The Rings of Power

[Magical Realist]

OMG! I finally broke down and started binge-watching Amazon Prime's The Rings of Power. I am in hog heaven! Which is to say I'm living in Middle Earth again, as I did in 1978 when I subversively passed around The Lord of the Rings to all my friends at the Christian boarding school I was attending. What a joy to return to that magical world again via an elegantly-crafted and thoughtfully-written and sublimely-scored TV series..

[Image: 5pBratH.jpeg]

[Magical Realist]

Season 2 of The Rings of Power started yesterday. I watched all 3 episodes in one sitting. Can't wait for more!

[C C]

Season 2 of The Rings of Power started yesterday. I watched all 3 episodes in one sitting. Can't wait for more!

I thought it would be season 3 by now, but I guess last year's writers/actors strike put a dent in it. Heck, after that and Covid it feels like the new norm for every cable/streaming program will continue to be a year-and-a-half to two years, to get out a new season. Due to the last four years, the industry learned that viewers will put-up with any amount of wait.

And the number of episodes per season has been dwindling for two decades, from 13 or 16 back in the old days to eight or six now (with four looming on the horizon). US paid television is just a stone's throw away from matching the slowness and scarcity of installments that British television audiences have enjoyed for ages.

[Magical Realist]

I'm going to binge watch The House of the Dragon soon. They have two seasons already. Season 1 has 10 episodes and Season 2 has 8. If its anywhere near as good as GOT I will be hooked on it as well.

[C C]

Looks like I'll go ahead and wait until all five seasons are completed. The ratings are starting to sink, and given that this is the most costly television series ever made, Amazon Prime might cancel it after the third season -- or more likely, wrap it all up very quickly and sloppily with a couple of episodes in a severely abbreviated fourth season.

At least Amazon isn't Netflix, though. My gosh, those people will cancel any series on a cliffhanger and a dime's notice, no matter how high-profile and celebrated it is. Never watch a Netflix financed series until the originally planned number of seasons is actually fulfilled.
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Ratings drop
https://youtu.be/I701aIHy9b8

VIDEO EXCERPT (Jon Del Arroz): "The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power" reportedly suffered a 50% decline in viewership compared to its Season 1 premiere. Now the numbers are way worse than this.

It was difficult for viewers to slog through [...due to...] their little identity politics games they played with everything. And then trying to humanize Sauron and turn him into something good. It's just something that is insulting to Tolkien readers.

[...] The stuff we've seen in season 2 ... with the humanizing of the Orcs. Here's Nerdrotic making fun of this scene where the Orcs just want a safe place to raise their kids. To be evil and practice their own corrupted form of life in peace. 

Really ridiculous. This whole scene with the Orcs, trying to show them as good family people under Sauron. They're just migrants, my friends...

[...] They attempted to say why they were doing the humanization of the Orcs [...] "We feel like this goes straight back to Tolkien."

Okay, look -- just lie to fans directly. This is not how Orcs exist in the Tolkien world at all.

They claim you get these blips of moments in the books where the Orcs are kind of on their own, and they're saying, "Hey what if one day there could be a place just for us? We could have our own little land, and our own little cottage by the sea."

And they're just trying to have the American Dream, guys -- the white picket fence. 

Oh, God, this is so cringey, so to speak. Where they have dreams, they have aspirations, they just don't want to be mindless killing machines. Except for Orcs, they are mindless killing machines. That's literally what they are...

[Magical Realist]

It was difficult for viewers to slog through [...due to...] their little identity politics games they played with everything.

Right.. progressive values subtext underlying everything now. Strong women, african american elves, and sensitive orcs. So what? I just go with the pure entertaining experience of it. I don't look for political metaphors to get all upset about.

[Syne]

So, not a fan of Tolkien so much as a fan of having your values echoed back to you.

[Magical Realist]

So, not a fan of Tolkien so much as a fan of having your values echoed back to you.

I was reading Tolkien before you were born. But I also appreciate and enjoy the creative embellishment possible in film versions of literary works. I find inclusiveness of all humans a generally good move in all the arts just as it is in business. Just like restaurants welcome people of all races and genders. Don't you?

https://screenrant.com/lotr-rings-power-...daptation/

[Syne]

I'm not sure what nearing retirement age has to do with it, but thanks for affirming my guess.

Personally, I think women and minorities deserve to have wholly original stories, especially ones that actually highlight their uniqueness, rather than co-opting existing white or male stories in cookie cutter fashion. Don't you think they deserve to have stories that are truly their own?

[Zinjanthropos]

I find inclusiveness of all humans a generally good move in all the arts

Personally I prefer historical accuracy, especially in film. Wouldn’t expect to see a black Chairman Mao for instance. Fictional characters…..I don’t care but even that has its limits, like a dwarf in the role of a giant, unless it’s comedy. Except we’re not supposed to laugh I think. The narrative then, must be to watch a movie or TV knowing and respecting the fact these are just actors while totally ignoring any resemblance to anyone living or dead.

How far does this go? Is it wrong to change a set, like changing an African village to look like Mayfield? No part of a film is subject to being factual or what’s considered normal. It’s all make believe anyway. I think Hollywood will do whatever it takes to make money.