Lord of the Rings TV Series Purchased by Amazon

[Biomega]

"Do not pursue him! He will not return to this land. Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall."

Said an elf, to a man. Thousands of years after the fall of Numenor. Why would anyone assume that meant "he was vulnerable to women?" It could have just as easily meant that he'd die at the hands of a hobbit...or an orc...or a dwarf...or a cat.

That's a very common trope with prophecy - something that appears to obviously read one way, but then turns out to have had some twist to it that when interpreted differently actually changes everything.

And by the way: this ambiguity doesn't exist in many other languages, and we can be pretty sure he didn't say it in English originally. Tolkien the linguist would have been acutely aware of it, and the ambiguity of the English rendering likely exists PRECISELY in order to blur the distinction which, in the original language, probably wouldn't have been there. It makes us, the reader, all the more aware of the ways in which language tricks us, something that a linguist author no doubt would find immensely gratifying.

[MCMLXXXII]

You aren't getting a perfect fade with a shaving knife lol

Tell that to the old-school barber over here down town. He doesn't use electric appliances at all and seems to do fine.

Example:
https://www.apetogentleman.com/scissor-fade-haircuts/

[Adamas102]

You aren't getting a perfect fade with a shaving knife lol

Seems like a complete non-issue if you’re already going to accept actors with much better nutrition and dental care than most people in a similar type of environment/time period would have.

[Xath]

Tell that to the old-school barber over here down town. He doesn't use electric appliances at all and seems to do fine.

Example:
https://www.apetogentleman.com/scissor-fade-haircuts/

scissors are different from a shaving knife

[s_bushido]

Scissors have existed for thousands of years.

[Jastall]

I don't care about the feasibility of buzzcuts in a fantasy universe myself, but I do find it a bit at odds with said universe. I associate Tolkien elves with long, flowing hairstyles, not something you usually find on modern military personnel.

It's the same with the armor. Some of it is totally fine or even good, but then you get the bit that just sticks out as odd or bad looking. So the overall aesthetic doesn't win me over less due to being just trash, and more due to its inconsistency.

[MCMLXXXII]

scissors are different from a shaving knife

No really? Scissors are 2 knives attached to each other and have existed for ages.

[DarkAmbient]

A buzzcut on a Tolkienian elf does look incongruous and makes the character look like a contemporary insert. IRC Tolkien never stated that all elves have long hair, but I don't believe he ever described a short-haired elf either. It's not just the buzzcut. Elrond's got some kind of 1980s men's catalogue model thing going on, and Finrod just looks like an ordinary bloke. Perhaps they want to subvert the fantasy trope of elves having an ethereal look about them, which is fine, but probably best done in a new universe where it makes sense.

[Biomega]

No really? Scissors are 2 knives attached to each other and have existed for ages.

It's not QUITE the same. Scissors primarily operate by shearing, not by cutting. I.e., they effectively separate things by sliding and the sharp edge only facilitates that (by concentrating the force to a smaller area). Whereas a single knife works primarily by cutting (which is shearing + compression, but in different ways).

That's why cutting something with scissors leaves a different edge than say an X-Acto knife, even if the scissors are really sharp (and additionally scissor designs limit the sharpness, because the constant contact dulls blades).

That being said, I don't think the "they didn't have super high-end scissors" argument really holds water here anyway considering that Tolkien's elves were master crafters who could make quite literally fantastic blades capable of just about anything. I'm sure that an elven barber with elven tools who spent oh, I don't know, a couple THOUSAND years cutting hair can create just about any hair style.

[MCMLXXXII]

It's not QUITE the same. Scissors primarily operate by shearing, not by cutting. I.e., they effectively separate things by sliding and the sharp edge only facilitates that (by concentrating the force to a smaller area). Whereas a single knife works primarily by cutting (which is shearing + compression, but in different ways).

That's why cutting something with scissors leaves a different edge than say an X-Acto knife, even if the scissors are really sharp (and additionally scissor designs limit the sharpness, because the constant contact dulls blades).

That being said, I don't think the "they didn't have super high-end scissors" argument really holds water here anyway considering that Tolkien's elves were master crafters who could make quite literally fantastic blades capable of just about anything. I'm sure that an elven barber with elven tools who spent oh, I don't know, a couple THOUSAND years cutting hair can create just about any hair style.

I know they aren't the same. The shaving knife was an example of no need for clippers to create short haircuts. Just to show what a baloney comes out of people's mouth just to hate on a not yet released TV series.

[bledgor]

I know they aren't the same. The shaving knife was an example of no need for clippers to create short haircuts. Just to show what a baloney comes out of people's mouth just to hate on a not yet released TV series.

I mean people criticize things that were never written by Tolkien/contradict the lore. Elves were never in text noted having short hair, Tolkien might never have said "Elves don't/never have short hair", but every description of them was long flowing hair.

