Elon Musk has criticized new fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, stating on Twitter that late author J.R.R. Tolkien is “turning in his grave.”
The critically acclaimed show, which debuted on September 1, is Amazon Prime Video’s top premiere of all time, with the first two episodes pulling in a record-breaking 25 million viewers, per The Hollywood Reporter.
However, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk made it clear that he was unimpressed with the billion-dollar project when he shared his thoughts on Twitter on Monday.
After making his comment about Tolkien, the billionaire expanded on his reasoning, writing: “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”
Musk is known to be a fierce rival of Amazon founder and fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos. That rivalry has intensified as Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin have become direct competitors in space travel.
In The Rings of Power, Galadriel is a fierce warrior who has made it her quest to find the Dark Lord Sauron to get revenge for the deaths of her people during their fight against the villain and his leader, Morgoth.
Galadriel, a character who will be familiar to fans of The Lord of the Rings, is played by Morfydd Clark in the TV show. In Peter Jackson’s films, the role was taken on by Cate Blanchett.
Musk’s swipe at The Rings of Power saw some of his Twitter followers comment in agreement, while a large number of others derided the South African-born businessman for his take.
Journalist and feminist author Laurie Penny wrote in response to Musk’s tweets: “I don’t know how to explain to you that ‘making men look good’ is not and never has been the point of fiction.”
Digital strategist Kendall Brown gave an even more damning reaction to Musk’s complaint, hitting back: “Nothing is more pathetic than grown men throwing temper tantrums over their beloved Tolkien (which many of them know *only* through the movies) not being quite as male-centric as they had always envisioned.”
Brown continued: “Sure, Tolkien repeatedly wrote that Galadriel was one of the greatest elves to ever exist & an Amazonian warrior—but that makes Elon’s winky sad, you guys. How dare they create female characters who aren’t just plot devices for male character development!”
Writer and director Aaron Stewart-Ahn said that Musk was “angry because he doesn’t see himself represented in Lord of the Rings like he used to.”
To illustrate his mocking tweet, Stewart-Ahn placed a throwback photo of Musk alongside an image of Lord of the Rings character Gollum.
Elon angry because he doesn’t see himself represented in Lord of the Rings like he used to https://t.co/3Xq1Zzgfuo pic.twitter.com/o41Big5TMt
— Aaron Stewart-Ahn (@somebadideas) September 6, 2022
“What are you talking about man?” Spanish YouTuber Dalas Review said to Musk.
“Elrond is smarter than Galadriel in all ways possible. Also the black elf is a good dude, the new Galadriel boyfriend is somehow good. And the dwarf is also a good guy. What are you saying dude? Totally ‘woke conspiranoic’ you right there.”
Amid the wave of criticism, some followers agreed with Musk’s point of view.
“No he is right,” wrote one. “The undertone is that the important male characters are mostly morally weak – or not trustworthy. Especially when their skin colour is white. If a male [character] is a hero he is usually poc.”
“Couldn’t agree more, even if I haven’t seen it,” said another. “It’s more about ideology and wokeness than telling a captivating story. I won’t pay to have extreme feminism showed down my throat.”
