The fun thing about the internet is you have no idea what could suddenly go viral, and crazy things can go trending just by accident. This Christmas season though, a new trend has popped up on the timeline where fans are suddenly putting together memes of The Lord of the Rings with 2011’s Moneyball starring Brad Pitt.
Here are some of the memes coming out:
"Elrond, his legs are short, he's a defensive liability, and I question whether the sword speed's still there."
"The legs are short. We'll be lucky to get six battles out of him. Why do you like him?"
[Elrond snaps fingers and points to Arwen]
"Because he gets to Mordor." https://t.co/IZjTYNOko4 pic.twitter.com/hLQ9vB3Gj6
— Joshua Tait (@Joshua_A_Tait) December 27, 2023
Elrond: Walking into Mordor isn't that hard, tell em Bor.
Borimir: it's incredibly hard. https://t.co/UXcNcv2V2K pic.twitter.com/XEqnqbgXWf
— mark ferrera (@markferrera1) December 27, 2023
“I like Samwise, could be a good ring bearer”
“Hasn’t made a move on Rosie”
“So?”
“That means no confidence, plus he’s a little thick on the waist” https://t.co/QiYs9sE4uJ pic.twitter.com/LmZWuDoAoP— Charlie (@charlie_stew98) December 27, 2023
"Billy, this is Gimli, son of Glóin. He's an able warrior, and at 139, he's in the prime of his career. The downside is he's racist, but I think he could overcome that by the end of the season…" https://t.co/zDs7UCUTLZ pic.twitter.com/nqxtAtUsZx
— Not the RTÉ News (@notthertenews) December 27, 2023
Gandalf might be gone, but we might might be able to recreate him in the aggregate, Gollum's IM percentage (in Mordor) is the highest in Middle Earth, I don't care if the scouts say he has a weird voice, I just care if he gets into Mordor https://t.co/3U3Ye46Ccx pic.twitter.com/1cGgLSGG8I
— Myles (@rizzlerofcook) December 27, 2023
https://t.co/KnGCFZ5QPi pic.twitter.com/gp8UsJIz32
— Jake From Snake Farm (@realSnakeFarm) December 27, 2023
The joke essentially started with @ToLey88 joking about Saruman criticizing Elrond for putting together a fellowship which consisted of four hobbits. This was then used to come up with the premise of Elrond putting together the fellowship based on stats a la Moneyball.
Elrond putting together the Fellowship roster https://t.co/Ov5cQT7Iiz pic.twitter.com/bVe4aYsNS8
— QQ (@HeylKatme) December 26, 2023
Just in case you haven’t checked out Moneyball, the movie (written by Aaron Sorkin) is based on the real-life story of Oakland A’s manager Billy Beane as he assembles a baseball team based on player’s statistics. Essentially, since the team couldn’t afford any ace players, they decided to do the math and hire cheaper players who may not be great all around, but could add up to one good player. The trailer simplifies the concept:
Nobody could have predicted that the Moneyball and Lord of the Rings franchise would suddenly have something great to joke about on Twitter; and during the Christmas season no less.
Twitter is awesome because I don’t know anyone irl who exists in the middle of the “Moneyball” and “LOTR” Venn diagram, but in here you have a bunch of people riffing on a joke I didn’t even think could exist https://t.co/jcSI4KYIDJ
— Zora Neale Thirstin' (@illnessideology) December 28, 2023
We don’t know what kind of crossover is in store for movie fans down the line, but after Barbenheimer and this LOTR/Moneyball meme, I can’t wait to see what franchises could come together next.
