Ok but I really love how the LOTR films use colors/costume design to show Denethor’s power over the other characters
Like: every character in LOTR has their own set of Characteristic Colors™. Denethor’s Characteristic Colors™ are desaturated black and grey:
. These aren’t necessarily Gondor’s colors (I’ll get to that in a minute) but they’re definitely his. In The Two Towers’ flashback scene, Gondor’s soldiers are dressed in Denethor’s black/grey, including Boromir:
But when Boromir leaves Gondor– and is free from needing to carefully Perform in front of his father– he starts wearing his own Characteristic Colors™ instead. These colors are royal red, gold and blue:
(Literally wearing your true colors)
Meanwhile Faramir, unlike Boromir, doesn’t wear Denethor’s colors in the flashback. He wears his own Characteristic Colors™, which are brown/green, bc Faramir does not do what Denethor wants him to do…
….until ROTK, when Faramir surrenders to his father’s will and exchanges his characteristic brown/green armor for black/grey armor. It’s like his identity is stripped away
Similarly, Pippin’s Characteristic Colors™ are blue/green:
But when he enters Denethor’s service:
No individual expression allowed
“But black and grey with no accents are Gondor’s colors–” Nahhh I don’t buy Denethor’s anti-color propaganda. When Aragorn replaces Denethor, the first thing he brings back is colorful fashion
Aragorn doesn’t wear black and grey, like Denethor did. He wears things that merge the black/white of Gondor with the sort of royal red/blue/gold of Boromir’s characteristic colors
And so at last the tyranny of Denethor’s drab fashion sense was ended
I know this post is slightly cracky but I go feral every time I think about this because Aragorn is not only removing Denathor’s color tyranny with his fashion choices, he’s also honoring Boromir with them! As op pointed out, Boromir wears red/blue/gold when he has the choice, and when Aragorn becomes king, he does the exact same thing in almost the exact same pattern, that is, red shirt, blue vest, gold accents. He adds the white tree embroidered on top of it because of course, he’s riding into battle with evil incarnate, he’s going to wear his colors like a shield and this is his heratige, his family legacy - but it is also Boromir’s legacy!! And Aragorn is honoring and embodying that when he can’t be there himself! Boromir didn’t like Aragorn, and vis versa. Not really. Not until Boromir died defining Merry and Pipin and died in Aragorn’s arms and saw what Aragorn is and represents to their shared kingdom and people, and Boromir goes from “Gondor has no king” to “you are my king” and Aragorn felt that! And I would argue that’s at least a small part of the ferocity with which he goes after Merry and Pipin but that’s a different post And so here, at the gates of what is essentially hell for all intents and purposes, Aragorn is wearing Boromir’s colors to honor the man who couldn’t be - but should have been - there and that just makes me lose my gd mind every time.
