Rings of Power: They have cave trolls

Diversity causes a misplaced uproar among fans says CONSTANTINOS PSILLIDES

Last week, during the Superbowl halftime, Amazon studios dropped the first trailer for its long-awaited series Rings of Power, which takes place in the Lord of the Rings universe, thousands of years before the events of the original trilogy. The trailer itself is everything a LotR fan could ever wish for: war horses galloping through the sprawling New Zealand fields, battle sequences, action, new characters to root for and scary monsters to haunt one’s dreams. But there was one problem. Black. Elves.

Just like Sauron’s orc army marched through the gates of Barad-dur to destroy everything good in the world, toxic fandom was unleashed upon the digital landscape. Every official channel hosting the trailer was bombed with the phrase “Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made”. A phrase misquoted by the way, but we don’t have time to dwell upon the hilarious irony of purists not knowing the source material. Videos upon videos of online critics posted decried the series, vowing they would do anything in their power to see it fail. “Political correctness is destroying everything!” yelled one. “Diversity is forced down our throats”, croaked another. “The legacy of Tolkien is tarnished”, screamed a third, skipping over the fact that Tolkien’s grandchildren sold the rights for 250 million in 2017 and were aware of the artistic approach the show would take.

So, is Rings of Power woke? Is it serving the agenda of a shadowy cabal of leftist elites hellbent on eradicating the noble white man?

Unless you are a Rogan fan, of course not. For starters, there is no such thing. The cultural war dominating the zeitgeist is nothing more than a lie, propagated by those who stand to profit by convincing people that there is a war to be fought. Consider yourselves red-pilled.

When it comes to Hollywood, it is true that studios have taken a turn lately, embracing diversity and representation of minorities but that’s not because they are bleeding heart liberals. It’s because they are cold-hearted capitalists. Here’s the thing with wokeness: it actually works. Turns out people love it when they see people of their own sexual orientation and ethnicity portrayed not as a joke or a side character, but as the noble protagonist. They like it when studios treat them and their issues with respect. And if they like something, they show up to support it and studio execs quickly realised the immense potential of tapping into the various minority markets.

The audience for fantasy is predominantly white males but that market was tapped out. No need for studios to bicker between them for scraps of the pie if there is an untouched, bigger pie just out of reach. To get their greedy hands on that market though they needed to change their narrative, which led us to where we are. Want to blame someone? Blame it on the boogie. And Capitalism.

Regarding ROP now, it is ludicrous to think that Amazon studios spent 1 billion on the first season (production and marketing), making it the most expensive series ever, and didn’t take every story arc, every creative decision and every scene through rigorous audience testing and focus groups. They knew exactly what reaction the trailer would elicit and still went with it. Is it because they like burning money or is it because they gauged the reaction and found that the positives far outweigh the negatives?

Tolkien’s message of appreciating the little things in life, loving one’s family and friends and doing the right thing in the face of adversity is global and everyone should be able to see themselves in his work. Acting as fanatical gatekeepers only serves to deprive others of the joy of being exposed to this amazing, magical world.

Rings of Power drops on Prime Video on September 2, 2022