StormyMonday Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 This might be beyond the scope of this section of the forum but I was pretty riled up after reading this so I figured that since it was an article mainly about the show, I would just put it here and let the moderators judge. I searched a bit in the forum and didn't see this so hopefully it's not a repeat.This blog is from a film and media professor at Northwestern. The first post was written right when Game of Thrones first premiered. http://ludicdespair.blogspot.com/2011/04/game-of-regression.html'>http://ludicdespair.blogspot.com/2011/04/game-of-regression.htmlhttp://ludicdespair.blogspot.com/2012/03/game-of-thrones-primer.html'>http://ludicdespair.blogspot.com/2012/03/game-of-thrones-primer.htmlhttp://ludicdespair.blogspot.com/Basically, he just rips Game of Thrones for being fantasy and all fantasy is inherently dumb. If he stopped at one post, it would be fine. But he's content to do it before every season premiere. I was annoyed enough to delurk for the first time in a while and throw this out there. Maybe it shouldn't bug me so much, but it does. I'm curious what you guys think. StormyMonday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WardenOfTheNerds Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Read through the first link, jesus that guy has like some serious problems xD. He bashes a show he never watched, he bashes people who study exact sciences, bashes a genre that he obviously has no idea about. By the same logic i can say i know all classic literature sucks, i never read it but i guess it's boring. All crime stories suck, coz they all have a crime and a guy solving it's mystery etc. I am inclined to agree that maybe even a majority of fantasy books are just bad, poorly written and extremely cliche. Then again, that can be said of most books/movies today, and condemning a whole genre for it is just ignorance. Whose fault is it, that all the fantasy books he had contact with (and judging by that article, he never read any but w/e) are based on "a ridiculously childish set of conventions"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khal Porno Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Well he says it's a joke, but unfortunately it just isn't funny. If it was actually humorous that would be one thing, but it's not at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 :rofl: The first post was actually funny in a way because it showed how willingly ingnorant the author is. Even after being told they are wrong about it, they just keep refusing to get to know the thing they are criticising.The other two posts are kinda silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khal Pono Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Maybe he was molested by Dungeons & Dragons players when he was younger. He has a double-bladed longaxe to grind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Mark Selmy Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I answered him... in academic terms no less. Seriously, why I still bother... aff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackTalon Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 From what I can tell from an extremely long and disdainful distance, Game of Thrones appears to be based on a series of novels by George R.R. Martin and claims allegianceI stopped reading right there, that guy is a certified twatwaffle of the highest order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormyMonday Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 I just feel like it comes across as pretentious bashing. "Oh, it's fantasy? That is beneath me. Dungeons and Dragons is for losers, etc. etc." He needs to get off his fucking high horse. You can not like fantasy. Just don't call me a moron for liking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Mark Selmy Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 The best part is when he says that RPGs are somehow for people who studied business, hard science and stuff. Because apparently us in humanities know better and only pursue true art. Hi, my name is João, I've studied law and history, nice to meet you. My current D&D group is made of a literature major, a pedagogist, two history students and a sociologist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Flashheart Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Journalists have less and less dignity nowadays. I may think all rap is garbage but that is called an opinion and far from fact as others would argue. So saying all fantasy is inherently stupid is nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abaddon Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Journalists have less and less dignity nowadays. I may think all rap is garbage but that is called an opinion and far from fact as others would argue. So saying all fantasy is inherently stupid is nonsense.This isn't a journalist, this is a professor. Turns out you can find idiots in any profession! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Flashheart Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 there has been a lot of appointment television for intelligent people of superior taste over the past few months. Holy shit get your head out of your own ass please! Then he goes on to call shows like Eastbound and Down and American Dad as some kind of quality programing? Where did you find this I cant imagine this guy is a popular blogger Professor? Jesus if these people are teaching what is this world coming to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 The real problem in this so-called professor is not the lack of imagination, then lack of common sense and highschool education. Fantasy wasn`t created in the past twenty years, or with Tolkien. It has roots even in Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt and China. The problem is that movie and TV industry cheapened the genre and writers had become hyperproductive in eagerness to earn some money. Genre isn`t bad, but the books we have priveledge to read at the moment are mostly bad. That`s why some people don`t give chance to fantasy genre. And that`s just narrow-minded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boojam Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 This smacks of Troll-ism.If this guy is serious , has he ever read the Iliad and Odyssey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob with one B Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Reminds me of that nonsense surrounding Harold Bloom and Harry Potter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khal Pono Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Reminds me of that nonsense surrounding Harold Bloom and Harry Potter.Don't you dare compare this guy to Harold Bloom, one of the greatest literary critics who ever lived. Harry Potter might be an entertaining story but from a literary perspective it's bunk. Bloom doesn't write off entire genres like this guy; he just thinks Rowling is a horrible writer.This blogger, on the other hand, makes no pretense to serious criticism; he's just trying to be provocative. He's a goofball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intheswamp Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Rowling is a decent writer, not great, but she is Shakespeare compared to Stephenie Meyer. Bloom jumped on the hate bandwagon. As all great critics know, at times, it is profitable to go completely against the grain.As for the OP, I wonder if the professor gets angry at his fellows for teaching Tolkien? Or, how about Shakespeare? Fantasy abounds in classic literature, film, and art. Genre is irrelevant, a great piece is a great piece. (Although, I do think A Game of Thrones is an overrated TV series. However, this guy's cat must have been chomped on by a dragon or something, because he is raging.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Mark Selmy Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Don't you dare compare this guy to Harold Bloom, one of the greatest literary critics who ever lived. Harry Potter might be an entertaining story but from a literary perspective it's bunk. Bloom doesn't write off entire genres like this guy; he just thinks Rowling is a horrible writer.Which she is. And I even liked the first 3 books or so despite her poor technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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