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?

[sovay]

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

What is she as it is?

[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.

[londo.livejournal.com]

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

[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!"

[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.

[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.

[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.)