Game of Thrones Season Five! No Spoilers Please!

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Michael, Apr 6, 2015.

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  1. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    I think it's slightly different than that. Television is a more visceral medium as it combines sight and sound. The written word is more open to interpretation (by the reader) and it doesn't have that visceral impact - you just keep reading the following text. Visual imagery is more sticky so it gets more prominence and is further amplified by virtue of being available en masse from a specific time (which ties in with what you said about after-air analysis).
     
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  2. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Gosh, I was completely unaware of that one. Or I dismissed it as idiocy and quickly forgot about it. People will invent any reason to complain about what they want to complain about.
     
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  3. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    It's also true that the audience for the books and the show are not the same, and the show is much more open to a casual viewer with little initial interest in the whole thing. Most people who take on reading a series of long books like this are people ready and willing to immerse themselves in Martin's world. Very different for someone who just watches a few episodes because they heard that it was good TV.

    L.
     
  4. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    That's me!
    I'll be honest; if I didn't see those cute 'dire-wolf' puppies at the beginning, I wouldn't be 'on board'!
     
  5. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA

    And, of course, not every viewer who comes to it just looking for good TV is the same. Some stick with it for the wolf-pups, some for the naked ladies, some for the blood and guts, and some for the story, the acting, the production values, the themes, etc. Others are put off or bored or disgusted. It's just less likely that many people likely to be bored or disgusted would even bother to pick up one of those books, but lots of those people might tune it to see what the fuss is about--only to find themselves complaining on line or writing Op Ed pieces about how appalling it all is....

    L.
     
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  6. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    Great read mikeyt.
     
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  7. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    That would be me. Initially I did not select this show as something that I would want to watch because at the time I thought it would be just another fantasy based dragons, sword and sorcery type affair. But after some convincing by friends that it was much more than that, with deeper themes rooted in a self-consistent reality, that I decided to give it a go and never looked back.
     
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  8. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    I was curious because I've always liked this sort of fiction, although I hadn't read much, beyond my periodic returns to Tolkien, in years. Some people whose opinions I respect said I'd find Martin interesting--I only heard about him for the first time when the hype was gearing up for the HBO adaptation. I didn't pick up the novels, though, until I saw the first episode of the series. Liked it so much, I decided I'd read the first book and only watch episodes as I got past their plot points in the book. Got hooked that way. After the first season ended, I just kept reading the books and finished them in a few months. Now I enjoy the series, but what I really want is for Martin to finish the books so I can see what it is he actually has in mind.....

    Hard to say just yet what it's all really about, and I suppose we won't really know until the dust settles after whatever it is he's got planned actually happens. One thing is certain, in the books more then the show, the world is becoming more and more "magical," which suggests that what he has in mind is to move the story deeper into the realms of "fantasy/romance" and away from "history," or at least to increase the tension between the two fictional modes. That may be a much more fundamental conflict in the work than the one between fire and ice, but we'll see.....

    L.
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2015
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  9. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Another 'selling point' to me was seeing all the directors from "Breaking Bad" working on it.
     
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  10. Mike B

    Mike B Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Well I guess I'm an idiot.
    When that scene played out, I was laughing and mocking the imagery of it for this reason. No I didn't write angry blogs and call for boycotts, maybe that's what you're describing as idiotic, but it's certainly normal to see visuals through the lens of what's going on in the world around you.
     
  11. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I thought the scene looked cheesy. That had nothing to do with the color or race of anyone involved. But racist? Puh-leeze.
     
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  12. detroit muscle

    detroit muscle MIA

    Location:
    UK
    I've not looked through the thread as I haven't started season 5 yet, so apologizes if this has been linked already

     
  13. Yovra

    Yovra Collector of Beatles Threads

    That last sentence is describing why I've fallen off the GoT-bandwagon in the past few weeks and spend more time in the sun and other TV-series that have less violence and darkness.
    The effect the sort of writing/broadcasting has on me is that I don't really care what happens to who; character-wise it's a chaotic mix of likable victims and sadistic people, who can (and will) be killed in the next episodes.
     
  14. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O! Thread Starter

    probably in real life medieval times it was far worse. I don't mind the darkness ... I am going into each episode expecting nothing more...it's a game to capture the iron throne...simply that. AND what a ride it is...one bandwagon I am truly enjoying to be on.
     
  15. Yovra

    Yovra Collector of Beatles Threads

    It was funny the encounter the fact that something like a "Red Wedding" was executed somewhere in a castle in (I think) the vicinity of Oxford. We were hanging around as tourists near the ruins of a castle when I read on a sign there the description of a party that ended in a planned bloodbath. In that respect I think that the comparison with medieval times is a fair one. The real thing might even be worse!
    I don't mind that, it's the way the storytelling unfolds at the moment for me it too much violence in combination with not that many characters/events I care about. Maybe I'll return to the series in a few years but for now enough swords through throats for me.
     
    Michael likes this.
  16. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O! Thread Starter

    and if you do you can always see what you've missed.
     
  17. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Well....... THAT was something!
    I'm just sad that that was it for Mr. Eko!
     
  18. KentishMan

    KentishMan Forum Resident

    I guffawed at the ironclad Withnail & I reference in this weeks episode from Olena Tyrell. Perfumed ponce indeed!
     
  19. Encuentro

    Encuentro Forum Resident

    Karma's a bitch, Cersei!
     
  20. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I can't really remember what the justification was in the books either, but on the show I certainly don't know why the Night's Watch is allowing Sam to have Gilly living there. There aren't supposed to be any women at Castle Black. She's a temptation to the many nasty men who've been banished there and now he's broken his vows with her.
     
  21. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Who is that? Maester Aemon? I liked his scenes. Good actor.

    Finally a fun scene with the Sand Snakes. The scene in the prison with Bronn was entertaining.
     
  22. sbeck201

    sbeck201 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wreay, Cumbria, UK
    You knew it would happen, just thought it might have been a couple of episodes later.
     
  23. Popmartijn

    Popmartijn Senior Member

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    OK, that was a misjudgement on my side. They did turn against Cersei. Soon. :)
    I thought the High Sparrow was more concerned about politics than he apparently is. That said, this is going to be fun!
     
  24. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Another 'book comparison' question:
    Does Stannis even REACH Winterfell in the last book?
     
  25. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I have a question about "winter", the one that's coming, not the seasonal turn cold. When this mystical winter comes, it can last for years, correct? Does the whole of Westeros freeze over? Even the southern cities like Dorne? King's Landing? Or can you be far enough south to not have the effects right outside your door? Does anything similar happen on Essos?
     
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