Neil Gaiman claps back at Elon Musk's criticism of Rings of Power

Famous fantasy author Neil Gaiman has chimed in to shut down Elon Musk in the ongoing debate about the newest J.R.R Tolkien television adaptation, The Rings of Power, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The new fantasy show, a prequel to the Lord of The Rings trilogy, recently debuted on Amazon Prime and has been a hot topic of discussion amongst Tolkien enthusiasts. Much of the criticism is aimed at the characterization of the men and the culturally diverse inhabitants of Middle Earth.

Tesla co-founder Musk tweeted about his disappointment in the direction the series seems to be heading with the characterization of the men. "Tolkien is turning in his grave," Musk critiqued. He added, "almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk, or both." He highlighted that in comparison, Galadriel, the female elf character played by Morfydd Clark, "is brave, smart and nice,"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

After being tagged by a Twitter user seeking his opinion, Gaiman tweeted, "Elon Musk doesn't come to me for advice on how to fail to buy Twitter, and I don't go to him for film, TV or literature criticism."

He was also tagged in a tweet from British right-wing media personality Darren Grimes, who questioned the authenticity of casting non-white characters to play fictional elves and Harfoots, a predecessor to the Hobbits fans know and love. Gaiman, who experienced similar backlash to the casting of The Sandman, responded by suggesting any critic of the casting "hasn't read their Tolkien."