The Drama, Hate And Indifference Surrounding Amazon's 'The Rings Of Power'

A few episodes have now aired of Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and the verdicts are in. It is undoubtedly one of the shows of all time.

The actors are acting and the director is directing. One might even say the producers are producing. It is, undeniably, something you can watch.

It’s impossible to deny that this is a series many people are watching. At the same time, many people are not watching it. Some are liking it. Some are not.

It feels like a statement of the obvious, but the truth is, I have never before seen a television show that I have had less of an opinion on — and many viewers have the same opinions as me, naturally holding out any form of judgment due to our expectation that we’re going to be handed a Game of Thrones esque ending. When it happens, it’ll be infuriating, regardless of our detachment from this show.

The appeal of this show is difficult to describe because I’m not convinced there is any. I’m also not convinced that there isn’t any. No one really asked for a Lord of the Rings prequel series, but it’s here, so of course, it’s going to be divisive.

If you’ve read The Silmarillion and you’re familiar with J. R. R. Tolkien’s lore, you’re probably going to be disappointed. But I’m not watching this show out of a duty to the franchise and books. I’m watching this show because some Redditors told me not to. If you’re like me, you just might like it. Might.

Some people are boycotting the show entirely. Lots of people who hate Rings of Power are being accused of bigotry for “disrespecting the diversity” of the show, and while some are indeed upset about people of color starring in major roles, most people who hate the show really could care less about that, and hate it for a multitude of other reasons.

Their reasoning is varied, with some refusing to watch it because it was released on the day of Tolkien’s death, like a metaphorical desecration of his grave. Others were just left feeling weird and uncomfortable for reasons they can’t describe after watching the trailers. Some people are just confused by the fact that Sauron looks like Eminem (if it turns out this character is actually the Dark Lord at all).

Many people are angry about Galadriel’s role too. In the original lore, many argue she’s nothing like how she’s portrayed in the series (though others say she was described as a leader in wars). She’s already married, isn’t a warrior, and as far as we can tell, she’s a lot like the Galadriel we’re used to from the original Lord of the Rings.

Even if you don’t care about her role or depiction changing, she’s not exactly a likable character in the show so far according to many. But then again, every character in this show is basically a hollow shell lacking in personality to the many of us who haven’t formed an opinion.

Amazon’s role in this series is also a cause of controversy. After all, they’re creating the most expensive series of all time, with this season costing about a billion dollars to make.

Things were bound to get weird and a little desperate with marketing. Many of us have tried opening the Amazon app to buy some sort of essential item only to be blocked out by a clip of the trailer, which just feels like a malicious marketing tactic to most.

So far, it’s not a good show. It’s also not a bad show. It’s got some cool special effects and scenery, but I honestly don’t remember anything that’s happened in the two episodes I watched.

I do wish this show could make me feel something, anything other than a desire to uninstall the Amazon app. But for now, we’ll just have to embrace the online controversy and see where this series goes.

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