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I had a feeling someone would cite "the artist is dead" (aka death of the author). But need I remind you, it is a literary concept, not fact. It might be accepted by a majority in the circles of literary criticism, but that doesn't make it something that is somehow sacrosanct and unquestionable...

Again, they are different for a variety of reasons, some of which I mentioned above. But another key difference: the Peter Jackson films are adaptations of literary works; Rings of Power is one step further removed, as not only adaptations, but new creations. And furthermore, the creators of SW...

What you say here sounds good on face value, at least at first, but ignores the reality of the artist, and the relationship of the artist and their art - that someone created something out of their own imagination. For an artist, their work is an extension and expression of themselves - of their...

Blech...yet another Hollywood remake. They act as if there is nothing new to make, whether books that have never been brought to film, or creators with fresh ideas. It is remake after remake. It smacks of creative bankruptcy. And I agree that the charm of Barbarella is that it epitomizes a...

Not overtly, no, though I think some of the discussion has veered in that direction, as if Middle-earth is just another property that is being developed in a similar way as Star Wars or Star Trek (see the post above for my differentiation). That said, I do see some similarity to the Star Wars...

I don't disagree, though would mention that there is a difference between the Bible and Tolkien's works. The former is a compilation of thousands of years of stories, while the latter is the creation of a single author. But I completely agree that what we do with Tolkien's work/art - be it...

Well, it depends upon what you're talking about. As I said, there's Tolkien, then there's our own individual reading of Tolkien - our own version, be it a One Ring campaign or our own imagination when we're reading it (e.g. what the Balrog looks like to me might differ from what it looks like to...

So I guess you don't believe that art is anything other than entertainment? Or that an artist's creation isn't their own, but somehow turns into pop culture? Sure, there are many interpretations of Starry Night or Beethoven's 9th, but there is only one "true" (or canonical) Starry Night or...

I think the issue I have is the idea that anyone other than JRR can make canonical LotR. They can't. It is his world, his creation. I'm not suggested that you are saying otherwise, though I've seen elements of this thread's discussion veer into places where new elements of Rings of Power are...

I think this is true to a point, though I don't think Tolkien ever implied that the Valar were unreliable in their depiction of creation, or that the stories of the Silmarillion were just versions of what happened. I mean, I can see a One Ring campaign taking that approach, but if one reads the...

A bit more on the The Silmarillion. In many ways, it truly is the "Bible of Middle-earth." Not just because it presents the mythology, but because it is a limited slice of a much larger body of stories. I'm not a Biblical historian, but as far as I understand it, both the Old and New Testament...

OK, fair enough. Relatively minor fare, though. And I'm not sure if Tolkien was certain about the humans > orcs lineage, or if he was just considering it. Having read his Letters a couple times, I was struck by how he endlessly fiddled with stuff until his last years. I mean, well, that's...

Yeah, but that's not what I said or did. No reason to make unnecessary conflict. To use your metaphor, I see it more like you saying that you don't like food that is "fishy" and then I suggest maybe you don't like seafood, and now you're mad that I'm telling you I know your opinions better than...

My understanding of the The Silmarillion is that Christopher Tolkien tried to present a representation of his father's overall work, so the versions within it are the latest that JRR had developed. So it isn't as much "cobbled" as it is a "representative anthology." It isn't complete, but it...

Took me a second to remember what this was about. Anyhow, are you saying that you do like grimdark? And I don't see how that is "insulting." Weird. Of course GoT isn't immune to criticism, and I agree that there were lots of problems with the later seasons (e.g. the rushed culmination of the...

The idea of the Valar "withholding critical information" from Gil-galad implies that they are allies within a shared conflict. That's not really how things worked. Even the war vs Morgoth wasn't really participated in by the Valar. A few Maiar joined the fray, or at least lived in Middle-earth...

Except Tolkien didn't really employ unreliable narrators - especially Gandalf. And I don't see a world in which a gap in his books is filled out by a tv show ("space for development"). Anything the tv show adds is akin to Star Wars' Extended Universe...it isn't canonical to Tolkien's Legendarium...

This thread is living proof that D&D is different things to different people. As it should be.

This, but with a slight alteration ;)

From another thread.... I do agree with you - that it is lacking the "spirit of Tolkien" to a degree that I personally find prohibitive to my enjoyment - and this seems to be a common sentiment among Tolkien diehards. Meaning, I think there is a strong correlation between serious Tolkien fans...