Great video. I❤ all Your stuff. I would add though that Galadriel 's arrogance was also portraied in the wrong way. She seemed angry and impacient with the humans and everyone around. I think a 5000 year old highborn elf should have been portraied in a more gentle but patronizing way. Sort of like a well meaning mother who doesn't realize that her children aren't children any more. In my humble opinion it would have been better to make her seem in the right in the beginning and only slowly does the audience notice that she actually is arrogant, just a bit before she begins to realize it as well
Thanks :D. That could have worked as well. I think the reason they went for angry rather than patronizing is to avoid being too close to Movie Galadriel. After all, Movie Galadriel is what Show Galadriel grows into in everyone's head cannon, so I don't think they wanted to start her off too gentle. That would have been my reason for going angry elf, if I went angry elf.
I'm not familiar with either story but I agree the drizzle backstory out in a well paced story IS my preference. An exception to this was Firefly, Mal and Zoe's backstory was info dumped at the beginning, you See the transformation on their faces when they're left behind to rot. I think there are cases where you need that "core of character" dump right off the bat, especially when the story is opening years down the road and they've grown in to Who They Are, just before Who They're About to Confront & Become is going to kick 'em in the pants. I think Where the story begins and the structure of how it is presented can make either, drizzle or dump, work; however ITA, there has to be a deliberate reason behind either approach that brings life to the characters And story, not just "it's the style of stories this year." Fascinating comparison whether you know the tales or not!! As to location: outside, inside, upside down - I'm groovy with whatever You find comfortable because then the Vid is too. [tho I admit, the cat butting in IS my favorite part >g
I love your channel! I starting my first fantasy novel and I stumbled onto your channel and I find your videos very informative, thank you so much for sharing! You mentioned this in the beginning, so now I have to rant to get this off my chest. I have MANY issues with RoP. One is Galadriel or what Amazon seems to think Galadriel is. They used the name but made a completely different character. I think they could be forgiven if they created their own heroine instead of desecrating one of the beloved characters. End rant.
Thank for the kind words :). So in some ways, they're not very far off. Galadriel (in Tolkien's lore) is supposed to be uber powerful. By the time of the events of LotR, she is also wise, which is how we all see her based on the book and the movie. What RoP was trying for (and not saying they succeeded, just what they were trying for) is to show how she got there. (At least, that's what I think they were trying for). And to move from non-wisdom to wisdom, you need to obviously start at non-wisdom. Also, they only had rights to the second age's lore, and it's been way too long since I plunged that deeply into Tolkien's lore for me to say what he had second age Galadriel's personality as.
Enlightening. Thank you so much. New subscriber today. I've seen both but couldn't put my finger on why I thought one wasn't good and the other amazing. This will help me a lot when writing. Thank you. I have a shadow theater scene in one of my chapters. One I wrote many years ago. Now I have a mind to re-writing it to reflect a struggle going on and not just some entertainment the children in the story are taking part in.
I am already leaving you a thumbs up before seeing it. I totally agree (found X other characters with such a similar arc, better implementation and nobody complained. Some of them were actually enjoyable.) I personally stand to my theory that this would have been a great series if it wouldn't have been tied to the Lord of the Rings Franchise (and if they made the Galadriel Character a villain by the end of season one). It would have needed some work, of course, but making it as close to what they did as possible, this would have been the best possible way to manage it. Cersei from GOT (my favorite character there) comes to mind and how entertaining it was watching her ... at least until all she did was drink wine on a balcony and not much else.
Fantastic analysis! I agree with your thesis. I enjoyed Rings of Power, without thinking it was great storytelling. The end, in particular, felt a little clumsy/rushed. It's almost impossible to find productive discussions of Rings of Power, though.
So glad you enjoyed it. I found Nerd of the Rings to have a good analysis of the show, including the lore sources the show had access to, if you’re looking for more content on Rings of Power or Tolkien :)
I have an unrelated question as an aspiring writer living in a European country, but writing in English and hoping to get published in the US one day. Basically, is this at all feasible? I'm more than fluent in English, and I learn more about the craft every day thanks to online resources such as your channel, but I would hate to one day realize that all my efforts in rendering a story into English was a waste of time, for whatever reason. I want to write in English because it's a more nuanced language than my native one, and because I aim to reach a wider audience. Have any wisdom for a lowly Danish artist?
