Hi, I saw your post about giving the Amazon LOTR show a chance. Wondering what your thoughts were on the showrunners saying they're trying to write "the novel that Tolkien never wrote"? Because to me that makes them seem extremely arrogant. IMO it's not possible to separate Amazon from the directors of TROP, because the whole thing is Bezos' brainchild- he hired the showrunners to make the show for him. It's not like he just happens to be financing it. Just my two cents, wonder what you think.
Mae g'ovannen, mellon nin!
Hey! Thanks for the comment, I sincerely appreciate it. We need more friendly discussion in places like this.
So, I think that quote is something that should be given context, because without context it does sound bad. The thing is, Tolkien never wrote the story of the Numenorians and the forging of the rings. But not because he didn't want to. When he originally set out to write the Lord of the Rings, he wanted to publish The Lord of the Rings AND a version of what we now know is The Silmarillion, side by side. However, the publishers took one glance at his ultra unwieldy, freaky history book and said absolutely not. He never got to tell that story, but not because he didn't want to. Christopher T, on the other hand, goes through the writings and publishes (posthumously) a highly edited and revised version, but again, this is the history book we all know and love but not what the Professor would have done (he was constantly changing things and making huge edits until his death).
Now that's not to say the book isn't a masterpiece, I wrote my master's thesis on it and I will absolutely say it's my favorite book in the world, but that doesn't change the fact that Chistopher had to heavily edit and change what was written to make the coherent story we know. The Professor simply left too many loose ends and changes without revisions to earlier sections (hence the 12 volumes of The Histories of Middle-Earth).
Tolkien's lifelong dream was to use the Silmarillion as a roadmap to write the novels of the stories we read about in that book of history, which is where Christopher got the materials to "finish" The Fall of Gondolin, The Lay of Luthian, and The Children of Hurin. But one novel that is conspicuously absent from that trio is the story of Numenor and the forging of the rings.
Thus, when they say that they are making "the novel that Tolkien never wrote" they mean that this is supposed to be a down to earth telling of the Numenorian story and the story of the forging of the rings, like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit books. However, I don't think they mean that they are going to do something that the professor was incapable of doing, rather they are trying to do what he was unable to. He had so many stories started and left undone (one wonders at what he could have written given time). I would have loved to read his version of the Fall of Fingolfin, but alas...
As for Bezos's brainchild, I think there are two things to consider. First, the Tolkien estate sold the rights to this story (with extremely heavy constrictions/demands on what could and could not be done with the story) for an insane sum of money. The most, in fact, for any TV show ever made. The fact is, the way it was set up, there were very few people in the world who could have even attempted to make this show. Considering the price tag, only one of a few dozen could even try. If it wasn't Amazon, it would have been one of the other mega-studios, and other studios did have the chance to outbid Amazon in the purchase. Now someone might say "No one should have made this into a TV show at all" which is an argument I understand, but not one I have much to say on. And the second thing to consider is that the Tolkien estate could have said no (and has, many, many times before).
Now, money does not automatically equal a good show and there are many things that could go wrong, I'll grant you. But the one thing this show has going for it is that this story (more than all of the previous Tolkien adaptations that came before it, Peter Jackson's movies included) is heavily controlled by Tolkienian elements (the Tolkien estate has the power to veto any script elements, it's in the contract, then there are the scholars on deck as mentioned, etc.). Though Tom Shippey left the project because of a breach of contract involving an NDA fairly recently, I know he spent much time with the project and had a hand in many of the elements we will see. He's an incredible Tolkien scholar and just one of a few on board.
Bezos, with all of the money in the world (almost literally), cannot control the story and that gives me hope.
With that hope in mind, I recently read an article that many Tolkien scholars and fans (including The Tolkien Professor himself, Corey Olsen) were able to view a small portion of the show and I'll let you see what they said for yourself here,
All of that to say, I'm not saying this show will be good, I have no idea, in truth. But I think (and hope, oh how I hope) that there are enough people working on the show that realize these stories will not be taken lightly by the fans and longtime middle-earth enthusiasts and therefore, will do all that they can to do it right.
But again, it's all about hope. As one famous poet once said, "hope is the thing with feathers"
Here's to hoping it flies high above the Shadows of Mordor and the smoke rising from the dungeons and forges Angband.
Ná Elbereth veria le, ná elenath dín síla erin rád o chuil lín.
~ ramoth13
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I keep seeing shit about Elon Musk making desperate attempts to be cool. Here's my thing. I don't actually think he wanted to be a billionaire. Hear me out. I think he just wants to be cool and accepted. They way he writes replies on Twitter is so pathetic. Certain people love him because they are also losers. Per example, he talked about putting the coke back in Coca cola. This is something my thirteen year old cousin would say. Not a grown man who is a damn billionaire. He is a sad loser rich man. Which is crazy. How are you a fucking loser? But yet a billionaire? Like be like Jeffery Bezos. He keeps to himself and even made a fucking space ship shaped like a penis. Yeah he's a billionaire and that's terrible BUT if i have to choose what billionaires we have I'm going Jeffery Bezos all the way baby. (Queue the music)
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*this is not a joke, or satire like the rest of this page*
If you are in a state that is/has put forward motions to criminalize abortions after the supreme court ruling, you need to be prepared.
If you have the means, stock up on plan B. Don't get brand name unless you really really want to as generic is significantly cheaper.
Do not just go and buy out your area's local stores of emergency contraceptives.
It is imperative that those are available in emergencies. Instead order them online. Daddy Bezos has options available for purchase, tho as you may have guessed from the way I post on here, I personally believe alternatives would be better.
Nevertheless, here's a link to the cheapest version I could find on Daddy Bezos' shop
My Choice Emergency Contraceptive 1 Tablet
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