I was going to whine about Game of Thrones, but I waxed poetic about realism and escapism instead.

(This post is spoiler free!)

So I don't like Game of Thrones.

I had so many friends who were screaming about it for so long that I figured there must be something to it, and I was finally compelled to start watching when I wanted to know what the hell everyone in the office was blathering about all the time.

The briefest, simplest way to explain my dislike is this: everyone in this universe is either (1) so unlikable that I don't care whether they live or die, or (2) so fucking dumb that I know they're going to do something super-dumb and die at some point, so I don't care¹. (If any of the dumbfucks do happen to live, that won't improve matters; I'll just be thinking "okay he's a fine guy but Jesus who the fuck let him hold power what the hell.")

But the root of my discontent lies deeper, I think. When people explain to me why they like the show/books so much, they generally say something like, "It's fantasy, but it's more realistic, you know? It's not hokey or good-versus-evil, and there's not even that much magic," and I get all frownyfaced.

( oh god how did this get so long )