Elon Musk Fuels Fire on 'The Rings of Power' Criticism, Gets Dragged by Angry Fans
Adding even more fuel to the controversial fire that is "The Lord of the Rings" prequel, Elon Musk took to Twitter and expressed his thoughts on "The Rings of Power".
"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" series released its first two episodes in September 1st, and is set to run for a total of eight episodes for season one. Recently, the show drew controversy regarding certain cast choices. The "LoTR" prequel has fans buzzing all over social media, and now, has caught the attention of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
In a recent tweet, the tech mogul expressed his disapproving criticism on the Amazon Prime streamed series, going as far as referencing the late-author of the book series, J.R.R. Tolkien. Expanding on his opinion, the tech mogul criticized the portrayal of male characters on the series during the first two episodes.
Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2022
Notably, the SpaceX founder has a long-running feud and rivalry with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Amazon bought the television rights for "The Lord of the Rings" in November 2017.
READ ALSO : Neil Gaiman Shuts Down Controversial Remarks on Twitter, Shares Secret to Dealing With Internet Trolls
Musk Draws Flak on His Homecourt
Ironically, Musk faces online backlash on the same social media platform that he owns, Twitter. Some fans respond to the tech CEO's controversial thread and compare him to Saruman, a power-hungry wizard featured as one of the antagonists in "LoTR".
Meanwhile, other netizens express their belief that the late "Lord of the Rings" author would disagree with Musk, among other colorful insults.
Impossible to overstate how much Tolkien would hate Elon Musk and his industrial tech empire. Tolkien didn’t even like trains. Regular ass steam engine TRAINS. pic.twitter.com/9P6TVL4ItV
— Sean Thomason (@TheThomason) September 5, 2022
And for the cherry on top, Tolkien's "best mate" author Neil Gaiman weighed in as a clapback to Elon Musk's tweet.
Elon Musk doesn't come to me for advice on how to fail to buy Twitter, and I don't go to him for film, TV or literature criticism. https://t.co/WpyXhQlqIh
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) September 6, 2022
Amazon Puts a Halt to Reviews
Recently, Amazon reportedly delayed user reviews for three days in an attempt to prevent internet trolls from "review bombing" their series, according to an Amazon representative. The 72 hour delay would be used to filter "genuine" user reviews or spam from internet bots.
According to Variety, the "LoTR" prequel "has been fending off trolls for months, especially ones who take issue with the decision to cast actors of color as elves, dwarves, harfoots and other folk of Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth."
Despite the online backlash the show has been receiving, "The Rings of Power" has been hailed with the biggest premiere viewership ever for Amazon Prime, garnerning 25 million viewers on its first day.
