Lord of the Ringlets?

February 24, 2018 10:48 PM

Help me find a half-remembered article that compared hairstyles of different groups in the Lord of the Rings movies to those of 70s-80s rock bands.

I'm watching the LotR movies with my teen daughter. She's very into the story and production, but especially fascinated by the look of the different races & factions when it comes to clothes and hair. Talking over those with her reminds me that years ago (probably around 2002-2004 when the films were new) I saw an amusing piece on the web that drew parallels between LotR hairstyles and those of various bands from the 70s (& maybe 80s). Think Rohirrim & Allman Brothers, Hobbits & Frampton, although I'm not sure those were the exact match-ups.

I've tried searching Google, but all my search terms keep giving me lots of how-to pages on creating hairstyles *like* the LotR ones, or Etsy-ish sellers of decorative hair bands resembling LotR props. Like Gandalf at the doors to Moria, there's probably a "speak friend and enter" solution that I'm missing. If anyone remembers where you might have seen that article, or can suggest better searching techniques, I'd be grateful. I'm seeking this only for my own amusement and memory-buttressing, not as something to add to the conversation with NumberSixTeen.

posted by NumberSix to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

I found a link to this New York Times review right here on Metafilter:

Mr. Jackson apparently feels that the way to keep each of the fighting groups separate in the audience's minds is to provide them with hairstyles reminiscent of 1970's bands. The hobbits all have heads of tossled curls -- they're like members of Peter Frampton's group. Aragorn and Boromir have the long, unwashed bushes of Aerosmith, and the flaxen-maned Legolas has the fallen-angel look of one of the Allman Brothers. (The tubby, bilious and bearded Gimli could be a roadie for any of them.) ''Fellowship'' plays like a sword-and-sorcery epic produced by VH-1. Together, they rock against the forces of Sauron -- the evil wizard who created the Ring that Frodo holds.

I do feel like I remember another piece that was entirely devoted to this idea, maybe on Slate, but can't seem to find that anywhere.
posted by oakroom at 7:30 AM on February 27, 2018

Best answer: Thanks! That text sounds just familiar enough that I'll bet that was it, with elves matching the Allman look better than the Rohirrim. And it was on Metafilter the whole time. There & back again, indeed.
posted by NumberSix at 8:55 PM on March 7, 2018 [1 favorite]