Back again Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power at San Diego Comic-con, this time with several of the cast interview panels that happened, some was predictable, we've heard it all before. But what do these interviews make you think about the Rings of Power, were you re-assured that many of them kept their discussions to the show and their characters? Or are you concerned with all the talk about interpreting the books and putting themselves and the real world into their characters? Let me know your thoughts below, and as always, thanks for watching :)

As a woman myself, as well as a life-long die-hard Tolkien nerd, I was never EVER once bothered by the "lack of female representation in Tolkien." Because, for one, that's not true, and also I loved all the male characters and could empathize with them. I always related to Bilbo and Frodo especially, being a very small person myself, I imagined I could be like them and do great things. Never bothered me that they had XY chromosomes and mine were XX.

This interview screams "we want to make history" rather than "we want to tell a well-written compelling story based on the works of a masterful author and storyteller." Pride goeth before the fall. That is all I can say.

I love that the actress playing the Dwarven princess is openly implying that she is the first actress to ever audition for a role shortly after giving birth, the first actress to ever have accommodations for breastfeeding while working, and the first ever fantasy character that black girls and women could relate to. She must be the most amazing human to ever live.

“The writers give women such agency…they don’t serve the men around them” that’s kinda weird considering the type of world and era that Tolkien’s work is set in. The very fact Eowyn fought with men was considered unique and uncommon. Even among elven culture, women were users of magic and knowledge, not swords and combat. Then she goes on about being an activist. Why the fuck do all these actors think anyone gives two shits about them, it’s Tolkien’s work we like, not them and their terrible interpretation of it

I worked at comic con for IMBD and was around all these people and those who work with them. I worked in a VIP area and there was a photo op booth of Galadriels dagger in the ice wall from the trailer. 90% of the people who took photos with it didn't know what it was at all (even tho there were signs for it) even after I told them it was for Rings Of Power, lots of people thought it was a pull the sword out of stone thing. The photo booth was made so cheaply the dagger broke 3 times during the con. I thought it all hilariously represented the show.

Tolkien wasn't someone that thought fondly of the future..he thought fondly of the past. Each age has a huge loss of power, history, and knowledge. The 3rd Age is the weakest state of the 3. He is someone that would NEVER think "let the past die"

Whomever stated they hired “activists” and not “actors” for these roles - you were right on the money!

the most entertaining part of these interviews is seeing Colbert's reaction and quite masked disdain in the lack of knowledge these people have about LOTR, since he lives for Tolkien. As a woman and actor I am always baffled when people say there are no female leads or representation in media, yet I grew up surrounded by really strong female characters and as an actor "People do your job and research the material when you get the role!"

I'm a woman and this is an embarrassment to women.

The part about the elf guy bringing part of his own culture into his character is brutally insulting. Your are an ACTOR, you are supposed to play PARTS. Art, like comedy, is DEAD.

I've got to say, I loved Colbert's expressions throughout the interview. You could tell he was not happy and was biting his tongue. Unlike Oswalt, Colbert is a HUGE Tolkien nerd. He can recite everything from the Silmarillion from memory. As much as I don't like his show or his takes, this was clearly painful for him. Which on the other hand I'm glad it was. He sold out to do the interview in the first place, but at least everyone could tell how he was really feeling deep down. The question about Elf hair and his reaction to the answer are chef's kiss.

"You're an actor. You're meant to be in their shoes, not them in yours." Good GOD, yes!

I see a lot of "Its all about ME" rather than its all about Tolkien, the story, the history and the opportunity to recreate his wonderful works.

First female dwarf? There are literally female dwarfs seen in the Hobbit... there is naught within them but lies and deceit EDIT: commented too soon lol

100% review scores. 0% audience scores. Nailed on.

“I gave birth and was able to breast feed” And the crowd goes wild.

My favorite part was when Galadriel and the ewok got into the Tardis. They set their phasers on stun for their night on the town in Wakanda. I laughed until I cried. 10/10. J.R.R. Martin will be so proud of Amazon's faithful adaptation.

I see actors have truly forgotten that they are the bearer of the character, not the other way round. It's like putting a podium on top of a vase.

The difference in quality and views between the LOTR cast interviews and Rings of Power is absolutely ridiculous.

There was a female dwarf in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey". They show one selling jewels in Dale and another when the dwarves are fleeing from Erebor after it was attacked by Smaug!

Tolkien was literally the antithesis of these people. Anyone who is a fan of Rings of Power cannot by definition be a fan of Tolkien. It's just conquered territory by invaders.

To quote Mauler when I hear a cast member speak: “Please stop talking, any time you say anything makes your dumpster fire of a show self apply gasoline”.

