Why? Its the question I ask myself when it comes to this programme. It is violent, unrelenting, and totally un-idealistic. There are few if any characters you could confidently base your life upon, and I certainly recommend if you want to stay free and not imprisoned, not to try at home what you see whilst watching the Game of Thrones. Scene upon scene of sexual violence and mutilation, torture, and just plain old fashioned violence, its pretty amazing that I can not get enough of this one programme (yes I am spelling programme, programme, not program). I am not the 'violence type'. I can not even get through Saw I without two good friends and a blanket to hide behind, even then I would probably find an excuse to spend the evening in the kitchen.
I got into the 'game', so to speak, whilst living in China. I got into a lot of things out in China, I do not know if this was the 'best' habit I developed, or one of the worst. I do know that what attracts me to the Game of Thrones is the complexity and the moral ambiguity that encompasses this universe, as one reviewer stated, much like our own world. I think of Arya and the Hound whilst writing this. Arya's sense of virtue is played off wonderfully against the Hounds pragmatism, and true to life, I have had similar experiences (though minus losing all your family brutally, or being on the run, or taking revenge with a sword called needle). For Arya, whether she realises it or not, this is coming of age, the time you find the dreams and ideals of youth do not always quite match up to brutal adult realities. This is survival, so to speak, not a sermon on the mount.
If Merlin and its clear cut morality was ideal for one's late teens and early twenties (and probably early fifties), Game of Thrones is the grown up version. The way things are, so to speak, in the real world. If anything I watched GoT fascinated by how power worked, how politics worked, how man betrayed man, because it was still an alien concept for me. I am not saying that the world, as in the real world, is reflected perfectly by the GoT, but I am saying that parts of it certainly is. Passed a certain age, why shy away from it?
You might be shocked by the nudity, the endless nudity, or you might think, well people get naked sometimes in real life, why is the human body so abhorrent in other contexts?
GoT is challenging viewing, it is anti heroic, it will never allow you to feel comfortable, it will always keep you guessing or screaming. The good guys are never just going to beat the bad guys, not going to happen.
The moment Jamie lost his hand, I was in shock for a good ten minutes. The death of nearly every single of the Stark family member in the Red Wedding probably should have destroyed nearly every reason to continue watching, but it did not. The rape of Cersei by Jamie nearly did make me finally give up with the GoT. Here it is clear that the makers of the series departed from the books in a significant fashion, and what was consensual in the books became really ambiguous on the TV. And nowhere was this dealt with in the episodes that followed to my frustration.
And yet here I am watching episode six, I think.
So in this blog of mine, I will explore the universe of the Game of Thrones, its themes and its ambiguity, for your interest and pleasure. Enjoy, if that is the right word for it.
I got into the 'game', so to speak, whilst living in China. I got into a lot of things out in China, I do not know if this was the 'best' habit I developed, or one of the worst. I do know that what attracts me to the Game of Thrones is the complexity and the moral ambiguity that encompasses this universe, as one reviewer stated, much like our own world. I think of Arya and the Hound whilst writing this. Arya's sense of virtue is played off wonderfully against the Hounds pragmatism, and true to life, I have had similar experiences (though minus losing all your family brutally, or being on the run, or taking revenge with a sword called needle). For Arya, whether she realises it or not, this is coming of age, the time you find the dreams and ideals of youth do not always quite match up to brutal adult realities. This is survival, so to speak, not a sermon on the mount.
If Merlin and its clear cut morality was ideal for one's late teens and early twenties (and probably early fifties), Game of Thrones is the grown up version. The way things are, so to speak, in the real world. If anything I watched GoT fascinated by how power worked, how politics worked, how man betrayed man, because it was still an alien concept for me. I am not saying that the world, as in the real world, is reflected perfectly by the GoT, but I am saying that parts of it certainly is. Passed a certain age, why shy away from it?
You might be shocked by the nudity, the endless nudity, or you might think, well people get naked sometimes in real life, why is the human body so abhorrent in other contexts?
GoT is challenging viewing, it is anti heroic, it will never allow you to feel comfortable, it will always keep you guessing or screaming. The good guys are never just going to beat the bad guys, not going to happen.
The moment Jamie lost his hand, I was in shock for a good ten minutes. The death of nearly every single of the Stark family member in the Red Wedding probably should have destroyed nearly every reason to continue watching, but it did not. The rape of Cersei by Jamie nearly did make me finally give up with the GoT. Here it is clear that the makers of the series departed from the books in a significant fashion, and what was consensual in the books became really ambiguous on the TV. And nowhere was this dealt with in the episodes that followed to my frustration.
And yet here I am watching episode six, I think.
So in this blog of mine, I will explore the universe of the Game of Thrones, its themes and its ambiguity, for your interest and pleasure. Enjoy, if that is the right word for it.
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