Crossovers!

[gaudior]

An interesting thing about West Wing/Lord of the Rings is that Sam is not the equivalent of Sam. Charlie is the equivalent of Sam.

Here is how I think it goes:

Frodo: Jed Bartlett
Sam: Charlie
Gandalf: Leo
Aragorn: Toby
Boromir: Mandy (remember her?)
Merry: Josh
Pippin: Sam
Legolas: C.J.
Gimli: ...Ainsley Hayes is the closest, but it would actually be "that person (probably female) who comes in on the opposite side of C.J., but with whom she bonds and they get close and they are both awesome." This would be Ainsley if Sorkin were better at writing Republicans, I deeply believe.

Other people:
Faramir: Donna
Mordor: All of America's enemies
Saruman and his people: the Republicans. I'm not sure where White Supremacist groups go.
Denethor: Vice-President Hoynes? The relationships don't work, but it's the right role.
Not sure about Theoden (Lord John Marbury?), Eowyn, and especially Gollum. You'd think that, what with him being my favorite character, I would be able to think of someone for Gollum. In terms of the role he plays in the story, honestly this may be Abby Bartlett. But she's so the-opposite-of-slimy! Hm.

--R

Comments

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. Can you split this into two posts and make the West Wing/LotR one public, so I can link my best friend to it?

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

Huh. Sure!

[sovay]

This would be Ainsley if Sorkin were better at writing Republicans, I deeply believe.

What is she as it is?

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

I don't know! Tolkien didn't write the "really smart but horribly insecure character who switches back and forth between devastating and ridiculous based on the needs of the plot"! Barliman Butterbur, maybe?

[jedibl.livejournal.com]

Justification for Aragorn = Toby? This seems just WRONG to me. If nothing else, Toby just does not have Aragorn's charisma.

Also, I'm getting cognitive dissonance on Merry = Josh and Pippin = Sam. Reversed seems slightly better... but still not right.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. The hotness of Viggo Mortensen aside, I don't think I consider Aragorn as particularly charismatic. Strong personality, yes, and principled; he was followed because he advocated boldly doing the right thing and fighting for what you believe in. I think this fits well with Toby.

[londo.livejournal.com]

Who else on the West Wing cast would personally charge the Black Gate?

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

Aragorn: older, experienced, battle-scarred, grim, cares about the people under his command but not overly affectionate. But a really good guy.

My reasons for the two younger ones is: Pippin is youngest, sometimes with a great deal of youthful enthusiasm. Merry is a little older, a little more level-headed, and has more terrible things happen to him (getting shot by white supremacists=falling under the Black Breath).

[londo.livejournal.com]

Who's going to write the Danny/Legolas slash?

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

...

!!!!

Not. Me.

I would totally read it, tho...

[londo.livejournal.com]

I want John Marbury to be Tom Bombadil, which is a bad mapping but might be the best possible for either. Not sure what to do with Bruno or Joey. If, for Eowyn, you're looking for a character who's surprisingly badass, grievously wounded while doing the impossible, notable for feminism, and has a strong relationship with Merry-I-mean-Josh, there is sort of an obvious choice.

Theoden is the Democratic Party. Not necessarily the actual voters, but the Party. Gandalf (Leo) awakes them from their slumber and they wish they could be as inspired as Aragorn (Toby). Also:

Down fear of Ritchie! Arise, electors of the Democratic Party! Attack ads shall be aired, press releases will be issued! A sore day, an election day, 'ere the sun rises! Vote now! Vote now! Vote! Vote for ruin and for Jed Bartlet!"

[juldea.livejournal.com]

♥

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

Down fear of Ritchie! Arise, electors of the Democratic Party! Attack ads shall be aired, press releases will be issued! A sore day, an election day, 'ere the sun rises! Vote now! Vote now! Vote! Vote for ruin and for Jed Bartlet!"

You are awesome. Theoden can totally be the Democratic Party, and I agree about Marbury/Bombadil.

Also, I realize that, only being in the middle of Season Two, there's a lot that characters will do that I haven't yet seen, so maybe the equivalencies will come clear? Joey as Eowyn, then? Or someone I haven't met yet?

[londo.livejournal.com]

The Eowyn thing I mentioned will become obvious in time. Whether you'll agree or not is another deal, but...

If Joey maps to anything it's ... Galadriel? I dunno.

I have a lame mapping for Gollum, but it only sort of works and I'd need to argue for it and you haven't even met that character yet. Also in order to really nail Gollum you have to get the full arc, so it wouldn't become obvious why until close to the end of the series.

BTW, the series gets dramatically less good after season 3, which is to say it falls to "better than most things on television."

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Dude. You are... words fail me.

This is the most disturbing notion I have had brought to my attention since the riff in james_nicoll's journal a while back arising from a comment in a canadian newspaper article about most contemporary Canadian high school students seeing the US as some sort of cross between Mordor and Hazzard County; Legolas and Gimli in the General Lee works for me.

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

Grin. Glad to disturb!

I haven't actually seen Dukes of Hazzard even enough to get the reference-- should I?

[goat-girl.livejournal.com]

"This would be Ainsley if Sorkin were better at writing Republicans, I deeply believe."

Incorrect. This would be Ainsley if Sorkin were better at writing women.

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

Yeah. But he's trying so, so hard...

[breadandroses.livejournal.com]

I will ponder this whole list when I'm more awake,but I firmly believe that Sam is, in fact, Leo. Leo's got impressive abilities to pull rabbits out of hats, but I think his strongest personality trait is devotion.

[daharyn.livejournal.com]

I'm way late to the party (rysmiel pointed me at this some time ago), but I'd be curious to hear what you think after finishing seven seasons. There are so many people listed here where I'm like "but, eh [character x] who first starts showing up in [season y] is a better fit because..."

(Also, I know that for half of WW fans it's sacrilege to say anything against Aaron Sorkin, but the writers for seasons 5-7 were just better at writing female characters. They just were. I'd disagree with an earlier comment--the season doesn't get less good after S3. It does, however, become a fundamentally different show. I'm just one of those strange fans who liked the second half just as much as the first.)