Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings and the Metaphysical

Fantasy is often cast aside as a frivolous genre, and it has been for a long time. Fairies, elves and orcs cannot be found in real life, so their purpose is not rooted in reality, their purpose becomes cloudy. Professor Brown brought up how many people find it a waste of time. My own opinion in the past generally dismissed fantasy as a frivolous genre, and I for a long time would have agreed. As a Creative Writing major, for a while, when other students would write fantasy stories, I would dismiss their work as somehow lesser than the realistic fiction I would write. I felt like those stories were not able to convey the human condition in the same way. As it were, most of the celebrated writers only wrote realistic fiction or nonfiction. I’m thinking about Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Austen. Tolkien was not in my realm of great writers.

In class on Monday, I brought up something, which turned out to be an important point. Game of Thrones made dragons cool again, I typed into the chat without really thinking. But now, I believe that statement and want to extend it further into a discussion on how and why fantasy was finally accepted by all sorts of TV viewers, making Game of Thrones became one of the most watched and awarded shows of all time.

My parents at first refused to watch Game of Thrones because of all of its “fantasy nonsense.” I think specifically it was the dragons that put them off, as the rest of the show could be seen as more of a period piece. Dragons were the creatures of nerds, of DnD players. However, when they finally agreed to watch it, they loved it, dragons and White Walkers being an essential part of the plot and all.

I think about asking my parents to read Lord of the Rings. They probably wouldn’t but if they did, they would also be hooked as the reason why Lord of the Rings was so successful was Tolkien’s ability to tell a story and build a world. His craftsmanship extended far beyond what Martin’s did, creating an entire Legendarium as well. Frodo’s journey through middle earth is a story anyone can relate to, despite not being a Hobbit. The wrestling with good and evil, the love story between Aragorn and Arwen are all elements that feel human. Genre does not matter if the story is good. A good writer, even those realistic fiction writers I mentioned, all have to do what Tolkien did, which is create a believable world. I know this because I have been trying to create a small world of my own for my thesis, and have found it extremely difficult. Tolkien’s work translated by Peter Jackson, won them both an Academy Award. Style matters because they are doing something hard.

However, what makes Lord of the Rings so special is its attention to the theological. It’s sub creations beg for the answers to philosophical questions and metaphysical questions realistic fiction just cannot. The creation of beings foreign to our existence goes against what God made. Game of Thrones subverts what Tolkien created into violent turmoil, seeing human. Essence as mostly evil. Fantasy deals with the grappling between good and evil. Frodo’s journey is a hero’s journey, that ultimately ends in failure as he cannot resist the one ring’s corruption. Where in realistic fiction can one be forced to deal with evil itself, without the use of metaphor and allegory. Tolkien does not need to use these as a crutch, he simply can create his world. Fantasy, good fantasy, I now see is beautiful due to its own creations.

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