Peter Jackson was refused by Turkish court’s attempt to determine whether or not Gollum from the "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit” franchises is good or bad.
Dr Bilgin Çiftçi is accused of insulting the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after he shared an image comparing Mr Erdogan's facial expressions with the fictional character.
The Turkish court overseeing the case ruled this week that a committee of experts should assess whether Gollum is good or bad before it could weigh in on whether Ciftci had committed a crime.
Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit director Peter Jackson and screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens released a statement on Wednesday, December 2, Entertainment.
“If the images [in question] are in fact the ones forming the basis of this Turkish lawsuit, we can state categorically: None of them feature the character known as Gollum. They revealed. All of them are images of the character called Smeagol.”
Lawyers for Çiftçi originally intended to defend their client with arguments of freedom of expression, reports the Associated Press, but the court has instead demanded that experts assess the character of Gollum to judge whether or not the comparison is truly insulting.
"Smeagol is a joyful, sweet character. Smeagol does not lie, deceive, or attempt to manipulate others. He is not evil, conniving, or malicious -- these personality traits belong to Gollum, who should never be confused with Smeagol," Jackson, Walsh and Boyens added. He is not a tyrant, but rather full of love. For this reason, people all over the world liked this character.”
According to a report from BBC News, the case involving Çiftçi has now been adjourned until February, but the doctor has already lost his job in Turkey’s public health service.
On Thursday, Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in the film franchise, said on Twitter that the case as a whole was "horrifying".
