Touch of irony no in being so judgmemtal of Barrow Downers on such a short acquaintanceship? Why not see the positives? On the whole we are an intelligent. witty bunch who reaaly know and loveTolkien. Some (not me ) really know about film. Some even like the films to a greater or lesser degree. Now I know there are Pollyanna Pangloss types ~ some I encounter on a unrelated board~ who refuse on principal to dislike things and when accused of lacking discrimination then say they like some things more. Now that ma be a therapists approved choice of language but semantically it is afine line between using liking more and less and saying like and dislike.
So you have a bunch of opinionated people but the opinions are not mindless.. If you want an unquestioning PJ lovefest you may be in the wrong place. But it is a motherlode if you have more than a superficial interest in Middle Earth. Here you will find those who have lectured and publishd on Tolkien. Again not me yet but I have loved Tolkien's worlld for a very long time now and I mind when it is demeaned.
Positives? How about that they haven't decided that making Eorn a transvestite rather than a skin changer would make him/her more relevant to modern audiences? I am thinking Grayson Perry clutching Alan Measles here....