Boromir Explained
Monday, July 13, 2009 at 12:08PM MAD21 By Beth
It has been brought to my attention that many readers will not understand my references to Boromir and Captain Jack. Since they have joined Lara and me on some of our birthday adventures and will continue to do so, for my next article, I will attempt to explain my half of the duo, mainly Boromir.
It all began in 1992 with the release of the movie Patriot Games, based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name. My father had read the book and once the movie was out on video (there were no DVDs yet) he bought it. I was an innocent young girl of 13 or so when I first laid eyes on the character of Sean Miller, as played by Sean Bean, in this movie. An obsession began. Patriot Games quickly became my favorite movie, eclipsing Treasure Island (the one with Charlton Heston and a young Christian Bale *swoon*). I knew the whole movie by heart, could quote all of Sean Bean's lines, in order with a reasonably good Irish accent and even went out and bought the soundtrack. It wasn't just the character of Sean Miller that I loved, I loved the story too. I've always been an action/adventure kind of girl, the twist was, I liked the bad guys more than the good ones. Sean Bean makes an excellent bad guy in Patriot Games and I was head over heels for him, both as himself and especially as Sean Miller, Irish terrorist. I had dreams of being kidnapped by him and the two of us falling madly in love while he terrorized the British and we lived a life on the run. Our first son would be named Patrick, for his brother who Jack Ryan killed. Yeah, I was obsessed.
Still am in fact. To this day, I will see any movie, no matter how bad the reviews or what genre it falls in, if Sean Bean is in it. I love him most as a villain, which he plays so well. I hated him in Black Beauty, he played Farmer Grey, a stand up guy. BORING!!! I will not list all the Sean Bean movies I have seen because that would take too long. Suffice to say, if he is in it, even if it is just a small role, I have either seen it or it is on the list of must-see-before-I-die.
At this point I have to admit something that is painful for me. When the first Lord of the Rings movie came out (Fellowship of the Ring, for those of you who live under a rock) I did not see it in the theater. I had read the book and loved it and I have this thing about books being made into movies; books are better. I've been pleasantly surprised on rare occasions, the Harry Potter films being noteworthy, although I still have issues with them. But I'm usually disappointed and once you've seen a movie of a book, it is hard to get those images out of your head when you re-read, which in the case of Lord of the Rings, I do once a year. Somehow it escaped my notice that Sean Bean played Boromir in that movie until my mother borrowed it from my brother and forced me, against my will (she did that with Band of Brothers too), to watch it. You see, he was never featured prominently in the previews. That part where they're walking over the mountain, through those rocks? You see Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn and Frodo nice and up close. But is my man even seen? NOPE! Anyway, we watched it and loved it so much that we waited in line for hours to see the next two; several times; in different time zones; sometimes alone. And when Fellowship of the Ring was re-released I drove an hour to see it on the big screen since it wasn't playing anywhere near me. Another obsession had begun!
Lara shares this obsession with me. We spend a lot of time watching, talking about, playing trivia games of and genuinely being in love with LOTR. How much better is it for me though, that the man I have loved for 17 years now, was in it!!! No, he's not a "bad guy" in the strict interpretation of the term, he is conflicted, which I suppose is the next best thing. I still love him.
Around the same time as the LOTR movies were out, the Pirates of the Carribean movies came out as well. Lara has always had a thing for Johnny Depp and she acquired a small action figure. But that is her part of the story. Back to Boromir. When Lara got Captain Jack, I was intrigued. How fun would it be to have my own little Sean Bean in my pocket?? I had looked the world over for a Sean Bean action figure over the past decade to no avail. Here was my chance, with LOTR merchandise running rampant in the stores. I bought my little Sean, but kept him in his case for a while, for fear of damaging him. When my mother bought me another one, I opened one and he became my mascot. He does thing with me, goes on trips, movies, dinner and sits on my shelf next to the bust of Boromir I also bought. When compiling the year of the birthday list, Lara and I decided that Boromir and Captain Jack ought to be a part of it, they are a part of who each of us are after all. So the pirate and the man of Gondor have joined us on many an adventure, and will continue to do so until our great great grandchildren lock us up in the loony bin for talking to action figures.
Yes, I am a grown woman of 30 years. Yes, I carry an action figure with me on some trips. Yes, I pose and take pictures of this action figure with other action figures for fun. You got a problem with that?
Reader Comments (6)
There were two parts that made me laugh out loud. Can you guess?
Well one would have to be: "I was an innocent young girl of 13..." There are a few candidates for the second, do tell!!
Is it sad that I can no longer remember what the second funny part was?
...this is what happens after 30.. Aren't you excited for 40? Hee hee.
"No, he's not a "bad guy" in the strict interpretation of the term, he is conflicted, which I suppose is the next best thing. I still love him."
That's funny.
You did not mention that for your birthday, someone made you a photo album that contains more than one picture of him. Do you carry that around too?
I'm glad that you mentioned your publication publicly so I could come read.
*hits self on forehead* I should have mentioned the photo album. It is sitting on my bookshelf next to my bed so I can look through it every night before bed. People might "talk" if I carried it around! Not that that ever stopped me before!! After all, I do carry a doll in my purse!