Amazon has invested $1 billion in The Rings of Power, their streaming series. This prequel to The Lord of the Rings was viewed more than 25,000,000 times, making it the most-watched streaming series on Amazon.
But the series failed to impress Elon Musk. The “richest man in the world” believed the author of the LOTR fantasies, J.R.R. Tolkein, would have been unhappy with the way the series portrayed male characters.
Tolkien is turning in his grave
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2022
Galadriel is, as you may recall from the original LOTR, the elf queen of the forest. She appears to be a warrior-queen with Amazon’s Rings.
Variety:
Some of the “Lord of the Rings” fandoms is upset with the show for turning Galadriel, played by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy as a serene and regal elf, into a full-blown action hero. Galadriel is played by Morfydd Clark in the Amazon series. Clark previously defended her interpretation of the character.
“I would say that her serenity is hard-earned,” Clark told Variety. “I don’t think you get to that level of wisdom without going through things. She actually speaks about [how] with wisdom, there is a loss of innocence, which was a really good thing for me to find in the lore. Because, like, how young are you when you’re still thousands of years old? So it was thinking of what innocence she lost during this time.”
Undeterred, Bezos did some cheerleading.
Go Middle-earth!https://t.co/SbJrAJ05mw
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) September 3, 2022
An entertainment project that is based upon a beloved literary work will be naturally criticized. Critics also note that The Rings of Power contains racist aspects.
NBCNews:
Tolkien was not a fervent racist, like H.P. Lovecraft. However, it is clear that Tolkien didn’t advocate for racism as much as H.P. Sauron (the evil wizard) is often associated with the dark. Orcs were his cannon fodder, humanoid degenerate animals that live only to fight and hate. Tolkien described them with broad eyes and sallow skin. They are degraded, repulsive Mongol types who were (to Europeans), the least beautiful.
Elfen (technically, half-elven characters), Arwen and Elrond have dark hair and fair skin.
Is it racist for literature to be “associated with darkness?” They are shaming us.
The evil answer is no, they’re not. This fallacious thinking has been a staple of racialism since Malcolm X noticed the definition of “black” and “white” in the dictionary and declared society evil for describing “black” as “dark” and “white” as “good” and “pure.”
I’ve not had time to stream the series but I did read reviews and I plan to watch the first few episodes. I’d be happy for characters other than black or white to be seen as representatives of all the sins committed by the white race.
It’s a fantasy for God’s sake, Chill.
