college, that's why we're friends!
Loving that GOW soundtrack in the background
In terms of shipping, which is probably where the "Frodo and Sam are gay" arguments come from, I think it's best to see those friendships as just that, philia. Profound, deep friendship. It should only be romantic (Eros) if the story shows the romance is explicit or gives more than enough subtext to make the natural conclusion obvious. Aragorn and Arwen, Faramir and Eowyn, Sam and Rosie, etc.
I had a boss who, when I told him I loved LOTR, said he didn’t like it because he didn’t like Frodo and Sam staring into each other’s eyes, and I have never been so off-put by a comment like that.
11:30 Never knew C.S. Lewis could roast this hard.
That reference to people in the cubicle engaging in servile work seemed like a nod to Leisure the Basis of Culture.
Also if you like Lewis’s The Four Loves and you haven’t checked our Pieper’s masterpiece on Love, you need to get his book Faith Hope Love.
Great video!
Reminds me of someone who was clearly in Tolkien's (and Lewis's) mind as he wrote this amazing story, who said:
"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (Jesus Christ in the Bible, Gospel of John 15:13; and he actually did this to rescue those who believe in him!)
you got me all choked up…great video dude.
Thank you for this video, it was beautiful! ❤️
Frodo and Sam's friendship is one of the GOATs, no doubt. Your video is so good, as always!
I was most recently pleasantly surprised with the friendship between Raju and Bheem in RRR. Theirs was just such a genuine and great male friendship that was obviously the core of the whole movie. It's a three-hour Tollywood movie, and yet what they do together is compelling for the entire runtime! I mention it here to recommend that movie to anyone haha. But even the topic of male friendships makes it more relevant!
i remember the honest trailer for lotr came out saying to the effect of ''so much manly love, you'll think you're watching broke back mount doom'' and as funny as that was at the time, its kind of disappointing how common the more vain perception of masculinity continues to be, the hunger for sincerity is real and hopefully will pull us closer to being better to each other.
God I love this channel
Sam and Kratos are the best male fictional characters ever created.
Yes! I agree with every word! True friendship between characters, both male and female, is completely missing from modern American entertainment. It's so frustrating that you can't make a pure friendship between two male characters (or even two female characters) without the shippers coming and saying it's a romance.
This is one reason I started watching anime over most American shows. A surprisingly large amount of anime shows have positive, pure friendships between male characters. Here are just a few: Thorfinn and Einar from Vinland Saga, Shin and Hyou (and later Eisei) from Kingdom, Reinhard von Lohengramm and Siegfried Kircheis from Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Ed and Al (who are biological brothers, but the same concept applies) from Fullmetal Alchemist, Kenshin and Sonosuke from Rurouni Kenshin, etc. The list goes on, especially with shonen (made for 12-16 year-old boys) series (which I admit, I have only scratched the surface of). I know that a LOT of anime series tend to drive home messages of friendship. Sometimes it's an equal friendship with everyone (like with Luffy in One Piece), or there is genuinely a deeper friendship between two of the characters. What I mean to say, is if you want to see more positive friendships in entertainment at this time, you should watch some more anime.
Wonderful response. To add on the conversation of pure friendship in anime, I like to mention female friendships as well off the top of my head. Such as Marcille and Falin from Dungeon in Delicious, Akko and Diana from Little Witch Academia, Marnie and Anna from When Marnie Was There Studio Ghibli adaptation and more.
your videos are different and we need it. keep going
No shippers back in those days. Made everything better
6:58 Perfect circle, perfect soldier, while the Halo intro plays. Don't think I didn't catch that.
I have several friends that I would give my life for, but I fear they would not do the same, as they no longer speak to me. We haven't quarreled, and I've tried to keep contact, but at some point they either stopped responding completely or responds once a year at best... Though they still smile at me when we meet, I'm afraid they no longer regard me as a friend, as they're never there for me when I need it, and I am left all alone.
I've made new friends, but it just happens again and again. My latest close friend invited me to a 2-day cruise ship, only to leave me isolated for most of the journey after having met up with the rest of the group. I tried making contact and arranging for everyone to get together the whole trip, only to get no response, and then to find they'd gathered to have fun without me, never bothering to contact me. I was close to throwing myself off the boat, and when I jokingly mentioned it, my friend told me: "Then do it. I don't care.", and in the months since then she's nearly stopped talking to me, rarely responds to my messages, and never mentions or apologized for the trip.
I don't know what to do anymore...
