I'll admit it: in some of my posts I take a long-winded way to get to the point (hey, usually I have my reasons). But there is no need for that in this case, so let me go straight to it: When it comes to the machinery of Life, the HBO fantasy series Games of Thrones and it's literary source, George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, are the most realistic creative products in American pop culture today.
I am not going to speculate about Mr. Martin's title for his epic's last installment, A Dream of Spring. But I agree with a very smart person who, after watching Robb and Catelyn Stark betrayed and butchered in The Rains of Castamere episode, said: "This man will not cuddle us with nice, happy story turns we so eagerly hope for."
No, he will not. The series will not cater to the general public's expectations that amid a gruesome fight for power and mere survival our "favorite" characters will remain untouched and unsullied. Moreover, the author and the show's creators will turn your emotions upside down: one minute you hate the incestual Jaime Lannister, who pushed little Bran out of the window, and the next minute you don't know what to do with your pity for his sword hand - they might as well have castrated him. And who knew that the actual castration of the despicable and ungrateful Theon would leave you so unsettled?
This is not your average mass entertainment fare, and the American audience is not quite prepared for it. This is a type of authenticity cinephiles expect from French New Wave, Italian Neorealism, Cinema Novo, and Russian movies - genres specifically designed to show the naked inhumanity and unfairness of life. (The same smart person once said, "It was a Russian comedy. I cried all the way through it.")
George Martin's stories may take place in imaginary lands, but they are populated with very real personalities, who act like people we meet every day - power-hungry egomaniacs, cruel sadists, wealth-obsessed careerists, amoral traitors, and dishonest schemers. This is a fantasy that reaches the ultimate height of mythology and becomes a metaphor for Life.
Pop culture plays a crucial role in the formation of people's mentality. And it's incredible that the popularity of the show is increasing from season to season. Over 5 million people watched their hero Rob slaughtered on June 2nd - a drop in the ocean, of course, as far as our vast nation is concerned. Still, if Game of Thrones wakes them up to the reality and they stop looking at the world through the pink glasses of "hopeful" Hollywood movies, it would be a grand artistic achievement.
Brace yourself, my fellow humans, Winter is coming.
