Daily Dialogue — October 14, 2015

WITCH KING: Fool, no man can kill me. Die, now.
EOWYN: I am no man.

— Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Cross Dressing. Today’s suggestion by Will King.

Trivia: In the book, Eowyn rides into battle with the Rohirrim, taking Merry with her, but without revealing her identity to them or the audience. Instead, she is disguised as a character who calls himself “Dernhelm,” and only reveals herself in the battle when she takes off her helmet to show the Witch-King that she is a woman. In the film, Merry and the audience are always aware that it is Eowyn. The filmmakers made this change because they felt that, in a visual medium, it would be difficult to conceal her identity, and because not recognizing her would make Merry look like “the stupidest Hobbit on Earth.”

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “Not sure that Eowyn fits the usual idea of cross dressing. In cross dressing films, it seems to be more common that men play the roles of women; much less often do we see women playing men’s roles. In this scene, Eowyn, clad as a soldier, is not playing a role, but rather fighting along side he father and neighbors as an equal. And her gender plays the most important part in her battle: she can kill the Nazgul because she is ‘no man.’”