It is just one of MANY place's where they (Patrick McKay and JD Payne) took silence as consent to do whatever they wanted instead of what was faithful to Tolkien. I find it funny how they say Tolkien is timeless, but they still feel the need to make A LOT of changes so it is more "modern".

[Rennadrel]

A buzzcut on a Tolkienian elf does look incongruous and makes the character look like a contemporary insert. IRC Tolkien never stated that all elves have long hair, but I don't believe he ever described a short-haired elf either. It's not just the buzzcut. Elrond's got some kind of 1980s men's catalogue model thing going on, and Finrod just looks like an ordinary bloke. Perhaps they want to subvert the fantasy trope of elves having an ethereal look about them, which is fine, but probably best done in a new universe where it makes sense.

Personally I don't care too much if elves have short hair, I just don't see the shaved down look to be realistic for characters in general who travel a lot. It's not like you'd have a personal barber on your travels anyway. Anyone I know who has that kind of hairstyle gets a haircut every few weeks, pretty much impossible if you are moving around a lot. But the long hair is a style that defines the elves of Middle Earth, shorter hair is more a thing of men and I guess Hobbits. Even dwarves have pretty long hair as well.

[Orby]

Rings of Power is just looking more and more like Wheel of Time but with a way higher budget. In fact maybe that's why the end of season one looked so cheap and badly produced did Amazon take all of the funding and put it into their Rings of Power show? lol

Although I give wheel of Time some credit, it at least looked interesting from the trailers. I can only hope that its a reverse effect with Rings of Power like the marketing team is just doing a bad job and the show is actually pretty good. Its a hope but its all I got left. :P

[craigw]

the southpark episode where cartman glues pubes onto his face then murders scott tenormans parents and feeds them to scott in a chili cookoff is the best.

[Syegfryed]

Short hair or even bald elf is fine, but the buzzcut is weird as f and look totally out of place with the scenario.

[Khaza-R]

Personally I don't care too much if elves have short hair, I just don't see the shaved down look to be realistic for characters in general who travel a lot. It's not like you'd have a personal barber on your travels anyway. Anyone I know who has that kind of hairstyle gets a haircut every few weeks, pretty much impossible if you are moving around a lot. But the long hair is a style that defines the elves of Middle Earth, shorter hair is more a thing of men and I guess Hobbits. Even dwarves have pretty long hair as well.

I think they actually missed an opportunity to show of an elf with "ethnic" long hair. Which would of been much cooler looking.

But at the end of the day, if the worst thing about this series is a haircut then we are all extremely lucky.

[Iain]

These shows always immediately have to reach for the stars. Tolkien's origin stories are biblical but that doesn't mean a story set in Middle Earth has to be. If Amazon had dialed the story back and created something set in between the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, something with dwarves, humans and orcs, maybe something shortly after the fall of Moria. They would still get their Game of Thrones like political subterfuge, but they wouldn't have to chew through these grandiose epic sagas that they'll eventually end up struggling with.

[Orby]

I think they actually missed an opportunity to show of an elf with "ethnic" long hair. Which would of been much cooler looking.

Think they have them in Dragon Age actually. A franchise no one is complaining about elves of colour. With some dark skinned elves being featured all the way back in Origins albeit without the ethnic hair back then. I think that only started since Inquisition and in the comics. Even Shale was an allegory for a trans character although they have since added an actual trans character in Dragon Age since then, who is a good character actually. :P

Here's the key if you start your fantasy world with PoC and diversity no one will bat an eye, but if you incorporate them into a franchise where they were none before people will point it out. Its why WoW got a bit of blowback about dark skinned elves despite the fact never having them before, yet Dragon Age and D&D get no or little blowback.

[eschatological]

These shows always immediately have to reach for the stars. Tolkien's origin stories are biblical but that doesn't mean a story set in Middle Earth has to be. If Amazon had dialed the story back and created something set in between the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, something with dwarves, humans and orcs, maybe something shortly after the fall of Moria. They would still get their Game of Thrones like political subterfuge, but they wouldn't have to chew through these grandiose epic sagas that they'll eventually end up struggling with.

They don't have the rights to that period of Tolkein's histories, iirc.

[Veggie50]

Personally I don't care too much if elves have short hair, I just don't see the shaved down look to be realistic for characters in general who travel a lot. It's not like you'd have a personal barber on your travels anyway. Anyone I know who has that kind of hairstyle gets a haircut every few weeks, pretty much impossible if you are moving around a lot. But the long hair is a style that defines the elves of Middle Earth, shorter hair is more a thing of men and I guess Hobbits. Even dwarves have pretty long hair as well.

True… but a traveler tends to not have meticulous braiding or immaculately combed hair either. Maybe they just put a lot more time into grooming than mere mortals.