183 replies to this topic

[Brienne the Beauty]

I watched it with my husband, who has not really read the books.

When we were talking afterwards, I asked him what he thought of the White Walkers at the start. He looked blank.
"You know, the monsters and the ice zombies?"
"Oh, they were meant to be monsters? I thought they were just guys with masks on."

I guess that's a fail for the costume department!

Any other amusing reactions from people who you were watching with?

Edited by Datepalm, 20 April 2011 - 12:18 PM.

[Crates of Thebes]

Myy girlfriend who has read only the prologue of A Game of Thrones and some site or other's main character bios, absolutely loved it. She's slavering for more just like me!

[Ferrum Aeternum]

My parents tuned in Sunday night to see what all the hubbub was about (i.e. my sister and I going back & forth on Facebook like a couple of kids at Christmas) and caught one of the encore showings.  Mom called last night and couldn't stop talking about it!  She had a lot of questions ("that brother and sister, why is their hair so white?" ), but really I was surprised at how quickly she and dad caught onto the basic structure of the story.  BOTH were blown away by the cliffhanger of Bran's fall and are eager to see more.  As we spoke I gave her a quick sketch of Westeros and some of the backstory i.e. Robert's rebellion.  Now she and dad are both wanting to read the books!  They're in their mid-60s and neither is a fantasy buff by any stretch of the imagination.  As such, I'd never recommended the books to them before.  Better late than never I suppose!

Interestingly enough, despite their small-town Southern roots and somewhat conservative social leanings, the nudity and sexual content didn't seem to bother them at all.  Both chalked it up to the time/place setting of the story and to the fact that it's typical of HBO programming.

[Xenophon]

I watched with my wife, who never read the books, and spoke to a friend who knew nothing about the show going in.  

My wife's take:

Overall, too disturbing for her (mainly the violence/oppression of women).  After Viserys' line about "all 40,000", she called it nightmare fuel and began to surf the net as a distraction.  She's not exactly HBO's target audience and probably isn't going to watch anymore.

Specifically, she thought the costumes/set were impressive, but everyone looked a little too clean compared to their surroundings.  She thought the actors were all very good.  Her least favorite part of the show was the Dothraki, who she thought were ridiculous.  Being brown herself, she particularly objected to how they had lumped all the black, asian, anything-vaugely-brown actors together into an single "exotic" group.  She also thought the number of naked women was ridiculous and fairly off-putting (especially compared to the number of naked men), but she was pleased that the actresses look like real women.  Her favorite part of the show was the scene with Tyrion and Jon, when Tyrion says all dwarfs are bastards in their fathers' eyes".  Makes me think it would have been wiser for DnD to focus more on the dialogue.

My friend's take:

Awesome, can't wait for more.  He didn't exactly follow the backstory of Robert's rebellion, but he didn't seem to mind.  He thought Viserys was a great villain, and really liked Tyrion.  He thought Jon was the worst character.

[SleepyNonah]

My other half had a classic WTF!? "is he dead!?" reaction to Bran's fall, adored Arya (knew she would, Arya is how I imagine Sarah as a child!) and generally plagued me for spoilers. I filled in some of the back story for her but she followed it fine.

[Mettle]

When the show ended my wife said "Oh my Gosh"

I was expecting her to say something about Bran falling.... but instead she said, "He was having sex with his sister?!!?"

I laughed and told her I was expecting to her say that about Bran falling, but she said, "Oh I expected that, ever since his mom told him not to climb."

She also asked why Ned has a bastard if he is supposed to be such an honorable person.  I started to smile and she had to know why, so I just told her... "well, there are theories..." and left it at that.

[Xenophon]

Mettle, on 20 April 2011 - 02:19 PM, said:

She also asked why Ned has a bastard if he is supposed to be such an honorable person.  I started to smile and she had to know why, so I just told her... "well, there are theories..." and left it at that.

Oh crap, I forgot to mention that.  My wife also commented on that (as part of her "there is enough misery in the real world, what makes you think I want to watch a show about an imaginary world where women are oppressed and even the best character has a bastard son!" rant).

So, it seems like the TV show is really calling attention to that question.

[FanBogle]

I have made peace with the fact that my boyfriend may never read ASOIAF, but I am greatly hopeful that we can both enjoy the HBO adaptation together. His reaction to the premier was great, but so was his confusion. We had to pause the episode 5-7 times so that I could explain some of the less obvious nuances of the story. Most of his confusion stemmed from character relations and the political situation of Westeros. I found myself describing family trees, detailing Robert's Rebellion, and relating an abridged version of the history of Westeros.

