hsilman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 10:40 am
We still need to finish RoP S1, but honestly it's been fine. People really overestimate how much the vast majority of people give a shit about the actual "source material" for shows.
Literally read today "I just can't understand 'who' they made the ROP for. The largest demographic of people who watched it were middle aged males. The same males who watched the PJ movies. Many of which read the books."
LOL, you think "many" people read the books? I'd be amazed if more than 1% of people who watch RoP or the movies read the books. And especially not any of the stuff RoP is "inspired by"(ie not LOTR/The Hobbit).
Bruh, it's a generic-ish fantasy show with some grounding in Tolkien lore. It's fine. It won't be remembered in a decade, but so what? People are so delusional about what the "average viewer" cares about.
I think it's less about source material accuracy per se and more about the ultimate result on screen. Consider this: who is a more compelling writer, Tolkien, or the writing staff of RoP? When you are dealing with very high quality source material, as a rule of thumb, the more you deviate from it, the worse the outcome. (See Game of Thrones towards the end of the show). So, it's not a matter of how many LoTR nerds are watching it, but rather that you are taking one of the best works of fantasy fiction, and having far less talented writers deviating from it to form their own interpretation. It can work
sometimes, but most of the time you will simply dilute the original quality and bring a cheap imitation to the masses.
The fact that you said it won't be remembered in a decade is exactly the problem. From what I understand, this is the most expensive TV show ever created. I am sure Amazon is not okay with the show being forgotten in a decade. They wanted this to be The Next Big Thing, the reason why people might sign up for Prime, their new TV cash cow, etc. Their goal is not some generic fantasy show that pays some bills.