Daily Dialogue — September 8, 2016

Gollum: We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!
Smeagol: [shaking his head] No. Not master!
Gollum: [snarling malevolently] Yes, precious, false! They will cheat you, hurt you, LIE.
Smeagol: Master is my friend.
Gollum: You don’t have any friends; nobody likes you!
Smeagol: [closes his ears with his hands] I’m not listening… I’m not listening…
Gollum: You’re a liar and a thief.
Smeagol: No.
Gollum: [sinister whisper] Murderer.
Smeagol: [voice breaking; hurt by Gollum’s remark] Go away!
Gollum: “Go away?”

Gollum laughs mockingly as Smeagol begins to cry.

Smeagol: [weeping] I hate you. I hate you.
Gollum: Where would you be without me, uh? gollum, gollum… I saved us! It was me! We survived because of me!
Smeagol: [stops crying] Not anymore.
Gollum: What did you say?
Smeagol: Master looks after us now. We don’t need you anymore.
Gollum: [appalled] What?
Smeagol: Leave now, and never come back!
Gollum: No!
Smeagol: [louder and firmer] Leave now, and never come back!

Gollum snarls in frustration.

Smeagol: LEAVE! NOW! AND NEVER COME BACK!

Gollum is silent; Smeagol waits.

Smeagol: [looks around; then begins galumphing around with joy] We told him to go away… and away he goes, Precious! Gone, gone, gone! SMEAGOL IS FREE!

— The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), screenplay by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Stephen Sinclair & Peter Jackson, novel by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Argument, suggested by Mark Twain.

Trivia: Andy Serkis was pitched the role of Gollum by his agent, who rang him up and asked him if he wanted to do three weeks’ voiceover work in New Zealand. However, Peter Jackson was so blown away by Serkis’ audition that he decided to have him perform the movements for Gollum as well.

Dialogue On Dialogue: What better way to visualize Gollum’s divided self than to show two warring aspects of his psyche engaged in a heated argument.