As Master Samwise said, friendship is a gift. Freely given but expecting nothing in return. I am sorry that this person you went on a cruise trip with turned out to be terrible, and not worthy of your friendship. As for the others... growing apart is a common thing, in everyday life. We do not often go through the same trials as Heroes such as Frodo and Sam, and so our bonds can be weaker. Cherish the time you had with them, keep yourself available if they come to you. Continue to seek out others to spend time with, and know that the last person you spoke of is an outlier and not the norm.
@@Akeche It still doesn't change the fact that I miss my friends, but I'll try to remember your words
Friendship is absolutely necessary for survival. _Especially_ in the life of death scenarios early man constantly found himself in.
Anyone of you still waiting for "Momo: a masterclass in 'show dont tell' analysis" video
Thank you Sam, for, in your hubris, trying anyway.
SAMWISE THE GOAT
I think of Samwise Gamgee when I persistently accompany someone when there’s none asking me to.
Can you please make a video about male/female platonic love that is not based in a familial bond? Like blood relation or relation by law? Just plain and simple male/female friendship without romantic feelings whatsoever.
There are people who claim these relationships are impossible, problematic, or a waist of time.
Good idea! Can you think of good character examples? He usually does character or story analysis.
People forget that a real friendship is THE STRONGEST and deepest bond one can have. A sexual relationship is at the bottom of the fucking list. You can't prostitute a friendship.
The Holy Orthodox Church has the personal yet universal path to love and salvation the modern man so desperately desires. May the Lord God guide you all there.
Christ is in our midst! ☦️
The four loves and until we have faces are so good
My filia of your videos Master Samwise is THICCC, love how u explaain everything so well, ur the man.
I see someone has been reading their Nicomachean Ethics.
I have two friends that I share this with. Two. And I'm lucky. Gayifying Tolkien needs to be met with nothing but utter disdain. And well done with the Dick Winters reference.
Friendships are extremely important to me as an Aromantic and Asexual woman. I do not feel romantic attraction. I do not feel sexual attraction. I never have. So, I have never wanted a romantic partner. I don't really see a point to that type of relationship. I do have a best friend. She is my absolute favorite person, and I love her. My feelings are no less valid just cause there is no expectation that it leads to romance. This feels very validating to me specifically. Thank you. ❤
Aw dangit now I wanna watch the trilogy again.
Hey MS. Recently I have replayed Laika: Aged Through Blood. Also, recently I witness a small discussion about the game's themes. And their opnions felt so out of bounds, it not only annoyed me, but got me to write a few points on it. I might consider trying to write a video on it, but I lack the experience in writting, in editting, and also the equipment to do so.
I think you might enjoy the game's theme. Some stuff really resonated in me, and to put it very short, it is about duty, self-sacrifice, motherhood and abuse. So I would like to ask you to consider at least checking it out?
Much appreciated for the content.
i also feel like, and this has nothing to do with friendship, it’s worth pointing out that there’s only two hobbits (as the ring really picked frodo) that gandalf handpicked: bilbo and samwise
Nice vid king, you ever do piccolo cosplay before?
Major Richard Winters is the GOAT
Banger
I hate the notion that a romantic relationship is always seen as the pinnacle of relationships. Just because you’re romantically attracted to someone, doesn’t make e relationship inherently more valuable than friendship or family. I really don’t like the ‘more than friends’ saying. I understand where that comes from, but to be a good friend, to have been friends for years and just feel comfortable around that friend, comfortable because you know what to expect and comfortable because you can actually share deep conversations and things that trouble you. That’s super valuable.
How would you like to tackle Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit discussing what he got well and what he didn’t? I’d like to suggest this as a video idea.😊
I understand why people queer read Frodo and Sam. When you’re desperate to see something of yourself somewhere in beloved media, in beloved characters, who wouldn’t think “hey that’s a little bit gay maybe,” and I don’t think that’s inherently immature. That said, what I do think is immature is fandom’s general propensity to ship absolutely everything and devalue platonic love and friendship. Of course Tolkien never intended a queer reading, but I don’t think either is necessarily bad. (To be clear, I am personally deeply invested in the platonic friendships of Tolkien’s characters, but I am also queer and understand why those readings come about)
Requesting you check out Rezero content again, its another series that, unlike many other Isekai focus on friendships, often moreso than waifus.
They were more than Friends, they were *Brothers.* Today's Culture would turn them into lovers.
Why am I crying on a Friday?