I Just Watched The Rings Of Power and I Want to Cry
No writer can ignore Robert McKee and get away with it
I wrote a piece recently: As a screenwriter, I can’t hate films as I used to.
Being a screenwriter is a thankless job. When the film you’ve written is successful, people will praise the director, the cinematographer, the cast, the composer; and very few will check out to see who wrote the screenplay. But when it fails, everyone will remember the screenwriter.
And they will be right, too. A good script is a minimum requirement. Everything else depends on it.
I sat down watching The Rings Of Power as a viewer but it brought back the cringe of watching my own subpar pieces of work on TV — the ones I wrote before I knew who Robert McKee was.
All I wanted was a story
I wanted to like Amazon’s The Rings Of Power so much, that I couldn't wait for it. I’ve never been a hardcore Tolkien fan. I read the books in Turkish years ago, and I love Peter Jackson’s movies. I live in New Zealand now and know a few people who worked on the show. I had heard about how much work (and money!) went into this show, and I felt excited.
I can’t care less about how accurately Tolkien’s world is represented. I have no idea what…
