Dear "Remake Season Eight" petition signers and supporters,
It's hard to say this lightly, so I'll just come out and say it... this is ridiculous.
As a fan myself, I understand where some of the frustration with season eight is coming from. Going from the action-packed seasons before to a season based on character development and emotional conflict was jarring and felt a bit "slow."
But here's the thing, the filming of season 8 alone took from October 2017 to June 2018. That means that before filming even began, the writing of season 8 was taking place. So how can you, petition signers, claim that the writing was rushed and sloppy?
The first thing I want to say to you is that we as fans do not own the characters in "Game of Thrones." It is not for us to decide what these characters would and wouldn't do. Any article you read will tell you that George R.R. Martin, the only person in the world who understands these characters completely, played a large role in the creation of season 8. So who are we, as fans, and subscribers to the world HE created, to tell him that his character choices and development are wrong and inconsistent?
Secondly, the act of demanding a remake is disrespectful to the cast, crew, designers, directors, writers, and author of the series. Lilli Reinhart, better known as Betty from "Riverdale," recently spoke out about the issue stating, "This is not how television works... TV shows are not fan service. It's ridiculous of people to think they can demand creative change from artists." Of course, this criticism of GoT fans resulted in a backlash as people pointed out that "Riverdale" is the epitome of "fan service" television.
Reinhart then responded by saying, "It's inappropriate as an audience member to demand change from an entire crew of writers, creators, performers, etc. just because it did not satisfy you. Fans, of course, are an incredibly large reason why shows are successful, but it does not excuse certain destructive and disrespectful behavior towards people who have dedicated their entire lives to creating a show or film."
Soon after this statement, star of "Game of Thrones," Isaac Hempstead Wright made a similar statement claiming, "It's just absurd. I can't even fathom it. It's just ridiculous. It's ridiculous that people think they can just demand a different ending because they don't like it. I have stupidly taken it quite personally, which obviously I shouldn't."
Thirdly, it's okay to be upset about the ending of something. It's okay to not be satisfied or want something different. But it is not okay to berate and insult the writers of the show. The petition concerning the remake of "Game of Thrones" states in the bio accompanying the petition, "David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material (i.e. the books) to fall back on."
Not only is this a childish insult, but it is also uninformed considering George R.R. Martin worked closely with the writers on earlier as well as provided them with an outline of what he believes will happen in the coming books.
In an updated post, the author of the petition attempted to redeem himself by giving credit to the writers and actors, but still ended with, "Do I have a solution? I've got plenty of ideas, but no, I'm not a Hollywood writer. But you don't need to be a mechanic to know your car is broken."
Lastly, did you ever think that maybe the final season was too mature for you?
That maybe your anger with the show and its ending is coming from a place of insecurity?
You were wrong. You don't understand. It doesn't make sense to you. I'm not trying to be rude. I can't say that I completely understood everything that happened this season, but compared to the seasons before it, season eight was mature.
What do I mean by this? First of all, in previous seasons, we are used to seeing bits and pieces of various conflicts occurring in various parts of Westeros. Right when we begin to feel "bored" or lose interest in a particular plotline, we are shoved into another. Because season 8 focused on banding together to defeat the White Walkers and Cersei, there were less alternate plot lines. Therefore, we were forced to stay with the same people in the same location for an extended period of time — "something Game of Thrones" fans were not used to.
Following this, much of the action in season eight was emotional, not physical. Though of course, we had the large battle against the White Walkers and the destruction of King's Landing, there was much more conversation, emotional development, and strengthening/changing of character relationships. The prime example of this is the final conversation about who should be king. Instead of using physical violence to decide, they used conversation and put it to a vote. Bran was elected... the boy who is physically impaired but mentally elevated. Doesn't this suggest something to you? That maybe the whole idea of season 8 was to move away from the barbaric "fight till the death" and start solving issues through reason?
I've gone on long enough and if I go any longer I'll just become angry, but my point is, signers and supporters of the petition, it is not your place to demand a remake. It is a disrespectful and rather uneducated request. Instead of assuming that the outcome, which may not have been what you wanted, was a mistake and the result of poor writing, how about you try and understand why the show ended the way it did. What did the writers want you to take away from the series? What does George R.R. Martin want you to understand about the world he created?
Just something to think about...be kind to the creative minds of others.
From,
An Aspiring TV/Film Writer and Forever Fan of "Game of Thrones"
