Rings of Power -- all opinions and spoilers welcome thread.

[trappedslider]

So, with the book( LotR) next to me, and looking at Appendix B The Tale of Years (which is what they can directly use, everything else they can only allude to unless given explicit approval at least that's my understanding of the rights), it's half a page followed by a timeline with no actual details as in "how or why" people did what they did. So, there's wiggle room.

 

[Mercurius]

Speaking more generally....

Culturally speaking, there's always a rush to love (or agree with) the Latest Thing. A lot of this is fueled by PR and advertisement campaigns. Everyone must love the Latest Thing, because...it is the Latest Thing, and is what everyone loves! (Even if it is obvious that a lot of people don't love it).

Big corporations like Amazon want as many people to love their Latest Thing because, well, they've invested a lot of money. So they'll do things like hold back or censor negative reviews, and pay people to write positive reviews. Or worse yet, they'll magnify the number of actual bigoted trolls--who are actually rather few in number--and accuse anyone of disliking the show, doing so out of bigotry (even if their complaints have nothing to do with bigotry), trying to inoculate them from actual legit criticism, and thereby giving the bird to the actual large number of fans who are disappointed, furthering division. Meaning, it is a smear job done by a big corporation of the people that they should be trying to woo.

We've seen this before, though I won't name names. But many of the films that have a huge discrepancy between critics and audience reviews follow a similar pattern.

 

[Mercurius]

So, with the book( LotR) next to me, and looking at Appendix B The Tale of Years (which is what they can directly use, everything else they can only allude to unless given explicit approval at least that's my understanding of the rights), it's half a page followed by a timeline with no actual details as in "how or why" people did what they did. So, there's wiggle room.

Of course there is. I don't think anyone is saying that the show-runners can't craft their own story. I've even seen some say that the show is at its strongest when it is dealing with characters they've created.

I think the complaint is how they wiggle, not that they wiggle.

 

[ART!]

Anyway, some cool info on the pitch meetings and what amazon offered as opposed to netflix

‘The Rings of Power’ Showrunners Break Silence on Backlash, Sauron and Season 2

Two first-time showrunners who landed TV’s biggest series give THR a behind-the-scenes tour as they navigate challenges even scarier than Mordor — from "patently evil" online trolling to massive industry expectations.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

HBO's 3rd Age proposal sounds interesting. It sounds like it would have in part been a new version of LOTR, but serialized over X seasons. As intriguing as that sounds to me, it feels too soon to recast those roles, because of how popular the movies are.

 

[RuinousPowers]

I very specifically said in the response to @trappedslider that fans could love the show. I just don't think that a fan of Tolkien's books could have zero issues with the series. Even if they give it 5 stars, there's bound to be some sort of issue with the changes and liberties taken.

Something I didn't consider, though, is that there are Tolkien fans who have only seen the movies and this show, and they could watch the show without finding any issues, but that's because they are ignorant of Tolkien's style due to not reading the books. They'd only have the warped movies and show to go by, so nothing would feel out of place.

It's only your opinion that it is impossible for a Tolkien fan to love the show without having "issues". I am a fan of Tolkien (read LotR every year at Christmas for the past 30 years) and I don't have issues with the show. I reject your "no true Scotsman" argument.

 

[Maxperson]

It's only your opinion that it is impossible for a Tolkien fan to love the show without having "issues". I am a fan of Tolkien (read LotR every year at Christmas for the past 30 years) and I don't have issues with the show. I reject your "no true Scotsman" argument.

I reject your "no true Scotsman" "no true Scotsman" argument.

 

[Parmandur]

So if you went to a restaurant to have a hamburger(see a Tolkien Rings of Power show) and they gave you a chicken sandwich(The adapted Tolkien Rings of Power show we got) and told you that it really was hamburger that they adapted, because there's no one true way to make a hamburger, you'd be okay with it? Because all we got was a show that was Tolkien in name only. Two minor elements correct(harfoot and dwarf) does not a Tolkien flavored show make.

I would adapt the analogy to going to a restaurant to order a hamburger, and the restaurant pits out a solid burger, but some people raise objections to the shape the Pickles ate cut in (which absolutely can impact their experience, even if the nutritional value is not impacted). Meanwhile others loudly declare that the hamburger on their plate is an eggplant and are demanding that the chef be fired.

 

[Parmandur]

Well there's your problem! You need to talk to Tolkien fans.

Much like @Parmandur's inability to accept 1 star reviews, I do not accept that there a fan of tolkien out there that has "nothing but praise" for what the show has done. I can accept that they like it, and even approve of a lot of it, but not that they have absolutely no issues with any of the changes and/or liberties taken.

I am a Tolkien fan, a big time and widely read one at that: I do not object to anything the writers have done for the sake of their own story.

 

[Parmandur]

I very specifically said in the response to @trappedslider that fans could love the show. I just don't think that a fan of Tolkien's books could have zero issues with the series. Even if they give it 5 stars, there's bound to be some sort of issue with the changes and liberties taken.

Something I didn't consider, though, is that there are Tolkien fans who have only seen the movies and this show, and they could watch the show without finding any issues, but that's because they are ignorant of Tolkien's style due to not reading the books. They'd only have the warped movies and show to go by, so nothing would feel out of place.

Or fans who note the changes, but consider them in the context of this shows independent storytelling.

 

[Parmandur]

HBO's 3rd Age proposal sounds interesting. It sounds like it would have in part been a new version of LOTR, but serialized over X seasons. As intriguing as that sounds to me, it feels too soon to recast those roles, because of how popular the movies are.

It will happen eventually, and Tings of Power actually makes me confidence a show could well improve on Jackson's take.