It's absolutely possible. John Gwynne for example is from the UK and his books are published in America (and all over the world really). As long as your English is idiomatic, you'll be fine. My best advice is to read a lot of fantasy to expand your vocabulary to the point where its the equivalent or better of a native speaker. Also hi, fellow Nordic person :D
@@JustInTimeWorlds Thanks for the reply, and the encouragement. When I first saw you, on your podcast with Drake, I thought you were South African for some reason. Sorry if you've heard that before lol. Love Finland, great for winter hiking trips :DDD
i’ve seen neither of these shows but it sounds like rings of power suffers from the problem that bothers me about a lot of modern tv shows - there are very few episodes with almost no filler, which first of all makes the plot very dense and sometimes hard to keep track of, and it also makes it harder to connect with characters. i miss when shows had 24-episode seasons with lots of filler episodes where the characters just got into situations and interacted with each other, i think they were very underrated in their ability to establish character and give the audience time to process what’s going on in the main plot.
That's exactly my issue with a lot of advice floating around in authortube. I don't want to compromise my story to only moments relevant to the plot and sticking to a story structure enduring "proper pacing". These people are brutal (deleting chapters, scenes, SENTENCES, anything "unnecessary"), while I enjoy moments where characters, readers and the story can breath - including travelling sequences, food descriptions, interactions, characters giving each other advice instead of only planning their next steps. Let me feel the story and not just read your checklist.
I really enjoyed your comments and the comparison. I've been thinking about overpowered characters lately and which ones work and which ones don't, and your description of BES really helped me understand. I found galadrial to be an annoying and obnoxious character with few redeeming qualities. It's interesting to see how much better it could have been with just a few changes to the structure of the story. Even better still, in my opinion, would have been to give her a character type that is less likely to push away the audience. Couldn't we have had a five man band with galadrial at the head? or was developing more than one character too expensive for the studio? Smh.
Thanks :). Yeah the writers could have done so much more. I’m hoping they redeem themselves in season 2, but I’m not hoping too hard. Streaming has disappointed me too often. I’d rather go in pessimistic and be pleasantly surprised like with BES, which was IMO the best show of 2023
I think vengeance is easier for the audience to sympathize with than arrogance. If the arrogant flaw was offset by more endearing qualities it would have made Galadriel more likable as a protagonist for the audience to invest in
A very good video. Seeing the portrayal of Mizu and Galadriel in comparison is very interesting. However, I'd disagree that the character journey is the same, or could be the same. Mizu comes from a place of trauma that is affecting her to this very day. She has suffered immensely throughout her life, and as a result she still cannot live openly: she has to hide her eyes because people discriminate against her because of them, and she has to live as a man to be a fighter, because it's not acceptable as a woman to be like that. She is young, her past is still fresh, and she still suffers in the present. This explains her character well and gives her reason to be angry and jaded and distant. Galadriel on the other hand is given no real explanation whatsoever as to why she is so angry and arrogant. Sure, she lost her brother, but their relationship didn't really get explored at all, or what his death actually means to her. We didn't get a hint of what it meant for her to lose her husband. She tells us that she has gone through a lot, but it's not shown to her nor is it shown why it affects her to this very day, unlike in the case of Mizu. Other Elves have lost loved ones as well, but they aren't all like Galadriel. Why is that? Her past is long in the past, she is supposed to have lived thousands of years by now. She had a lot of time to work through her pain, it's not even realistic that her arrogance should only now start to cause her trouble. I understand that they can't complete Galadriel's character development within the first season, so they cannot have her be changed completely by the end of the season. But at least they should have established why she is the way she is, and let us connect to her through that, and make us understand and root for her because of that. They just didn't do anything with ther character at all - they just made her insufferable, refused to explain why she is that way, teased a character development that then didn't happen, and in the end they just affirmed her in her believes and she turned out to be right all along. They may believe they have a character arc because in ep1 she wasn't willing to give up her dagger, and in ep8 she was, but while they try to make it seem symbolic it's actually two completely different things, and sadly it seems the writers didn't even understand that. It's really unfortunate that Galadriel is so baldy written...
