IS LORD OF THE RINGS BORING?!😡 -FANTASY DEBATE

LET'S DEBATE THE FANTASY GENRE!

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[DanielGreeneReviews]

I am working on my Anthony Fantano impression! How is it going?

[alja]

Only calling him Brando Sando from now on.

[ryaneasterling]

that person that said: "not every adaptation should be live action, more should be animated" (or something close to that) is totally correct! I am liking the His Dark Materials show but as it has gone on I feel it is being held back by difficult scenes that could be easier to do animated.

[Elementaljj]

That take on Snape, is one that I've been pushing for years. I have literally lost friends that are Potterheads because I think he's more of an obsessive stalker, than the redeemed hero that people push.

[theHeavyMetalHermit]

The only way I could imagine someone feeling that the worldbuilding in LOTR is boring is if they've grown sick and tired of the LOTR copycats who employed Tolkien's worldbuilding tropes before reading LOTR. Many of the things we perceive as tropes in LOTR - even overused tropes - simply weren't tropes at the time when the book was written. It's like if we imagine this alternate future where 90% of all fantasy books have a magic system whereby the characters have to eat/drink certain metals in order to use magic. Someone in this alternate future might very well say 'The magic system in Mistborn is dull, overused, and unimaginative.'

[thelightningking]

Say what you will about LOTR, but Tolkien adds a sense of dread to his books that looms over the protagonists at every moment. This is to the point that even when the characters are safe, they are not free from the influence and watch of Sauron. His reach even extended as far away as Bree, and I think that is really cool.

[mariapazgonzalezlesme]

You could said this video title have a nice RING to it.

[avekatumba]

This is more of unpopular opinions than a debate. 🤔

[philippschmidt]

I thought LOTR was boring when I started, I think it took me three of four attempts to get into it but after having finished it I can say with confidence that it isn't boring at all.

[taragonleaf]

I've finished the LOTR trilogy 3 times and I like it more every time. I don't think the world-building is boring but I'd describe it as gentle. Not sure why that word comes to mind, but gentle is the best I've got.

[sofiaamm]

i think what the historical realism person meant was that when some authors are criticized for lack of women/poc/lgbt, they claim it's because of historical accuracy, and then turn and dont do anything else historically accurate besides being set in a place that vaguely resembles medieval europe

[burner]

I find LOTR immersive and I'm actually always surprised at how quickly it reads.

[תהלהקאופמן]

0:35 as someone who read the wheel of time I can confirm that no one has ever read the wheel of time. Me included.
P.s. hell yeah reading the bible is a roller coaster. It has more incest, murder and magic then game of thrones

[Jeneric]

I've actually been relistening to LOTR recently in audiobook form and I find it to hold up surprisingly well, it has a lot more nuance than people nowadays give it credit for (as it's often used as an example of a story with clear good/evil compared to modern day more presumably grey storytelling) and it's also quite fast paced. Despite the big Tom Bombadil detour we get from the beginning of the story to Bree and to Rivendell in the same page count as a modern day fantasy prologue chapter.

[Law-of-EnTropy]

Violet Evergarden was adapted into an anime but it was originally a light novel. I recommend that one.

[fdmct]

Boring for people who expect action. If you go into LOTR expecting it to be slow, it doesn't seem boring at all.

[DelayedJet]

4:43 To be fair, Snape's hatred for James Potter was probably more down to the fact that he was bullied by him, rather than just purely because he was "obsessed" with Lily.

[Gigglepud]

LOTR's writing style can feel boring, but the actual information conveyed about the worldbuilding is beautiful!! The histories! The cultures! (And then if you get into Silm, that's even more epic!)
(Also, a lot of times, people find things boring because they think it's overdone.... but guess who did it first*?)


(*as far as modern fantasy is concerned)

[ReturnToSenderz]

I guess I’ve never been too fussed about “historical accuracy” in my fantasy as long as it makes sense within the story. For example, if you want to have some African knights in a historically-plausible King Arthur’s court, I think it can be done well, but it would take more explanation than Welsh knights would. England was considered a real backwater place when Arthur may have lived, so it didn’t attract many immigrants (minus raiders). If you’re going the “Knight’s Tale” route (does anyone else remember that movie?), you don’t need to explain because “historical accuracy” isn’t necessary for the story being told.

[MrToddinoz]

Hi! I'm the guy with the WMF comment. Thank you for responding. I think it just comes down to what we see as needing to be addressed in the books. I truthfully think a lot of the questions and theories don't need to be outright addressed as much as just given a bit more evidence. Much of my enjoyment from these books comes from my endless notetaking and speculation because of the GENIUS left behind from Pat.
I probably am in the minority for believing not all questions need outright answers. That is just an opinion I hold. So that's where it stands, we just want different things out of the story. Thanks for your time.