It’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference:
Economic experts are sounding the alarm: if the most important product of the world’s most important company fails, it could trigger a major economic meltdown.
Amazon Studio’s $1 billion Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power bet is universally praised by critics as a sprawling ode to diversity. Yet BusinessInsider reports that the TV series that could determine the future of streaming is “falling flat with initial audiences, posing risks for Amazon and the company’s Prime membership program.”
And now economic experts are sounding the alarm. They’re warning that if Rings proves a flop, it risks slamming the brakes on a record-setting global economic expansion. The argument goes that if the most important product of the world’s most important company fails, in this current climate that could be the trigger for a major economic meltdown with far reaching consequences.
Hundreds of millions would starve. Millions more would perish of otherwise preventable or avoidable disease. World War III and even nuclear war could finally be here as nations desperate for resources renege on the traditional rules-based world order.
And indeed, the hopes and dreams of women and People of Color who wanted a place in European folkloral history will be dashed against the rocks forever.
I’m confident this is satire. I’m entirely certain this is satire. But the reality is that these days, Clown World often manages to exceed the imagination of even the most skilled satirist.