Andor is so lotr-like. It’s so sincere, so unafraid to seem cheesy or cliche (and the moment this fear is dropped the thing can really become passionate and truthful, and by no means cliche or cheesy!) In a world where every meaningful thing said is constantly “spiced up” (diminished) by absurd, needless humour, in a world where seriousness, love, honour, betrayal is so often ridiculed by the efforts to make it idk customisable? Unchallenging? Easy to watch? Andor is another gem. Because “that’s just love. Nothing you can do about it.” Because “I love him more than anything he could do wrong”. Because “I have made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts.” Because “Id rather die trying to take them down than die trying to give them what they want”. It’s so unapologetically real, so filled with raw, sincere emotions, imo it’s things like that that we can call art. I mean, art could be anything, but Art is recognised instantly by the heart. That’s the thing that forces you to really look around and question yourself, your surroundings, your ethics, your emotions. The thing that reminds you “hey, you have a heart. You get to feel things whether you’d like it or not. And in the real world there won’t be anything to keep you comfortable and idle on your couch. Look, the real world is like this; full of love, full of hope, full of grief, full of cruelty, full of happiness, full of sacrifice, full of regret, full of beauty.” And you sit and think “yes, I do have a heart. And even if I throw it away (which is impossible) I will still be left with a gaping hole for where it used to be. You’re right, living is like this; it’s not what eleven sequels with hip music and characters interrupted right before they express profound emotion want you to believe. There is hope and love and suffering and holes you will never fill and holes you’ll fill with light.”