Elon Musk Slams Amazon's New 'Lord of the Rings' Series as Feud With Jeff Bezos Continues

By Michael Hein

Elon Musk leveled some odd complaints against The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power this weekend, but many commenters believe he has an ulterior motive. Musk tweeted his disdain for the new show and his belief that "Tolkien is turning in his grave." However, Musk's history of competing with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos casts a conspicuous shadow on these remarks.

Musk made two tweets about Rings of Power, which premiered on Friday with two episodes to start. After asserting that author J.R.R. Tolkien would not like the show, he added: "Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galdriel is brave, smart and nice." Many critics called this a socio-political dog whistle since many other complaints refer to the diversity of the cast in Rings of Power. However, others believe that the true basis of this complaint is a plain old billionaire battle.

Musk and Bezos have swapped places in the top spot of the richest man in the world multiple times over the last few years. Both men have seen their personal net worth skyrocket during the COVID-19 pandemic, and both are now worth over $200 billion. That's a number most people can't fully conceptualize. The New York Times recently published some helpful infographics to put it into perspective – the difference between the median income in the U.S. and Bezos' personal wealth is analogous to the difference between the height of a Toblerone bar and five times the height of Mount Everest, for example.

While many readers dismissed Musk's tweet as a veiled jab at a billionaire rival, others couldn't resist clapping back at his criticisms. The fact is that Tolkien's books consistently made it clear that Galadriel was one of the most powerful and compassionate beings in Middle-Earth. The idea that she is the only kind and compelling character in these two episodes is subjective, of course, but it seems like a hard argument to support. Musk did not offer any supporting evidence for this argument.

Musk's tweets implied his support for other complaints about the casting of women and people of color in Rings of Power, which some fans argue is inaccurate to Tolkien's books. In many cases, that's not true, or it's at least an over-simplification. For example, the Hobbit analogs of this era, the Harfoots, were described as "dark-skinned" in the original text, so casting Black actors to play them is generally accurate.

It's worth keeping in mind that Musk and other critics of this show's diversity seem to be in the minority, though their inflammatory takes may be generating a lot of engagement on social media. The Rings of Power has 84 percent positive scores on Rotten Tomatoes, and it reached a massive viewership milestone in its premiere weekend. Amazon announced that it was the biggest premiere in the streaming service's history on Saturday.

The Rings of Power is just getting started. Amazon is rumored to have committed to as many as five seasons of the series already, but they have only officially ordered two seasons so far. Season 1 will consist of 8 episodes in total, so fans can catch a new one every Friday on Prime Video through Friday, Oct. 14.

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