A Game of True Grit

Fantasy is hardly a new or neglected genre in film and television entertainment. So when the hype about HBO’s latest offering, Game of Thrones, started you could be forgiven for thinking ‘oh no, not again’. Thankfully however, HBO is finally gifting adults with a new kind of intelligent and gritty fantasy story. Due to the…

Ploy Radford

May 4, 2011

1 minute

Due to the elements of magic and a make believe world, there is an unfortunate trend for fantasy films and television dramas to be primarily aimed at the younger market. BBC’s Merlin, the Harry Potter franchise and the Chronicles of Narnia films are good examples of that. Fantasy entertainment should not be seen as exclusively a children’s genre. Power struggles and the family sacrifices that come with responsibility are topics that feature frequently in children’s fantasy dramas; how are these not adult themes? Game of thrones highlights that these issues can be explored maturely even in a world where the White Ones and dragon eggs exist.

The main way in which Game of Thrones does this is by not being afraid to have complex characters, and families that are not exclusively good or bad. The bastard Jon Snow, the outsider we would normally be expected to emphasise with, arrives at Castle Black and turns out to be a bit of a snob. It is rather ambiguous whether Tyrion Lannister is the good one in an ambitious, heartless family. If you compare this with say Lord of the Rings, it’s rather obvious who the evil ones are, they’re rather ugly and called names like Wormtongue.

All hail the new age of realistic fantasy films and dramas.

4 responses to “A Game of True Grit”

Jonathan Cromie

May 4, 2011 at 7:21 pm

“If you compare this with say Lord of the Rings, it’s rather obvious who the evil ones are, they’re rather ugly and called names like Wormtongue.”

I wouldn’t say that, Ploy! I mean, it’s true about LOTR, but isn’t it blindingly obvious that, say, dragon girl’s brother is a scumbag, as are the sibling Lannisters and their pampered prat of a child? (I reckon he’s Jaime’s son.) It may not be obvious whether we’re supposed to sympathise with the gluttonous monarch, but as to who the really evil ones are – well, unless it throws a major curveball then that’s not difficult.

Unless them being attractive has thrown you entirely off track, of course. 😉

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1. Ludwig Van
  
  May 5, 2011 at 11:29 am
  
  The Lannister siblings are obvious villains?
  
  Please…
  
  Reply
2. Kimberly Wieland
  
  May 5, 2011 at 11:54 am
  
  I don’t think Jaime Lannister is a complete scumbag. If you’re right about the Prince being his son, what else could he have done in his situation in the tower? It would be Bran’s life versus, presumably, the lives of his own family.
  
  And he killed the previous King who sounded like a mad tyrant (“burn them all”). A complete scumbag would more likely just keep his mouth shut.
  
  Though maybe his good looks have something to do with my taking a second opinion of him!
  
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Ploy Radford

May 4, 2011 at 9:25 pm

Attractiveness throw me off track?? Hardly, I like evil men so it attractiveness wouldn’t cover up evilness for me :p

Ok I concede there are some obvious villains, but there are plenty of shade of grey villains too and that good characters aren’t perfect. I like that Catelyn Stark is a bit rough around the edges, hasn’t happily fostered her husband’s bastard and is happy to exploit Baelish’s affection for her.

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