That's part of my point. They rushed Galadriel's storyline way too much and didn't give us nearly enough of the reason why she's the way she is. I don't think their storyline is that she was right all along, I think it's more that she actually did bring great evil to pass. I mean Sauron took Mordor because of her. If the writers lean into that epic level mistake in season 2, they might (MIGHT) redeem her storyline. I have tiny shreds of hope (because I'm an optimist. Or a masochist, take your pick haha). Mizu on the other hand is a masterclass in taking your time and showing the audience what they need to know and really getting us to feel Mizu's pain. The writers did an amazing job with the symbolism, the character growth arc, everything. It was my best show of 2023 for sure!
I'm not so sure if you really can compare both. Mizu from BES is an original creation by the writers of the series. They clearly care for the character, have an eye for details. ROP on the other hand comes across like written by someone who never touched a Lord of the Rings book with a toe, didn't like what they heard from friends, seems arrogant enough to think they can do better than Tolkien who dedicated his life to his storrys and therefore offended the whole ready-made fandom who went instantly WTF is that I won't touch it with a stick. Thing is yes they may have tried similar things but the writers come from so diffrent ends of a spectrum it's kind of unfair to compare them. Disclaimer: English is not my first language.
The reason why I think it is fair to compare them is because if Galadriel's storyline had actually landed, I think RoP would have had a much better reception. She is headline character and her arc (IMO) flat out didn't work. I can see what they were trying to do, but they didn't pull it off. Of course, even if they had, there would have been lore purist who complained, but a lore purist can find a reason to complain about Peter Jackson original trilogy. The problem with headlining with Galadriel is that her arc's failure dragged the whole show down. (Again, my opinion). Though I will say, no one, and I mean no one, needed the grimdark hobbits. Leave them behind. Jeez, what were the writers thinking?! But anyway, mostly the two characters served as great contrasts in terms of discussing internal growth arcs for writers in general. (I'll tell you a dirty secret, English isn't my first language either. I probably won't notice if you make any mistakes).
@@JustInTimeWorlds - "but a lore purist can find a reason to complain about Peter Jackson original trilogy." "Purist" has no real meaning outside of it being used as a pejorative. Jackson's original trilogy has no respect for Tolkien even beyond the concerns of lore. Great films, horrible representations of Tolkien. That is a legitimate perspective coming from someone who genuinely likes Jackson's films. You can call people names, or you can realize that human beings have the capability of exercising discernment and critical thinking while still liking something.
I disagree with your emotional, venomous and baseless characterization of the people who write Rings of Power. Calling them "arrogant" for trying to do an adaptation is not reasonable; it is arrogance itself to invalidate an entire category of artwork. You add no substantive criticisms here, unlike JiTW, who gave very thoughtful critiques.
Celtic might very well have entered the mix but Tolkien created Quenya (Elvish) based on the phonology and structure of Finnish. He also loved the Kalevala and said it was a great influence on him. There’s even a bunch of words that mean more or less the same thing in both languages. But he was a student and teacher of languages and I’m sure Celtic (and a few other languages) had their influence as well.
@@JustInTimeWorlds I had looked it up after commenting. Apparently, there is two languages spoken by the elves. One based on Finnish that starts with a Q, and the other called Sindarin or something akin to that. Sindarin was inspired by Celtic Welsh! I love that Tolkien was such a well versed author. So much so that both of us are right lol.
I question whether or not the writers of RoP were skillful enough to even realize the possibility, forget make the attempt, at the arc you're pointing towards. That said, if this is the arc they're going for, they did set it up poorly, but they do have Galadriel in a very nice nadir-of-the-soul moment to build from.
I agree they set it up poorly, but I think it’s what they were going for. The whole *I know better, I jump into ocean* reeks of arrogance. Season 2 has a good platform, IF they have the wits to use it.
You don't need to question the talent of the writers, as artists. You can just question their decisions/work, and admit you don't know anything else about them.
