A man may go to jail for two years for comparing Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Gollum from Lord of the Rings on Facebook. But is Gollum tragically misunderstood?
Would you mind being compared to Gollum, the slimy, bulged-eyed backstabber from JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Think carefully about the answer: a Turkish doctor could be facing two years in jail on the basis of how that particular teaser shakes down.
Dr Bilgin Çiftçi appeared in court this week, accused of insulting Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for comparing Erdogan to the movie portrayal of Gollum on Facebook. But in a classic James Pickles-esque “Who are the Beatles?” moment, the chief judge presiding over the case admitted that although he had seen parts of the Peter Jackson movie adaptations, he wasn’t overly familiar with Gollum’s character.
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