An Open Letter to Amazon

The War for Tolkien's Soul!

-For the Uncensored!

It’s not hard to say this, but Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, is one of the best modern fantasy series of all time. Next to Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian. Which was the first fantasy series for the modern era. It might not be the first, but the will and strength of language is why so many flock to Tolkien’s writing. It’s not hard to fathom why Amazon would want to make Lord of the Rings, because the very name, what was once the pillar of literary community, was turned into six films by Peter Jackson from 2001-2004’s faithful adaptation of Lord of the Rings, returning in 2012 to 2014 with the Hobbit trilogy. What is unsurprising is the likely response created by fans of both the books and the films, “why are we bothering continuing or laying more groundwork before a beloved series.”

            Money. That’s the issue, point, and reason behind many things that will ultimately kill this franchise. But to understand why Amazon did this isn’t hard, as we just covered. But today, I want to make something very clear.

            The Rings of Power is not Lord of the Rings or even directly related to Tolkien’s work itself. I did previously want to give it a try, but the complicated issue is that some works must ultimately have an end. It gets pretty annoying when you see The Godfather or Studio Ghibli films being played in theaters repeatedly, but sometimes that’s a good thing. Those films don’t need any more subsequent sequels to help illustrate one idea.

            There could have been many good ideas that Amazon could have done. Like a Witch King story, an origins plot about the formation of the Wring Raiths. Or complete the Silmarillion in short story episodic like episodes. At least it would be more to the original outlines of the Silmarillion. But in 2022, the abysmal year of our Lord, Amazon thinks that by creating Galadriel as a feminist icon[1], and putting black actors as hobbits. But I get why the creators of Amazon did want to make her a feminist icon: when John Howes, the Conceptual Designer, for the Lord of the Rings, says, from 13:34 to 13:41, “The Elves, for example, have been fighting for what Galadriel calls, the long defeat, and knowing that they will lose, for the last few thousand years, but they will continue fighting until they are defeated” is understood. I guess this is where the creators of Amazon took the creative license, as well, but the thing is, was this absolutely necessary to tell? And whether this was done explicitly or implicitly in the Tolkien work has never come across in my readings.[2]

As Peter Jackson said in the appendix to the extended cut of Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring, at 11:15 to 11:38 seconds “Tolkien himself was horrified at analogies being placed on his work. He always rejected the notion that the stories were based on World War 2, and the rise of Hitler, and all that. I think to apply modern political thinking to a story that is essentially 50 years old is a little bit inappropriate.”

           

(This explains a lot of where Lord of the Rings began as a film production, but also about Tolkien’s Legacy too.)

The Shadow of Morder games by WB are more entertaining and made out of love than Amazon can do. The Blade of Galadriel, could have been an Amazon series, that I would have loved to see. Peter Jackson was even brought in to help with the games, too, which is why they hold up in narrative fan fiction, but out of love too.

But Amazon can do this, because it hates us, the reader, the viewer, and the Tolkien legacy, itself.          

All of this done with such ignorant vengeance that it’s not only burning the fans it once had, but it’s a statement made by the shills and hacks at Amazon. “We can ruin anything we want for the right price, and theirs’s nothing you can do about it.”

            But to “hate watch” is not the goal, either.    

With The War of the Ring, I can’t do that. I can’t give up my time to something that doesn’t bear resemblance to the power, depth, and brevity that Tolkien created, and Peter Jackson mirrored lovingly in the films. When it wasn’t in an action scene, of course. The ultimate betrayal is Amazon’s intent, as mentioned above. Money.

            It’s done so blatantly against the series scope that it’s almost like staring at half completed modern art. By a generation that can’t or won’t study the history of art in order to achieve something new, on their own terms. What would have bothered Tolkien so much is that the Lord of the Rings films, by Peter Jackson, were done so lovingly that it would breed a corporate hacks, like Amazon, to think they could take on the task of adding lore when it wasn’t called for.

            So, to Amazon, I state these terms. You lost my money a long time ago. I am not a Prime subscriber. That’s about all I can do on my part to ruin your chances at having any say in my life. But here, I will leave you on a final note. Don’t think you can wear the One Ring and not become the Eye of Sauron. Fuck you and your ilk, you hacks. You have done nothing to reach the heights of my respect. You make small little films that don’t inspire anyone. Go back to that, and please stop pretending you’re geniuses.

So, rightly, fuck off into the Shadows of Mordor, in the Fires of Mount Doom, where you hold no power over my wallet.

LtB

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[1] No one, on Twitter, can even provide a page, source, scene, from any of the original works that prove that Galadriel is a female warrior, either.

[2] This might also be perpetrated by Peter Jackson as well, so I don’t know if Amazon deserves the blame as much as Jackson for posing this idea. But then Jackson in the end, didn’t end up making War of the Ring, so that worked out in its favor. And it would directly contradict his words in the same Appendix of Fellowship of the Rings.