#I hope Gil Galad is gay and I hope galadriel reproduces asexually like a snail

[ellrond]

Tolkien’s work has always reflected the world - like any great work, it can be related to the time that the reader is living in. The Lord of the Rings, consciously or not, reflected the lives of soldiers coming home from the world wars but never really coming home. His works reflected what he saw - the encroachment of industry on nature, the rise and fall of terrible powers, the ‘triumph’ of the west, etc. To say that it shouldn’t reflect is to say that adaptations shouldn’t evolve.

It is interesting that you refer to the actress who plays Dís as a ‘chick’ and take such a form stance against what she saying, when all she is really saying is that poc deserve a place in on-screen adaptations.

It’s also interesting that you say there was ‘no warrior Galadriel’, when keen readers of the histories know well that she played an active role in the migration of elves from Valinor to Middle Earth - hardly a peaceful process. While it can be argued that by the Second Age she had evolved into more of a diplomat, it certainly is false to say she was ‘no warrior’.

It’s also very telling that the article you have linked was written by an anti-abortion, pro-facist, openly racist, white American man (his Twitter is easily accessible). What is it about Rings of Power that brings out the bigotry in fans? Is it truly a case of being bothered by the deviation of canon, or is it because of the diversity of cast and crew? I couldn’t possibly draw any conclusions.

It just keeps getting worse for the Rings of Power. Here are some cast member/producer statements regarding the show.

She (the chick playing Disa) explained, “It’s their time and it’s so important and I hope many people will see this fantasy and be able to relate to it. This is a reflection of the world we live in, there are many and we are different and we will embrace and discover, and peel back, and learn, and educate, and be educated.”

This show should not reflect our world; it should reflect Tolkien's world. People also have not had a problem relating to it which is why it's one of the best selling fiction works in history. Is this show going to be preachy ("educate and be educated")? People generally don't like being preached at/talked down to and I can't see this going over well.

These cast statements echo what Executive Producer of the series Lindsey Weber told Vanity Fair back in February, “It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of Tolkien’s work would reflect what the world actually looks like.”

It seems to me that the only natural thing to do was to reflect Tolkien's world if you are doing a Tolkien adaptation. Make no mistake, this will not be an adaptation. They will not be telling his story with his characters (there was no warrior Galadriel, Miriel was never queen or queen regent, and they have more original characters listed so far than actual Tolkien characters and that alone is a huge red flag). It will be a veneer of Tolkien so thin that if you barely scratch it, it will disappear.

This is going to be very expensive fan fiction written/produced by people who don't actually seem to be fans. I love fan fic. I write it and read it. I like AUs, modern AUs, smut fics, and other things that vary quite a bit from Tolkien's stories and characters. It's cool to have fun with it and sometimes do crazy things. But, when someone buys the rights to actually use the real thing, I expect a proper adaptation. That doesn't mean you can't take some liberties and make some changes so that the material works better for film/tv, but it should not be so different as to be unrecognizable in character/theme/storyline.

If you watch this as a generic fantasy show, you might enjoy it. I'm not impressed by anything so far. The costumes/props mostly look cheap and like they came from Party City (seriously some of the helmets/armor/crowns look plastic), the elves just look like regular people with pointy ears, and the "not hobbits" (yes, Harfoots are hobbits!) look like they rolled around in dirt/trash and then decided to go on about their day.

One last thing, do you know what the show is supposed to be about based on any of the trailers that have been released? It's called The Rings of Power yet there has been no mention of rings or of their creation. Obviously as Tolkien fans, we have a general idea of what they might cover but you can't tell that from the promotional material alone. If I didn't know anything about Tolkien, I would think this is a world that had been at war, the war is now over and some people think it will be a time of peace and others think more conflict is on the horizon. Also a meteor lands somewhere. I can't work up any excitement for a such a bland, generic plot.