How at a time of stress, turmoil, and Good vs. Evil in the real world... LOTR approached those ideas in Middle Earth. It was about perfect how these came out when the did. It was a chance for us to escape our lives and enjoy a story of uplifting.

Also, how these movies delve into the human psyche... all of us have pieces of Frodo, Sam, Smeagol/Gollum, Eowyn, etc... in our beings.