Recent headlines
World: Jeremy Kyle: MP Calls for ITV Show to be Axed (A little tabloidy, but it’s interesting to me as I’ve had concerns in the past as to the effectiveness of counselling relationship problems by shouting at them on live TV in front of a jeering crowd.)
Gaming: Minecraft’s Anniversary Map is a Huge Interactive Colliseum (I played this game when it was in Indev! Pre-Alpha! I feel old.)
I’m Playing: World of Warcraft (Levelling a Nightborne Frost Mage while podcasting), Minecraft (I’ve discovered Bedrock Edition), LEGO Marvel Superheroes (Completed it mate)
Yesterday saw the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones air. It was, by my estimation, a partially flawed but mostly astounding episode, with a twist which had been telegraphed throughout the entire show. It featured beautiful shots, remarkable acting, and peerless set design. According to the internet, it was apparently the biggest piece of trash to ever be excreted from an outbound sewage pipe.
I won’t dive into my critical thoughts as to why this episode was good and why people are idiots. I want to use this journal entry to explore the nature of people on the internet, and their extreme views. It seems to me that Game of Thrones has been praised to the highest heavens for most of its lifespan. The only negative opinions about it were presented in a mostly lucid manner, from what I’ve seen. But with the third and fourth episodes of season eight, the pacing and the direction of the plot turned in a manner which left a lot of people confused. A lot of criticisms were fair, but what’s also been emerging from this is people coming out in droves to declare the show as dead, or as a waste of time, or that the showrunners are intellectually challenged.
I’m going to be honest. I spent most of my evening yesterday attempting to pull myself away from social media, because this made the seethe.
Criticisms are fine. Episode five – the aforementioned penultimate episode – was a relief for me, having had many issues with episode four. All the same, though, I could see that episode five had a few holes. But never would I take to the internet to attack the creators of the show about it. People are now creating memes about these alleged morons who run a show that they’ve been following religiously from almost a decade now. Time and again, people fail to the connect to the idea that making a joke at someone else’s expense online is cruel, and reflects more about them as a person than making any sort of statement about the show they’re attempting to criticise. I blanch every time I see it. Not only that, but failing to having any opinion between “this is the best thing ever” and “this show is complete trash” is indicative of far larger issues than stem from outside of fiction. Seeing systemic, societal issues such as toxicity make its way into the community of a television show I like is incredibly disheartening, as fiction is often a way for people to escape the exact world where these issues present themselves harsher ways.
I don’t know if I’m making much sense. In a broader sense, it just feels like the world we’re living in is being overrun by the outraged, the ignorant, and the hateful, with Brexit (outright xenophobia), Trump (outright racism) and climate change (outright ignorance and misinformation) being major events in our time. It might seem strange to link these back to people not liking a TV show, but it’s the way it’s discussed and argued about which reminds me of the discourse surrounding these issues. People’s use of extremes, mockery, denial and plain stupidity is found as much in discussion of Game of Thrones now as it is in politics.
I believe that the internet is actually a force for a lot of good in our lives. Most wars come about from people having different beliefs, those beliefs are born from different cultures, and different cultures are created from a group of people living together in a particular environment. The internet transcends physical space and gives everyone a voice in which to share their perspective, letting us understand each other better and to celebrate our differences, not scorn them. I believe it’s been a major proponent in opening people’s eyes to the cruelty of prejudice, the importance of Pride, the reality of mental health. However, the biggest advantage of the internet is also its biggest detriment. If everyone has a voice, then that includes the ignorant, the prejudiced, those with a loud and angry voice and no desire to listen to opposing viewpoints. Lately, it feels like those people are winning.
I hope some of this made sense, especially to Future Kristian who is reading this one year later, far removed from the time he spent getting upset about anonymous comments on the internet.
I plan on removing myself from online discussion surrounding the finale when it airs.
Further reading
A beautiful exploration of a major Game of Thrones character’s journey up to S8E5 (Major Spoilers)
Perpetually Perturbed 