I dont even belong to the LOTR fandom, though I've seen three movies. And I dont give two fucks if you havent read the books. Dont take it to the heart, it'll just make you leave the fandom. It happened to me in the Harry Potter fandom. I hadn't read the books nor seen all the movies and I let the haters get to me so I left the fandom. To be honest, I'm not that big of a reader, I love movies. Haters can fuck off if they dont like that you haven't read the books.
It's not bothering me one bit. I know that I'm the better person compared to the ones sending me hate. I don't care if a person reads the books first or not. I prefer if they do read them, or plan to, but if they choose not to, I'm going to respect their decision and not be a bitch to them.
I'm a HUUUGE reader. I love to read. And, I've said it a few times already, but if I had access to the books, I would be reading the shit out of them. But, I don't know where my sister's books are, because we never finished unpacking our stuff after moving. And, even if I found them, I'd read The Hobbit and then have to wait until I could get my hands on The Fellowship, cause my sister doesn't have that one! And I can't go to my library to request them, because for some reason, they won't let me do that anymore. And they never have any of the books I want.
And that's horrible! There have been a few times I've tried to leave the Harry Potter fandom, because loads of the fans were just terrible! But, you know, if you love something, don't let anyone else take that away from you, ya know.
And about preferring movies, yeah. I can understand that. In school, I've taken that test that determines whether you process better by reading, seeing, or hearing three times. And each time, I got seeing. I love to read the books, and if I can read them before I watch the movie, yeah I'd do that, but the movies always help me understand loads of things from the books better. That's just how I work, and it seems that way for you as well.
