Minardil wrote:Gimli's adoration for Galadriel is very much based on the 'courtly love' model
I think "courtly love" is a good description, but remember that eroticism constrained and denied by the demands duty, the traditions of chivalry, and the limitations imposed by differing stations are a central part of the "courtly love" model. The Knight DESIRES the Queen or at least has romantic love for her, but his duty to the King forbids him from acting on that desire, so he goes on impossible quests and bears her favor and wins tournaments in her honor instead. That sounds like a pretty good description of Gimli's affection for Galadriel.
The argument that Fili is a gorilla and that it is somehow "impossible" for Dwarves and Elves to feel attraction towards each other is just completely wrong.
It's no more wrong than implying that it's a fairly normal thing (which is what PJ's films have done in a way).
Anyway, what completely burns me up about this whole Tauriel/Kili affair is that it was GIMLI who's stance was supposed to be softened toward the Elves, after becoming enamoured of Galadriel and befriending Legolas. It was a major part of Gimli's character arc, and was portrayed (at least in the book) as a thing never before heard of. It's part of what made Gimli a special character. The "three golden hairs" scene on the boat, with Legolas's subsequent reaction, remains one of my favorite parts of the entire LotR trilogy. The Kili/Tauriel nonsense, by contrast, makes me roll my eyes every time I see it. Now people are going to see these films in chronological order and think that Kili, instead of Gimli, was the first Dwarf who was able to overcome millenia of hostility between Dwarves and Elves. They've neutered Gimli's character arc by including this Kili foolishness.