How I missed Game of Thrones
When it comes time to admit to people that I didn't watch听Game of Thrones,听I鈥檓 met with a variety of reactions, usually shock, sometimes disgust. How could I possibly have missed out?
How indeed. The show gained traction early in its run听and almost immediately, I had people asking if I鈥檇 seen it. Eventually, it grew to a point where I couldn鈥檛 ignore its prevalence in popular culture. I decided to give it a few episodes but wasn鈥檛 that engaged, despite pressure from others who insisted that I continue because it just gets better and better. That was years ago. Now, with the show's series finale having premiered in May 2019 (a lifetime ago in TV terms),听I'm still as much a clueless outsider as ever.
For a while during the show's final few seasons, it was the topic of conversation everywhere I went听and most notably, it wasn't a show that was sweeping just the internet alone. Rather, it's what's came to be known as "watercooler TV", the kind of thing you hear people of all ages and demographics discussing at work, over dinner, at uni听as well as online. As a result,听I know a lot of the major plot events, because if you didn鈥檛 hear about a certain character鈥檚 death via memes or twitter threads, then you鈥檇 hear about it somewhere else in your day to day life.听Game of Thrones听overwhelmingly infiltrated my life and broader culture听which is fairly amazing when you consider that, for a long time, it wasn't exactly the most accessible show to watch. Even now, it鈥檚 not on Netflix or other popular streaming services (outside of Binge, a new arrival on the streaming scene)听and if you don鈥檛 have Foxtel, your only option was to听purchase it or illegally download it. Nonetheless,听Game of Thrones听thrived.
So, will I ever watch it? Probably. Until recently, I had no desire to do so because people from all areas of my life kept telling me that I听needed听to watch it听and you know how that works: the more someone tries to convince you to do something, the less likely you are to do it. I had to get there on my own. Still, the reality is,听even if I do start the series, I鈥檝e missed out on the thrill of the collective viewing experience听and my experience will likely be more in line with the typical ways in which we now view content; binging it in one condensed period, as most popular culture is now consumed.听I鈥檓 not too proud to recognise that I may have overlooked something special -听a show that is released weekly and watched at the same time by a mass of people听(19.3听million people watched the series finale). It鈥檚 simply not how we consume media anymore听and for all we know, it might be the last instance of television being received as an event, something to be consumed collectively and in unison, rather than streamed intermittently from different laptops at different times across the world.
I guess I have to cut my losses听and accept that if I ever do watch the show, I'll be doing so alone. I only听hope听that by the time I catch up, there will still be someone interested in discussing the true meaning of Hodor.