During spring break I had plenty of time to catch up on my favorite television shows. I found myself analyzing the perspective of the narrator in the Game of Thrones show. The way the producer presents characters controls the way the audience feels about those characters. For example, the way Arya Stark is presented forces the audience to empathize with her. Also, Jamie Lannister is initially presented as a pompous nobleman causing the audience to hate him, but after his hand is cut off he grows modest and humble. The change in Jamie Lannister’s morale pushes the audience to grow fond of him after being urged to despise him. The drastic change of heart in Jamie Lannister that influences the audience’s perception of his character demonstrates how the producer manipulates the audience.
The first time I saw the first four seasons of Game of Thrones I had not taken this class, and did not notice the manipulation occurring. I fell into the emotion-wrenching manipulation the producers and writers staged. After having taken this class for half of a semester, I found myself critiquing the fact that way the characters are presented is done in an effort to make us feel a particular way about them. This class has already influenced me to contextualize the way characters and plots unfold.
Post Scriptum - This show is still one of the greatest of all time. The twists and turns are always unexpected and the extreme detail makes it seem realistic. I would compare the detail of this show to that of the movies Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The show can also be captivating through its presentation of the civilization of Westeros, which seems like it could be a representation of feudal Europe.
I think that GoT's author is a genius in his manipulation, and that the television show's directors do an amazing job sticking to his story lines. In my opinion, it is the job of an author to make certain characters more likable than others; what would Harry Potter be if Voldemort was a more sympathetic character than Harry himself? Martin's gift is his ability to make even the most hated characters seem human when he deems it fit, which is what makes his series so enthralling.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to what Conor said, I also found many manipulations in many of the shows i watched. For one, in Orange is the new Black, the way they depict the show causes viewers to think one thing is going to happen, but in the end it doesn't happen. Also, as i described in my post, in the original Netflix series House of Cards, the directors manipulate viewers into believing that a character will do one crazy thing, but ends up doing some other crazy action.
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