Why are the books taken so seriously?

[windwaker]

I see people getting into wars and fights and arguments all the time based on whose character is better or worse. I honestly find it rather pathetic because it's not like your physical, mental or financial well being is at stake because of a fictional book series. It's just fiction--and that's what it is.

I think you all should just calm down and be friendly with each other instead of giving each other crap for joking around and liking a character. It's quite immature.

[StannisBamfatheon]

Sorry mom :crying:

[Rainbow Guard]

troll is troll

[Ser Hippie]

I decided it was time to move on from arguing vigorously about Twilight.

[E-Ro]

Dude, are you serious? That is what these forums are for.

[i like pie]

[Été]

I lol'd. ^_^ Perhaps equally salient: http://xkcd.com/386/

[Thunderfist]

I enjoy posters like the OP because I think this is one of the rare occasions where the entire Westeros community comes together in agreement about the fact that people simply enjoy arguing.

[Tony Soprano]

Well, forums are made for arguing. :P

Some people argue about politics, some about religion and some argue just for the sake of arguing.

And I think most people here are friendly and quite civil.

[Kittykatknits]

LOL, I can't tell if this is a joke or not.

Either way, that's the whole point of forums. I like the arguing.

[A Bong of Ice and Fire]

I see people getting into wars and fights and arguments all the time based on whose character is better or worse. I honestly find it rather pathetic because it's not like your physical, mental or financial well being is at stake because of a fictional book series. It's just fiction--and that's what it is.

Let me tell you a little story. I share a 17 year-old daughter with my ex-wife. The ex and I get along pretty well. One thing that binds us is a mutual love of all things ASoIaF. Whenever we see each other, we inevitably get deep into ASoIaF discussions. Our daughter just rolls her eyes at us.

Once in exasperation she asked us why this is all we ever talk about. Her mother's reply said it best - "because it's better than real life."

[Evizerate]

Let me tell you a little story. I share a 17 year-old daughter with my ex-wife. The ex and I get along pretty well. One thing that binds us is a mutual love of all things ASoIaF. Whenever we see each other, we inevitably get deep into ASoIaF discussions. Our daughter just rolls her eyes at us.

Once in exasperation she asked us why this is all we ever talk about. Her mother's reply said it best - "because it's better than real life."

Nice one!

[Swordsaint]

I lol'd. ^_^ Perhaps equally salient: http://xkcd.com/386/

This ^^

[WinterWarrior]

Let me tell you a little story. I share a 17 year-old daughter with my ex-wife. The ex and I get along pretty well. One thing that binds us is a mutual love of all things ASoIaF. Whenever we see each other, we inevitably get deep into ASoIaF discussions. Our daughter just rolls her eyes at us.

Once in exasperation she asked us why this is all we ever talk about. Her mother's reply said it best - "because it's better than real life."

I like that! Although my real life is good, I love to escape to Westeros....

[Lady Tippy Wolfsbane]

Well, this is a place to discuss ASOIAF. Most people that come here are very passionate about certain characters, and discussions involving those characters can unintentionally becoming very heated. The trick is to catch yourself before you go too far. The environment here is pretty civil with the exception of a few bad apples, but I still love them. I sometimes get upset when people are unnecessarily rude and malicious, so I understand your position.

I will admit that I can get a little belligerent when it comes to Stannis, Robb, and Jon. :blush:

ETA: Plus...the best threads are those filled with arguments. ^_^

[Winter's Knight]

I am a geek, I must obsess. If I seem strange to you, please understand it's the way I am.

[Sterling]

Let me tell you a little story. I share a 17 year-old daughter with my ex-wife. The ex and I get along pretty well. One thing that binds us is a mutual love of all things ASoIaF. Whenever we see each other, we inevitably get deep into ASoIaF discussions. Our daughter just rolls her eyes at us.

Once in exasperation she asked us why this is all we ever talk about. Her mother's reply said it best - "because it's better than real life."

Hahaha I really like your username, and the fact that one of your like top five interests are "weed."

And your story is nice too.

[Queen Cersei I]


I see people getting into wars and fights and arguments all the time based on whose character is better or worse. I honestly find it rather pathetic because it's not like your physical, mental or financial well being is at stake because of a fictional book series. It's just fiction--and that's what it is.


This is actually a fascinating question, though I'm no so keen on the fact that it's draped in such disapproval and censure on your part ("It's pathetic'; "it's just fiction"; etc.)

Anyway, I'd say there are a handful of reasons why discussions WRT various characters grow so heated, primary among them being:


1. The obvious-- people really enjoy this series and are involved in it on a deep level.

2. People relate to certain characters on a very deep level, and (consciously and unconsciously) see themselves in such characters. Thus, without realizing it, some of us (I think, to varying extents) may take insults towards certain characters more personally than we consciously realize we do. That is not to say that any poster on these boards is so simple as to take "Arya is annoying" as "you are annoying." However, I think it's safe to say that many have (at one point or another) appeared to feel deeply affronted when a certain character has been insulted, and that a personal identification with said character often accounts for some of this.

3. Sometimes disagreement is taken as an insult towards a poster’s own interpretation. For instance, some posters who adore Jon Snow may feel that those dubbing him boring have misunderstood or simply not read his chapters; whilst the dislikers may find this attitude condescending.

In general, people might find that if a person holds an opposite interpretation of a character/ even from theirs, then said person is denigrating their version of events/ character analysis. Thus, the response to this is often mockery or dismissal of opposing views as not valid or textually based.

I think we all (to varying extents) have very decided opinions on a few particular characters/ events/ theories/ or what have you. (Whether or not we all fully realize this is up for debate.) Thus, when someone comes along with a view that utterly opposes our own, we may feel unconsciously insulted/ angry/ indignant over the issue. Again, I think this is fairly unconscious, and is very much in varying degrees for each poster.

4. Sometimes clear moral issues arise that naturally evoke anger. Given that everything in ASOIAF is discussed here, that inevitably brings us to the uglier side of life-- child murder, torture, and various crimes against humanity. Whenever arguments related to these issues arise, it is fairly natural that people are going to get inflamed and passionate, regardless of whether it is fiction or not. For instance, person a may be infuriated that person b insists that Jaime Lannister's throwing of Bran can be justified under the circumstances. Or person a may insist that every single Frey should be murdered (Including the little children), whereas person b might see this as advocating of the murder of innocents.

It's only fiction? Very true. But people are still going to be put off, even indignant, when arguments touching on certain moral issues (child murder, mass murder, torture, pedophilia) are brought up.

People have complained about this in the past, but in my mind, it's par for the course.

It is very true that it is only fiction; this helps us keep things in perspective. But as they say-- if you walk into the fire, expect to get burned. And if you walk into a forum justifying the attempted murder of a child, expect to be responded to with a degree of indignation.

[snowboard_season_is_coming]

because we are GEEKS and proud of it!

[Caris]

We're feeding the trolls. I know that's like, rule number 1, but whatever.

Seriously, though, I personally take it seriously because 1) I'm a huge geek, and we like to obsess. 2) I'm a fairly pessimistic and depressive geek, and giving my brain something to analyze that isn't carefully cataloging everything that sucks about life keeps me sane. 3) People have a long history of taking fiction seriously, as they take all art seriously. There's nothing weird or immature about it. The internet just gives us an excellent tool to take it seriously with a lot of people with different viewpoints, resulting in awesome intellectual (and sometimes less-intellectual) arguments.