The respective arcs of Mizu and Galadriel are vastly different, as their internal motivation is different. Anyone can look at Wikipedia to understand Galadriel, so I won't bother going over her character. Mizu requires a more discerning eye. In visualizing Mizu, the creators of Blue Eye Samurai apparently drew upon Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars and Barbra Streisand in Yentl, which is why Mizu looks like an amalgam of the two. In terms of historicity, not only does she look ridiculous, but the entire premise of her wandering freely presenting as a man in this disguise would only draw more attention to her and get her killed. But as cinematic storytelling, it's fantastic and tells us so much about her motivation. And the focal point of her presentation rests in her eyeglasses. While Mizu ostensibly wears these eyeglasses to hide her eyes, there's much more going on there. The lenses on those glasses are tinted orange, which, as I'm sure everyone knows, is the opposite of blue on the RYB subtractive color model. This is wonderful subtext provided by the writers: Mizu is subconsciously trying to negate herself by literally opposing her own eyes, the most obvious indication of her mixed-race nature. Mizu, like the rest of us, suffers from the oldest psychological malaise: she hates who she is because she has been conditioned to conflate WHAT she is with WHO she is. But, like the rest of us, Mizu doesn't understand that she isn't her eyes or her blood or her lack of status, no matter how much what she is influences who she is. And this internal struggle is perfectly set in he context of a fictional Edo, a time and place where everyone, even those outside of social placement, have a place. Yet Mizu does not, and cannot. It's just another layer of brilliance in this masterfully crafted show. Galadriel's story and motivation is completely different. Wikipedia or Tolkien's works are at everyone's disposal, and I won't lower myself to commenting on her representation in that abysmal show. Peter Jackson's films were bad enough.
I really liked this video, because a lazy critic would stop at "Galadriel is bad because she's overpowered", but you contrasted her with another OP character who is considered well-written, and then dug deeper to show where the difference lies. I certainly enjoy such in-depth comparisons.
Great video. I❤ all Your stuff. I would add though that Galadriel 's arrogance was also portraied in the wrong way. She seemed angry and impacient with the humans and everyone around. I think a 5000 year old highborn elf should have been portraied in a more gentle but patronizing way. Sort of like a well meaning mother who doesn't realize that her children aren't children any more. In my humble opinion it would have been better to make her seem in the right in the beginning and only slowly does the audience notice that she actually is arrogant, just a bit before she begins to realize it as well
Thanks :D. That could have worked as well. I think the reason they went for angry rather than patronizing is to avoid being too close to Movie Galadriel. After all, Movie Galadriel is what Show Galadriel grows into in everyone's head cannon, so I don't think they wanted to start her off too gentle. That would have been my reason for going angry elf, if I went angry elf.
What did you guys think of the outside video? Would you like the occasional walking shots / outside segments?
Outside video is lovely, please do more!
I’ve been looking for this channel for like 3 days. And I’m so glad i finally found it.
Welcome to my small corner of TH-cam. :)
I’m so happy that I was randomly recommended this channel. Subbed and liked!
Welcome to my little corner of TH-cam :)
Me too!
I have not seen the Rings Of Power, but did see Blue Eye Samurai. I was captivated by BES because the show showed, and did not just tell.
It was a great show. My favorite of the ones I watched last year.
I'm not familiar with either story but I agree the drizzle backstory out in a well paced story IS my preference. An exception to this was Firefly, Mal and Zoe's backstory was info dumped at the beginning, you See the transformation on their faces when they're left behind to rot. I think there are cases where you need that "core of character" dump right off the bat, especially when the story is opening years down the road and they've grown in to Who They Are, just before Who They're About to Confront & Become is going to kick 'em in the pants. I think Where the story begins and the structure of how it is presented can make either, drizzle or dump, work; however ITA, there has to be a deliberate reason behind either approach that brings life to the characters And story, not just "it's the style of stories this year." Fascinating comparison whether you know the tales or not!! As to location: outside, inside, upside down - I'm groovy with whatever You find comfortable because then the Vid is too. [tho I admit, the cat butting in IS my favorite part >g
Hahaha most of the videos will always be in easy reach of the cats 😆. Good point about Firefly.
I love your channel! I starting my first fantasy novel and I stumbled onto your channel and I find your videos very informative, thank you so much for sharing!
You mentioned this in the beginning, so now I have to rant to get this off my chest. I have MANY issues with RoP. One is Galadriel or what Amazon seems to think Galadriel is. They used the name but made a completely different character. I think they could be forgiven if they created their own heroine instead of desecrating one of the beloved characters. End rant.
Thank for the kind words :).
So in some ways, they're not very far off. Galadriel (in Tolkien's lore) is supposed to be uber powerful. By the time of the events of LotR, she is also wise, which is how we all see her based on the book and the movie. What RoP was trying for (and not saying they succeeded, just what they were trying for) is to show how she got there. (At least, that's what I think they were trying for). And to move from non-wisdom to wisdom, you need to obviously start at non-wisdom.
Also, they only had rights to the second age's lore, and it's been way too long since I plunged that deeply into Tolkien's lore for me to say what he had second age Galadriel's personality as.
