How did non fantasy fans you knew reacted to "Game of Thrones" becoming mainstream?

[CmdrShep2154]

How did they react? How many of them ended getting around to checking out the show? How many of them still view the fantasy and/or sci fi genres as a "childish" thing? I heard back in the late 2000s and early 2010s most TV watchers were interested in only reality TV, police procedurals, and doctor soaps. Is that true or is it an exaggeration?

For those who went to college how did the most popular and athletic students react?

[rayvio]

I've seen some non-fantasy fans who got into Game of Thrones give the books and other fantasy stories a try and enjoy the genre, I've seen others decry the show as just an excuse for porn and gore and never even give the show a watch (judging solely by what they've heard). also one bizarre claim that it's "not fantasy as there's no orcs or elves"... apparently dragons, worgs and children of the forest don't count as fantasy in his mind...

[Puri]

Considering how the big hits in the last 40 years were at a large part (science-) fiction, starting from Star Wars and -Trek over Back to the future to Jurassic Park to Lord of the Rings and the current super hero universes, I'd say we are long gone past over calling fiction childish.

[Geckoo]

From my experience they didn't really care or consider the genre at any moment. I would say that when something becomes mainstream, the genre becomes irrelevant, since people will be attracted to that particular product no matter what genre it belongs to, so any preconceived ideas they might have will not play a role when choosing to watch the show and it won't change their general opinion about the genre either.

And we've seen this quite often, people might like or dislike a popular movie, show or videogame, but this happens despite the genre it belongs to, in fact, those products become popular because they are able to attract people outside from the usual niche audience and that snowball keeps growing with more people will just be there because it's the fresh new thing everyone is talking about. Things like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or even WoW are great examples.

[Toxuvox]

I know a few folks that just couldn't/wouldn't move past the incest between Cersei and Jamie Lannister, but those few aside, most folks I know that have given it a go have enjoyed the show for what it is, warts and all.

[Beefhammer]

How did they react? How many of them ended getting around to checking out the show? How many of them still view the fantasy and/or sci fi genres as a "childish" thing? I heard back in the late 2000s and early 2010s most TV watchers were interested in only reality TV, police procedurals, and doctor soaps. Is that true or is it an exaggeration?

For those who went to college how did the most popular and athletic students react?

I'm a fantasy fan and didn't care for the show. The books were OK, not a huge fan of GRR, he's really hit or miss for me. Anything that brings new people into a genre I enjoy the better.

[ProphetFlume]

From my experience they didn't really care or consider the genre at any moment. I would say that when something becomes mainstream, the genre becomes irrelevant, since people will be attracted to that particular product no matter what genre it belongs to, so any preconceived ideas they might have will not play a role when choosing to watch the show and it won't change their general opinion about the genre either.

Basically this. I know it was a big deal to big fantasy fans and Martin himself - aparently the only other thing close to a sci-fi/fantasy show to win the big awards was Lost. As prolific as they are they’re still aren’t (or weren’t) seen as quality. Kinda like superhero stuff the past 10 years.

[molliewoof]

How did they react? How many of them ended getting around to checking out the show? How many of them still view the fantasy and/or sci fi genres as a "childish" thing? I heard back in the late 2000s and early 2010s most TV watchers were interested in only reality TV, police procedurals, and doctor soaps. Is that true or is it an exaggeration?

For those who went to college how did the most popular and athletic students react?

Imo got is two books, the medieval political non fantasy one and the fantasy ' chosen one' book.

Most people didn't like the fantasy part of it and this was shown when they ran out of people to kill in kings landing and needed to focus more on the main characters that didn't really lose their plot armour until the last few episodes, that is when people started disliking it. (Obvs the last couple of series weren't the best anyway)

[eschatological]

For most of the non-fantasy people I know, GoT was a one-off for them. They viewed it as a drama that just happened to have dragons in it.

That's how they view The Walking Dead, as well.

That's why all CW shows are the way they are. It's less about the genre, and more about the characters and their relationships and how they interact with each other, with a minor focus on "cool set pieces," like the episode 9 battles for GoT.

Not one of these friends of mine could tell you who Azor Ahai was/is or why the potential manifestation of Azor Ahai might be important.

LOST seems to be the only show where people really cared about the fantastical elements of the show - and then when the show ended up being about the characters themselves and not the island's mysteries, they were burned. Maybe that's what the past 10 years have been: wariness after "being burned" by LOST (I sitll loved LOST).

[Endus]

How did they react? How many of them ended getting around to checking out the show? How many of them still view the fantasy and/or sci fi genres as a "childish" thing? I heard back in the late 2000s and early 2010s most TV watchers were interested in only reality TV, police procedurals, and doctor soaps. Is that true or is it an exaggeration?

For those who went to college how did the most popular and athletic students react?

You realize the Lord of the Rings films started coming out in 2001, right? And were WILDLY popular?

[XDurionX]

Oh, it's Shep doing his shtick for the umpteenth time.

[Hollycakes]

(I sitll loved LOST).

Same.
Still pissed about Mr. Eko.
I do love the lore they created for that show.
There will be a reboot in the future no doubt.

