I have been meaning to write this blog for some time, I could just never figure out what angle I should approach it, and what subjective assertions I could argue. But I've come round to it since I finally started watching ‘Game Of Thrones’, so here are my ramblings.
Now, I know I've come to the ‘Thrones’ party quite late, in the past I had tried many times to watch it but I couldn't get any further than the halfway point of the first season. The reason why? I found none of the characters relatable or sympathetic, there was no one I wanted to follow in the world being represented.
I put all that aside a few weeks ago, I would just get through each episode, and see what all the fuss is about. And I don’t regret it, 'Thrones' is a decent show, it’s certainly much better in the first three seasons, but it’s not an amazing show. Only half of the characters are interesting and flawed, while the other half are either pointless or just malicious. It’s success is hinged on its soap opera style story telling, and the twists and variety of characters are enough to keep audiences thirsting for more. And to be fair, the performances are by and large very good.
The simple, unfortunate answer is that humans have always been violent towards one another, our history is more or less written in blood, I won’t go into the details. But regardless of geopolitical or religious reasons, humans are still animals but with a conscience, social beings that can inflict relentlessness cruelty on one another, let alone other beings.
But I'm talking about violence in fiction.
Overly explicit cruelty and violence is one of the things ‘Thrones’ has plenty of, some of it so distasteful I have had to mute the sound and look away. Unfortunately it’s also one of the things that seems to attract people to the show, the show is clever in that it creates characters so repugnant we don’t feel any real emotion when something bad does happen to them.
Why do we find it so entertaining to watch people being killed? (even if it is fictional), in part it’s because it’s fantasy, it’s not real, and it’s something that most people would never be callous enough to carry out. And we also like to see the big bad guy get his comeuppance.
When I was young I was obsessed with action movies, especially the Arnie and Bruce Lee ones, but now I just find them stupid and shallow (albeit entertaining).
But there is a worrying trend that we now glorify violent protagonists as well, they can only ever achieve their aims through force and becoming the very thing that their antagonists are.
So called strong female characters can only be written as physically competent warriors, equal to their male counterparts. A good example of this is the character Rey in ‘Star Wars: Force Awakens’, who is no violent character but someone who is just too hyper competent.
A better example is the character ‘Lara Croft’ from the Tomb Raider games. In the originals she was a sassy archaeologist who killed to get what she wants. In the rebooted version, in the cut-scenes she was played out as a vulnerable survivor, but in gameplay she is nothing more than a serial killer.
Video games can be forgiven slightly because as soon as you pick up the controller, the game becomes a sport. While video games can have wonderful stories (Life is Strange, etc), their art and purpose is entirely gameplay focused.
But I’d like to see more remorseful protagonists in fiction, I’d like to see them succeed without using any kind of violence. While it’s easier to create an absolute evil interesting, is it possible to create someone of absolute goodness without being boring? It’s rarely tried, and I can’t think of anyone from the top of my head.
I’ll end this by saying that I think gratuitous violence in fiction ultimately desensitizes us to real violence that we see daily on our TV screens. And in regards to strong characters of all kinds of creed, I find it more interesting when violence is a last resort, and our heroes don’t define themselves by their antagonists.
