The Rings Of Power continues to substitute good storytelling with an endless, inane parade of callbacks to Lord of the Rings.
Nope. Another click bait rage garbage article, from no less than Forbes, the shittiest cesspool of shitty shit on the internet.
The show is fine. Looks amazing, sounds incredible, full of wonderful performances and nuanced characters with interesting takes on adapting an incredibly complex source material. I’ll take it over 90% of “prestige” dramas about rich families and murder procedurals any day.
Even if it’s not your particular bag, it doesn’t deserve anywhere near the level of vitriol leveled at it by people desperate to drive clicks to their mediocre blog or reaction channel.
TheOneRing.net had an incisive take on this recently that I think everyone ought to read. https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2024/09/06/119303-dont-kill-content-no-one-needs-your-hot-take/
While I’d personally argue that the quality of the character development, writing, and storytelling in the show doesn’t even achieve the level of “fine”, you’re right in that 1) people should be allowed to enjoy things in peace and 2) RoP in particular attracts criticism which is often hyperbolic. At the same time, however, there should also be the freedom to honestly critique a piece of media without being labeled as a hater, obsessive fanboy, or a neckbeard, etc. Especially when dealing with an IP as treasured as Tolkien’s.
Whether you find this article excessive in its criticism or not, the writer makes the very valid point that the media landscape today is becoming increasingly saturated with this 'memberberries/nostalgia/callback type of storytelling, along with the constant stream of prequels and sequels based on this formula. People are growing tired of it, and Rings of Power has it deep in its bones.
For a good examination of the showrunners’ over-reliance on referencing the Jackson movie trilogy in lieu of interesting, original storytelling, I highly recommend this YouTube video. I think it really gets to the core of why so many people find RoP frustrating or disappointing as a show in its own right, let alone as a Tolkien adaptation.