"There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of men for this treachery." - J. R. R. Tolkien

I'm not concerned with them putting their own stamp on a character that has very little written about them so long as you stay true to the spirit of the lore. The Strider of the books is very different to the Strider of the films but both Jackson and Mortenson stayed true to the spirit of the lore surrounding him. Sure he was a reluctant hero but character of the man remained. This is where Amazon are going wrong, not putting their own interpretation on a character, but putting an interpretation that does not remain true to Tolkien's vision.

As an actor myself, though mostly for stage, I will add my two cents. In my experience, the performing arts have become a place where you are only welcome if your feedback or opinions are positive. If you have anything negative, anything that causes even the slightest conflict, anything that even has the potential to make someone feel bad or insecure, you will be looked upon with disdain and discouragement. It is so self aggrandizing, that people praise each other, simply to make themselves appear virtuous. And it is often the people who are the least worthy, that recieve the most praise, because otherwise they might be forced to reconcile with the fact that they made a mistake, or aren't as good or special as they think they are. So you have people endlessly showering each other with love and praise, and anyone who has an actual opinion is forced by fear, into keeping quite, or speaking up and being blacklisted.

Did you read the books ? No. Did you see the movies ? A long time ago. Want millions of dollars to make show about the lore of these books you never read and the movies you barely saw? Yes.

I've started mentally and physically preparing myself for your video Disparu. I keep my 1st Edition Lord of the Rings book close to hand, a strong black coffee, a sick bucket and a box of tissues. After I've finished my children usually find me curdled up in a corner sobbing gently but I have to watch it and you do make it sound funny.

OK, this entire video is epic. Like, every single point you made I'm just there like "this is exactly what I'm thinking, like, not even changing words, this is exactly what is in my mind".

I like how people are now saying they are activists instead of actors. If I heard that, I wouldn't hire them, because activists are nothing but trouble, always "improving" things. Sounds like there are a lot of activists in this show, and that's why it's going to suck.

“We don’t serve the men around us, we have agency” this is an absolutely freaking hilarious line considering the context of TOLKIEN. Funnily enough, if you take someone like Eowyn, you can see that she did serve the men around her in fulfilling her duties, but also had plenty of agency. The two are not mutually exclusive. And I’m sorry, but if you’re going to operate in the world of Tolkien, his fantasy is based on and heavily inspired by real world cultures and the traditional gender roles definitely carried over. It’s just so mind-numbing to hear these people wax on about how they’re subverting tradition when they’re working on a project that is (supposedly) inspired by one of the most traditionally minded literary figures of the 20th century

Keep up the great work!

I wondered where the sandwich thing was going. Nice work Sir! 🤣

I'll pull a Supernatural joke: Dean, "Can I shoot her?" Sam, "Not in public."

Dude thanks for staying on top of this, I’ve only seen the movies and this whole situation is BAFFLING haha

I'm so thankful to amazon that I found your channel, your videos are a treat 👌

Okay, I love your delivery.

I physically winced 3 separate times when those actors gave answers.

Focusing on character inclusivity is a death knell, a swing and a miss. Hope Amazon doesn't miss a billion or so.

When Galadrial kills Morgoth and Smaug, she turns to the camera and says "it's ringin' time!" I almost cried.

I laughed so hard at this quote, "If you go into a role and you are just you, you are a bad actor"

Galadriel had a “serenity” in the third age? I thought it was more sadness than anything. I also think that in the 2nd age she has already accepted the “long defeat” and is doing what she can to preserve what she can; being the last of the Eldar in middle-Earth to have seen the light of Laurelin and Telperion…

I do appreciate when cast members tell me so clearly to avoid all the shows they will ever be in, it's such a time save when you're told not to watch by the people making the thing.

This analysis was perfect lmao

My favorite part is where Sauron tells Isildur "remember when I said I'd kill you last?.......I lied" and drops him in mount doom.

The real tragedy in all this is that they could have spent all that money on making something special

I love how the Disa actress talks about portraying a female, and how she just gave birth and breast fed her newborn between sets... it's almost like she's defining what a woman is and no one seems to notice.... funny isn't it?

You're the Paul Joseph Watson of nerd culture 😂😂😂 love it, can't wait to see you on Open Bar again 🤜🤛

All I can say is I will look forward to the forthcoming 'desecration of epic proportion' of all we held sacred about lore of the LotR. More than the series, I am looking forward to the autopsy reports that you'll come up with after each episode. I am currently watching your WoT hour long episodes review and I am say, I am more than impressed. You give voice to every grievances that I had and then even leave me in a split of laughter with your savvy way of critical appraisal of the "adaptation". Looking forward and keep up the good work. Cheers mate!

What should be applauded, is Amazon's achievement of getting more self indulgent arrogance on one stage, than we've ever seen before! Bravo Amazon!

