I'm utterly sick of Game of Thrones

[dscross]

I need to get something off my chest, because I'm in the mood for some masochism. I really hate Game of Thrones. I don't mean I hate fantasy, soaps, violence, porn, American shows (trying to be British) or anything like that. No, I hate it for what people think it is - good. I have watched a few seasons with friends who like the show, and now I have to flatly refuse.

Let me preface this by saying I love some fantasy, especially Terry Pratchett's Discworld and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I also love historical dramas, even if they can be a bit inaccurate at times, like the Tudors, Wolf Hall, or Rome. But Game of Thrones doesn't live up to these standards for me - at all. It's complete crap, and it upsets me that so many people find it so entertaining.

Here's why...

1. The acting is awful

Every single actor (and therefore every single character) on this show is good at one thing. If they happen to be blessed by both the Old Gods and the New, they might be good at two things.

Kit Harington/Jon Snow: mopes. Alternatively: shivers. Alternatively alternatively: knows nothing, which isn't really a narrative or personal asset.
Maisie Williams/Arya: asks annoying questions that somehow have managed to go unanswered while aggressively grows her hair out from that super awk bowlcut.
Lena Headey/Cersei: throws shade/bitches about bitches.
Sophie Turner/Sansa: floats through her admittedly very hard life with doe eyes and a long-expired na'vet
Peter Dinklage/Tyrion: drinks. Alternatively: complains about being a dwarf.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau/Jaime: Pre-handlessness: patronises. Post-handlessness: bumbles.
Gwendoline Christie/Brienne: is so earnest it physically hurts to watch.
Daniel Portman/Pod: is so earnest it physically hurts to watch.
Aidan Gillen/Littlefinger: schemes/plots.
Alfie Allen/Theon: human personification of the World's Smallest Violin.
Conleth Hill/Varys: drops knowledge.
Iain Glen/Jorah: pines for Daenerys.
Emilia Clarke/Daenerys: she don't need no man because she's an independent woman but also she can't control her children/dragons and is really clueless about how the world works but has great intentions!
Michiel Huisman/Daario: pines for Daenerys while looking hot.
Natalie Dormer/Margaery: snatches weaves.
Dean-Charles Chapman/Tommen: plays with Ser Pounce.
Kristian Nairn/Hodor: Hodors.
Iwan Rheon/Ramsay Bolton: rapes, murders, tortures, you know. Just your garden variety sociopath.

The list above doesn't do the full cast or character list even close to justice, because there are squillions of people on this show and none of them make wise decisions or are remotely compelling in a narrative sense. Lastly, and really think about this: do you actually care about these squillions of characters? Like, are you devastated when one of them dies?

2. The scenes hang together badly

This show is exhausting. Westeros is Medieval/Renaissance Europe in a parallel universe. What this adds to the world - a rustic frame of reference and lots and lots of mud and petticoats - is far surpassed by what it detracts - expediency and efficiency. Everything takes three times the effort and infinity times the time to accomplish.

This means several things: characters are separated by hundreds of miles with no means of communication except trusty ravens, plotlines are molasses slow, and the audience doesn't get to know anything unless a character actually witnesses it themselves. Even if Benioff and Weiss have done an admirable job (sometimes to the dismay of avid book fans) of condensing GRRM's meandering tomes, there are still entire episodes where literally nothing of importance happens (yet someone still manages to die and/or rape and/or fuck something up).

3. The mythology is nonsensical

To me, it seems like George R R Martin is taking lots of different histories, mythologies and fantasies from different time periods meshing them together in an unorganised way and then americanising them all. Tolkien's world showed he understood mythology well. Terry Pratchett used Discworld as a mechanism for comedy and used it to reflect elements of our own world that were silly. GRRM doesn't show anything like that. It's more of a vibe I get from reading other fantasy novels than anything else but something feels really off about it all to me.

4. Joyless

Maybe it's just me, but this show feels almost completely devoid of joy. Every time I watched it, I found myself sitting and staring at the screen and questioning why I just subjected myself to such misery. No one ever wins in this show. Every single character is sad, either because the world they live in has made them that way or because they themselves are living the consequences of their shitty choices. The kingdom of the Iron Throne is a bleak, bitter, and hateful place where, personally, I find the people to be of commensurate character.

Women (and men) are raped and objectified, children are manipulated and traumatised, and innocent bystanders are murdered. This show leaves me cold and unfeeling and like I might want to castrate someone.



