My lack of interest.

My social media feeds have been full of two nerdy things this week: Game of Thrones and Doctor Who.  I have little to contribute to the conversation regarding either of those things because I don’t watch either show, nor do I care to.

Many people I know are surprised to learn I have zero interest in Game of Thrones and Doctor Who.  They’re fantasy and science fiction shows, and those are both genres that I adore!  But just because I like sci-fi and fantasy, that doesn’t mean I’m obligated to watch and/or like everything that’s produced in the genres.  For me, both Game of Thrones and Doctor Who simply aren’t my cup of tea.

Let’s start with Doctor Who, I show I used to watch in reruns on my local PBS station.  I discovered Doctor Who in my early teenage years.  The Tom Baker years were being shown, and I was hooked.  I loved the fourth Doctor and all his adventures.  But we didn’t have the internet back then, so I had no idea that the Doctor regenerated into another actor every few years!  For me, there was never another actor who could play Doctor Who besides Tom Baker, and I stopped watching the show.  I gave the revival a try many years later, but it didn’t hook me.  Not that I think it’s a poorly made show or the actors playing the Doctor have been bad.  It’s just not for me.  As for the Doctor regenerating into a woman?  Doesn’t concern me much at all, but I do think it’s a neat idea.

Game of Thrones has been all the rage for years, and almost everyone I know watches it.  A dear friend of mine recommended the books to me back in 2003.  I declined to read them because, with the exception of Harry Potter, I don’t like to start a book series that isn’t finished yet.  My friend said to me, “Dude, he’s almost done with the series.  By the time you finish these, the last books will be out.”  That was fourteen years ago and I don’t regret my decision.  That, and from everything I’ve been told about the world of GoT (alongside a few choice clips I’ve stumbled across) I think that story is too bleak and dark for me, with an emphasis on bleak.  Again, I’m not saying I think the show is poorly made or the actors untalented, but it’s definitely not for me.  I am, however, willing to make a journey through a bleak and dark story if the ending is uplifting and triumphant.  That, in my opinion, is an earned happy ending.  But since GoT remains unfinished after fourteen years and counting, I don’t feel like taking the risk of following a bleak and dark story only to come to an equally dark and bleak ending.  Or worse, an unsatisfying ending.  Maybe I’ll get into it when a definite ending has been made.  Until then, I prefer my fantasy a little brighter.