I was getting worried because this is just the sort of thing I wanted to avoid, and more worried because I felt the show should have made these questions a non-issue. I'm concerned this will result making the show more work than pleasure. But when I think back to when I first read GOT, I recall that much of what was going on WAS over my head. When I started reading I think I had many of the same questions as my boyfriend, and I don't think they were answered until well beyond the current progression of the show.

This topic is centered on a couple of things. First, it's a place for ASOIAF veterans to relate their experiences watching the HBO adaptation with novices (or vice versa). Second, I want to ask if the adaptation is doing a reasonable job of relating all the critical information to viewers? And if it hasn't yet, do you have faith that it will as the series moves forward? If we are veterans watching with novices, is having to stop for explanation something that comes with the territory, or will the show eventually be able to answer all questions and details without assistance?

Edited by Kat, 20 April 2011 - 03:32 PM.
merged

[NW Deserter]

My non-reader friend's various reactions...

After seeing Rodrick: "Hahahaha, his beard his ridiculously awesome."

After the first Viserys/Dany scene: "The fuck is wrong with that guy?!"

I had to explain a little about Robert's rebellion, who he killed every night in his dreams, and who was buried in the crypt that Robert missed. I think that the rebellion as a whole should've been discussed a little more, maybe they'll do this in the next couple of episodes but I remember that even when I was reading, I didn't fully grasp what it was all about until my second read-through of the series.

He thought the dry-humping Dothraki were a little stupid.

His first reaction to Bran's fall was "Oh I bet the wolf died to save him!" I just laughed at that and told him to keep watching.

He got the Lannisters and Targaryens mixed up once but I corrected him.

Overall, he's interested to see what happens next and is gonna watch episode two with me. Success, I'd say!  

[Cereal Forel]

I expect they'll fill in a lot of the backstory about Robert's rebellion in coming episodes. We know they've filmed a flashback to when Brandon and his father were killed, so I don't think we need worry about that.

[FanBogle]

Cereal Forel, on 20 April 2011 - 03:42 PM, said:

I expect they'll fill in a lot of the backstory about Robert's rebellion in coming episodes. We know they've filmed a flashback to when Brandon and his father were killed, so I don't think we need worry about that.

Thanks, that's good to know...the books don't always do a lot of flashbacks, but I don't see how the show could be successful without them.

[The Sand Snake]

My friends all loved it. All of them cant wait for more.  Girlfriend loved it too. None of them are readers, but more than two of them went out and bought the book after seein it. Im pretty proud of HBO

[Arrogant Bastard]

My cousin, a fantasy fan who has not read the books, decided to start reading the copy I loaned him after watching the premiere. Another friend who I told about teh series IMed me "that ending was fucked up" but also really liked the show and will definitely keep watching.

[Balefont]

Arrogant Bastard, on 20 April 2011 - 04:36 PM, said:

My cousin, a fantasy fan who has not read the books, decided to start reading the copy I loaned him after watching the premiere. Another friend who I told about teh series IMed me "that ending was fucked up" but also really liked the show and will definitely keep watching.

Had to post because I love your screen name and I love that beer!

[Bronn is God]

GoT review

Pretty funny review, he goes completely nuts at the 8 min mark.

[dylan]

My dad was pretty confused and at the end he told me "I used to think all your reading was good for you, but after seeing what you read I'm a little disturbed." that made me laugh

[Commodore]

Some people were wondering why Caetlyn couldn't go with Ned to King's Landing.

They didn't explain that well at all.

[Trebla]

Commodore, on 20 April 2011 - 09:18 PM, said:

Some people were wondering why Caetlyn couldn't go with Ned to King's Landing.

They didn't explain that well at all.

My dad asked the same thing. He loved it but had to ask questions throughout.

Near the end when Bran starts to climb my dad says, "He's going to fall, isn't he. I knew it when they warned him the first time. He falls, right, and then they can't go?" Close, dad, close.

He also knew Robert was dead meat. "He's going to die, isn't he?"

[VarysTheSpider]

I watched it with my flatmate. Overall, I think he enjoyed it. When Jaime saves Bran he said. "push him!" and then when he did he's like, "what the fuck?! I was not expecting that!"

[Gytha Ogg]

A friend of mine was hooked after just the 15 min preview! He now wants to read the books first, then have a TV marathon afterwards.