IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power • Hacker News Board

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#751

Post by MikusR » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 5:56 AM UTC

atq2119 wrote: post #637

nicolas_t wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't seem to delete user reviews for Lightyear made by all the bigots that were offended by having two women kissing in the movie so it seems that there's some preferential treatment for Amazon properties. And deleting negative reviews by bigots at least would be more defensible than deleting negative reviews from fans of Tolkien who take issue with the treatment of the work they love. EDIT: I still haven't se…

It feels more like the 2016 Ghostbusters remake, to be honest. Immature men going nuts over a new entry in a franchise that they have fond childhood memories of, simply because the new entry is "same but different" in a way that touches certain insecurities. (To be sure, I doubt that an Amazon Prime series can reach the quality of "the" LotR adaption, ever. But the hysterical screaming about the series is just childi…

In 2016 Ghostbusters case they were deleting the positive comments under the trailer.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#752

Post by ironcurtain » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 5:56 AM UTC

topspin wrote: post #151

Say something nice about TRoP. The thing that's got me interested is the entrance of Gandalf (I presume.) Dropped in from the heavens like an alien, found in a smoldering crater, clearly baffled by up-close Arda, can't speak "the" language, mystified by corporeal-ness, almost simian. The writers had enough of a clue to see the opportunity in making Gandalf's backstory a meaningful subplot, so they're developing it wi…

I thought it might be Radagast.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#753

Post by ironcurtain » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 5:59 AM UTC

bergenty wrote: post #656

lordentropy wrote: post #487

Good god! It must be really hard to make anything these days. If you don't put enough people of color, people will shout of bigotry. If you include a few, some will accuse of wokeness and review bomb it to hell. I'm just glad that the show got made!

People are more pissed off about the feminist bullshit in the show. Galadriel a warrior? Give me a fucking break, puke.

spoilers Not only she’s a warrior but she’s single-handedly killed a snow troll who was thrashing the rest of her male companions. In LOTR it took 8 males to deal with a cave troll. She’s a strong independent woman indeed.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#754

Post by wizofaus » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 6:16 AM UTC

wizofaus wrote: post #652

didibus wrote: post #584

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The wikipedia article on African American literature would certainly suggest there's plenty to choose from. Absolutely, I recognize I might just be unaware, and that's probably because they're not made into big budget movies and very much should be. I'd also love to see that. And to be clear, I'm in 100% agreement that I want to see and think there should be a lot more of their stories represented and made into big…

Why should a writer or for that matter film or TV producer even care what "some folks" are gonna think - it's impossible (and pointless) to please everybody. The idea that the fantasy genre is inherently European and should only consist of caucasian characters is patently absurd and untrue anyway - even CS Lewis had an Arabic-inspired protagonist (female, at that, but that's no denying a fair bit of racist sentiment…

Apologies, wrong link, should be https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/22/namina-forna-l...

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#755

Post by wizofaus » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 6:27 AM UTC

rendall wrote: post #476

mcphage wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only part of the depiction he’s complaining about is race, though.

Dunno. Ask. Listen. Be humble. Have a hypothesis and then do your best to falsify that. Give him all of the charity he needs to refute your guess that he's a bigot. "So you say that there is a convention in Italian literature of depicting other-worldly beings as having freakishly white skin. Would you be ok with the Pinocchio reboot if the same African-descended actress portrayed the fairy, but were instead made up w…

"Would you be ok with the Pinocchio reboot if the same African-descended actress portrayed the fairy, but were instead made up with freakishly white skin?"

Including the word "freakishly" is deliberately setting up the expectation that nobody would think that was acceptable. But I'd like to think we should be able to live in a world where if being literally white-coloured was a key component of a character, then yes, a black actor should be able to play the character wearing whatever costume/makeup or using whatever special effects are necessary to pull off the part. Unfortunately I'm not sure we are in that world yet - the most well-known case of a black public figure appearing "white" still gets accused of betraying his racial background, even if it's almost certain it was entirely due to a skin condition (Vitiligo, a diagnosis confirmed on autopsy).

