Rumor: The Lord Of The Rings Scholar Tom Shippey Fired For Telling Prime Video They Were “Polluting The Lore”
John F. Trent
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A new rumor claims that Tom Shippey, The Lord of the Rings scholar and former consultant on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, was fired from the Prime Video show because he was warning them that they were “polluting the lore.”
Source: The Lord of the Rings on Prime YouTube
When Prime Video first announced The Lord of the Rings series in July 2019, they revealed Shippey was part of the production as a Tolkien Scholar.
However, back in February, Vanity Fair led their readers to believe that Shippey was canned for giving an “unsanctioned interview to a German fan site” where he opined “on what the show could and could not explore.”
Now this new rumor from YouTuber George Molho of YouTube channel George The Giant Slayer claims Shippey was actually canned because he was warning Prime Video that they were “polluting the lore.”
RELATED: Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Rumored To Feature Nude Scenes
Molho states, “I’m now beginning to believe the real reason that Tom Shippey was fired wasn’t because he gave some interview to a German magazine that broke his NDA. That’s — you get a slap on the wrist for that.”
He then revealed, “It’s because I heard from three separate sources that he would weekly tell the Bobbsey Twins of Payne and McKay that Prime was polluting the lore.”
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel and Charlie Vickers as Halbrand in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Not only would Molho detail this rumor regarding Shippey’s firing, but he would also excoriate Prime Video for including nudity in the show as revealed in a number of behind-the-scenes photos from the production as well as a newly released photo from the show.
Molho says, “The professor never once hinted at carnal nudity or lascivious sexuality ever in his writing. Period. End of statement.”
He later stated, “This John Ronald Reuel Tolkien we’re talking about. A man who never sold out his writing or what he believed for cheap thrills of exposed nipples.”
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel and Charlie Vickers as Halbrand in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
RELATED: Petition Calls For Amazon To Keep Nudity Out Of Their Lord of the Rings Series
While specifically discussing the images, Molho details, “This is the exact opposite of what Patrick McKay told Vanity Fair in February.”
He then quoted Vanity Fair, “So will there be Westerosi levels of violence and sex in Amazon’s Middle-earth? In short, no. McKay says the goal was “to make a show for everyone, for kids who are 11, 12, and 13, even though sometimes they might have to pull the blanket up over their eyes if it’s a little too scary.”
“A little too scary, I’m not worried about that. I know a lot of adults who wouldn’t let their kids see that. I wouldn’t let mine. Absolutely not. Especially as it dishonors as it dishonors the Professor’s writings. It’s repulsive,” Molho declared.
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
In letter 131 to Milton Waldman, Tolkien wrote, “For reasons which I will not elaborate, that seems to me fatal. Myth and fairy-story must, as all art, reflect and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth (or error), but not explicit, not in the known form of the primary ‘real’ world. (I am speaking, of course, of our present situation, not of ancient pagan, pre-Christian days. And I will not repeat what I tried to say in my essay, which you read.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes it clear “all the baptized are called to chastity. The Christian has ‘put on Christ’ the model for all chastity. All Christ’s faithful are called to lead a chaste life in keeping with their particular states of life. At the moment of his Baptism, the Christian is pledged to lead his affective life in chastity.”
It goes on to identify a number of offenses against chastity including lust, which “is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.”
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
It also identifies pornography which “consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others.”
“It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials,” the Catechism asserts.
Trystan Gravell as Pharazôn and Ema Horvath as Eärien in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power
RELATED: Prime Video’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Rumored To Feature LGBTQ+ Representation
Clearly, Prime Video do not believe in Tolkien’s view and Molho even posits, “They have been lying to us this whole time. Forget the lore. Forget the story. They butchered all that. We already saw that with Wheel of Time. They told us one thing, they did another. It was a disaster.”
He continued, “Then they tell us, ‘No, there’s not going to be any types of Game of Thrones style sex.’ And then they bring on an intimacy coordinator. They’re saying that’s just for some kissing scenes, not for the LGBTQ scenes, which we are going to explore. Not going to be for the nudity or sex scenes, which we are going to explore. No. But we hired an intimacy coordinator. And they put out a casting notice in New Zealand.”
Source: BGT.nz
Towards the end of his video, Molho also noted Prime Video believes “this is the perfect opportunity to not only dishonor Tolkien, to use the Estate — the Tolkien Estate, who all they care about is cashing a check — but this is a way to cement our legacy and honor Bezos’ command, “Bring me Game of Thrones.”
What do you make of this latest rumor regarding Tom Shippey? What about the nudity in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?
NEXT: New Lord Of The Rings Rumor Provides More Details About The Show’s Nudity
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