There is certainly a difference between social commentary and blatant social/political pandering. We do see a lot of the latter now and very very little of the former.
There's our answer. Commentary is an invitation to analysis and debate. Pandering is a bunch of activists marching into your living room with a megaphone.
But i do think and its possible you disagree with me, that when they do put political stuff in shows and movies today, its far more preachy and pushy not always, but often) than in the past, it was done in a more subtle way on tv shows and movies in the past. than what it does today.
I grew up with films from the 50s to 70s and remember how out of place and forced the pushing of Christianity felt in American peplums like Ben Hur or The Fall Of The Roman Empire (and basically anything that showed good mistreated Christians oppressed and slaughtered by Roman pagans).
On my side of the Altlantic, the norm was to show Christians as the remnant of a backwards superstition and an Austrian dramatisation of Schubert's life would have him or one of his friends say things like "come on, don't be silly, this is the 19th century".
So yes, entertainment was always passing some "message" along with the product. All this was before the Internet, though, and I don't remember actors or producers explicitly taking political positions in interviews the way it has been reported about this show or a few other instances in recent years.
Episode 3 wasn't much of anything. More horrible writing. I guarantee you that if a plebe sent in this screenplay/script, he or she would be mocked to no end. Sure, it's fair to have a mythical world of dialect be awkward, but not this awkward. Of course, if a plebe sent in any script, he or she would be mocked and the script sabotaged and hacked. That's how jealous the writer's guild and the VIPs are, so afraid of losing their positions to better writers.
Does anything work? Sure. The hobbits aren't written too badly. Kind of poor writing, but not terrible.
The scenery, though not beautiful, is "interesting", and looks action oriented. The colors are pale and homely, but interesting. The editing is great, the camera work is great, so the directing deserves to be given a nod up.
The worst thing is the "self righteousness" of what appears to be the main characters now-Galadriel and the geek on the boat who is a king, and yes, unless the writing is worse than I thought, he will be a Nazgul some day, but first he'll perform some heroic deeds in some off kilter way.
The Gandalf type guy can't be a mortal, so he logically is either Gandalf, who will have fondness for hobbits, or Saruman, who will resent the help. Got to figure it's more than likely Gandalf.
Right now, Galdriel and Halbrand come across as monsters. They are guests who have been saved from the sea, and yet Galadriel makes demands from those who rescue her and house her that no one but the most slimy punk would make. Her superiority complex is one of a monster. Halbrand tries to be diplomatic if possible, but is still a punk with a superiority complex.
More than likely, since Galadriel is heroic in LOTR, she will repent of her hatefulness, but obviously Halbrand will only pretend to repent. The original Hebrew and Greek words for "repent" has been sabotaged over the years. It originally meant more to "relent" than to cry crocodile tears, which is what most people think it means to "repent" today. I suspect that will be the undoing of Halbrand. If he doesn't become a Nazgul, he's a wasted character who serves no purpose, and still can never be trusted.
The second biggest problem with Episode 3 is the superiority complex script that infests nearly every character, except for the hobbits. The biggest problem remains the adherence to the Nazi ideology of blond, fair womanhood being preached, which Tolkien did participate in doing also. However, in Tolkien's day, the fair skinned blond woman was still an underdog. Hollywood and Hitler changed that. Any woman with dark hair is cannon fodder in this neo Nazi Hollywood script.
I think the crew hates Clark (Galadriel). I mean, she is a phenomenally bad actress but some things we see are unexplainable. In episode 2, when they are on their raft, she spends 5 minutes pulling on a rope which clearly doesn't do anything. This is something a professional actress should know not to do instinctively. It's worse than amateurish. But the thing is: the director and the editors looked at the scene and didn't think anything is wrong with it. And then in episode 3 we see her riding a horse supposedly happy and free but the grimace she has is terrifying. Again, no one thought to make another take?
Enjoyed the 3rd episode a lot. I like how big the world feels. Meteor Man is the weakest storyline, but even that I'm invested in. I also appreciate that the show isn't afraid of being sexy. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I really do think it's a near perfect show so far.
Last Edit: Sept 10, 2022 5:24:21 GMT by onethreetwo
I think the crew hates Clark (Galadriel). I mean, she is a phenomenally bad actress but some things we see are unexplainable.
Actually she was fantastic in the movie Saint Maud (2019). Probably the directing/writing.
Well, writing is abysmal in RoP. But why would a director want her to act all constipated and wooden? You think, it's a conspiracy? Did Amazon's competitors paid them off?
Well just watched it with my family. And I think it's okay so far... Was a bit surprised some characters didn't last very long and were killed off. I kept wondering which parts were cgi and which parts were real. I thought the battle sequences were pretty cool.
I read they want to do 5 seasons... and that's quite a goal. But I'll give this a chance to develop more and see where it goes.
Actually she was fantastic in the movie Saint Maud (2019). Probably the directing/writing.
Well, writing is abysmal in RoP. But why would a director want her to act all constipated and wooden? You think, it's a conspiracy? Did Amazon's competitors paid them off?
Ha - I've been wanting to find the words to describe her and you got it 100% correct. I feel no empathy or connection to her character at all. Not a good sign when Galadriel is as important to the series as she is probably going to be. Why aren't we seeing her use her magic at all?
I think the crew hates Clark (Galadriel). I mean, she is a phenomenally bad actress but some things we see are unexplainable.
Actually she was fantastic in the movie Saint Maud (2019). Probably the directing/writing.
i haven't seen Saint Maud so I can't say anything about her acting in that, but in this series it's abysmal, though to be honest it could just be that the writing is awful.
I think the crew hates Clark (Galadriel). I mean, she is a phenomenally bad actress but some things we see are unexplainable. In episode 2, when they are on their raft, she spends 5 minutes pulling on a rope which clearly doesn't do anything. This is something a professional actress should know not to do instinctively. It's worse than amateurish. But the thing is: the director and the editors looked at the scene and didn't think anything is wrong with it. And then in episode 3 we see her riding a horse supposedly happy and free but the grimace she has is terrifying. Again, no one thought to make another take?
Yeah. This isn't on the actress. "Someone watched this scene and felt, yeah. That's the shot we're going to use."
Last Edit: Sept 12, 2022 11:09:43 GMT by Winter_King
I think the crew hates Clark (Galadriel). I mean, she is a phenomenally bad actress but some things we see are unexplainable. In episode 2, when they are on their raft, she spends 5 minutes pulling on a rope which clearly doesn't do anything. This is something a professional actress should know not to do instinctively. It's worse than amateurish. But the thing is: the director and the editors looked at the scene and didn't think anything is wrong with it. And then in episode 3 we see her riding a horse supposedly happy and free but the grimace she has is terrifying. Again, no one thought to make another take?
Yeah. This isn't on the actress. "Someone watched this scene and felt, yeah. That's the shot we're going to use."
You're right. How can they have thought that was a good shot? I was confused while watching that scene. Was I supposed to be scared? Put-off? Maybe both.