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#756

Post by wizofaus » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 6:33 AM UTC

sensanaty wrote: post #447

keepper wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Another example is the new Disney's Pinocchio, were the Blue Fairy is portrait by a black woman. The problem is not that she is black of course. but that the original story is set in Italy, Tuscany, mid 1800, were no black woman was ever seen It’s quite clear that that is YOUR problem. It’s funny when people like yourself claim “I’m not X” while then clear laying the case. And for the récord, i hope you open up a ge…

> There’s been black people in Italy for pretty much all it’s history. You may want to also read a few history books. (Black moors, Alessandro de' Medici, etc ) I've always hated this disingenuous line of arguing. Yes, technically there were some black people in Italy, but these types of arguments always frame it in such a way that it seems like it was a common thing to witness for the average citizen. The large, lar…

"go to places like Serbia today as a black man and you'll be gawked at like you're an alien"

But don't you agree this is something we should be trying to improve, and we could do so by ensuring that movie casting better reflects the more racially diverse situation we enjoy in the developed world (who produce much content exported to less diverse parts of the world)?

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#757

Post by meany » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 6:47 AM UTC

Maursault wrote: post #669

LEDThereBeLight wrote: post #658

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re not understanding his argument. Medieval Europe didn’t have this internalized concept of race or skin color like we do - they categorized people more by religion (catholic, Protestant, Muslim) or origin.

Fair enough, but that still sounds absurdly idyllic and very hard to believe. I would expect it to be the opposite, that there was extreme racism even between different families within the same culture, and mostly only in Europe and not so much in the Middle and Far East. Europeans invented racism, and I would have expected it to have occurred around the fall of the Western Roman Empire. But this is all conjecture.

Is it correct to interpret your view as non-Europeans did not view other groups as inferior? That the superiority of the in group is exclusive to Europe? If so, why do you think this only occurred in Europe? What made Europeans different from these other groups?

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#758

Post by StanislavPetrov » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 7:10 AM UTC

Maursault wrote: post #669

LEDThereBeLight wrote: post #658

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re not understanding his argument. Medieval Europe didn’t have this internalized concept of race or skin color like we do - they categorized people more by religion (catholic, Protestant, Muslim) or origin.

Fair enough, but that still sounds absurdly idyllic and very hard to believe. I would expect it to be the opposite, that there was extreme racism even between different families within the same culture, and mostly only in Europe and not so much in the Middle and Far East. Europeans invented racism, and I would have expected it to have occurred around the fall of the Western Roman Empire. But this is all conjecture.

>Europeans invented racism

Perhaps the most absurd assertion I've seen this year, in a year characterized by bizarre assertions.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#759

Post by irrational » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 7:11 AM UTC

I love the wheel of time book series. I knew the reviews of the tv show were quite poor, but decided to watch the episodes anyway. Deep regret.

I’m writing this while wearing a Lord of the Rings t-shirt. I love Lord of the Rings, but I’ve leaned my lesson. I’m going to trust the reviews and not waste my time watching this show.

Re: IMDB deleted all negative user reviews for The Rings of Power

#760

Post by vkazanov » Sun, Sep 04, 2022, 8:14 AM UTC

canuckintime wrote: post #688

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not going to like what I’m going to say but I think the reason they rewrote so much of it is simply that the books are not particularly good in the first place. The ideas are very interesting but that was mostly kept. The prose and characters are rather poor and the stories mostly serviceable. I do wish there was less violence and more focus on trades and exchanges however. That would have been a better show.

> You are not going to like what I’m going to say but I think the reason they rewrote so much of it is simply that the books are not particularly good in the first place. The ideas are very interesting but... The prose and characters are rather poor and the stories mostly serviceable. I do wish there was less violence and more focus on trades and exchanges however. That would have been a better show. I like this > Th…

To be honest the personality of the clone Emperor and his development is my favourite part of the show, and their best idea. It'd be much better if they could just stick to this line, with everything else being just some noise in the background - the way it should be for a man of ultimate power.