I loved "Game of Thrones" when it was a left-leaning political fantasy, as creator
I loved "GoT" when it was the most popular program in the blue liberal states and less so in conservative red states. The inner, hidden nerd in me (perhaps the nerd is no longer hidden) loved it even as
Oh, men!
But now our watch has ended.
And it's obvious that as it ended, "Game of Thrones" was not the fantasy of the socialist left that it started out as, but a reaffirmation of conservative/libertarian beliefs.
It rejected the left's cult of personality and worship of central authority that would decide what was best for us whether we liked it or not.
And it transformed itself into a show that
It revered a strong family. It celebrated the individual, going off the grid to explore the unknown. And it displayed excellent taste in costumes and an appreciation of the Scots/Irish folk ballad.
But the main thing is that "GoT" got rid of its mad queen -- or was that
One monarch to sit on that Iron Throne, one queen to rule them all. And what if the people had different ideas?
"They don't get to choose," says Daenerys Targaryen, sweetly, as if she were
Yet I hated the ending as much as the next guy.
There were many holes in the show, from that mysterious water bottle on the ground in the Game of Thrones at Yalta conference, to the exiling of
And it reinforced the human desire for liberty, particularly if the alternative is utopia at the point of a gun (or a fire-breathing dragon,) which was the way of Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Maduro and others.
All communist utopias have ended badly, with untold misery and the deaths of some 100 million people in this, our real world -- not to mention the zoo animals eaten when the food is gone.
I acknowledge I'm of the minority opinion and the Twittersphere, which leans even more leftward than mainstream media, will reject my theory that "GoT" was at its heart, a conservative saga. And, many
I gladly bear this cross.
When "Game of Thrones" ended this week, tens of millions of fans went stark raving mad, just as I'd predicted. And unscrupulous psych counselors were already selling their soothing bromides online to those, who, as in the 2016 election, couldn't or wouldn't accept reality.
I joined them, also refusing to accept reality. And I publicly hated on the show on "
Later, though, I sat quietly in a big comfy leather chair, lit a fine Maduro cigar and questioned my beliefs while pondering the amazing politics of this cultural phenomenon called "Game of Thrones."
It was a great show.
But thousands of cultish "GoT" podcasters and bloggers and writers were in a frenzy. The high priests of the church of "GoT" -- with their internecine feuds and conspiracies and jealousies, like high priests in any age -- couldn't stand the magic ending and the loss of their power.
So they stoked the rage and anxiety of the fans for computer clicks and ratings. And many of their followers turned on the show that they had followed religiously for almost a decade, seething with rage, insisting that the "Game of Thrones" ending wasn't one they had envisioned.
They might as well have been chanting, "Not my 'Game of Thrones!' Not my 'Game of Thrones'!"
But Tyrion the dwarf, brilliantly played with a passable British accent by the great American actor
"What unites people? Armies? Gold? Flags? Stories. There's nothing more powerful in the world than a good story," Tyrion said. "Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it."
Except, perhaps, network executives and producers.
Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
John Kass is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune who also hosts a radio show on WLS-AM.