TV Tuesdays 3: The Rings of Power

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Welcome to the third installment of TV Tuesdays!

This morning, going through my Todoist, I thought, “Oh no. I have to write a TV Tuesday and I’ve been weirdly monogamous in my TV watching lately. What’s there to say about The Rings of Power?” A lot, actually.

Why am I watching The Rings of Power? A few weeks ago I put out a call on Twitter for the most fap-worthy shows. My babies, when I tell you my very literal, Autistic ass did not realize The Rings of Power was a sarcastic suggestion. In fairness to me, making a not-horny franchise horny is a pasttime as old as fiction itself. However, that is not The Rings of Power. The Rings of Power is, thus far, kind of an aggressively sexless series.

The first thing I noticed was the Elf’s boobs. She has three outfits: a gauzy nightshirt, a weirdly binding dress, and a suit of armor. All three commit unspeakable acts against her boobs. (I couldn’t find a good screenshot of the gauze and I’m too lazy to take one.)

I want to know what went down between these tits and the wardrobe manager.

Lately it’s hard to just sit and watching a show. Any show (except maybe The Sex Lives of College Girls (9/10) but even for that I’m usually on the treadmill). I used to only let myself watch Narcos on the recumbent bike at the gym. Action is perfect for cardio because mirroring. The only bad part: One of RoP’s scare jumps made me grab my treadmill’s safety arms.

I think the extent of RoP’s sexlessness really hit home when I saw the “7+” show up in the corner of my screen on one of the episodes. As in this show is suitable for kids aged seven and up.

The whole thing reminds me of my hobbyhorse about how so many American parents see violence as kid-friendly but nudity or sex as verboten. If I were building a society from scratch, I’d hide away violence while depicting the naked human body. I’d teach kids about both sex and violence as soon as they could understand. I’d teach consent.

Comprehensive, medically accurate sex education is associated with fewer instances of sexual violence, STIs, and unintended pregnancies. And, kids who have this kind of sex ed end up having sex for the first time later than kids who have abstinence-only sex eduction, on average.

Leaving sex aside, why censor nudity? What’s likely to be worse for a kid:

A. Seeing adult nudity and learning that the human body is great, that humans come in many shapes, sizes, colors, etc. and they’re all good

B. Being taught that their naked human bodies are shameful and need to be hidden away

De-stigmatizing sex and nudity actually reduces violence. Societies that are more sexually permissive are less violent.

I like RoP. And as I go along, I’m seeing more romance and romance-adjacent storylines. I like how effectively it manipulates my emotions. I get teary-eyed when things happen. I’m invested in the characters. A lot of the acting is really good. The scenery is cool. I like the moralizing too. Sometimes it’s hacky. But sometimes it gives me interesting questions to chew on. I’m going to finish Season one before I give it a rating.

In the meantime, what are you watching?