Posted by Most of the literature I consume is sci-fi/fantasy. (More sci-fi than fantasy but still). I usually go out of my way to watch sci-fi/fantasy movies unless they’re of the suspense/horror genres. (I’m just a chicken-shit).
Beyond the first two episodes, I never got into the HBO series Game of Thrones, which was a surprise to many and even to myself. The reasons are myriad and not worth re-hashing. Suffice to say that I recognize that it was a wonderfully done show, well-acted, well thought out though I know a lot of people were disgruntled with the last season or two.
In the aftermath of any show or movie in the genre, which receives critical and audience acclaim, I find myself hoping that more people will give the genre the wider credence it deserves.
Much has been made of the ‘triumph of nerd culture’. Yet when a prominent author such as Ursula K. LeGuin still refuses to label her work as Fantasy (when YES IT’S FORKING FANTASY!), I’m not so sanguine about said victory.
A friend recently remarked that Lord of the Rings can’t hold a candle to Game of Thrones. There wasn’t much disagreement in the room. And therein lies the crux. Geeks know the place of Lord of the Rings in the canon. To say that it is surpassed by Game of Thrones is the height of ignorance, even if the comment is limited to the recent small & big screen adaptations.
More important than a discussion of personal taste, such a statement is begging the question. It betrays a standoffishness or closing of the mind to considering other works of sci-fi/fantasy as “worthy” of thought and admiration. It is as if to declare that those more esoteric works (which is what Game of Thrones was before HBO!) are something that those dorks love; you know, the ones who live in their parent’s basement and couldn’t get a date to save their lives.
Le sigh.
Perhaps the genre will always struggle to be accepted for its depth and breadth. Pulpy adaptations will set the genre back in the public’s mind (think: attractive green aliens and the geeks who wanna screw them). But if you take nothing from this missive, understand that the best sci-fi/fantasy is always like the HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones. It uses fantastical backgrounds as a jumping point to discussing every conceivable topic – love, honor, loss, evolution (both social and scientific), religion, politics, etc etc and so forth.
May I make some suggestions? Well, I’m going to anyway. (And for the love of all that is good and holy, don’t let the movie adaptations get in the way!)