Sorry for the rant everyone - feel free to completely knock back my arguments because I understand there are millions of GoT lovers out there. Lots of my friends frequently go deeply into GoT discussions, which is why I feel so strongly about it. Tell me why I'm completely wrong and why everyone should love it - because obviously I'm completely blind to the reasons.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I'm going to be predictable and say "You can always not watch it."

However, I'm not saying this as a fan. I'm saying this as someone who was told it was good, who was told it will get better in a bit, who was told it will get better a bit after that. And then I stopped watching.

To your list of reasons not to watch, I would add (and I admit that this is subjective) that every so often the show looks like it might start be worth watching, and then changes its mind as if to mock me. Also, that it cost a zillion times more money than a lot of better shows that really needed a budget increase.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I stopped after Boromir died. I mean the characters are all completely unlikable, specifically written that was as JRR Martin openly hates his characters and stories.

If someone likes it, fine enough. I don't get it, and I know how it ends, but if someone likes grim growly people growling grimly, fair enough.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I agree. I always found Game of Thrones to be a depressingly dull affair. Which is a shame because I like Fantasy that is about people rather than abstract concepts but the ones in Game of Thrones are neither realistic nor, for the most part, all that interesting. There was kinda a hook there in the beginning where they were subverting certain fantasy archetypes, you know, like Jaime being almost a fairytale knight but he's an incestuous weirdo people distrusted for murdering a king, Robert Baratheon being a hero who led a sjccesful revolution against a tyrant but he's become a gluttonous, useless old drunk, you know, that kind of stuff.

But then there's that incredibly cliched plotline around Daenerys that they play painfully straight and that lingering plotthread about basically Zombies and... you know, I don't give a shit. There's obviously something there that appeals to people but to me it just seems like low brow, vaguely exploitative pulp that isn't even aware it's low brow, vaguely exploitative pulp. If they took a vastly different approach they could have some fun with it and Dino DeLaurentiis the hell out of it but it aspires to be an epic when it's honestly kind of a farce.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

Look, if it's not your thing, it's not your thing, and it's not likely to become your thing in the future.

If you're annoyed that your friends won't stop talking about it...well, they like it, and people like to talk about things they like with other people. I have two friends who are super into professional wrestling and whenever I go out with the two of them I have to endure at least one extended conversation about whatever just happened in professional wrestling this week. That's just life. Your interests won't always match up to those of your preferred social circle 100% of the time.

Lastly, and really think about this: do you actually care about these squillions of characters? Like, are you devastated when one of them dies?

...yeah?

I mean, I read the books when I was like twelve. So it's a yes and a no. I knew all the gut-punches were coming in advance. But I can say that when I got to the Red Wedding for the first time in the novels, I was legitimately shocked. Like, I'd been surprised by the ending of the first book, but the Red Wedding was just a kick in the nards.

3. The mythology is nonsensical

Mmm. I don't think so. I mean, fantasy is fantasy. It's derivative and incestuous. Writers go "I like medieval Spain and I want some medieval Spanish guys, but I don't want to do Spain, so we'll just have a made-up country that has coincidentally evolved to be like Spain in all the respects I wish it to be."

If you like more off-beat or just un-Tolkienian fantasy, take a look at China Mieville. Although he's pretty depressing too.

4. Joyless

Some people don't like depressing stories. Some people do. It's a matter of taste, I guess.

What made A Game of Thrones stand out as a novel was that it bucked the trends of existing medieval high fantasy doorstoppers. The hero died at the end of the first book. His replacement dies in the second, betrayed by politics. Characters are presented as if they have a grand heroic destiny and then see that destiny trampled over by random chance. The villains lose as often as the heroes do because the whole thing is a big mess.

I mean, it was inspired by the War of the Roses, which was a very violent and chaotic period in English history that only ended when the two warring families rendered each other extinct. That's a depressing story to tell.

Now, the show is different, because they actually scrubbed up several bits to make them less depressing and sanitised about 90% of the rape (yes, really.) And the showrunners are heading to their own ending, so it's very possible that there will be a standard happy ending, which, ironically, would be quite depressing. So I can't speak as to the quality of the show in this one respect, but the novels at least were very big on the "let's spend five hundred pages trying to return a shaggy dog [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaggy_dog_story]" style of storytelling. Part of the point was that there was no point.

