How the trilogy has aged badly
There were many interesting criticisms that surfaced throughout the process rings of power series, particularly by fans of Tolkien’s original works who have argued that the Amazon show does not accurately represent Tolkien’s writing, lore, or characters. But many other fans who enjoyed the modern rendering of Middle-earth argued that it actually highlighted some of the shortcomings of Tolkien’s books, some of the more problematic elements that have aged poorly, both in their written form and in the Peter Jackson film adaptations .
Although the Lord of the rings Books and films are a much loved and still highly regarded trilogy for many wonderful reasons, including the camaraderie between community, nature’s power over war, and Frodo and Sam’s love that conquers all and allows them to be the one Destroying Ring there are undeniable elements in Tolkien’s stories that don’t hold up in modern times.
It’s important to note that The Hobbit was published in 1937, and the Lord of the rings Books were published in 1954 and 1955 respectively. It is therefore easy for Tolkien lovers to argue that they are products of their time and that they were in no way intentionally written in a pejorative manner towards any particular people or subject, but merely reflected the societal beliefs of the 1950’s. and the lived experience of a man who saw much suffering and death during the First World War. However, there are definitely things marked in the stories that are not kosher with today’s world beliefs and clamor for positive change in global society. The first and probably the most hotly debated issue is that of representation.
The protagonists of Tolkien’s books and later Jackson’s film adaptations in the early 2000s are almost exclusively white and do not embody the wide diversity of race, ability, sexuality and gender that should be celebrated in our modern 21st century. Although there are several different races of Middle-earth, such as elves, dwarves, hobbits, etc., for the most part in the stories they are portrayed as a homogeneous white-skinned majority, especially when it comes to the heroes of each of his works. And all that differ from that, like the races from the east, like the Haradrim and the Easterlings, are overwhelmingly evil supporters of Sauron’s war, which unfortunately perpetuates modern problems like the exclusion of minority groups and the political divide between the perception that the western culture is somehow better than eastern.
rings of power tried to fix some of these problems by having characters from the Southlands among the most admirable and loyal, like Bronwyn, who has all the qualities needed to make a Tolkien hero, and Arondir, the elf who lives by her side fights and tries to help her protect her people from the orc attack of Adars Uruks.
The Amazon series also sought to increase representation in other areas of intersectionality, including how the series addresses Miriel’s blindness in a positive and powerful way. However, it is also very important to avoid symbolic representation within these modern representations of ancient works and move towards authentic genuine inclusion. This is also frequently addressed in Tolkien’s criticism when discussing his portrayal and portrayal of women in the stories and subsequent film adaptations. Both Eowyn and Arwen had epic battle scenes cut from the films, and depictions of Galadriel’s powers often felt overdone and unrealistic, whereas the rings of power Series focused on their strong female rulers and leaders.
There are also several lengthy plot devices, pacing choices, and random events that help the books and films translate poorly to the modern publishing climate and narrative complexity. This involves a slow introduction to the narrative rather than the action-packed hookline of modern writing and media, a criticism also found by many rings of power Series that disagreed with why the slow burn of the first series works.
Then there’s the use of seemingly random characters who pop up and make great contributions as if they were crucial to the story and then are never seen again, such as Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. This creates the perception of performative characters that have no real function other than to demonstrate something cool about the lore or the makeup of the world.
And along with this needless complication, there are many places where the stories are oversimplified, such as the very clear good versus evil in the stories, which works well in terms of narrative but very much lacks a moral gradient that modern audiences have become accustomed to. Especially when it comes to successful villains, another area Rings of Power has tried to improve on by giving Sauron more of a backstory that leaves viewers wondering if he’s inherently evil or if he could think of a better way if Galadriel had joined Halbrand is to rule Middle-earth.
https://gamerant.com/lotr-trilogy-aged-badly/ How the trilogy has aged badly
