The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power

My partner is a Tolkien fanatic. She can probably tell the color of his socks on any given day.

I have rarely seen her so upset about something. So me, as a casual, just adopt that notion and practise being silent.
 
This series can be described by three words: Hot Woke Garbage.

  • The showrunners only claim to fame is that they wrote one of the scripts from Star Trek Beyond. They are also straight from the stable of Jar Jar Abrams, the cinematic anti-Christ.
  • Amazon used to hire the pre-eminent Tolkien expert Tom Shippey as a consultant. They fired him and replaced him with a blue haired nose ringed self proclaimed expert who goes by her Twitter handle Bitch Queen of Angmar.
  • The creators are saying they want to write the novel that Tolkien didn't wrote. No dill holes, Tolkien wrote what he wanted to write and he KNEW what he wanted to write. It didn't involve black elves or dwarfs. And not because people of different colors didn't exist in Middle Earth. He plotted out exactly how the peoples of Middle Earth developed and migrated to every corner of that world. If there are aren't any people of color in that part of Middle Earth it was by Tolkien's design. He was after all interested in creating a mythology for England, not one for Africa.
  • Tolkien's work has been out there for 70+ years and its been translated into probably every language in the world. People of all colors, genders and creeds have liked it just fine. Until a bunch of narcissists came along who feel that every character on screen should be like them or else they will throw a hissy fit.
  • If Bezos wanted another Game of Thrones then he should have hired Mr. Martin to write him one. As he will probably never finish the original GoT series. Tolkien's work is not Game of Thrones. Stylistically its completely different and turning it into GoT does a great disservice to Tolkien.
  • If you expect this series to be like the movies you will be sorely disappointed. Why was the Peter Jackson Trilogy so good? Because he had 3 large books to adapt, he could use Tolkien's stories and dialogues. The great speeches you enjoyed? Straight out of the books. Why was the Hobbit trilogy so mediocre? One small book was not enough material to fill 3 movies with, like butter being scraped over too much bread. Why did the final seasons of GoT sucked so hard? No more books to adapt. This entire 5 season series is based on 150 pages of appendices. It's just histories, lineages and footnotes. No stories to adapt, nor greet dialogues or speeches to adapt. And written by the guys who wrote the script of Star Trek Beyond for god sakes! And consulted for correctness by some weirdo who calls herself the Bitch Queen of Angmar!

If you think this series will be good, I'm sorry but there are more red flags here then the People's Republic of China's 70 year anniversary parade of 2019. They are dangling nostalgia keys in front of you. Remember the Lord of the Rings movies? dangle dangle. Remember how awesome they were? dangle dangle

Tolkien's work is sacred nerd text. Any man who spends his entire life working on a fictional world, mostly for his own amusement, is the supreme Emperor of all the nerds. Any nerd can relate to that kind of dedication and the desecration that Amazon will unleash on this world, coming after the desecrations of Star Wars, Star Trek and Doctor Who, no greater insult to nerd dom could Amazon's chrome domed CEO commit. And for that they should insert his phallic shaped rockets up his ass. Pardon my crass language, mods, for I am beset with rage.

“Evil is not capable of creating anything new, it can only distort and destroy what has been invented or made by the forces of good.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
 
Don't get me wrong, I'd love more Lord of the Rings content out there but I think Tolkien would be rolling in his grave with this. I'll still check it out of course
 
Still there is a chance it is based in the Silmarillion, we’ll see it in September anyway, no reason to thrash it yet. Most Tolkien work outside the Hobbit and LOTR has been indirectly manipulated, to some degree of extent.

Anyway that is what his grand son thinks:

 
bishop5150 said:
I'm excited about this. Big fan of the movies and I really enjoyed what Prime did with their recent "The Wheel of Time" series.
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That you are a big fan of the movies is the reason you won't like it! Negative reaction has been so bad Amazon has been pulling some of their videos on Youtube.
 
USMC_Trev said:
I agree. It would be better if they used more of JRRT’s original work, like The Silmarillion or The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and so on.
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I'm lukewarm at best on this happening, as well, but to be fair, this series is the result of Amazon buying the rights to the Appendices. And part of the deal, along with $250 million, was contractually mandated oversight by the Tolkein Estate, so it's not like it's based on nothing Tolkein.
 
Imagine if Cliff called anyone who is not happy with the Virtual Capo in the FM3 a racist,etc. That's what Amazon is actually doing to the Tolkein fanbase.
 
I don't get the animosity towards the trilogy years ago and even the hobbit trilogy? They were movies , made for entertainment. If you expect\want word for the book, then read the book. The movies were very successful for a reason. People liked them. Yes the hobbits weren't near as good or polished as the LOTR's but still was entertainment. I stopped critiquing every little detail many years ago. either I watch it or I don't. Pretty simple.
also am looking forward to it as "entertainment". Not history. If I don't like it I won't continue to watch it.
Pretty simple.
 
I have an example, for myself of Amazon movies good and bad.
I liked the original movie (not an Amazon movie) entitled Hanna starring Saoirse Ronan. Even bought the DVD. Then Amazon made a series out of it. I watched the 1st season (included with Prime). It was ok, not great, not like the movie. I didn't watch the following seasons. Just didn't do it for me.
OTOH, I enjoyed Future war, or whatever the title was (Amazon movie) I am a scifi person and I thought the concept was pretty neat-
Also enjoyed The widow, (Amazon series) starring Kate Beckinsale-she is one of my fav ladies on screen.
 
Cooper Carter said:
I'm lukewarm at best on this happening, as well, but to be fair, this series is the result of Amazon buying the rights to the Appendices. And part of the deal, along with $250 million, was contractually mandated oversight by the Tolkein Estate, so it's not like it's based on nothing Tolkein.
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I will say that it’s hard to get a full handle on what this series is actually based on. That said, their handling of the Tom Clancy stuff they’ve done and the liberties they’ve taken there has me concerned for the degree of fidelity they’re willing to take with anything.

