GAME OF THRONES: THE RISE AND FALL OF A PERFECT TV SERIES
DOI: 10.23951/2312-7899-2019-4-60-91
The article discusses several epistemological problems of media theory: clarification of meaning and use of the “cult” concept as applied to audiovisual media objects; analytical tools and determinants of television series’ success; and, finally, the ontology of a television series as an object of spectator (consumer) and professional (research) perception. Based on the example of one of the most successful television series of the 21st century, Game of Thrones, the principles of the television series’ arrangement, its relations with its literary prototype, the role of script and structural features are considered. Particular attention is paid to the differences between the audiovisual and literary works, as well as policies of television channels as the most important determinants of television series production. On the basis of the history of HBO and the television adaptation of Game of Thrones, the logic of the evolution of the television series, its capabilities and limitations associated with both economic and internal reasons related to the very form of the television series’ existence are revealed. In the first part of the article, the concept of “cult” is considered using ideas of Umberto Eco and Philippe Le Guern. The elements of the social construction of “cult” are shown, and the need for some inner causes belonging to the object itself, not only to the practices of its use, is claimed. In the second part, the story of HBO is briefly observed for revealing the causes and meaning of its turn to TV serial production. In the third part, Game of Thrones is examined in the context of correlations between the book and the film, the book and the script, the film and critics, the film and viewers, and, most of all, the reality of the film and the reality of viewers. It is shown that, unlike the standard analytical optics used for working with television content, the key factor for the success of Game of Thrones and, at the same time, the failure of its final season is the “World of GoT”: a system of perceptual objects and events accessible to the audience that produce a subjectively significant psycho-emotional response. The existence of the “World of GoT” is provided mainly by the perceptual fabric of audiovisual forms and is relatively independent from the narrative structures, which makes Game of Thrones a cult television series despite the rejection of the final season from critics and fans.
Keywords: Game of Thrones, TV series, film theory, media studies, epistemology of media
References:
O’Connor, R. (2019) Game of Thrones: HBO Boss Responds to Fans Demanding Remake of Season 8. [Online] Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/game-of-thrones/game-of-thrones-season-8-remake-petition-hbo-controversy-emmys-a9019976.html
Anderson, C. (2008) Overview: Producing an Aristocracy of Culture in American Television. In: Edgerton, G.R. & Jones, J.P. (eds) The Essential HBO Reader. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. pp.23–41.
Battis, J. & Johnston, S. (eds) (2015) Mastering the Game of Thrones: Essays on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. McFarland & Company.
Baudrillard, J. (2000) Soblazn [Seduction]. Translated from French. Moscow: Ad Marginem.
Cogman, B. (2015) HBO: Igra prestolov [Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones]. Moscow: AST.
Debnath, N. (2016) Game of Thrones Sex and Nudity: Figures Show Huge Disparity Between Male and Female Stars. [Online] Available from: https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/670599/Game-of-Thrones-sex-nudity-Daenerys-Cersei-Melisandre-Emilia-Clarke-Carice-van-Houten
Debnath, N. (2019) Game of Thrones Sex and Nudity: Which Series Has the Most Sex? [Online] Available from: https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1111416/Game-of-Thrones-sex-nudity-HBO-series-sex-scenes-Game-of-Thrones-season-8
Eco, U. (1987) Travels in Hyperreality. Translated by William Weaver. London: Picador. pp. 197–211.
Edgerton, G.R. (2008) Introduction: A Brief History of HBO. In: Edgerton, G.R. & Jones, J.P. (eds) The Essential HBO Reader. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 1–22.
Finance Monthly. (2019) How Much Money Has HBO Made From Game of Thrones? [Online] Available from: https://www.finance-monthly.com/2019/05/how-much-money-has-hbo-made-from-game-of-thrones/
Gjelsvik, A. & Schubart, R. (eds) (2016) Women of Ice And Fire. Gender, Game of Thrones, and Multiple Media Engagements. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
Grafova, M. (2019) Pobeda kholodil’nika nad televizorom, ili nazad k “Pesni o Rolande” [The Victory of the Refrigerator Over the TV, or Back to the “Song of Roland”]. In: Shlyakhtin, R. (ed.) Igra prestolov: prochtenie smyslov. Istoriki i psikhologi issleduyut mir Dzhordzha Martina [Game of Thrones: Reading the Meanings. Historians and Psychologists Explore George Martin’s World]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo AST. pp. 49–66.
Hanrahan, L. (2019) The 27 Most Important Sex Scenes from ‘Game of Thrones’. [Online] Available from: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/g27022316/game-of-thrones-sex-scenes/
Jacobi, H. (ed.) (2015) Igra prestolov i filosofiya: Logika ostree mecha [Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper Than Swords]. Translated from English. Moscow: AST.
