Game hate it or love it12/8/2022 Characters thought to be series mainstays were axed without ceremony or warning, and these storytelling shockwaves were so effective they became the focus of how people talked about the series. In Westeros, the heroes lost.ĭeath has characterized Thrones ’ most culturally pervasive moments. The Game of Thrones world was seemingly made for legendary heroes, but people learned fast that it was a facade. It was always physically and sometimes qualitatively greater than anything we had seen before, and that was more than enough for people who wouldn’t otherwise go for dragons and prophecies and witch-birthed shadow babies.īut Thrones went from “emerging success” to “HBO tentpole” to “global phenomenon” because that well-oiled fantasy machine also denied what people expected from a warriors-and-wizards tale. Thanks to cinema-quality production design, the best visual effects in television history, iconic performances (Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in particular) and a writers’ room that somehow juggled fifteen flaming chainsaws’ worth of storylines, Thrones redefined the scope of modern TV shows. This expansiveness made Game of Thrones perfect for television, and the series from the outset held an exploratory appeal that fans of Middle Earth, the Wizarding World, Arrakis or the Dagobah system would understand, not to mention those who had already explored Westeros via the Thrones book series.īut HBO’s Thrones pulled millions of people past this barrier because it serviced the fantasy elements with groundbreaking TV storytelling. Westeros, the series’ fictional world, has a chronicled history going back centuries, and the characters have bloodlines more detailed and complex than a John Smith’s 23andMe. Game of Thrones is high-concept fantasy akin to Tolkien. The first, and easiest to clear, is the fantasy element. The more important question is why everyone watches it.Ī cultural threshold implies a boundary, and despite being the last mass-watched show of modern television, Thrones has several barriers between its appeal and the viewer. ![]() It’s too late to ask if you should watch it. No matter what happens in its eighth season, Thrones will always exist in the tension of being considered great and being considered profane. Most avid TV watchers have stepped past it- Thrones averaged 32.8 million viewers during its seventh season, according to HBO-and either in spite of or because of this popularity, the show holds a distinct reputation among Christians. Game of Thrones operates on the other side of a cultural threshold.
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