Would the real Middle Earth please stand up?

“Tolkien may have intended The Lord of the Rings as an epic myth for England, but even he would acknowledge … that the world of Middle-earth and the tiny nation of NZ had become inextricably and intimately intertwined.” A lengthy Age feature sums up the impact the LotR phenomenon has had – and continues to have – on NZ national identity. “With the NZ landscape being as big a character as Frodo, the films have become symbols of national pride, have seeped so deeply into the national psyche that the premiere felt more like a celebration of global conquest than the opening of a movie … More than a filmmaker, a national hero – again with the aura of a victorious general freshly returned from battle – Peter Jackson has become so associated with the Lord of the Rings that he almost shares authorship with Tolkien … Jackson and the other producers of the Rings trilogy have created a new high-water mark in intelligent marketing with the way they have maintained the Lord of the Rings brand name over three years in an overcrowded movie market.”