MovieChat Forums > Trolljegeren (2010) Discussion > The Christian thing didn't technically m...

The Christian thing didn't technically make sense...

posted 13 years ago by oddball_oddity-1
56 replies | jump to latest

*spoilers*

Yes, yes- it's in folklore. So are trolls who wear clothes and communicate with people- but the film specifically says to dismiss fairy tales.

Now, things like why they turn to stone, how the co-exist, how they blend in to their environment are all pretty well explained and kept as scientific as possible- which might be why it's so nagging. They make such a point in some scenes to show how their existence can make sense that this one thing singles out as making the least sense.

Faith doesn't change blood chemistry. There's no reason for a troll to tell the difference between Christian music and non. It just seems weird to suck all the mysticism out of trolls and leave that in there.

Don't get me wrong- this movie was awesome, and I definitely laughed at a few of those scenes (like when he blasts the Christian music to distract it), just saying that stood out a bit.

[–] johmoe 13 years ago

What hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread is that one must remember that these stories were written down at a time when everyone in Norway was Christian, perhaps save a very few. So in the original stories, this is not a jab at Christians at all of course, as that would have caused an outrage at the time, but is simply an archaic way of saying they "smell the blood of a human". In one of the fairy tales, a troll says he can smell the blood of a Christian man, but it is said in a manner that makes it into kind of a word of it's own; "Kristenmann", or "Christianman".

This phrase was then taken and transferred to our time by the movie producers, to literally make it about religious views, in order to make something humorous out of it.

This is at least how I see it.

[–] digitalpickles 13 years ago

From my American point of view, I just took the religious theme as a commentary on religion in Norway. Christianity is fading, Atheism is growing toward the norm and the foreign Islam is moving in. From an Atheistic point of view, Christianity, like trolls, is also a fairy tale.

[–] indissoluble 13 years ago

I felt that this was retarded. Do christians release some kind of pheromones or some chemical byproduct in their blood as resultant of believing in Jesus? It's a plot device that did not fit the realism they were trying to establish, and by saying "forget what you know about fairy tales" pretty much set that up. Trolls being able to smell christians....really? Yea, they would have been better off making one of the guys have a bad case of allergies so they could have had the cave scene pretty much intact.

[–] drakkar 13 years ago

Do christians release some kind of pheromones or some chemical byproduct in their blood as resultant of believing in Jesus?

A good idea. You know, it has to be something!

[–] last808 13 years ago

It also doesn't make sense because Hans said they live 1000-1200 years. That's 2 generations of trolls eclipsing the entire history of Christianity. Why/how would they be able to detect Christians that way? It would have taken a while for Christianity to even make it to Norway.

Of course how does anyone know how long they live anyway? That's some meticulous record keeping and troll tracking between generations.

[–] KevBaby 13 years ago

"Of course how does anyone know how long they live anyway?"

Carbon dating?!

[–] KevBaby 13 years ago

Here apparently is the Director's take on including the Christian blood folklore element :

Q. "Trolls can smell the blood of the Christian man! And it's one of the most important bits of troll rules in your film is you can't be Christan, why did you choose that bit of troll legend to play with?"

A. "I don't know it's so ridiculous. And the trolls always say it, they come into someones house in the fairy tale and they say, "I can smell the blood of a Christian man." I had to put that in, I had to make it real. And then you have to explain it because it's a documentary. And how do you explain that. There's actually a scene that we cut that's the Troll Hunter and the Veterinarian that talks about that. They have an argument about whether or not trolls can really smell Christians, she doesn't believe that, [because] she's a vet. She believes in facts. But he's actually seen it. It's a very nice scene, but we cut it."

and later in the same interview : "They're defending themselves mostly and when they smell Christian blood they get very aggressive, it's like holding a red cape in front of an ox. It's that kind of thing. That is also related to the stories. Because it was the Christians that destroyed the trolls powers, so to speak. When the country was Christian in the 13th century the trolls lost all their power over the population, because they weren't worshiping or afraid of the trolls anymore. They stopped believing in them, and then they started hiding out in the forest to avoid humans and being killed."

From : http://io9.com/5799118/know-your-trolls-a-guide-to-troll-science-from-the-director-of-troll-hunter

[–] timlin-4 13 years ago

Yeah, it's dumb. Could have just made the trolls smell blood. Someone gets a nosebleed, one of them has a wound on his shoulder, etc. Pagans would be respectful enough to leave the trolls alone

[–] Promontorium 12 years ago

What if there's some peripheral aspect of being a Christian that draws attention by trolls to their blood? Look at it scientifically, correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

The idea that the trolls are attracted to Christians specifically might not even be true, nor for the music. The expert didn't even know if a Muslim would be a problem or not. He wasn't hired as a scientist he was hired as someone who could go out into the wild and kill trolls. He's not 100% sure about what he does. Take for instance his trapping them in the troll den. He was "certain" they weren't in there, but then double checks with a horn, and then gets trapped when they return. He's not perfect.

But even if it were 100% that purely by faith, and not for example due to long term exposure of a chemical used in preserving pews, these animals sniffed out Christian blood, oh well. It's a slight bit of mysticism mixed in with fantasy.

[–] revrant2394-1 11 years ago

No, he didn't say nothing in fairytales was true, he simply dismissed relying on them.

Perhaps trolls are evil creatures and they can smell and taste a servant of God and want to eat them most, who's to say the reasoning? The film doesn't disperse all mysticism.

zider is a lying pro-Uwe Boll douchebag - Note that.

[–] Degree7 11 years ago

Actually the "Christian Blood" thing does make a bit of sense if you think about it.

There's no evidence that what the troll hunter is saying about Christian blood is true, perhaps the trolls are just attracted to fresh blood in general.

The blood he used on the bridge was fresh and probably excited the troll hiding under it.

As for when they were in the cave, it wasn't the fact that the guy was Christian that woke the trolls up, it was the fact that he BELIEVED he was a Christian, and thus he became nervous and woke the trolls up with his noise.

So most of it can be explained rationally.

Limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief: directly proportional to its awesomeness.

[–] 11 years ago

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