Author George R.R. Martin, known for creating Game Of Thrones, has explained why he thinks the deaths in his work are particularly effective.
READ MORE: ‘House Of The Dragon’ review: ‘Game Of Thrones’ saga continues in style
Game Of Thrones (2011-2019) which is based on his epic fantasy book series, A Song Of Ice And Fire, received significant critical acclaim receiving the most Emmy awards of any drama series and five Golden Globe nominations for Best Television Series – Drama.
However, the series became notorious for its violence and battle scenes, as well as its habit of killing off of main characters, notably with the death of Sean Bean’s Ned Stark in season one, and the infamous ‘Red Wedding’ in the ninth episode of season three.
Speaking with Portuguese magazine Bang! during a livestream, Martin spoke on this bloodthirsty narrative surrounding the show, and explained his view.
“I don’t think I kill more people. But what I do think I do is I try to make you feel the deaths more because I think you should feel death.”
George R. R. Martin at the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. CREDIT: Getty/Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images
He continued: “I mean, art follows life, and in real life when someone close to us dies, we experience grief, we experience anger, we experience depression.
“It has a huge impact on our life when our parents die or a close friend dies. Or God help us a parent when their child dies.”
Martin explained how we can be affected by the deaths of people we don’t know, and that deaths in books and movies can also create this effect.
He said: “Just a few days ago, Dick Butkus, a great football player died. I followed Butkus when he was playing, he didn’t play for my team, but I knew who he was, he was a legendary figure. His death had some emotional impact on me.
“So…when I kill a character, I want my readers to feel that death. I don’t want to be the death of Alderaan. And that’s why I think people remember the deaths in my books more because I give them more emotional impact, I think.”
Martin expanded on his reference to Alderaan, the planet which gets destroyed in Star Wars: A New Hope, saying, “In the beginning of the first movie, the entire planet of Alderaan is blown up. Alderaan is a highly civilized planet. It has billions of people. So they have killed billions of people right there. But it has no impact on you except, ok, they blew up a planet. They’re bad guys. No emotional impact because you don’t know any of the people.”
In other recent news, Game Of Thrones prequel, A Knight Of Seven Kingdoms will begin filming next year.
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