Peter Mullan as King Durin III in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2024), Amazon MGM Studios
Morfydd Clark, the actress who plays Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, chose to promote the show by playing victim while defending her and the show’s abominable depiction of Galadriel.
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2024), Amazon MGM Studios
In an interview with Elle, Clark stated, “I was just totally unprepared when season 1 came out. I’ve seen a really dark side of what it means to be someone who [anyone] can write a message to on Instagram, and a really lovely side.”
She went on to claim that she received “negativeness, primarily from men.”
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2024), Amazon MGM Studios
Clark then explained that “lots of the criticism I got from some [fans] were for the things making other people feel liberated while watching [Galadriel].”
She elaborated, “What certain people didn’t necessarily enjoy about her, other people did. She takes up space; she’s unapologetic. I didn’t want her to act like a human woman who’s been taught not to be abrasive.”
Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), Prime Video
Showrunner J.D. Payne also attempted to invoke J.R.R. Tolkien to justify the massacre he and Clark committed on Galadriel, “Tolkien gives us hints that [Galadriel] was prideful, that she was a warrior at various times in her history.”
He added, “We said, ‘How can we take her from being an impetuous, prideful young warrior to the wise Lady of the Wood?”
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2024), Amazon MGM Studios
This is all a giant gaslight and is clearly part of a failing marketing strategy, one they attempted with the first Season 1. Prime Video went out of its way to cast actors that look nothing like the characters that Tolkien described. They cast Lenny Henry, Sophia Nomvete, and Ismael Cruz Córdova as a hobbit, dwarf, and elf respectively.
Prime Video then instructed the actors to antagonize Tolkien fans with Nomvete leading the way at San Diego Comic-Con. She told PA Media, “We are redressing the balance within the film and television, television industry and of course, this franchise and I hope, lots of franchises moving forward.”
Furthermore, she declared that they were intentionally butchering Tolkien’s lore in order to indoctrinate the modern audience they hoped to capture with it, “To be part of creating accessibility for generations to come. For new generations this is their version of Tolkien, this is what my daughter will see of Tolkien’s works.”
Sophia Nomvete as Princess Disa in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), Amazon Studios
Next, Nomvete then elaborated on how the show was attempting to rewrite Tolkien’s work for woke sensibilities, “It’s their time and it’s so important and I hope many people will see this fantasy and be able to relate to it. This is a reflection of the world we live in, there are many and we are different and we will embrace and discover, and peel back, and learn, and educate, and be educated.”
“And we can only do that when we embrace and love our differences,” she added.
Owain Arthur as Prince Durin IV; Sophia Nomvete as Princess Disa in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2024), Amazon MGM Studios
Ismael Cruz Córdova told the Associated Press, “There will no longer be a time where you can say there are no Elves of color. So we erased that one, you know?”
He added, “This conversation will never be there. No, I’m an Elf. The next person that comes after me won’t have to talk about this. That’s what it means to me.”
“I always say that if you can see it, you can imagine it, then if you can imagine it, you can create it,” he concluded.
TOLKIEN FOR 2022: “The Rings of Power” co-stars Benjamin Walker (@FindtheWalker) and Ismael Cruz Córdova (@IsmaelC_C) discuss how artistic licence in “The Lord of the Rings” prequel is reinvigorating Tolkien. pic.twitter.com/Gh7sca16vX
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) August 16, 2022
Lenny Henry responded to a statement from GQ, ““In the original Lord of the Rings trilogy 20 years ago, there were no Black characters. But this show is different. It feels like the big new fantasy franchises are finally diversifying.”
He said, “There’s a real sense of trying to be more inclusive than we were in this world. [House of the Dragon star] Steve Toussaint keeps saying… The purists were saying things about [his casting in the show] god bless them. They have no trouble believing in a dragon, but they do have trouble believing that a Black person could be a member of the court. Or that a Black person could be a hobbit or an elf.”
“And actually, storytellers can do what they want, because they’re storytellers. In the reimagining of these stories from 1000 years ago, they are not part of the canon that everybody knows, this is a reimagining and re-weaving of the story,” he admitted. “And [Rings of Power showrunners] JD Payne and Patrick McKay have just gone, ‘What if?’ The greatest two words in storytelling: What if.”
Lenny Henry as Sadoc Burrows and Beau Cassidy in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), Amazon Studios
It then escalated to the official Rings of Power account on X accusing Tolkien fans of being racist. The account posted, “We stand in solidarity with our cast. #YouAreAllWelcomeHere.”
It then shared three images with the first reading, “We, the cast of Rings of Power, stand together in absolute solidarity and against the relentless racism, threats, harassment, and abuse some of our castmates of color are being subjected to on a daily basis. We refuse to ignore it or tolerate it.”
In the second, they wrote, “JRR Tolkien created a world which, by definition, is multi-cultural. A world in which free peoples from different races and cultures join together, in fellowship, to defeat the forces of evil. Rings of Power reflects that. Our world has never been all white, Middle-earth is not all white. BIPOC belong in Middle-earth and they are here to stay.”
Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Queen Regent Míriel, Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir, and Charlie Vickers as Halbrand in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), Amazon Studios
The third concluded, “Finally, all our love and fellowship go out to the fans supporting us, especially fans of colour who are themselves being attacked simply for existing in this fandom. We see you, your bravery, and endless creativity. Your cosplays, fancams, fan art, and insights make this community a richer place and remind us of our purpose.”
“You are valid, you are loved, and you belong. You are an integral part of the LOTR family — thanks for having our backs. Namárië.”
TheRingsofPower on X
This narrative that fans who were criticizing the show were racist was also pushed by Clark a few months later when she posted to Instagram Stories, “Anyone sending hate to my black cast mates, get off my page, get off the internet, and shut up.”
Morfydd Clark on Instagram Stories
Next, she shared a short video of her castmate, Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor, making a hand motion that reveals the phrase “Shut the f*** up.”
Clark would seemingly ask in a caption below the video, “Who made this?”
Morfydd Clark on Instagram Stories
She provided no evidence of any hate being sent to her castmates. And this obvious marketing stunt did not work whatsoever.
Kim Masters at The Hollywood Reporter reported in April 2023 that 63% of people who watched part of the first episode did not finish the entire series.
She wrote, “While Amazon, like other streamers, provides only limited data — and internally, it held information even more closely than usual on the series — sources confirm that The Rings of Power had a 37 percent domestic completion rate (customers who watched the entire series).”
For those outside the United States, the completion rate was higher. Masters shared, “Overseas, it reached 45 percent. (A 50 percent completion rate would be a solid but not spectacular result, according to insiders).”
Joseph Mawle as Adar in The Lord of the Ring: The Rings of Power (2022), Prime Video
What do you make of Clark’s disdain for men criticizing the portrayal of Galadriel in The Rings of Power Season 1?
