April 20, 2012
Gratuitous Decadence on HBO
Game of Thrones has come under fire lately - as most HBO shows do - for gratuitous sex and nudity. While fans are excited about the show coming back, they're proving not everyone is looking for a skinfest. They want the story. The idea of gratuitous anything is not new to HBO. Since they are an adult network, they're capable of doing whatever they want on their shows, and that includes sex, violence, swearing, and whatever else is usually taboo in the media. It has a reputation for being a more mature channel, like Showtime, and it is. They have more money to focus on each show, and the freedom to do whatever they want lets their writers craft every episode the way they want.
On the other hand, less is more. Just because you're capable of letting all the characters run around the show naked and frolicking in orgies, or do an entire monologue in swears alone, doesn't mean you necessary should. Game of Thrones in my mind starts to remind me of Rome. Rome was bloody, sexy, insane, and enrapturing. It was also too expensive to stay alive, but that's a story for another day. Here's where Game of Thrones has to be careful about drawing a line: when Rome had nudity or sex on the show it was for a purpose. Maybe to show the nonchalance of the time or the pointlessness of the act itself. Maybe to connect two characters or show the disconnect betwen them. Nothing about it felt superfulous.
Last season there was a scene in Game of Thrones when Littlefinger is tutoring new prostitute Ros by encouraging her to have sex with another woman while he watches. He does put in some practical criticism, which in some ways gave an interesting insight into whorehouses in that setting and how detached they really were from the act. On the other hand this scene was supposed to be an establishing character moment where he talked about his past, but it went on a little long. This season we had Ros start crying during sex and Littlefinger took the woman who was having sex with him and gave her to the client. Which was ... let's not get into it. Sex in this world is clearly just one more part of life and that's fine. Plus it's HBO, they can do what they want, and the people watching their show? Definitely not prudes. If they can take beheading and sword fighting, they can take anything.
It gets back to when people point out that sex is treated as more taboo than violence, and that is a legitimate quandry. These shows have the ability to show the world as it is, or how it is envisioned, and they are lucky for it since so many public channels aren't allowed that freedom. But the point it becomes a problem is when it takes away from the story. Gratuitous implies that it's pointless. There's nothing gained or subtracted in some of these scenes. Not to mention they're taking away from the rest of the show, and that is a problem especially for a show that only has 10-12 episodes per season. There's no time to waste. Maybe the showrunners think these scenes are important. Maybe they really do just go more skin more blood more everything muahahahha. It's hard to say.
Saturday Night Live had a skit recently where they joked that Game of Thrones was this wonderfully produced show ... with a 13 year old boy as an advisor. All he did was demand more nudity and see if he could get more of it in every scene. And that pointed remark is true. The audience is mature and it is fine with whatever insane visuals they want to throw at us - Dany ate the heart of a horse and was covered in blood last season. But they have to be careful not to waste the audience's time in order to keep appearing "edgy." It's not really edgy anymore when your channel can do whatever they want and there are no limits. They don't have to take out these aspects of the show because it is grounded in realsim and reflects the culture, but don't dwell in it so much the story gets lost.
Also kill Joffrey. Little psychopath. PS - Where's the Rome movie HBO?
Game of Thrones Returns!
On April 17th, 2011, the television world exploded with the arrival of HBO's new ambitious project Game of Thrones. Based on the bestselling novels of George R.R. Martin, this series is full of fantasy, politics, sex, and violence. It's said that Martin got some of his inspiration from the War of the Roses, a historical time period where two royal houses battled over the English throne for over a century. The show was a gamble in many ways due to its huge cast, large production costs, and unpopular genre. When was the last time that a fantasy show maanged to draw this amount of attention? HBO's gamble paid off and Game of Thrones became one of the most talked about programs on television, grabbing itself many nominations for the Emmys and Golden Globes in its first season.
Spoilers will be below, you are warned!
It's difficult to sum up this show because a great deal happens in it, but I'll give it a try. It's set in a fictional Kingdom that was won during a bloody battle decades before the current time. The former royal house was slaughtered and driven off, and King Robert took over. Years later he comes to the North to his best friend Eddard "Ned" Stark to ask him to be his right hand man. Ned doesn't want to leave his home and family, and he is not fit for court politics since he's a soldier and plain spoken man. He agrees to go because he was warned that Robert's wife, Cersei, may be treacherous along with her family the Lannisters. Tragedy hits when Ned's son Bran falls from a window, but the audience knows he was instead pushed when he found Queen Cersei having sex ... with her twin brother Jaime!
