Posted in: HBO, Opinion, Preview, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: game of thrones, george rr martin, grrm, HBO, house of the dragon, opinion

GRRM Talks School Shootings, HOTD Because That's How Things Are Now

A long time ago, in a United States far, far away… folks like GOT universe mastermind & author George R.R. Martin (House of the Dragon) could discuss, preview & tease their upcoming projects without having to publically mourn the victims (in many cases, the young victims) of yet another school shooting. Yet, that's the state of affairs in the U.S. in 2022. And that's what Martin had to do in his most recent entry to his Not A Blog site (which you can check out here). Because when you have folks ignoring the fact that this country has more guns freely flowing around than anywhere else in the world while looking to blame television, film & video games for all of the violence (despite the fact that the rest of the world consumes the same media that we do, and more extreme in some instances), you reach a point where you have to start pushing back against what's becoming a horrifying norm. We'll start with the part of Martin's post that we wish was the only thing we were reporting on, HOTD…

"House of the Dragon": Martin has watched rough cuts of nine of the season's ten episodes for HBO, Miguel Sapochnik & Ryan Condal's "Game of Thrones" prequel series HOTD. While it was too soon for him to weigh in on the HOTD effects work, Martin considers the look "great," and "the acting, the directing, and writing are first rate," too. And then Martin addressed those concerned that there will be too many changes made from page to screen (some still having GOT PTSD), writing:

And yes, for all you book fans, it IS my story. Sure, there are some changes from FIRE & BLOOD — we could not present three alternative versions of every major event, not and keep our sanity — but I think Ryan Condal and his writers made good choices. Even some improvements. (Heresy, I know, but being the author, I am allowed to say so). For years, as some of you may recall, I have been saying the TV version of Shae, as portrayed by Sibel Kekilli, was a deeper, richer, and more nuanced characters than the Shae in my novels. In a similar vein, I am vastly impressed by the show's version of King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, who gives the character a tragic majesty that my book Viserys never quite achieved. Kudos to Paddy, Ryan and his writers, and Miguel and the other directors.

But while we addressed the topic of HOTD first, Martin began his blog by addressing the growing epidemic of both school shootings and mass public shootings, rightfully questioning where all of this is leading us as a nation. And for what it's worth? We hope that more majors names follow Martin's lead and speak out more:

And things are pretty ugly over here as well. The latest school shooting, for instance, and the usual response of the GOP, a refusal to do anything to fix it. Is baseball still the great American pastime, or is that school shooting now? No other country seems to have much of an issue with it, only us. And what answer do the Republicans propose? Arm the teachers? Lock the doors? Toughen the security?

We are becoming more and more a police state. I am, I am aware, very old and getting older. Young people may not believe this, but… I remember a time when security was not omnipresent. When I could get on an airplane without being x-rayed and searched and probed and made to give up my pocket knife. When I could visit any publisher in New York by walking into their building, looking at the directory to see what floor they were on, taking the elevator up, and announcing my name to the receptionist. When kids could go to schools that were not fortresses… we did learn to duck and cover under our desks in case the Russians dropped an A-bomb on us, but we did not need to fear being shot by our classmates.

It makes me want to scream. What the hell happened to this country? To this world?

HBO's "Game of Thrones" prequel House of the Dragon also stars Emma D'Arcy (Truth Seekers), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One, Sound of Metal), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill), Steve Toussaint (It's A Sin), Eve Best (Hedda Gabler), Sonoya Mizuno (Devs), Paddy Considine (The Outsider, The Third Day),  Fabien Frankel (The Serpent), Graham McTavish (Outlander), Milly Alcock (Reckoning), Emily Carey (Get Even), Ryan Corr (Mary Magdalene), Jefferson Hall (Halloween, Vikings), David Horovitch (Miss Marple), Matthew Needham (Chernobyl), Bill Patterson (Fleabag, Good Omens), Gavin Spokes (Brexit, Hamilton), Wil Johnson (Outlander), John Macmillan (Back), Savannah Steyn (Intergalactic), and Theo Nate (Time).

Written by a HOTD writing team headed by Condal and including Sara Lee Hess and based on George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood novels and set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, the 10-episode series has got director Sapochnik ("The Battle of the Bastards," "The Winds of Winter") directing the pilot and additional episodes, and partnering with Condal as co-showrunners. Martin, Condal, and Sapochnik executive produce alongside Hess and Vince Gerardis. In addition, Clare Kilner, Geeta V. Patel, and Greg Yaitanes round at the directing team, with Yaitanes also co-executive producing.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!