"A Disgrace to the Source Material": Morfydd Clark's Galadriel Faces Backlash
"The books are way better…" is a phrase that can plague a film's adaption of a much-loved novel if creators are not mindful of the fan's input.
Translating a character from book to screen is not always a simple process. And self-appointed 'guardians' of a cherished franchise will remain highly critical of anything likely to threaten their favorite fictional universes. Unfortunately for the producers of Amazon's new series 'The Rings of Power ', an original story based on the works of Tolkien, such fans are already condemning the show for the misportrayal of one of the series' most important characters.
Why are the fans upset?
Morfydd Clark is the Welsh actress appearing as a young Galadriel and the show's leading character. This version of the elven ruler mentioned frequently in the books, imagines her as a young general and warrior. Her interests seem obsessed with the vanquishing of Sauron. And already her part is the driving force of the show's overall narrative and focus. However, fans instead are critiquing her role in the series due to a lack of continuity with the source material. Her description throughout the books is always as a powerful and formidable figure, but never as a warrior. And although brief, Galadriel is noted as having little involvement in the war against Morgoth and the circumstances of his defeat. The show has taken a bold stance to challenge this basis of the character and ignored much which is already considered canon.
For this reason, fans of the books have been outraged by the series' careless handling of Tolkien's works. Wondering how many more alterations to The Lord Of The Rings narrative there will be going forward. Some commenters have publicly asked on the r/LOTR_on_Prime Reddit community, why make a series based on an already established story at all, if you are going to ignore the very source material on which you based your own? Some on Twitter have even labeled the show as "completely unwatchable", "a disgrace to the source material" as well as "an insult to Tolkien's memory". Clearly, this was not the response Amazon was aiming for when they proposed what would become the most expensive series ever made.
Only time will tell if 'The Rings of Power's' commitment to other aspects of the Middle-Earth universe will win fans back to its viewership. However, they are now walking a perilous quest of their own. As they will surely lose their most committed audience if they do not listen to the guidance of the franchise's most important people… its fans.