Almost every fantasy show is trying to be D&D or Game of Thrones

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm saying Wheel of Time, Rings of Power, Blood Origins, and Willow all look incredibly similar due to the creators' shared "vision" of how "modernizing" these franchises should look like. Instead of unique settings with their own morals, cultures, and fashions, we get slight variations of fantasy "modern day Hollywood".

WotC is also feeling the same vibe, thus the similarities. I don't think any of these shows are copying D&D, I think they are just in creative agreement.

Be specific about what you're talking about here. We have folks on this thread who clearly think you're talking about black hobbits.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What I found is that a lot of script writers had no real idea how to write, but they were absolutely 100% convinced that they could follow some commonsense formulas and it would just work.

In their defense, formulaic writing just following the outline in Save the Cat got a lot of people low-level scriptwriting jobs for a number of years.

Just assume that at least 2/3rds of the people in the profession are completely incompetent but because 2/3rds of their bosses are also incompetent, they are able to continue working in the profession. It's not that they are trying to emulate D&D - it's that they don't have any more storytelling or writing talent (and often less talent) than the average player of D&D and so their show ends up no more well written or interesting (or even less interesting) than the average story generated by a game of D&D.

I absolutely agree, with the added complication of "what would D&D be like if none of the people playing or running a game actually liked D&D-style fantasy, but felt obligated to do so?"

 

[Ryujin]

I think this predates GoT, though. Premium cable has gotten ribbed for that for many years, whether it be "Skinemax" as a nickname for Cinemax based on it showing a lot of T&A, Starz' Spartacus TV show (the first season, subtitled "Blood and Sand" I heard folks repeatedly joke about as "Spartacus: Blood and T*ts"), or the recurring joke in TV criticism about the HBO VP of Boobs.

Oh, I agree that it predates GoT. It's just the most recent and egregious example that I can think of, in the fantasy genre.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

fantasy TV shows seem to have a much higher percentage of lesbian couplings than male homosexual ones.

That's American pop culture in general. Unless they're being played for broad comedy (Will & Grace), American audiences are generally kind of spooked by male gay relationships. Lesbians are titillating, by comparison. Dumb but true.

 

[Ryujin]

I'll also like to toss out the idea that the "diversity" in fantasy TV shows actually has it's own interesting set of trends that can make things feel the same across shows. For example, fantasy TV shows seem to have a much higher percentage of lesbian couplings than male homosexual ones. And black characters might be replacing redheads more than they offset other variations on caucasian characters. And there's a lot of discussion to be had about what ethnicities are used when they want to create a nondescript but blatantly not-white character.

But it can be really hard to discuss those things in a meaningful way when the discussion grinds to a halt at "ZOMG ethnicity is changing!"

I'm just glad that we are actually having shows/movies built around non-white, non cis major characters. The cop's black partner doesn't always die to fuel the white cop's need for revenge. The group doesn't only have that one "fabulous" friend who makes the occasional witty comment, then fades into the background again. My friends can now see themselves represented, on screen.

 

[payn]

I'm just glad that we are actually having shows/movies built around non-white, non cis major characters. The cop's black partner doesn't always die to fuel the white cop's need for revenge. The group doesn't only have that one "fabulous" friend who makes the occasional witty comment, then fades into the background again. My friends can now see themselves represented, on screen.

Right on. I think the fridge effect is overused and trap writers often fall into. Sometimes that's to lean into the social status (the victim is a double, triple, etc... victim!) so its that much more important for the cop to get vengeance for his X,Y,Z partner.

I dont hear many people talking about The Expanse now, but I think people will in the future. This show had representation in all sorts of ways. Leaders, officers, workers, soldiers, poor, criminals, scientists, terrorists, etc.. You had gay male married couples, and a polyamory relationship. None of these things had anything to do with the conflict or their place in the story. They were just ordinary folks living ordinary lives in all sorts of ways. This normal representation is something Hollywood really fails to represent in a natural way.

Dont get me wrong, I think its important to tell stories about discrimination that folks face, but it doesn't have to be the source of every conflict in every story. Also, it takes more than a token effort to show normalcy, which is greatly needed at the moment, IMO.

 

[Alzrius]

And indeed, we have shows like Andor (and games like God of War) which clearly do take a very political stance and yet are frikkin phenomenal.

I'm curious, what's the "very political stance" in God of War?

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Can we all agree that fantasy shows peaked with "Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire"?

 

[wicked cool]

Be specific about what you're talking about here. We have folks on this thread who clearly think you're talking about black hobbits.

Well on wheel of time they basically looked like they came from a gap commercial. Modern hair and clothing at times that could be worn in modern times

I’m happy that everyone is represented

The problem is these shows are trying to run on 70’s television and it doesn’t work.
The characters are protested as the 6 million dollar man
Skywalker- strongest ever was
Galadriel- strongest ever was

That’s great if they earn it. That’s great if the acting is good and the directing is good. Sigoutney weaver earned it in aliens, Sarah Conner in terminator, neve Campbell in scream and Lena headley in got are examples.
Now it’s subpar acting where every fantasy woman is Legolas and zero personality ( daisy ridley)That’s great if all the male characters don’t look like complete idiots next to that character. We have just reversed what they did in the 70’s etc. as a poster said below I’m sick of my friends identity being the first killed. Now it’s the opposite.
Got isn’t doing that. Andor isn’t doing that

 

[AnotherGuy]

Go back to your echo chamber.

That's complete nonsense.

You want to lay it all at the feet of cocaine be my guest. Ignore reality.