You know how sometimes you might be a person with strong opinions who will brook no opposition? At least not without yelling "YOU ARE FULL OF WRONGY WRONGNESS" at said opposition? Yes, well, as of 80 pages into Game of Thrones, I would like to confess with clenched teeth that I was...maybe...sort of wrong about it.
I tried it before and found it lacking! Or rather, I found it dumb. Because I could not handle Eddard Stark being all "By the Kingdom of Spellweather, the Isles of Kiddlypoo, and the Four Corners of Bunbury" because that is silly. But it turns out, if you keep reading past that and also indulge in some skimming, it's a really entertaining book.
Parts have been spoiled for me, because I've had the following conversation on NUMEROUS occasions:
"Tell me why Tumblr is saying this stuff about Game of Thrones."
"No! It'll ruin it if you ever read them."
"I am never, ever, ever going to read them."
"But--"
"Never."
Fortunately, I am terrible at remembering things like "plot" and only good at remembering things like Queen Elizabeth I's birthday, because it is USEFUL. So I've forgotten most of what people have told me.
The fun part about having strong opinions is -- what am I saying, it is OBJECTIVELY fun. When I was in high school, one of the things that irritated me the most was when the teacher would ask whether something was A or B and my classmates (otherwise regarded with great affection) would obnoxiously answer "Well, it's a little bit of both."
AGHHHH.
Life is grey areas. Grey grey grey grey grey. Almost nothing is black and white. But to foster discussion, sometimes you need to throw something out like "CUBS SUCK WHITE SOX RULE," because someone's face will turn angry-red and you will have a fun argument which will end in you both agreeing that Cubs FANS suck, and you in fact have no problem with the team, aside from the fact that they are terrible at baseball.
The problem with something like Game of Thrones opposition is you have 1) Your opinion based on reading one chapter, which you called "stupid," and 2) NATIONS of people against you and your dislike. I've discussed before how bad it is to hate something because it's popular, but it's a really, really hard urge to overcome. It's totally a douchey thing to do, but it's there, like that desire you sometimes have to wear an Ed Hardy shirt, or to say "I don't know, CAN you go to the bathroom?"
Conquering these douchebag feelings is what make us better humans, and improves the quality of life for our fellow man. So I shall say RIGHT NOW that I was wrong. Game of Thrones is very entertaining. I am totally looking forward to reading about basically every character. But I will continue to be annoyed by Sherlock fans now and forever, amen.
I tried it before and found it lacking! Or rather, I found it dumb. Because I could not handle Eddard Stark being all "By the Kingdom of Spellweather, the Isles of Kiddlypoo, and the Four Corners of Bunbury" because that is silly. But it turns out, if you keep reading past that and also indulge in some skimming, it's a really entertaining book.
Parts have been spoiled for me, because I've had the following conversation on NUMEROUS occasions:
"Tell me why Tumblr is saying this stuff about Game of Thrones."
"No! It'll ruin it if you ever read them."
"I am never, ever, ever going to read them."
"But--"
"Never."
Fortunately, I am terrible at remembering things like "plot" and only good at remembering things like Queen Elizabeth I's birthday, because it is USEFUL. So I've forgotten most of what people have told me.
The fun part about having strong opinions is -- what am I saying, it is OBJECTIVELY fun. When I was in high school, one of the things that irritated me the most was when the teacher would ask whether something was A or B and my classmates (otherwise regarded with great affection) would obnoxiously answer "Well, it's a little bit of both."
AGHHHH.
Life is grey areas. Grey grey grey grey grey. Almost nothing is black and white. But to foster discussion, sometimes you need to throw something out like "CUBS SUCK WHITE SOX RULE," because someone's face will turn angry-red and you will have a fun argument which will end in you both agreeing that Cubs FANS suck, and you in fact have no problem with the team, aside from the fact that they are terrible at baseball.
The problem with something like Game of Thrones opposition is you have 1) Your opinion based on reading one chapter, which you called "stupid," and 2) NATIONS of people against you and your dislike. I've discussed before how bad it is to hate something because it's popular, but it's a really, really hard urge to overcome. It's totally a douchey thing to do, but it's there, like that desire you sometimes have to wear an Ed Hardy shirt, or to say "I don't know, CAN you go to the bathroom?"
Conquering these douchebag feelings is what make us better humans, and improves the quality of life for our fellow man. So I shall say RIGHT NOW that I was wrong. Game of Thrones is very entertaining. I am totally looking forward to reading about basically every character. But I will continue to be annoyed by Sherlock fans now and forever, amen.
Comments
Post a Comment