A couple of weeks ago I was sitting through the obligatory stream of coming attractions to which movie theaters subject their patrons. It was the montage of gratuitous violence, sex and inanity that make up the standard fare from the factories of Hollywood.

However, one of the coming attractions stood out from the others. It was the trailer for "The Return of the King," the last installment of the enormously successful Lord of the Rings trilogy based on the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. What was shocking about this trailer was that it had the audacity to proclaim that there could be no victory without personal and communal sacrifice.

That message stayed with me because it seemed so out of place in comparison to the messages of the other movies that were previewed that night. In fact, this message stuck in my mind because it is so contrary to our cultural ethos.

Our modern cultural ethos proclaims that we can have our cake and eat it, too. We truly believe we can be victorious without giving up anything. We believe we can have a consumption-driven economy and preserve our environment. We believe we can have universal health care and low income taxes. We believe we can win the war on terror and not reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The problem is that we ultimately can't have our cake and eat it too, but we simply don't want to admit it and our leaders don't have the backbone to tell us the truth. The reality is that cultural change can only come at the cost of the demythologization of the American Dream and we are not ready to give that up. We have lost the vocabulary of sacrifice.

Our modern cultural ethos also tells us that we can succeed on our own. We believe that we can live isolated lives and make personal choices which have no ramifications for our wider communities. We believe that every man is an island. We are living in a depersonalized and fragmented culture. We have been seduced by the flattering lips of technology. We are creeping toward realizing the prophecy of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451," where people don't talk anymore and don't know their neighbors, but instead choose to interact with a virtual family displayed on wall-sized television screens.

Here's where the Lord of the Rings can teach us a few things. Its plot is driven by the self-sacrifice of each member of the community or, as Tolkien refers to it, the "fellowship." Each member sacrifices for the other members for the greater good of Middle-earth.

While the entire trilogy is built upon this theme, there is one particular scene which displays it most vividly. This scene occurs at the conclusion of the first movie, "The Fellowship of the Ring" when Frodo realizes that he must bear the burden of the ring alone and he leaves the fellowship by boat.

As his boat begins to drift away from the shore, Frodo's friend, Sam Gamgee, hurriedly pursues him by rushing into the water. Frodo beckons him not to follow, but Sam will not relent and continues to chase Frodo even though he cannot swim. Sam is eventually overcome by the waters and begins to drown only to be rescued by the hand of Frodo. After Sam recovers, Frodo asks him why he did such a foolish thing. Sam replies that he made a promise to protect the life of his friend and he meant to keep it at all costs.

This encounter brought to my mind a verse from the New Testament, which might have been in the back of Tolkein's mind as well: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13, King James Version).

Perhaps in the bustle of this holiday season we can learn a lesson from the Lord of the Rings. ("The Return of the King" opens Dec. 17th, by the way.) Perhaps we can learn about victory through sacrifice in the context of community.

Perhaps fantasy can lead us into a better reality. After all, it's not often that our culture produces a film that reveals a strategy which can lead to its own demise.