I’d have to actually read The Man in the High Castle to see how badly they butchered that, if at all. You just never know….
 
Stratman68 said:
I don't get the animosity towards the trilogy years ago and even the hobbit trilogy? They were movies , made for entertainment. If you expect\want word for the book, then read the book. The movies were very successful for a reason. People liked them. Yes the hobbits weren't near as good or polished as the LOTR's but still was entertainment. I stopped critiquing every little detail many years ago. either I watch it or I don't. Pretty simple.
also am looking forward to it as "entertainment". Not history. If I don't like it I won't continue to watch it.
Pretty simple.
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You’re clearly not one of the generations of kids who had read these books and we’re dying for decades to finally have movies made of them. Those books and the stories in them are far more personally held by them than what your post here indicates you could possibly imagine. This is literally messing with peoples childhoods. People actually feel violated when the book they loved and lived in in their formative years gets turned into a joyless cash grab by Hollywood.
 
USMC_Trev said:
You’re clearly not one of the generations of kids who had read these books and we’re dying for decades to finally have movies made of them. Those books and the stories in them are far more personally held by them than what your post here indicates you could possibly imagine. This is literally messing with peoples childhoods. People actually feel violated when the book they loved and lived in in their formative years gets turned into a joyless cash grab by Hollywood.
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No I am not. I also don't get the life wrenching reaction to a BOOK that is FICTION. Key word is fiction. I read books all my life and still do. Plenty of fiction, as in, Imaginary or NOT true. Love wizards, scifi and fantasy. My fav stories. Still read them. Sorry but none of them shape my life.
Shaped your life?
Sorry, just plain silly to me.
 
Stratman68 said:
I don't get the animosity towards the trilogy years ago and even the hobbit trilogy? They were movies , made for entertainment. If you expect\want word for the book, then read the book. The movies were very successful for a reason. People liked them. Yes the hobbits weren't near as good or polished as the LOTR's but still was entertainment. I stopped critiquing every little detail many years ago. either I watch it or I don't. Pretty simple.
also am looking forward to it as "entertainment". Not history. If I don't like it I won't continue to watch it.
Pretty simple.
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Well said! Some people are so deeply invested emotionally in things that really have nothing to do with them personally.
That's why it is so personal, and they make asses out of themselves publicly when they feel attacked and victimized because
someone did something to their "sacred" text to defame its legacy. ;)

Makes you wonder about who and what they are not emotionally investing in that maybe they should.
 
Stratman68 said:
No I am not. I also don't get the life wrenching reaction to a BOOK that is FICTION. Key word is fiction. I read books all my life and still do. Plenty of fiction, as in, Imaginary or NOT true. Love wizards, scifi and fantasy. My fav stories. Still read them. Sorry but none of them shape my life.
Shaped your life?
Sorry, just plain silly to me.
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Ok cool, so just because you don’t get it doesn’t mean it’s not a real thing for other people who aren’t you.

I‘m saying that as someone who has not read a single thin page of the source material. I just know of it, and I get the passion people have for it, as I understand the vast numbers of other people who share immense passion over other books, so much so that they will organize in their billions on specific days to celebrate that content, in buildings created solely for that purpose. Such is the power of fiction.
 
USMC_Trev said:
Ok cool, so just because you don’t get it doesn’t mean it’s not a real thing for other people who aren’t you.

I‘m saying that as someone who has not read a single thin page of the source material. I just know of it, and I get the passion people have for it, as I understand the vast numbers of other people who share immense passion over other books, so much so that they will organize in their billions on specific days to celebrate that content, in buildings created solely for that purpose. Such is the power of fiction.
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OK, perhaps you are correct. Sure, it could be true for many. That does NOT make it right or beneficial. But the VAST billions you speak of make me think of certain books that are DESTROYING America and the rest of the world. Gosh, wonder what book that is. It has different names in different countries but the end point is always the same. Yes I said that.
Fiction is fiction and should never be confused with or taken as fact
I don't wish to argue or debate this anymore. especially with a fellow Vet, which is something I hold in high esteem.

I do read an awful lot. Every day. But I have, at this stage of my life, decided entertaining fiction is all I want to read. Lt eve Dallas and Memory man are 2 of my favorite types of books, along with sci fi and fantasy............................Couldn't tell you why I never read LOTR's, it fits my "type" perfectly!
 
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As a longtime Tolkien fan (going back to my early teens 40 years ago), I can't not watch the series, but I'm checking my expectations at the door. Just like with their Wheel of Time adaptation, there are other agendas besides honoring the original work. Surely making money is foremost, but part of that is likely appealing to a younger and broader demographic.

I don't fault them for that, but I wish they would create some new properties/stories instead of altering an original and long-treasured milieu. I've accepted that the Peter Jackson LOTR trilogy is about as good as we'll ever get. Even Peter and his team couldn't pull it off twice. I don't hate the Hobbit movies, but they definitely wandered quite far from Tolkien's original vision. That's probably what makes it most frustrating - it's possible to mostly honor the original work and have a very successful franchise.

That said, I imagine they'll have a successful show, whether the longtime Tolkien fans are happy or not. They've already proven it's possible with Wheel of Time.
 
^^^Excellent points. Jackson set the bar about as high as you could. Everything after was bound to be some kind of
let down.

Also, catering to a new generation is not just selling out. It is also keeping the Flame of Tolkien alive for a new generation.
Heck, maybe a smarmy rendition will inspire some people to read Tolkien's catalogue. How could that be bad, even if
it does upset some of the faithful in the process?? :)
 
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