Greentext

Inorganic?? I mean, I don't quite get Star Wars, but I don't start doubting people's devotion to the franchise. LOTR is huuuge and genre-defining. I'd still sit there and watch for 16 hours straight if anyone asked me to.

I have been watching LOTR at least once a year when i was younger.

There used to be a LOTR marathon for the easter weekend on one private TV channel in Germany for at least a decade.

Spin off video games like the battle for middle earth have been hugely popular among my friends

The movies are ranked 6, 9 and 12 place in the imdb top list. No other triology comes close.

It will be hard to find a media IP that is as generations defining as LOTR.

At the end of the day it is also one of the last "great stories" an arc of the epic battle between good and evil that is executed well and not just a self referential pile of dung like all the superhero IPs.

Inorganic? You think the CIA is MKUltraing everyone into liking Academy Award-winning films? I think the only culture shift that could potentially happen is that the films are old enough now that the fans feel the need to remind everyone how good they are. In the first decade after release, we kinda assumed that everyone was already aware.

They were always frequent and endless in the places I've lurked since the early days. It could have increased here with the influx of ex-redditors.

This could just be the specific pockets of interest you frequent or whatever the algorithms deem worthy (after all, memes have more engagement).

I have always seen memes and compliments over the past two decades or so. Of course, the memes were more widespread, while the compliments remained where discussions took place.

the generation of kids that went to watch it has grown up into adult nerds, and we just needed some time to go out there and gather more data to realise that those films are very well made and a staple in the genre

Hey buddy, you might want to go back and reread the green text.