Why I am not going to watch Game of Thrones

GregChristopher

First Post
I have not read the novels, nor do I care to. I gave up reading fiction when I started college, over a decade ago now. Note that I didn't say I gave up reading. I read voluminous amounts of material every day. I read huge quantities of non-fiction, both on the web and in actual books. And I read a ton of blogs (is that fiction? Eh... maybe). And I read RPG books, which are about creating your own fiction but I don't think they qualify as such.

I have no doubt that it is a good story. What I have heard in passing sounds interesting; a world with elongated seasons, clever politics, etc. My brother is a big fiction reader and he assures me it is so. He says the same about the Sharpe's Rifles series as well; another bit of fiction I can't be bothered to read. So why don't I read fiction? Because of the long long long string of movies that made me regret ever reading the book.

Jurassic Park was great. I bet I read the book a dozen times as a 13 year old. I can barely remember any of it now. Just a few tidbits like a scene where they hide behind a waterfall from a T-Rex. You see, once they make something into a movie or a mini-series, all that reading just fades away. It means nothing anymore. It gets replaced in my brain with much more memorable imagery. And most of the time, the characters I imagined in my head don't look like the actors they picked anyway.

As an adult, I have developed a patience I never had as a younger man. I don't go see hardly any movies in the theater anymore. Netflix and premium channels provide me with more movies than I could ever care to watch. Why do I need the newest shiny when I have the shiny of the past 30 years at my fingertips and I have barely scratched the surface?

Though I suppose the biggest reason I am not going to watch Game of Thrones is this: HBO's Rome

I got addicted to this show. It consumed my Sunday night for a long long time. I would sacrifice things for this show. I would rush home for this show. I would move mountains for this show. I loved this show. And I won't be sucked into that :):):):):):):):) again.

Serial releases are a marketing ploy, sucking you into purchases that are more costly that they would otherwise be, committing you to things based on passion that you would not commit to out of reason alone. And I intend on retaining control of my faculties this time, thank you very much. I will not be reduced to a swooning puddle of goo every Sunday evening for the next few months. I don't have time for that :):):):) anyway with two little kids.

Besides, when it is all said and done, it will come out on DVD and I can watch it all in one fell swoop. Someone can give it to me for Christmas or my birthday or something. They never know what to buy anyway. My brother is probably the only person equipped to shop for me in any capacity whatsoever. After all, the man bought me old Birthright materials last Christmas. A genius? Probably.

So enjoy it folks. But enjoy it without me. In a few years, we can talk about how awesome it was.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Your ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter...

Actually, ANY TV other than news (and nowadays in the US I'm not even sure about that) is serial marketing. But I get your point and honestly, I don't fault you for it. I got the Band of Brothers DVD set as a gift, I love that show, I would never have watched the entire series on HBO, because when it was on, I couldn't afford a DVR and couldn't watch it "later".

I only got to see the first one because of a free HBO preview (trying to get us to subscribe, of course). But, I do like what I've seen so far enough to try and get the DVDs when they come out, or get someone else to DVR it for me.
 

So enjoy it folks. But enjoy it without me. In a few years, we can talk about how awesome it was.

Poor writing, pacing and direction have failed to develop within me the necessary sympathy for the protagonist, leaving me unwilling to care about the protagonist's fate.

Watch or don't watch; I don't care.
 


So you are going to watch GoT, just not until it comes out on DVD. ;)



I'm not going to watch it because:

I don't have HBO and can't afford it;
It's on too late at night--I get up before 5 AM and Mondays are extremely busy at my job.


I am going to watch it because:

What else is there for fantasy geeks?
 

I read the first book, and enjoyed it a great deal. And then I looked over at my wife, who, at the time, was waiting for the next Wheel of Time novel, and wondering if the author was going to drop dead before he finished the series.

So, I put Martin on the shelf, and I intend to pick up the series again when he's well and truly finished - either by finishing it or by he himself being finished.

I don't have a problem with watching a TV show or movie based on a favorite book, like in the OP. But I do usually prefer to read the book before I watch media of the same story. And soon enough, the new TV series will go beyond that first book I've read...

So, I'll hold off on the TV show too, I guess.
 

It's always interesting to see a post that I know I read somewhere else and to see it on another board but also see that the poster eventually got banned for it. :D

I, too, will not be watching Game of Thrones. But not for your reasons as I happen to really enjoy fiction and TV shows. I won't be watching mostly because I don't have HBO and less so becasue I'm no longer a fan of George's.
 




Remove ads

Top