Love the scene where the black dwarf dies prematurely due to lack of vitamin d.

Quality chat mate

BARF... vomit.... - wtf ... thanks disparu for making these vids - it helps us vent

Remember when Peter Jackson said that they weren't interested in putting their own messaging into a Tolkien adaptation? Those were the days That part where Sauron started rapping "His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti, he's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready" gave me literal chills. Such subtle yet powerful writing.

Man, I envy LOTR. I wish WoT and Witcher had fans who are this passionate. The end of GoT was the early warning sign that fantasy was going to get woke, but WoT and Witcher were the actual beginning. And now here we are. Because the pushback from actual fans was weak and disorganized.

04:12 05:10 As good as the original LOTR trilogy was, it is genuinely terrifying to think that *anyone* is under the impression that this show is based on them . . . for so many many reasons.

I'm glad there's someone talking about how crazy this is.

"Playing the first female dwarf." Gimli made it quite clear that female dwarves look nearly identical to male dwarves. So, it seems a bit over the top to DECLARE you are the first.

The absolute arrogance of the female dwarf actor. It’s amazing how much someone can talk about themselves and isn’t a politician. How about talking about the production?

Thanks!

The cast are all lovely, theres 2 very special ones among them. I cant wait to watch this and by the look of it, piss myself laughing.

God these interviews are all sooo annoying to listen to. You can literally feel the smugness and hubris of all these overpaid jesters, and how they're celebrating trampling over Tolkien's source material. Frankly it's disgusting seeing them gleefully desecrating Tolkien's beautifully created folklore for Britain, and I'm not even British!

I can't watch this until the end. It's insane. Sorry Disparu.

As a Latino, something that particularly never bothered my mind was “I want Latin elves” maybe that’s just me

The saddest thing of all, however, is that you could tell who truly "got" what their job is about, what Tolkien's work truly means: the white actors, Cynthia Addai Robinson, and the black harfoot (Sara is the actress' first name) had a lot to say about Tolkien's lore and it's message, but the "first female dwarf", the first black elf and the healer only ever talked about the modern politics: representation, diversity and female agency. It's the saddest thing I've ever seen and makes me even sadder, because even if a lot of them are "firsts", it didn't have to be about that.

Wait, weren't there female dwarves featured in Dale and the Lonely Mountain flashbacks?

Guys, guys, this show really is a first in history. It's the first show to ever convince me never to watch it or subscribe to its streaming service before it was even released.

I think you nailed the whole thing with this "If you have to make it all up, why do you bother to make it at all",, just write a totally new thing right?

"Connected" to Tolkien's work? Honey, you're connected to Amazon's work. There's nothing Tolkienian about this garbage.

These actors/actresses are all kids my age that grew up with friends that constantly said "Yasss queeen! SLAYYY!" every time they did something remotely bare minimum. I can't even joke about it. So many times I've been around people like this who do the most basic "adulting" and gripe about it to just get a roaring applause of slayyyyyy from their friends. It's why they are so confident to say the stupid things that they do. Everything is just "slay gurrrl" and never failing. You can't fail, you just always slay. *YAS QUEEEN*

Great video. You explain how this is all wrong in an amazing way.

Oh my god the arrogance of these cast members is astonishing! They’re loving smelling their own farts aren’t they?!

This series has political agenda written all over it. They are not respecting Tolkien's lore at all. They just want to inflate their egos and their pockets. I'll be very curious about the reviews when this series airs.

It's a pretty sick time when people think they should be rewarded/praised for being born a certain way, rather than for accomplishments. And when it is people in the most privileged of jobs expecting this, it is extra gross.

Thanks, now I know what cringing to death feels like.

The cast attitude screams "we are here for the money, we are just selling this to the nerds, we dont really care"

It has recently come to my attention, that many people believe the Meteor Man to be none other than "young" Gandalf. After expressing my bloodboiling reaction to that information in the form of screaming noises, I realised: "Wait, I actually WANT it to be Gandalf..." Heck yes! Let it be Gandalf, please! Let them crap all over the lore. Let them have hot Sauron, a black elf who's a slave to orcs, feminism, self-centered dwarf princesses, victimized and oppressed female orcs, fanfiction characters with disabilities and all that bull crap of the modern world! Let it all be. Why? Because no matter how much we protest, nothing will show this clown show's true face better than it itself. So please Amazon, give us all you've got, the whole package of diversity, representation, inclusivity.

I'm partially paralyzed, so I have a disability. The absolute LAST THING I want to see onscreen, especially in a fantasy, and MOST especially in Tolkein, is "representation" that reminds me of my disability. It's a complete break from immersion and trying to get away from the stress of life with a disability. Most of us aren't "able" enough to be actors, but struggle just to stay healthy.

