Note: there
will be no spoilers in here for “Game of Thrones” but there will be for
some of Shakespeare’s work, specifically Romeo
& Juliet.
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| Romeo & Juliet: not yet dead in this picture |
Something
happened on last night’s episode of “Game of Thrones”. A momentous twist in the
make-up of the show. I haven’t seen the episode yet, but I have already been
spoiled. Though Twitter blew up with spoilers yesterday, it was mainstream
media outlets that let the cat out of the bag for me. Not so much because of
what they said, but what their headlines implied. I get subtext, guys. I can
read between the lines.
This led
not to a discussion about the storytelling in the show, which can be a minefield
at the best of times, but to the subject of spoilers: who should reveal them
and when. And are spoilers from a fourteen-year-old novel really spoilers? Once
they’ve aired on television, in one market, are they fair game?
Because
Twitter is instantaneous, it’s only the East Coast of the US than can watch the
episode without fear of spoilers. A few hours later on the West Coast can be
too late, if you’re not careful. In Australia, there’s a couple more hours to
wait if you can watch it live on a Monday afternoon. Or a few more hours if you
have to wait until after work.
By that
time yesterday, mainstream press was alluding to the plot twists. Mashable
spoiled it in a headline. Stephen King had tweeted the spoiler. I hadn’t
watched the first episode of the season, let alone the second – plus I was
distracted by the “Mad Men” premiere. No spoilers for that here, either.
Sometimes
plot twists seep into the culture. Some of the great works of literature and
film cannot really be appreciated in the same way as they once were because we
know the major reveals of the plot. That said, if a story is really good, it’s
the detail of the story that should make it worth watching. Knowing what
happened in last night’s episode of “Game of Thrones” shouldn’t ruin the
experience of watching it – if it’s done well.
Someone I
follow on Twitter said that reacting to a spoiler in a fourteen-year-old book
is like saying that you’re surprised that Romeo & Juliet die. There’s a lot
of things wrong with this, I think.
“Game of Thrones” is a different kind of
story. Romeo & Juliet is a
literal tragedy. We are waiting for that ending to come. Let’s not forget that
Shakespeare spoils the ending of Romeo
& Juliet in the prologue:
From forth the fatal loins of
these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers
take their life
He wants
you to know it’s coming. He wants you to watch his characters meet their
inevitable fate. “Game of Thrones” is on one-hand about political machinations.
It’s about characters wanting to ascend to the Iron Throne. And there are
dozens of characters vying for that position. We know the end game, but we don’t
know who will be left to play it.
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| Cersei, not yet dead - as far as I know! |
Cersei says
in the first season of the series, “When you play the game of thrones, you win
or you die.” George RR Martin is sticking to that promise – several characters
playing the game have died. Often in
shocking ways at surprising times. But because the narrative isn’t over – on screen
or on the page – we can’t yet know which losses will impact the end of the
story. The journey is barely half done.
“Game of
Thrones” is not a tragedy, it’s more of a melodrama. It seems epic in the
Shakespearean sense of the word – lots of characters, political and court
intrigue – but it’s hard to judge a story on the revelations of one chapter.
Yes, I’ve had last night’s episode spoiled for me, but will that ruin the
experience of watching the series? Probably not.
Should people
who haven’t read the books expect to remain unspoiled? I think so. Not everyone
can read everything ever. And there are more people watching the series now
than have ever read the books. And, in fact, it’s not the book
readers who have been doing the spoiling over the last couple of days – it’s
been TV viewers hell-bent on revealing that they’ve seen it first, everyone
else be damned.
I try my
best to avoid social media on days when I know it will be difficult to miss
spoilers, but I’d appreciate it if mainstream media kept a lid on some of the
reveals – at the very least until the episode has aired in each market. And don’t
be too clever with your vague headlines, allusions can spoil as much as
outright declarations.
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