 

[NPC009]

I enjoy it, probably not nearly as much as the vocal fans, but I don't have any problems with them enjoying it that way either. Because let's be honest, if you want a fantasy series of this scale, it's either Game of Thrones or rewatching the Lord of the Rings movies for the umpteenth time. And for what it is, it's pretty amazing. Even if I can sort of predict where something is going (because, hey, it is based on various historical events/people/whatever, so if you know a bit about history, some things are bound to look familiar) or a scene doesn't add all that much to the story as a whole, there's still something there that catches my attention. It might be the costumes, the special effects, or one of the actors owning the scene. As bleak and ruthless as the series as a whole may be, it does have characters that are genuinely fun to watch. And even that ruthlessness is part of the fun, because there are just some character you love to hate and when one of them gets what they deserve... Well, that's worth a cheer. Yet at the same time, you know one of your favorites might be up on the chopping block next. Quite literally so, in some cases. Even if it's just in the most basic way possible, the series can trigger a lot of emotions. That's not something you find in just any random TV series.

 

[bjj hero]

What made A Game of Thrones stand out as a novel was that it bucked the trends of existing medieval high fantasy doorstoppers. The hero died at the end of the first book. His replacement dies in the second, betrayed by politics. Characters are presented as if they have a grand heroic destiny and then see that destiny trampled over by random chance. The villains lose as often as the heroes do because the whole thing is a big mess.

While I'll agree with Ned's death being surprising I wouldn't call Robb a replacement for the hero (i mean he replaces the job of Ned, but he isn't a POV character). The only characters that seem to have epic fates are Daenarys and John who played that plot extremely safe (though John might be dead in the books). Really, the whole inclusion of fate and prophecies really ruin the books for me since it ruins fear for some character's fates. Cersei won't die until all her children die and Jaime kills her, Dany can't die until she meets every character she is prophesized to meet.

How good would it be if they straight killed the girl and it turned out shed been fulfilling the prophecy through her actions. The actual prophecy was made up!

Now thats some good TV.

 

[Quellist]

It was alright for a while, but after nothing really happened and everyone i knew who had read the books kept getting unutterably smug about every revelation I decided fuck this shit.

My only regret about not watching it now is that as they apparently went off story the book readers are whining instead of smug and i wouldn't have had to listen to their bullshit anymore

 

[stroopwafel]

I really like GoT. It's just really good drama I think but set in a setting of knights, kings and dragons which I never thought would have such mainstream appeal. I don't think this show is either too depressing or dark but ofcourse this was the medieval period in which everything was more honest and raw. Unlike the typical shows/movies with a fantasy setting that never takes itself serious GoT finally does the period some justice. Like I said I think it's the mix of drama and fantasy that makes the show so good. Espescially in the later seasons the setpieces look absolutely gorgeous as well. I always look forward to a new episode or season and I have that with pretty much no other TV show. I do agree though that some plotlines are cliche(Daenerys, Jon) but they don't bother me too much.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Maybe it's just me, but this show feels almost completely devoid of joy. Every time I watched it, I found myself sitting and staring at the screen and questioning why I just subjected myself to such misery. No one ever wins in this show. Every single character is sad, either because the world they live in has made them that way or because they themselves are living the consequences of their shitty choices. The kingdom of the Iron Throne is a bleak, bitter, and hateful place where, personally, I find the people to be of commensurate character.

Ah, that's what we in the writing (or trope) biz call "Darkness induced apathy syndrome" or "Warhammer40k syndrome". Alternatively "Why the hell do I even care syndrome".

It's a pitfall that a lot of people fall into when writing dark fantasy of any kind. It's tempting to try to write a world that feels as depressing and devoid of the hope to make any difference as our own, only with dragons. But that overlooks the fact that even our own depressingly violent world has patches of joy here and there.

It's something I keep in mind whenever I work on a game my main RPG setting. While the world itself will always be a violent world where every single faction is out for themselves and is dangerously corrupt or broken in some way no matter what the heroes manage to do, they can still improve the lives of those around them, or achieve some small victory, even though it always comes with a heavy cost. Making a broken, depressing world where there's no hope or joy rarely ends up being fun for anyone.

 

[Fox12]

Game of Thrones is a heavily flawed show. The most important problem being it's pacing.

But none of the things you listed are legitimate criticisms. It's mostly you complaining about how you don't like the setting for... reasons? Or lack thereof? Why would a medieval universe have a fast method of communication? The lack of information and travel was a major issue is medieval times. Do you expect the to have email?

 

[happyninja42]

Game of Thrones is a heavily flawed show. The most important problem being it's pacing.

But none of the things you listed are legitimate criticisms. It's mostly you complaining about how you don't like the setting for... reasons? Or lack thereof? Why would a medieval universe have a fast method of communication? The lack of information and travel was a major issue is medieval times. Do you expect the to have email?

