In the original story, Radagast the Brown was only mentioned in passing, and did not play a major role in the actual story but The Hobbit films add unnecessary scenes to flesh out Radagasts character and lifestyle. He showed considerable empathy for small and cute woodland creatures, and went to great lengths to save a single hedgehog. It also didnt help his character that his head and hair were covered in bird droppings, which stems from the birds that lived under his hat. This went against the noble nature of the five wizards, and was clearly meant to portray Radagast as a sort of unwashed hippy who cares more about the natural world than his own personal hygiene. There was also a subtle attempt to shoe-horn a joke about smoking and calming the nerves. Whether this was a truly effective use of Rasagasts character, or just a subliminal message for the benefits of smoking certain things remains open to debate, but the added focus for the character was certainly unnecessary.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
