Ok, so we can’t have a blog talking about things edgy, and not mention Game Of Thrones! There have been seven seasons so far of this monstrosity, though I have only seen the first six. Game Of Thrones seems to be a writing exercise in classical edginess. I call it classical edginess because I’m not sure there is in edge at all anymore in terms of sexual content, violence, and profanity. If there is an edge, Game Of Thrones has managed to go over it with hardly a peep! If we consider edgy in the sense of provocative, it appears to be more edgy these days to have traditional values.
We are giving Game Of Thrones the well-deserved, Off The Edge, rating. I think I have seen every sexual taboo explicitly played out in this one except bestiality, probably only owing to the requirement not to harm animals in media production. Let’s see if I can list edgy elements without missing any: Homosexual sex, two-on-one sex (including a brother and a sister and another man), father-daughter incest, brother-sister incest, rape of a virgin, torture (including a severed penis which is sent to the man’s father), murder of a pregnant woman, a child reciting lists of people she plans to kill and slitting one’s throat and leaving another to die in agony but he didn’t actually die, so I guess it’s okay, the bride’s family murdering the groom’s entire family at the end of the wedding reception, a woman paraded through the streets naked as punishment, lopping of heads in judgement, lopping of a betroth’s father’s head in an unjust sentence, torturing a betrothed by shooting arrows at her, men murdering their wives, sons murdering fathers, a man throwing a child out of a window, human sacrifice of a man’s daughter to appease a god, and all manner of betrayals and deceit.
What gives me pause about the whole concept of what is edgy is that the only peep I heard in the media of people claiming they would no longer watch this spectacle occurred when the virgin was raped, and since she actually was legally wed in an arranged marriage to the scoundrel, that one probably would not be considered rape in the world of Game Of Thrones, and possibly not in our own time. There’s always some doubt when a wife accuses her husband of rape. I had to stop watching for a while after the pregnant woman was chopped to pieces in a manner similar to the Manson murders. But, most people just that that was really cool!
After Game Of Thrones, there is not much further to go in terms of sex and violence. We are in a world where over the edge draws little attention from people concerned with morality. We just are not shocked by any level of evil in television and movies anymore. There are no more limits, and it has become edgy to suggest that there should be limits.
We give Game Of Thrones a Critical Catholic rating because it is not overtly anti-Catholic, though it does have an anti-religious bent. Religion in Game Of Thrones is a possible means to power, a way to manipulate people, or a mystical power to be wielded against enemies. Its only value is in its ability to aid in gaining or retaining power. The only value of anything in Game of Thrones is in its ability to aid in gaining power. There are “Old gods” and “New gods” but there is no Christ and no Christians. And, if there is a lesson in Game Of Thrones, perhaps it is that without a Christ, and without Christians, the only thing to do is acquire the power to secure yourself in doing whatever evil you desire. That’s the prize for winning the Game Of Thrones. You get to indulge your passions since no one has the power to stop you.
I would like to coin a new phrase to describe our culture. We are a post-Game-Of-Thrones culture. That means, there is no edge anymore when it comes to sex and violence.
For fans of the show, I began rooting for the White Walkers somewhere around season 5. I would really like to see these zombie-like creatures win the Game Of Thrones. I think fans of the show may find that an edgy position, but I’m sticking with it…