Amazon suspends reviews for new Lord of the Rings series as 'racist trolls' cause ratings plunge

Amazon Saturday suspended reviews of its new Lord of the Ring: Rings of Power series for 72 hours as negative reviews began to come in and ratings took a dive. The series, based on the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, is the most expensive show in history, costing Amazon $465 million for the first season alone. Thursday’s premiere was Amazon’s most-watched premiere to date with a record 25 million views in the last few days. 

The show has come under criticism, however, for its heavy “progressive” slant. 

“Tolkien is turning in his grave,” tweeted Elon Musk about the show, adding that only Galadriel, the show’s female lead, was a positive character. “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.” 

Users pointed out that there is one male character who is also portrayed as positive: Elrond, who is played by a black actor. 

“The undertone is that the important male characters are mostly morally weak - or not trustworthy,” commented another user. “Especially when their skin colour is white. If a male [character] is a hero he is usually [a person of color].” 

A writer for the Hollywood Reporter accused those who gave negative reviews as “miserable little trolls” and “racist” due to the black cast in the series. 

While mainstream TV critics like Rotten Tomatoes gave the show an 84% rating, audiences only rated the series’ first two episodes at 39%. 

Amazon thereafter announced a 72-hour hold on all reviews, claiming reports of “trolling” and “review bombing,” which is when users post negative reviews without watching the show. 

Last year, Amazon announced a new racial policy which set minimum quotas for different skin tones in its entertainment, as well as gender-related quotas.  

Amazon now must include “one character from each of the following categories in speaking roles, with minimum 50% of these to be women: LGBTQIA+, person with a disability, and three regionally underrepresented race/ethnic/cultural groups,” reported Deadline. 

Furthermore, “[e]ach film or series with a creative team of three or more people in above-the-line roles (Directors, Writers, Producers) should ideally include a minimum 30% women and 30% members of an underrepresented racial/ethnic group,” and the studio must seek “at least three bids from vendors or suppliers on productions, one of which must be from a woman-owned business and one from a minority-owned business.”