Sorry, Kids: The Rings of Power is Not For Gen Z
Too cringe? Not their vibe? Not enough slaying?
It seems that Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has some issues drawing younger audiences to screens.
Turns out that the majority of the viewers (71% in the US) were 35 years or older, according to the latest streaming data provided by Nielsen that measured through the show's episode 4.
The Rings of Power certainly does not seem to appeal to Gen Z as much as its HBO counterpart, House of the Dragon, does. For comparison there: the Game of Thrones gory prequel has 68% of its audience ranging from 18 to 49.
It would not seem too big of a deal until you think about online presence. Every new episode of House of the Dragon quickly becomes a big deal on Twitter for several days, having the show's main hashtag along with a couple of characters' names trending. The Rings of Power, albeit a controversial and debate-triggering show, simply does not enjoy this much attention online. It seems that Gen Z's lack of interest in it is one of the contributing factors.
But when it comes to the Tolkien world, attracting young audience is quite a challenge, and fans admit that.
"A lot of interest was supercharged nostalgia from the Jackson films. It's not like my high school was full of people hyper pumped about reading [Tolkien]," Redditor Chataboutgames suggested.
It's best to seek explanation from Generation Z itself — and, at least according to one representative on Reddit, it's not like they are interested in Middle-earth too much.
"The Percy Jackson books or Harry potter were our LOTR. In terms of IP, the MCU is by far the most popular one in our age bracket," Redditor KingJonsnowIV admitted.
But it's not just about the complexity of the Tolkien world that seems to be the core of the issue. Some people argue that The Rings of Power simply had to be better.
"If the show was extremely good, they'd attract a bigger audience. Including younger viewers.. but from the couple episodes I've seen, and the sentiment I've seen surrounding the show, it seems like there's no reason to watch this unless you're a LOTR fan," Redditor oJUXo said.
Even for the LoTR fans, there is yet another problem — the fact that many view The Rings of Power as nothing short of expensive fan fiction that does not really do justice to the canon.
However, there is a hot take as well: not everything needs to be targeting Generation Z, fans say. After all, millennials and boomers did not go anywhere even if you don't see these people arguing on Twitter every Sunday.
Besides, new data allows Amazon to learn the lesson and try and attract other audiences, as the studio has confirmed it aims for five seasons of the show.