Enlightening. Thank you so much. New subscriber today. I've seen both but couldn't put my finger on why I thought one wasn't good and the other amazing. This will help me a lot when writing. Thank you. I have a shadow theater scene in one of my chapters. One I wrote many years ago. Now I have a mind to re-writing it to reflect a struggle going on and not just some entertainment the children in the story are taking part in.
You’re very welcome :)
I'm not familiar with Mizu's series, but I did learn a lot.
Can highly recommend!
Best show of 2023!
I am already leaving you a thumbs up before seeing it. I totally agree (found X other characters with such a similar arc, better implementation and nobody complained. Some of them were actually enjoyable.)
I personally stand to my theory that this would have been a great series if it wouldn't have been tied to the Lord of the Rings Franchise (and if they made the Galadriel Character a villain by the end of season one). It would have needed some work, of course, but making it as close to what they did as possible, this would have been the best possible way to manage it. Cersei from GOT (my favorite character there) comes to mind and how entertaining it was watching her ... at least until all she did was drink wine on a balcony and not much else.
Fantastic analysis! I agree with your thesis. I enjoyed Rings of Power, without thinking it was great storytelling. The end, in particular, felt a little clumsy/rushed. It's almost impossible to find productive discussions of Rings of Power, though.
So glad you enjoyed it. I found Nerd of the Rings to have a good analysis of the show, including the lore sources the show had access to, if you’re looking for more content on Rings of Power or Tolkien :)
Great video! Sometimes TH-cam sends you a gem it seems :) subscribed
Glad you enjoyed the video and welcome to my tiny corner of TH-cam :)
I have an unrelated question as an aspiring writer living in a European country, but writing in English and hoping to get published in the US one day.
Basically, is this at all feasible?
I'm more than fluent in English, and I learn more about the craft every day thanks to online resources such as your channel, but I would hate to one day realize that all my efforts in rendering a story into English was a waste of time, for whatever reason. I want to write in English because it's a more nuanced language than my native one, and because I aim to reach a wider audience. Have any wisdom for a lowly Danish artist?
It's absolutely possible. John Gwynne for example is from the UK and his books are published in America (and all over the world really). As long as your English is idiomatic, you'll be fine.
My best advice is to read a lot of fantasy to expand your vocabulary to the point where its the equivalent or better of a native speaker.
Also hi, fellow Nordic person :D
@@JustInTimeWorlds Thanks for the reply, and the encouragement.
When I first saw you, on your podcast with Drake, I thought you were South African for some reason. Sorry if you've heard that before lol. Love Finland, great for winter hiking trips :DDD
@@linusl8252 I am I moved from South Africa to Finland.
i’ve seen neither of these shows but it sounds like rings of power suffers from the problem that bothers me about a lot of modern tv shows - there are very few episodes with almost no filler, which first of all makes the plot very dense and sometimes hard to keep track of, and it also makes it harder to connect with characters. i miss when shows had 24-episode seasons with lots of filler episodes where the characters just got into situations and interacted with each other, i think they were very underrated in their ability to establish character and give the audience time to process what’s going on in the main plot.
I miss longer seasons. So, so, much.
That's exactly my issue with a lot of advice floating around in authortube. I don't want to compromise my story to only moments relevant to the plot and sticking to a story structure enduring "proper pacing". These people are brutal (deleting chapters, scenes, SENTENCES, anything "unnecessary"), while I enjoy moments where characters, readers and the story can breath - including travelling sequences, food descriptions, interactions, characters giving each other advice instead of only planning their next steps. Let me feel the story and not just read your checklist.
I really enjoyed your comments and the comparison. I've been thinking about overpowered characters lately and which ones work and which ones don't, and your description of BES really helped me understand.
I found galadrial to be an annoying and obnoxious character with few redeeming qualities. It's interesting to see how much better it could have been with just a few changes to the structure of the story.
Even better still, in my opinion, would have been to give her a character type that is less likely to push away the audience. Couldn't we have had a five man band with galadrial at the head? or was developing more than one character too expensive for the studio? Smh.
