Every single person in power in Westeros is literally mentally ill, they are like soap opera heels. During the second season it occurred to me that for all this power that is supposed to radiate from the iron throne we don’t see any of it, and Joffrey and his queen almost get killed by a crowd of vagrants…odd. I decided that the majority of the populace that is sensible has created a elaborate ruse whereby power hungry mental patients can be contained and entertained, but occasionally they get out of line and the general public won’t take anymore.
And I like how they have to use peripheral characters to point out more modern viewpoints(a woman isn’t an object) I’m guessing they are trying to educate the crazy royals, in vain trying to bring them up to speed to the modern age.
I never liked Ned, but I’m convinced the few sympathetic characters left will probably be killed shortly, or reveal a love of brutalizing prostitutes with axes or something.
If it is that fragile, why does nearly everyone want it? Down to people who were infants when their parents were deposed or whatever. The seat that rules an entire planet is that fragile? And it is only so fragile because of how dumb everyone is. Yea yea it is called GOT, still.
I also dislike the fact that Westeros just doesn’t seem really interesting, I should want to know more about a fantasy world and I just don’t with this one. They did make efforts during the second season to broaden the world though. There is no wonder or bigger themes, just a bunch of really nasty people trying to kill each other.
As an aside, grude, why do you watch so many shows and movies which annoy you? Judging by the number of threads you open to complain about your entertainment choices, perhaps your time could be better spent with a book or maybe going for a walk.
He likes abuse. Remember his angry thread about those racist* restaurants that demur when he marches in & orders food they think he might not like? If any of those places were good, he could easily become a return customer, to be greeted with friendliness; most ethnic places are like that. Nope, he keeps trying new establishments–just as he watches entertainment he hates, so he can complain. (I bet Littlefinger has some ladies who specialize in “abuse”.)
One dish he mentioned was black pudding, as enjoyed by the pale folk of the British Isles. So, not racism. But he enjoyed using the word to name his thread…
Um you perhaps missed the essential facts laid out in the OP that.
1.I had eaten at that particular restaurant many times before, and enjoyed their food hence returning.
.
2.There was a woman who used to work the counter who I had a friendly relationship with. It was only on this visit and a new employee that I was grilled on whether I wanted the food I ordered over and over.
Now maybe she would have treated a black guy with an American accent the same as me, or maybe not I dunno. I’m not sure what you’d call creating stereotypes in your based on race and accent and other cues, it would probably be some kinda ism like rac-accentism or something like that. It amuses me how deadly serious some posters took that thread
Anyway back to GOT, ah its like Trek or something everyone talks about it so you might as well check it out.
I like Game of Thrones very much, but I agree it could be better. Diverge more from the source material, build the world more, explore stories of common people not lusting for power. Alas, I expect doubling the running time and production expense of the series in this way would not result in a commensurate increase in HBO subscriptions and DVD sales.
1.Production values are through the roof.
2.The writing is generally good to great.
Like I said it is the characters themselves that bug me, I also fear the one or two I’m interested in will just get the axe so to speak. The peripheral characters are often way more interesting than the main players.
I must admit that I have no interest is watching the show. I read GoT, CoK, SoS, waited, waited, waited, read A Feast for Crows, was less than impressed for the amount of time it took to get that one written, waited, waited, waited, and found I could not get myself to give enough fucks to get through the first quarter of A Dance with Dragons.
Maybe I have grown out of the audience for Epic Fantasy, but I just do not care anymore. I seem to have hit that old-folks point where there are only about four TV shows I watch and there are maybe a half-dozen movies released each year that I bother to watch. I find myself reading much more history and biography than fiction.
With that disclosure out of the way, I find I cannae be fashed to complain about the shows i find disappointing, or to even spend any effort to try to determine why these entertainments missed the mark with me. I have other thigns to do with my time.
1 - It’s precisely the incompetence of those in power that drives the claimants towards power. What business does that shit Joffrey/The Mad King/That midget/etc. have ruling Westeros? Fuck that, I’m taking over.
Yeah, agreed - so far, coming to the TV show without having read the books. “Epic Fantasy” feels more like LOTR or other stories where fantasy not only shapes the world, but is central to the “quest” of the story.
With GoT, again so far, there is magic in the world, but the story is about the human characters and the quest for power. Magic is used and can affect the outcome - no clue what will happen when the White Walkers engage - but it is not the central “objective,” compared to, say, destroying the One Ring or something like that…
It is one of the reasons I have been enjoying GoT - I was never a Fantasy guy and this, so far, doesn’t feel too fantastical. Just human and messy. In a good way.
I disagree. Martin has said magic is the driver for the weird seasons, and if that’s not “shapes the world”-level epic, I don’t know what is. And the main driver for the story is lining everyone up for the Winter that is Coming, so it is the main “quest”. Sure, there’s a lot of character stuff that has no magic, but that’s no different than LoTR, really.
It is much more like Rome than The Lord of the Rings–but without good analogues for Vorenus and Pullo and the plebe storylines. There are some non-noble characters, who are cool, but they have little existence beyond their relevance to the power plays. This should open up somewhat as the series continues.
That’s why I characterize it as Epic Fantasy. The story is whether the kingdoms of Westeros will be able to work out their politics and power plays before the (magical) Ice Zombies swarm down from the North. I do not believe they will be able to survive without (magical) dragons to protect the land.
But, as I may have said, I have lost patience with the delayed and meandering path Martin is following to bring us there.
I thought A Feast for Crows was pretty lackluster myself, but having finally gotten around to A Dance with Dragons ( I’m about 3/4 in ), I find I am enjoying it far more than its companion volume. Probably because I mostly prefer this set of characters ( even Daenerys this time around, who never much interested me before ).
So I guess I haven’t outgrown this stuff yet and I actually had been wondering if I was done with Martin after the previous book. Haven’t started watching season 3 yet ( it’s on the DVR ), but I’ve been pretty impressed with the translation to the screen.
I haven’t watched Game Of Thrones. But the OP reminds me of why I didn’t like Rome. I found it silly. People like this rule continents and control the lives of millions. But TV shrinks the conflicts down to petty bickering and scheming, like two people in an office arguing over who gets the desk by the window.
I swear if HBO did a miniseries about World War II, they’d make Hitler and Stalin rivals over some Polish girl they both knew in high school.
I watch it, but it is definitely lacking in sympathetic figures. I don’t really care who gets the throne in the end-- none of them seems worthy of it.
It’s kind of weird to be watching all these plot lines about the different folks trying to capture (or recapture) the throne, and you’re not cheering anyone on.
What bugged me about Joffrey was I figured he would be a naive and arrogant young man that got in over his head, and might have some character growth. Nah it is quickly confirmed he is a total lunatic, even the other characters consider him a lunatic. Just like his mom, the entire plot of the whole series started when a kid was pushed out a window and crippled. The drama only arises from the shitty actions of characters, not legit conflicts of interest or views. If they stopped being such shitheads there would be no drama.
2- The dialogue is good.
3-Granted, although Littlefinger’s lessons on the ol’ in and out do seem a little over the top.
