The fantasy genre is alive and well.
How do I know this? First, you have to understand how I gauge it. I look at the movies. I look at the books I see in public. I look and see what people are talking about in social media. I look at the last decade of work done and how it compares to the present. As far as I can tell, movie adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Twilight, and Narnia have kept the fantasy genre alive on the silver screen. With The Hobbit coming later this year, fantasy supremacy at the box office is assured.
When I am out and about, I see people carrying books like The Hunger Games and A Dance With Dragons. They aren’t hiding their copies behind brown paper dust jackets or tearing the cover off. They are carrying these books proudly in a society that has largely looked down upon the genre. These moments have grown drastically in the last six months.
My social media is flooded by cool fantasy-related stuff all day long—whether it be imaginative or scientific.
There is one fantasy property that has in the last six months crossed both live action and literary mediums:
George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire and HBO’s Game of Thrones
I’m not going to discuss why George’s work has become such a hit. Those of you who have read it know why. I was curious, though, about the effect Ice & Fire has on the fantasy un-indoctrinated. Since I knew I had to re-watch Game of Thrones: Season 1 to prepare for April 1 and the premiere of Season 2, I asked my girlfriend over to watch the first episode.
Kristin didn’t know that I was secretly testing her—or even secretly testing the true power of George R. R. Martin’s opus. She said she would humor me. Said that she’d watch one episode. That she would rather watch something on the Discovery channel but she understood work is work and it had to be done.
I kept the evil glee inside; I knew what was to come.
She warned me she has a propensity to ask questions or make comments while watching movies and television series. I learned all too well. Here are some of the things she said while watching the first episode, Winter is Coming:
“Why are those things’ eyes glowing blue?”
Quickly followed by:
“That little girl is alive and now her eyes are glowing blue?! WTF?!”
Here are some of the other things she said:
“He just cut that guy’s head off?? Why!? What kind of world is this?”
“Cute puppies! I want one!”
“God, that king is fat.”
“That Bran kid is a cutie.”
“Brother and sister having sex!? Ick! I can’t watch this!”
Quickly followed by:
“You mean, Jaime just pushed Bran out of the window?!!”
Quickly followed by:
“Does Bran die?? Tell me!!!”
Needless to say, we didn’t stop at episode one that night. She was hooked. We watched the first four in all. Over the course of the next three days, we finished the first season. Here are some of the other things Kristin had to say:
“I really don’t like that Sansa girl. She needs to be slapped. A lot.”
“Gross. The Eyrie queen letting her son still breastfeed?!”
“I love Tyrion. He better not die.”
Quickly followed by:
“I love Ned. He better not die.”
When Littlefinger is in his brothel watching two women educating themselves in the act of love:
“Now I know why you like this show. All the naked girls.”
“I love Syrio. Great philosopher!”
“Is Varys good or bad? I can’t tell.”
“Ned is dead?! Why the Hell am I watching this show?!”
“Dragons!? WTF?! What an ending! When is the next episode?”
Quickly followed by:
“April 2nd?? That’s too far away!”
As you can imagine, I know what I am doing the night of April 1st. Making her dinner, opening a bottle of wine, and sitting down to watch episode one of Season 2! Can’t wait!
Winter is coming…
… and more questions/comments from Kristin. Ha!
Shawn, your post are terrific!