GoT however is garbage.
The only people I knew that actually liked it were non fantasy lovers.
It's pretty bad writing and the few that were into were also not into reading, coincidentally.
Weird question though.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 <3

[Syegfryed]

i don't know any people who actually read or even knew the books before it became mainstream, so, i could not tell you

i never liked the books before the show came out, tried to read the first one, but i don't like the way of the narrative and how he write, so didn't care that became mainstream, but i was admired that a show made a book that seem to be low average(to me) become a "masterpiece" among people.

[SavoirFaire]

Oh, it's Shep doing his shtick for the umpteenth time.

In all fairness lack of space in the title got me.

[guisadop]

I've seen others decry the show as just an excuse for porn and gore and never even give the show a watch (judging solely by what they've heard)

I was one of those. I got turned off (no pun intended) by the first episode and just dropped the show entirely. judging by the reception of the last season I guess it was the right decision lol

[Zelk]

mostly disappointed at the lack of cheerleaders

[eschatological]

Same.
Still pissed about Mr. Eko.
I do love the lore they created for that show.
There will be a reboot in the future no doubt.

GoT however is garbage.
The only people I knew that actually liked it were non fantasy lovers.
It's pretty bad writing and the few that were into were also not into reading, coincidentally.
Weird question though.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 <3

The writer's strike really hurt LOST, imo. They missed pretty important flashback episodes they planned, like the Ben Linus flashback about the girl he was friends with in his childhood, and the whole wooden doll thing. We just skip to Ben in a later flashback gassing the whole Dharma Initiative without any sign of the girl in question.

[cubby]

How did they react? How many of them ended getting around to checking out the show? How many of them still view the fantasy and/or sci fi genres as a "childish" thing? I heard back in the late 2000s and early 2010s most TV watchers were interested in only reality TV, police procedurals, and doctor soaps. Is that true or is it an exaggeration?

For those who went to college how did the most popular and athletic students react?

I am definitely not a huge fan of fantasy series in general, and I love the show. It was amazing from start to finish. I usually swing to sci-fy and thrillers along with any version of twisted endings that comes along.

Good question.

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LOST seems to be the only show where people really cared about the fantastical elements of the show - and then when the show ended up being about the characters themselves and not the island's mysteries, they were burned. Maybe that's what the past 10 years have been: wariness after "being burned" by LOST (I sitll loved LOST).

I am one of those as well. Love LOST through most of it, and especially the ending. Probably one of the best scripted endings of a "mystery" show ever.

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GoT however is garbage.
The only people I knew that actually liked it were non fantasy lovers.
It's pretty bad writing and the few that were into were also not into reading, coincidentally.
Weird question though.

Lol - the sheer egotistical nature of this post is beyond comment. 8 seasons of one of the most popular shows, ever. But sure, only a few non-readers thought the "garbage" writing was good.

Holy fuck people are truly clueless.

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i don't know any people who actually read or even knew the books before it became mainstream, so, i could not tell you

i never liked the books before the show came out, tried to read the first one, but i don't like the way of the narrative and how he write, so didn't care that became mainstream, but i was admired that a show made a book that seem to be low average(to me) become a "masterpiece" among people.

I was in an interesting position of not having read the books (I'm more sci-fy than fantasy) but my wife was caught up when the series first came out. I, too, couldn't get through even the first book, even knowing that it was so good. Not sure why (length isn't an issue - I'm a lifetime Stephen King fan and have also read the first five books of Wheel of Time - did that last one for my wife, when we were "sharing" books).

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The writer's strike really hurt LOST, imo. They missed pretty important flashback episodes they planned, like the Ben Linus flashback about the girl he was friends with in his childhood, and the whole wooden doll thing. We just skip to Ben in a later flashback gassing the whole Dharma Initiative without any sign of the girl in question.

Agreed - just awful timing for adding even more depth to that series. IIRC, they almost didn't finish at one point.

[Syegfryed]

I was in an interesting position of not having read the books (I'm more sci-fy than fantasy) but my wife was caught up when the series first came out. I, too, couldn't get through even the first book, even knowing that it was so good. Not sure why (length isn't an issue - I'm a lifetime Stephen King fan and have also read the first five books of Wheel of Time - did that last one for my wife, when we were "sharing" books)..

i think it either he don't write well, the story isn't that good or how the story is told.

I dislike stories that does not follow a character or a group of character, it makes me completely detached to it, he killing people to get shock value gets old quickly, i get building a character to kill him can make an impact, but it spoils the story if you do not focus on something imo.

Plus, the way he describe things, i know people make fun of tolkien about it, but he is way worse on that department.

[cubby]

i think it either he don't write well, the story isn't that good or how the story is told.

I dislike stories that does not follow a character or a group of character, it makes me completely detached to it, he killing people to get shock value gets old quickly, i get building a character to kill him can make an impact, but it spoils the story if you do not focus on something imo.

Plus, the way he describe things, i know people make fun of tolkien about it, but he is way worse on that department.

It's a tough road to walk as an author. Keeping popular and/or main characters alive through harrowing times is good, but then you run into "Goldilocks" characters who always live through stuff that kills others. GoT didn't really have that problem because there were a) so many characters and b) so many of them died, a few long standing ones had to make it for any sense of cohesion.

But GRRM's style definitely wasn't for everyone. When Eddard died, I know some people bailed.