George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series on HBO Season 2 deputes on April 1, 2012... Fandom has reached a fever pitch just as many of my friends have decided to drop the book series.
Unfortunately.. so have I. Were the gaps too long? Partially, but to be frank, the Series has become too convoluted, with too many characters (many of them who I don't care about), and just plain... dull. Do I care about Arya, Jon, Tyrion, or Jamie? I can't really remember, and by page one hundred, scratching my head, trying to remember book four, I gave up.
To my surprise, I've slowly become tired of sex, violence, gore, and zombies? HBO's True Blood and Game of Thrones, Showtime's Borgias and AMC's Walking Dead... all trying to make each new season more shocking, more violent, more risqué. Even Mad Men, with such overly flawed characters, I've become jaded.
There isn't anyone to root for.
If they get Shot, or perhaps... choke on a olive in a martini, do I care? If I knew them in real life, perhaps I would help them off the cliff. Perhaps that's why America has fallen in love with these shows, to run away from the mundane realities of life (or reality television).
A colleague of mine Hated War Horse, hated The Artist, hated any film that wasn't rooted in reality, thought they were too optimistic, too saccharine, too romantic, too ridiculous. And that is what we are feeding the general population. Maybe it's a fine line, Hunger Games was a diluted version of Battle Royale, appealing to the masses, Snow White and the Huntsman looks to be injected with a shot of video game madness... and the Hobbit? Well Tolkien doesn't need much editing.
What we all really need? Get outside, leave your phone at home, and get a bit of fresh air.