Man I had to literally tune out the interview clips to save my sanity. This is the perfect example of most actors have no clue or care at all for anything but a paycheck.

Give them Hell Disparu! I am glad you are a fan on the side of Tolkien

we live in world where people with mental issues (like the writers and the cast of this atrocity of a show) dedicate their time to lecture everyone and are celebrated for it. It would be comical if it wasn't for the fact that these kind of people are in charge everywhere you look. It's a tragedy at this point, a dystopia basically speaking.

I have my doubts the show would be good, but I had hopes that the actress who plays Disa would prove us wrong with her portrayal. But so far she seems more of an activist than an actual actress, what little hope I had that her character would surprise us and be good is now gone. 😔

We all know Stephen Colbert is a huge Tolkien fan. I could see his heart break when his head fell at the end of that woman's non-answer.

2:44 seemed like the beginning of a song lol

Listening to these cast members tell us everything about this show being a dumpster fire 🔥

God I love that question about disability. I just love how self-obsessed people have become in our culture, it’s comical. What’s even more comical is that they a) apparently don’t know the story of the LotR trilogy and b) think someone with a massive disability is necessary to telling an *adventure* story in a fantasy world without modern medicine. If these people were actually fans they’d realize Frodo himself was (technically) disabled following his adventures. He’s haunted by his travels and the trials he endured, he actually has PTSD unlike most people who pretend to have it nowadays. But I digress, it’s both hilarious and extremely saddening how people cannot enjoy a single piece of entertainment these days without having to shove identity into it or needing to see themselves represented. They’re not interested in story, at least nobody’s story save their own.

So many positive things will come out of this show. Channels like this one for example.

8:25 "things like that [in Tolkien] that we discovered and saw how it fitted into OUR WORLD"

To those that are angry or confused at the hostility being heaped upon this series prior to its release, it is all about DISCERNMENT: something that many of us have exercised and fine-tuned over the past several years. Large numbers of people are using discernment in their evaluation of how this show has been presented, its box-checking level of inclusiveness, the blatant (and frankly bullying) attempt to reinvent Tolkien, and not-least: a general resentment of here-goes-another-big-corporate-take-over (i.e. purchase) of a beloved franchise (see also: Star Wars). Go ahead and add in the cringe-level hubris coming from several of these completely unknown actors, already luxuriating in their imminent stardom before the show has even debuted, and folks will plan to actively NOT-watch this show. Celebrity arrogance generally doesn't sit well with people, especially coming from non-celebrities. Humility in Hollywood has become as rare and precious as quality writing. Sadly but predictably, the entertainment business still hasn't learned the obvious. For many of us, the merest scent of woke-focused material alerts us, like sharks catching a faint trace of distant blood. The blood is already in the water now. The frenzy is gathering. It will be monumentally difficult for us not to tear this show apart.

Remember the good times when actors... ACTED without forcing personal views into their work... Oh my how did Sir Ian McKellen do it?! Professional acting AND speaking against homophobia? How was he able to do that without having a lenghty discussion about rainbows with the Fellowship?! :D

I am so excited about this show.

1:42 and 1:47 . Damn hits worthy of Mike Tyson 😅😅😅. I might not be able to watch the rest of this video if it's gonna continue to be this savage!!

*”…to see themselves staring back at them"* Because in these folks’ small minds obviously no one can relate to a character that doesn’t look exactly like them, or a fantasy world that doesn’t look exactly like the real world. Because whatever else fantasy is supposed to be, it’s definitely _not_ supposed to be an escape from the real world.

Swear to God, this entire situation looks like the burning of the Hindenburg. It's a disaster which ended in a fiery inferno, but you just can't divert your eyes from it

On my lunch breaks, I go pee pee because I have a zipper in my pants....this is the power of man. Waits for applause....

The dwarves: spends most of their time underground digging for gold and precious stones and with no sunlight Amazon: "Black person it is"

The agenda of the writers and cast is clearly to convey a political message instead of creating an amazing story out of love for Tolkien's works.

And the real kick in the nuts, is that for all the virue signalling she does and all the pride she shows at being "the first female dwarf EVER on screen," she is a regular sized actor. I bet all the struggling actors with dwarfism are hating the love and adoration she is getting right here for playing something that she's not. That's like me doing blackface and saying I am the first ever black person depicted in..."

The sheer hubris. Words escape me. What a complete and utter disaster. Unbelievable...

" If a person claims to love Tolkien and doesn’t have the fortitude to stand up against corrupting forces then they learned nothing from Dr. Tolkien’s life’s work. Our fandom is as great as our heroes, and Dr. Tolkien gave us many to look and live up to. "