By ALEXANDER PECHA
Arts Editor
Recently, HBO premiered a trailer for season five of “Game of Thrones.” Well, more accurately, they just released a prettier version of it after someone leaked the trailer from an IMAX showing of season four of “Game of Thrones,” but that’s neither here nor there. The new trailer showed off the main characters doing what they always do: Fighting, conniving, plotting, and other things I can’t really talk about in a published newspaper.
However, the trailer was not met with universal excitement.Instead, it added more fuel into the endless and bitter fight that is the “Book vs Show” debate.
The Book Readers bemoaned the changes they could glimpse from the trailer, as well as bringing up the changes that the show has already done (“The Hound never fought Brienne! Worst. Adaptation. Ever.”)
Show watchers complained about the Book Readers complaining, and got on high horses about how they would know how the story ends before the Book Readers do, since the show is so quickly outpacing the books. It only takes a year to make a season of TV, while it takes several to write the 50-pound weights George R.R. Martin calls books.
Due to this endless argument, I would like to say the following to both sides of the argument: Shut up. Seriously, both sides, shut up. Both sides are wrong. Now, obviously this rant masquerading as an article doesn’t apply to every show watcher and every book reader, just the really annoying ones on both sides. So don’t take this personally, unless you are one of the people who argue about this. If that’s the case, please take this personally, because you need to shut up.
The problem is that both sides think that they, and only they, know what’s best for the Game of Thrones franchise. The Book Readers “know” that the series MUST be as close to a 1-1 representation as possible. Meanwhile, the Show Watchers “know” that the divine writers of the show know exactly what they’re doing and we must put all our trust in them. After all, who needs George R.R. Martin?
Both sides need to accept that they’re never going to get what they want. The show will never completely follow the book, partially due to creative differences and partially due to the fact that some of the things Martin wrote are extremely hard to put in a TV show.
At the same time, the writers are not infallible, as their complete mismanagement of Stannis Baratheon’s character shows. (Seriously, Stannis is fifty shades of awesome in the books. What are you doing, HBO?)
Something to always keep in mind is the simple rule that “Game of Thrones” is an adaptation, not a recreation. For the Book Readers, this means that the show is merely using George R.R. Martin’s books as inspiration for a show. They might use a lot of his stuff, they may not.
The idea of an adaptation is to try and bring something that has otherwise remained in a book to the screen for a new audience as well as the book audience to enjoy, while also giving the source material some form of interpretation.
The show writers are under no obligation to be 100 percent true to the source material. On top of that if you open your mind a bit, you’d realize that some of the changes have been for the best, like Arya being trapped as Tywin Lannister’s cup-bearer or the Hound fighting Brienne. (Because, let’s be honest, that was awesome.)
At the same time, however, the Show Watchers need to realize that adaptation means that yes, the writers are not obligated to follow Martin’s stuff to the letter; but maybe they should follow some of his ideas closer than they do.
The example I cited before, Stannis, basically gets turned into a villain in the show, while in the books he’s just sort of a grumpy anti-hero who kicks all kinds of butt and is probably the last guy you can root for. Another example is how they’re sort of messing up Jamie’s redemption arc by making him, you know, a rapist.
A lot of the changes the show writers have made have either been inconsequential or good, but that doesn’t mean that they’re infallible; they’ve already messed up some things, and I bet they’ll mess up at least a few more times. This is something that the Show Watchers should keep in mind.
Finally, both sides should recognize that the other side has valid points in their mostly-stupid arguement.
Show Watchers: the Book Readers know more than you about the universe. It’s just a fact. “The Song of Ice and Fire” books are thick tomes that almost rival Tolkien in terms of depth and explanation. You can fill in the blanks with the internet and friends, but you’ll never quite be equal to a book reader unless you are one. So don’t be that guy who thinks he totally understands Westeros because you read the wiki, no one likes that guy.
And Book Readers: the Show Watchers are going to know how it ends before you. There’s no point in fighting that. Unless Martin completely changes how the books are going to go after the show is finished, the Show Watchers will know what will happen more or less before you do. It sucks, but that’s the risk of making a show while a book series isn’t finished.
In the end, both sides should remember that we all have a common goal here. We all want to sit down and watch or read about our favorite characters getting tortured and killed in horrific ways. Don’t ruin that by being childish about it.