Keen, H. (2017) Igra prestolov. Nauka v seriale [The Science of Game of Thrones]. Translated from English. Moscow: “Eksmo”.
Kopysov, V. (2019) Kak “Igra prestolov” chut’ ne provalilas’ na starte [How Game of Thrones almost failed at the start]. [Online] Available from: https://blog.amediateka.ru/igra-prestolov-chut-ne-provalilas/
Kvasha, S. (2019) Sis’ki i drakony: chto oznachayut nagota i seks v “Igre prestolov” [Tits and Dragons: What Nudity and Sex Mean in the Game of Thrones]. In: Shlyakhtin, R. (ed.) Igra prestolov: prochtenie smyslov. Istoriki i psikhologi issleduyut mir Dzhordzha Martina [Game of Thrones: Reading the Meanings. Historians and Psychologists Explore George Martin’s World]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo AST. pp. 135–146.
Le Guern, P. (2004) Toward a Constructivist Approach to Media Cults. In: Gwenllian-Jones, S. & Pearson, R.E. (eds) Cult Television. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 3–26.
Locke, H. (2018) Beyond “Tits and Dragons”: Medievalism, Medieval History, and Perceptions in Game of Thrones. In: Gerzic, M. & Norrie, A. (eds) From Medievalism to Early-Modernism: Adapting the English Past. New York; Abingdon: Routledge. pp.171–187.
Lowder, D. (ed.) (2015) Za stenoy: tayny “Pesni l’da i ognya” Dzhordzha R.R. Martina [Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire]. Translated from English. Moscow: AST.
Nel, D.C. (2015) Sex and the Citadel: Adapting Same Sex Desire from Martin’s Westeros to HBO’s Bedrooms. In: Battis, J. & Johnston, S. (eds) Mastering the Game of Thrones: Essays on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. McFarland & Company. pp. 205–224.
Osipov I. (2019a) Ekonomika Zheleznogo trona: “Igra prestolov” kak biznes-imperiya [Economics of the Iron Throne: Game of Thrones as a business empire]. [Online] Available from: https://www.forbes.ru/biznes-photogallery/374701-ekonomika-zheleznogo-trona-igra-prestolov-kak-biznes-imperiya
Osipov, A. (2019b) Skol’ko stoit “Igra prestolov” [How much Game of Thrones costs]. [Online] Available from: https://www.vedomosti.ru/lifestyle/articles/2019/05/19/801780-igra-prestolov
Pavlac, B.A. (ed.) (2017) Game of Thrones Versus History. Written in Blood. John Wiley & Sons.
Pearson, R. (2010) Observations on Cult Television. In: Abbot, S. (ed.) The Cult TV Book. London; N.Y.: I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd. pp. 7–18.
Shamsian, J. (2019) 50 TV Shows Everyone Should Watch in Their Lifetime. [Online] Available from: https://www.insider.com/best-tv-shows-of-all-time-2017-6
Shlyakhtin, R. (ed.) (2019) Igra prestolov: prochtenie smyslov. Istoriki i psikhologi issleduyut mir Dzhordzha Martina [Game of Thrones: Reading the Meanings. Historians and Psychologists Explore George Martin’s World]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo AST.
Telotte, J.P. (ed.) (1991) The Cult Film Experience: Beyond All Reason. University of Texas Press.
Varkhotov, T. & Kostylev, P. (2019) The Interaction of Family and Religious Values in the World of “Supernatural”. Gosudarstvo, religiya, Tserkov’ v Rossii i za rubezhom. 3. pp. 191–216. (In Russian). DOI: 10.22394/2073-7203-2019-37-3-191-216
Varkhotov, T.A. (2012) Rabota fil’ma kak predmet teorii kino [The Work of the Film as a Subject of the Theory of Cinema]. In: Razlogov, K.E. (ed.) Ekrannaya kul’tura. Teoreticheskie problemy [Screen Culture. Theoretical Problems]. St. Petersburg: Dmitriy Bulanin. pp. 669–689.
Varkhotov, T.A. (2014) [Status and Functions of Mass Media in Societies of Modern Type]. Nauka. Filosofiya. Religiya: Chelovek pered vyzovom noveyshikh informatsionnykh i kommunikativnykh tekhnologiy [Science. Philosophy. Religion: Man Before the Challenge of the Latest Information and Communication Technologies]. Proceedings of the 16th Conference. Dubna. 21–22 October 2013. Moscow: Fond Andreya Pervozvannogo. pp. 149–175. (In Russian).
Watson, A. (2019) Game of Thrones – Statistics & Facts. [Online] Available from: https://www.statista.com/topics/4187/game-of-thrones/
( 497.77 kB ) 
( 456.4 kB )
Issue: 4, 2019
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: ARTICLES
Pages: 60 — 91
Downloads: 1048