Thanks :). Yeah the writers could have done so much more. I’m hoping they redeem themselves in season 2, but I’m not hoping too hard. Streaming has disappointed me too often. I’d rather go in pessimistic and be pleasantly surprised like with BES, which was IMO the best show of 2023
Thank you
I think vengeance is easier for the audience to sympathize with than arrogance. If the arrogant flaw was offset by more endearing qualities it would have made Galadriel more likable as a protagonist for the audience to invest in
Agreed. She needed a chunk of extra upfront work. But instead they gave us grimdark hobbits. *sigh*
A very good video. Seeing the portrayal of Mizu and Galadriel in comparison is very interesting.
However, I'd disagree that the character journey is the same, or could be the same. Mizu comes from a place of trauma that is affecting her to this very day. She has suffered immensely throughout her life, and as a result she still cannot live openly: she has to hide her eyes because people discriminate against her because of them, and she has to live as a man to be a fighter, because it's not acceptable as a woman to be like that. She is young, her past is still fresh, and she still suffers in the present. This explains her character well and gives her reason to be angry and jaded and distant.
Galadriel on the other hand is given no real explanation whatsoever as to why she is so angry and arrogant. Sure, she lost her brother, but their relationship didn't really get explored at all, or what his death actually means to her. We didn't get a hint of what it meant for her to lose her husband. She tells us that she has gone through a lot, but it's not shown to her nor is it shown why it affects her to this very day, unlike in the case of Mizu. Other Elves have lost loved ones as well, but they aren't all like Galadriel. Why is that? Her past is long in the past, she is supposed to have lived thousands of years by now. She had a lot of time to work through her pain, it's not even realistic that her arrogance should only now start to cause her trouble.
I understand that they can't complete Galadriel's character development within the first season, so they cannot have her be changed completely by the end of the season. But at least they should have established why she is the way she is, and let us connect to her through that, and make us understand and root for her because of that. They just didn't do anything with ther character at all - they just made her insufferable, refused to explain why she is that way, teased a character development that then didn't happen, and in the end they just affirmed her in her believes and she turned out to be right all along. They may believe they have a character arc because in ep1 she wasn't willing to give up her dagger, and in ep8 she was, but while they try to make it seem symbolic it's actually two completely different things, and sadly it seems the writers didn't even understand that. It's really unfortunate that Galadriel is so baldy written...
That's part of my point. They rushed Galadriel's storyline way too much and didn't give us nearly enough of the reason why she's the way she is. I don't think their storyline is that she was right all along, I think it's more that she actually did bring great evil to pass.
I mean Sauron took Mordor because of her.
If the writers lean into that epic level mistake in season 2, they might (MIGHT) redeem her storyline. I have tiny shreds of hope (because I'm an optimist. Or a masochist, take your pick haha).
Mizu on the other hand is a masterclass in taking your time and showing the audience what they need to know and really getting us to feel Mizu's pain. The writers did an amazing job with the symbolism, the character growth arc, everything. It was my best show of 2023 for sure!
I'm not so sure if you really can compare both. Mizu from BES is an original creation by the writers of the series. They clearly care for the character, have an eye for details. ROP on the other hand comes across like written by someone who never touched a Lord of the Rings book with a toe, didn't like what they heard from friends, seems arrogant enough to think they can do better than Tolkien who dedicated his life to his storrys and therefore offended the whole ready-made fandom who went instantly WTF is that I won't touch it with a stick.
Thing is yes they may have tried similar things but the writers come from so diffrent ends of a spectrum it's kind of unfair to compare them.
Disclaimer: English is not my first language.
The reason why I think it is fair to compare them is because if Galadriel's storyline had actually landed, I think RoP would have had a much better reception. She is headline character and her arc (IMO) flat out didn't work. I can see what they were trying to do, but they didn't pull it off.
Of course, even if they had, there would have been lore purist who complained, but a lore purist can find a reason to complain about Peter Jackson original trilogy.
The problem with headlining with Galadriel is that her arc's failure dragged the whole show down. (Again, my opinion).
Though I will say, no one, and I mean no one, needed the grimdark hobbits. Leave them behind. Jeez, what were the writers thinking?!
But anyway, mostly the two characters served as great contrasts in terms of discussing internal growth arcs for writers in general.
(I'll tell you a dirty secret, English isn't my first language either. I probably won't notice if you make any mistakes).
@@JustInTimeWorlds - "but a lore purist can find a reason to complain about Peter Jackson original trilogy."
"Purist" has no real meaning outside of it being used as a pejorative. Jackson's original trilogy has no respect for Tolkien even beyond the concerns of lore. Great films, horrible representations of Tolkien. That is a legitimate perspective coming from someone who genuinely likes Jackson's films. You can call people names, or you can realize that human beings have the capability of exercising discernment and critical thinking while still liking something.
