^ Just because it's fiction doesn't mean you can completely ignore reality, though? Like if a character was shot in the head with an RPG and survived it, people would be justified in complaining about it, even though ~it's fiction~.
People can accept a ridiculous premise, because the whole point of a premise is what drives the story, and they make sense within the setting that's been constructed. Lots of premises sound ridiculous, like the concept of a ring being able to turn you into an invisible wraith and can only be destroyed by being thrown into a very specific volcano, but the point is that it's not out of place in the world Tolkien created.
This series mimics real life, except what if they were kidnapped and forced to fight each other? Incredibly obvious and glaring flaws in the realism are going to be more noticeable, because the setting is more realistic.