I found myself bristling this week at the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the Game of Thrones finale.
Don’t get me wrong, it had its faults. But I wondered whether many of us would have been disappointed regardless of the content. We instinctively find endings disappointing. To what extent is this because we form impossible expectations? To what extent is it because we find it emotionally difficult to cope with endings? To what extent is it because it’s always emotionally safer to criticize than to praise and adore?
Shows like Game of Thrones are incredible in so many respects, especially compared to what we could expect 50, 30, even 10 years ago. What an immensely deep, vibrant, human, alien, problematic world we’ve been invited to. Let’s not let things like it pass without leaving at least a little room for gratitude for what it did offer and sadness that it’s now gone.
