Sam: We may yet, Mr. Frodo. We may."
-The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
I sure do love my Star Wars franchise. It's by far my favorite movie series. I've seen Episode VII, The Force Awakens, nine times now over the past two months since its release on December 18. Yes, I'm a special kind of nerd. In my eyes, it's a wonderful sequel and a cinematic triumph.
To those who know me, none of this is surprising news in the least.
Followed very closely behind my love for the Star Wars movies is that of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, adapted from the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit prequel trilogy of 2012-2014 was good but not great. However, the LOTR movies are masterpieces, and they improve for me upon each subsequent viewing, extended edition or not.
My favorite character in the films, hands down, is Samwise Gamgee, played by Sean Astin also of Goonies and Rudy fame. Samwise the Brave is exactly the kind of best friend everyone wants, and his qualities are manifest in many of those I'm lucky to have in my life.
I'm not ashamed to admit that his speech to Frodo at the end of The Two Towers tugs at my heartstrings every time. Over the past week, I've thought more than once upon his words:
"Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo . . . and it's worth fighting for."
This is deep on so many levels, and I honestly don't remember how much of it was written by Tolkien in the books and how much was penned by the screenwriters. As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, I find lessons in these words that I need to be reminded of when times get dark and things may look hopeless, as they often did to Frodo with the burden he carried.
When I, like Frodo, feel like "I can't do this," I need Sam's voice in my head reminding me that this challenge is "only a passing thing, this shadow." That whether or not I want the difficulty I face, I face it nonetheless ("we shouldn't even be here, but we are"), and I do not do so alone. That the sun "will shine out the clearer" on a better day. That "even darkness must pass."
Whoever wrote the words, they are beautifully put. Thank heavens for the brave Sams who help me along my journey.
