Cate Blanchett's Galadriel is Way Better Than Morfydd Clark's One, According to Fans
It seems that everything is a competition these days, and the Lord of the Rings universe is no exception.
Lady Galadriel is one of the most iconic characters in Middle-earth, but her return in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power ' was not a happy occasion for every fan. While Tolkien die-hard fans argue that Amazon's new show fails to pay respects to the source material, others simply attack Morfydd Clark – the actress who portrays a younger Galadriel in 'The Rings of Power' – for not being Cate Blanchett.
According to some fans, Clark's character is overly battle-prone and aggressive compared to Blanchett's "feminine, graceful, wise, and powerful without a sword and shield." The show's creators now are being blamed for their apparent "inability" to write strong female characters – at least by some of the LoTR fans.
"This Galadriel is nothing like the amazing, and VERY strong Cate Blanchett version, or the Galadriel in Tolkien's books. A strong female doesn't need to lead an army into battle, or belittle her male peers, or be perfect at everything. They're incapable of writing strong women." - @PrimalAvenger
In 'The Rings of Power', Galadriel seems to be obsessed with avenging the death of her brother Finrod and hunting down Sauron, even though other elves try to persuade her to "put up [her] sword".
In Peter Jackson's movie trilogy Galadriel indeed does not wield any weapon but still poses a dangerous enemy when it comes to her long-standing face-off with Sauron. However, some fans refuse to accept Clark's take on the character, only agreeing to praise Blanchett as the "real" Galadriel.
While some people hit back at Clark's Galadriel haters for simply disliking a strong female character, they don't seem to give up.
"Strong women are part of the books, yes. But that doesn't mean Galadriel ran around swinging a sword like Red Sonja," Twitter user @KenobiStig noted.
But there are also people who seem to be perfectly fine with both Clark's Galadriel and the rest of the show even despite waves of hate it receives on social media and the review-bombing it faces. Recently, Amazon has suspended user reviews temporarily, claiming that it would promote adequacy and turn away "trolls".
'The Rings of Power' is streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes arriving every Friday. Morfydd Clark herself is staying silent so far, with her representatives not commenting on the entire backlash surrounding 'The Rings of Power's Galadriel.