George R.R. Martin doesn’t think you should care about spoilers
This past Monday, the actors and producers behind Game of Thrones walked the red black carpet at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House before sitting down to watch the show’s fifth season’s premiere. During the course of the event, many of them offered insights into the upcoming season, as well as their thoughts on the development of the show. One of the more diverting interviews was given by George R.R. Martin himself, who had some interesting thoughts regarding the importance of spoilers.
At this point, it’s well-known that Game of Thrones is going to burn through all the material currently available in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. This means, among other things, that the show is going to spoil things that happen in the books, since episodes will come out at a faster rate than Martin’s novels. Casey Newton of The Verge asked Martin whether he had an opinion on this turn of events, and the author responded by saying, basically, “Who cares?”
“This whole concept of spoilers is one that I’ve never gotten,” Martin said. “Yes, there’s a pleasure when you’re reading a book, or watching a television show — What will happen next? Who will win? Who will lose? But that is by no means the only reason to watch a movie or a television show. It’s not the only reason to read a book.”
“I read a lot of historical fiction, you know?” Martin continued. “I know who won the Civil War — it’s not a spoiler to me. But I can still enjoy Gettysburg, even though I know how the battle came out. I can still enjoy historical fiction about the Wars of the Roses, even though I know who won the Wars of the Roses. And for that matter, I still enjoy watching Citizen Kane every few years even though I know ‘Rosebud’ is the sled. So there — I just gave a terrible spoiler to all the people who haven’t seen Citizen Kane. Rosebud is the sled, but nonetheless, you should still watch Citizen Kane, because it’s incredible!”
With the show and the books set to diverge to a greater extent than ever before, questions about adaptation are moving to the forefront of discussion among fans. What do you think? Do you care that the show might soon spoil you for the books?
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