I disagree with your emotional, venomous and baseless characterization of the people who write Rings of Power.
Calling them "arrogant" for trying to do an adaptation is not reasonable; it is arrogance itself to invalidate an entire category of artwork.
You add no substantive criticisms here, unlike JiTW, who gave very thoughtful critiques.
@@hawkname1234 Well, Ring of powers was so wonderfull that reportedly only 37% of watchers finished the 1st season.
Interesting the finnish language thing. I always heard elves speak in the movies and thought they were influenced by a Celtic language.
Celtic might very well have entered the mix but Tolkien created Quenya (Elvish) based on the phonology and structure of Finnish. He also loved the Kalevala and said it was a great influence on him.
There’s even a bunch of words that mean more or less the same thing in both languages.
But he was a student and teacher of languages and I’m sure Celtic (and a few other languages) had their influence as well.
@@JustInTimeWorlds I had looked it up after commenting. Apparently, there is two languages spoken by the elves. One based on Finnish that starts with a Q, and the other called Sindarin or something akin to that. Sindarin was inspired by Celtic Welsh! I love that Tolkien was such a well versed author. So much so that both of us are right lol.
@@Thoumint nice! Thanks for the info, I didn’t know that Celtic had influenced Sindarin. That is super cool.
I question whether or not the writers of RoP were skillful enough to even realize the possibility, forget make the attempt, at the arc you're pointing towards. That said, if this is the arc they're going for, they did set it up poorly, but they do have Galadriel in a very nice nadir-of-the-soul moment to build from.
I agree they set it up poorly, but I think it’s what they were going for. The whole *I know better, I jump into ocean* reeks of arrogance. Season 2 has a good platform, IF they have the wits to use it.
You don't need to question the talent of the writers, as artists. You can just question their decisions/work, and admit you don't know anything else about them.
The respective arcs of Mizu and Galadriel are vastly different, as their internal motivation is different. Anyone can look at Wikipedia to understand Galadriel, so I won't bother going over her character. Mizu requires a more discerning eye. In visualizing Mizu, the creators of Blue Eye Samurai apparently drew upon Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars and Barbra Streisand in Yentl, which is why Mizu looks like an amalgam of the two. In terms of historicity, not only does she look ridiculous, but the entire premise of her wandering freely presenting as a man in this disguise would only draw more attention to her and get her killed. But as cinematic storytelling, it's fantastic and tells us so much about her motivation. And the focal point of her presentation rests in her eyeglasses.
While Mizu ostensibly wears these eyeglasses to hide her eyes, there's much more going on there. The lenses on those glasses are tinted orange, which, as I'm sure everyone knows, is the opposite of blue on the RYB subtractive color model. This is wonderful subtext provided by the writers: Mizu is subconsciously trying to negate herself by literally opposing her own eyes, the most obvious indication of her mixed-race nature. Mizu, like the rest of us, suffers from the oldest psychological malaise: she hates who she is because she has been conditioned to conflate WHAT she is with WHO she is. But, like the rest of us, Mizu doesn't understand that she isn't her eyes or her blood or her lack of status, no matter how much what she is influences who she is. And this internal struggle is perfectly set in he context of a fictional Edo, a time and place where everyone, even those outside of social placement, have a place. Yet Mizu does not, and cannot. It's just another layer of brilliance in this masterfully crafted show.
Galadriel's story and motivation is completely different. Wikipedia or Tolkien's works are at everyone's disposal, and I won't lower myself to commenting on her representation in that abysmal show. Peter Jackson's films were bad enough.
"Lower yourself to commenting?" Ooof. If pretentiousness were a YT commenter.
@@hawkname1234 - Weak. Very weak.
Is that a South African accent I hear?
Ja swaer :) Van die Vrystaat tot Finland.
@@JustInTimeWorlds Ek is n soutie, ek kanie die taal so mooi praat nie maar ek in Zuid Afrika bly:) Great channel! so glad it got recommended to me!
@@brorson_art, no problem. My English is very delicious
I really liked this video, because a lazy critic would stop at "Galadriel is bad because she's overpowered", but you contrasted her with another OP character who is considered well-written, and then dug deeper to show where the difference lies. I certainly enjoy such in-depth comparisons.