Well, they did invent Twitter in GoT.

OT: You don't like it, fine. However what you've described are simply opinions. You don't think the acting is good, others do. You don't like it, others do. Don't watch the show, go do something else for that incredibly short time period of 1 hour a week that the show is on. Go watch porn or something, it's hardly a massive investment of your time.

 

[gigastar]

Game of Thrones is a heavily flawed show. The most important problem being it's pacing.

But none of the things you listed are legitimate criticisms. It's mostly you complaining about how you don't like the setting for... reasons? Or lack thereof? Why would a medieval universe have a fast method of communication? The lack of information and travel was a major issue is medieval times. Do you expect the to have email?

I decided a couple of seasons ago to put the pacing down to individual scenes taking place days apart from eachother.

Spoiler: This season alone we had...

This season alone we had Danys crow to Jon reach him in the episode she sent it, Euron delivers the surviving Sand Snakes to Cersei and then arrives on time to destroy the Unsullied fleet right after they take Casterly Rock in the same episode, and Jorah having recovered from his surgery being the first time we see him after said surgery in the previous episode.

If you have it in your head that all the scenes are directly sequential then no shit youre going to have problems with pacing.

However if you assume theres a passage of time between scenes then things make a bit more sense.

 

[Pyrian]

I read the first book, and it was pretty clear that the author was deliberately trying to mess with the reader. There's a duel to the death between very minor characters at one point, where I correctly predicted who would die based on which character was described sympathetically. I finished out the book, but I had no interest in continuing.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

The only characters that seem to have epic fates are Daenarys and John who played that plot extremely safe (though John might be dead in the books).

In the books, Daenaerys gets dysentry and nearly shits herself to death out in a field while it's revealed that there's another Targaryen heir [http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Aegon_Targaryen_(son_of_Rhaegar)] and he has a way bigger army than hers.

He might be fake, though.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Never watched a single episode, for the simple reason I didn't like the names of the characters. They sounded too... hack-y.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I read the first book, and it was pretty clear that the author was deliberately trying to mess with the reader. There's a duel to the death between very minor characters at one point, where I correctly predicted who would die based on which character was described sympathetically. I finished out the book, but I had no interest in continuing.

Martin is notorious for using characters as a means to an end. They are there to fulfill a few plot elements, and the second they're finished, they're boring, and he kills them. He doesn't do happily-ever-afters or bittersweet ends. Everyone will die, 'cause he doesn't know what to do with them after their arc is over.
Dragon Lady will die, Jon Snow will die, the wizard that came from the moon, all of them. Maybe not in the show, but certainly in the books, or the inevitable graphic novel tie-ins, comic series, and expanded universe novels.

 

[Wrex Brogan]

Yeah, I'm a little sick of it. Not the actual show itself - I find the show rather well made, just not in my tastes - but the fan response can get a little... annoying whenever the series crops up. My Facebook and Tumblr tend to explode with each episode, Youtube starts recommending me dozens of GoT theory videos because I watch fantasy content, half the Australian news and radio shows start talking about the latest episodes and I just... don't care. Great for anyone who watches it, but fuck, I just don't care.

What made A Game of Thrones stand out as a novel was that it bucked the trends of existing medieval high fantasy doorstoppers. The hero died at the end of the first book. His replacement dies in the second, betrayed by politics. Characters are presented as if they have a grand heroic destiny and then see that destiny trampled over by random chance. The villains lose as often as the heroes do because the whole thing is a big mess.

Was it really? I must've missed it at launch then, I found the 'everyone dies' kinda... I dunno, played out in regards to Fantasy stories? It all just felt like an edgier Lord of the Rings to me.

Not a bad book series, mind (as said with the show, well written, just not for me), but to me it just... felt like it'd all been done before. Yet Another Fantasy Door Stopper, only this time there's not a lot of point learning character names since they'll be dead 3 chapters in.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

So, sorry, why don't you like it again?

...

Snark aside, so, you don't like it. Fine, that's cool. You're allowed to not like things, and most of the stuff that you've listed is subjective, but those are your reasons. I like the show, and I think it's great. Well, mostly. Pacing can be weird, but not every piece of work is going to be flawless.

GoT is big right now, and you're just going to have to deal with the fan reactions until the show is completely over, sadly. I know I know, fandoms.

I mean, I can't stand Harry Potter, and everyone I know loves that series to bits. However, I zone out when they talk about it, and I just ignore the memes, movies, books, and whatever else is going on at the time.

It's really not that hard to ignore it.