Ned and his family are drawn into the 'game of thrones,' a war involving court intrigue, politics, diplomacy, and the threat of violence under the surface. Ned engages his oldest daughter Sansa to the deceptively charming crown prince Joffrey, and he starts to look into the mystery of who killed the man who was in his position before. Outside of the main storyline is the rise of Daenerys "Dany" Targaryen, one of the only surviving members of the original royal house. She and her brother fled and he marries her off to a warlord in an attempt to get war support. Dany finds unexpected bliss in her marriage and starts coming into her own as a leader. Meanwhile Ned's bastard son Jon Snow starts fighting on the Wall, a giant wall of ice keeping out "wildlings" and other mysterious possible enemies. The show will keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering who will come up on top and where your loyalties should lie ... if with anyone at all!
The last part there is what I especially like about the show. Yes, the Stark family is the closest we have to protagonists, so many people could be on their side. The interesting thing is most of the characters are very ambiguous and have shades of gray. The Lannisters may seem like the enemy, but Tyrion Lannister is one of the best beloved characters on the show and he isn't perfect either. There are constantly shifting alliances and friendships and only power seems to really drive most of the people vying for the throne. Power, vengeance, and blood. It is a harsh story with a lot of tragedy and very little humor, so be prepared for an intense adventure. You can watch season one episodes on the main website if you want to prepare/catch up before season two.
Season two starts this Sunday, April 1st, at 9 PM EST. There is a reason this show is one of the biggest hits of the year, and jump on board because Winter is Coming, and you don't want to miss it!
The Rise of Musical Television
For ten years American Idol has been a television powerhouse. There are countless spin-offs now of the show, its ratings are consistently strong even if the formula is getting tired, and even the less successful seasons are still strong. What was the extra something this show had that pushed it to stardom? Well, a few things. It is a major part of the reality TV craze, specifically the competitive reality TV craze. America loves an underdog so seeing these "amateur" singers vying for the attention of the country was extremely appealing to the audience. Everyone loves covers of good music, and they could all be bought on iTunes or on CDs, and eventually that added a whole new revenue to the television industry. Soundtracks to shows have done well before, but nothing to this level.
Now there are several competition shows like The Voice and X-Factor and America's Got Talent that all leech off its popularity and do just fine on their own. It's like seeing all the spin-off procedural shows after Law & Order climbed to fame. American Idol wasn't exactly new. Anyone remember Star Search? It ended in the early 90s but for awhile it was just as popular and prevalent in pop culture. There's just something special about a show that lets any person off the street show off their talent and get their fifteen minutes of fame. This concept is not going to waver in popularity for a long time to come; there are just too many fame seekers and people willing to feed them. And it's fun. And it's a money maker for the channels. So they're not going anywhere.
However it's been awhile since a regular television show rose to prominence due to its musical prowress. Yes, we're going to talk about Glee, but it isn't the first. The Patridge Family. Schoolhouse Rock, Kids Incorporated, The Monkees, and Fame are all examples of musical shows that got plenty of attention in their time. For awhile there was silence on that end, and now Glee just came charging in throwing pop culture in a spin. It had its own reality TV show, and brand new show Smash is trying to cash in on the rising popularity. It's doing extremely well so far and already got signed on for a second season on NBC.
So what does this mean? Well it means that people love talent, good music they can sing along to, and flashy dramatic underdog shows. Smash and Glee are both about up and coming singers wanting to achieve their dreams. They have great soundtracks and dance routines and overdramatic storylines, and the audiences just eat it all up. Who wouldn't? It's razzle dazzling us and no one minds. Hate these shows all you want, but whether you like it or not, your foot will start tapping during one of their musical numbers. It's infectious.
I think we'll see more musical shows in the future, although they might want to push it soon since the craze could just as easily die out quickly. It's very smart for networks. They get high ratings and the iTunes sales? Off the charts. The amount of money these shows make on selling the singles and CDs and concert tickets is probably obscene. So they have the success of the show itself and all its viewers plus all the extras. Yes, they have to pay money for the rights to those songs, but they probably get it all back. So cash in while you can, networks. The shiny might wear off soon and people will move on to the next big thing, but for now? Give me some more fun covers and original songs and big musical jazz hand numbers.
What do you think about musical TV?
About
Chelsea Doyle is a member of the MaineToday Digital team and a hard-core geek.Chelsea can be contacted at cdoyle@mainetodaydigital.com
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