Turkish Court to Decide if ‘Lord of The Rings” Gollum Insults Country’s President

Man faces up to two years in prison for juxtaposing picture of movie character with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

gollum lord of the rings astonishing cgi creations
New Line Cinema

A Turkish court will have to decide whether or not “Lord of the Rings” character Gollum is truly good or bad.

The bizarre decision is part of a case involing Turkish man named Bilgin Ciftci, who faces up to two years in prison after he juxtaposed a picture of the character with a picture of Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ciftci’s lawyer Hicran Danisman told the Associated Press on Wednesday that she was forced to argue that Gollum is not a bad character after her initial freedom of expression defense fell flat.

According to Danisman, the argument prompted the judge in the case to rule that a panel of psychologists and film experts should  provide a detailed assessment of the character.

Gollum, also known as Smeagol, was played by Andy Serkis in the “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” franchises. One of the hallmark characteristics of the character was his split personality between the evil Gollum and the more docile Smeagol.

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