This is wrong on so many levels. There are stories where dark themes are overused and over exaggerated, and ASOIAF does do this sometimes, but the main point of these dark themes are because of stakes. Death, torture, brutal murder, etc, are used as a means to punish characters for making mistakes. Consequences like this are actually an extremely good and fundamental aspect of writing.
It also adds a balance between the story. The same way a story with too much darkness is bound to be a failure writing-wise, is the same way a story with too much “light” is bound to be a failure. ASOIAF balances its beautiful and heartwarming/heartfelt scenes with dark and disgusting scenes, which creates a sense of well-roundedness and subverts the expectations of the audience. This subversion is extremely good for making a story unpredictable , which IMO is the BIGGEST problem with more lighthearted stories, even with something like LOTR. Lighter stories are so vastly predictable that they become boring to consume and lead to repetitive nonsensical story arcs and plots that ultimately lack variety.
you haven’t really read ASOIAF, have you? what stands out is not the rape or the murders, it’s mostly the riveting dialogue between two or three people in a room, the inner conflict of the characters and the decisions they make; big or small. it’s the little things that make ASOIAF stand out, not the shocking things, although the latter makes his world just a tad more real.
This is wrong on so many levels. There are stories where dark themes are overused and over exaggerated, and ASOIAF does do this sometimes, but the main point of these dark themes are because of stakes. Death, torture, brutal murder, etc, are used as a means to punish characters for making mistakes. Consequences like this are actually an extremely good and fundamental aspect of writing.
It also adds a balance between the story. The same way a story with too much darkness is bound to be a failure writing-wise, is the same way a story with too much “light” is bound to be a failure. ASOIAF balances its beautiful and heartwarming/heartfelt scenes with dark and disgusting scenes, which creates a sense of well-roundedness and subverts the expectations of the audience. This subversion is extremely good for making a story unpredictable , which IMO is the BIGGEST problem with more lighthearted stories, even with something like LOTR. Lighter stories are so vastly predictable that they become boring to consume and lead to repetitive nonsensical story arcs and plots that ultimately lack variety.
Yeah Grimdark tales lowkey suck ass. I liked game of thrones but I find a lot of William Gibson or whatever to be wack
you haven’t really read ASOIAF, have you? what stands out is not the rape or the murders, it’s mostly the riveting dialogue between two or three people in a room, the inner conflict of the characters and the decisions they make; big or small. it’s the little things that make ASOIAF stand out, not the shocking things, although the latter makes his world just a tad more real.