Pop culture juggernaut Game of Thrones is returning to the US on 7 April, and the hit HBO series will be simulcast in the UK, showing just how big its fandom has grown—and highlighting the tensions that can arise when programmes have international viewers who don’t like being spoiled by those in earlier time zones (a perennial problem domestically as well for those living on the West Coast and in Hawaii). Season four, actors (and the books) promise, will be one where spoilers would definitely ruin the experience, because there will be ample moments where the element of surprise will make the scene. So one can see why fans are worried about what might leak out before they get a chance to watch, though of course anyone who’s read the books already knows what to expect. (Is it still a spoiler when it’s been out in another format for years?)
What’s fascinating to me about the Game of Thrones phenomenon is how deeply committed people are to the series, as illustrated by a number of anecdotes I’ve seen in recent media ramping up to the release date. The ways in which fannishness expresses itself are perennially intriguing, and I love seeing the way people relate to the media they adore. Particularly, as in this case, when it involves an adaptation of an earlier text and a criss-crossing of media formats.
First, we have the math teacher who threatened students with spoilers to get them to quiet down—counting on the fear of spoilers to silence a rowdy class. It worked, with the rest of the class period being filled by a blissful silence. Given the bloody, violent nature of the series, the instructor will be able to rely on this particular trick throughout the coming semester; unless, of course, students wise up and decide to start reading ahead. This is a threat that only works, of course, when media is adapted from other media, but it’s also a testimony to the ubiquity of the series—enough of the class was upset by the thought of seeing a list of deaths (and methods) on the board that the teacher’s approach to classroom antics was effective. It was brilliantly well-targeted, with sharp consideration for the audience.
Then, there’s the Game of Thrones cosplayer who decided to use his wheelchair to his advantage, turning it into the Iron Throne. Wheelchair users are very active members of the cosplay community, and often use their chairs in extremely creative, fascinating ways, but this particular twist seems like a match made in heaven, because the Iron Throne plays such an outsized role in the series, and a wheelchair is so easily adaptable into this iconic piece of set dressing (one that, some might argue, is a character in its own right). Mica Bethea cosplayed as Tyrion Lannister, one among many wheelchair cosplays the ardent science fiction and fantasy fan has done (you can see more at his Instagram), putting the prominent character in a position of ultimate power and delighting fellow fans.
But then, there are the voiceover actors in Spain who have been on strike for three weeks, demanding better pay and working conditions. With many foreign series being dubbed before broadcast, their work is crucial for Spanish broadcasters and members of the public who (legally, at least) want to keep up with foreign television programming. The strike imperils the release of Game of Thrones and studios are already experiencing a backlog of programming from other networks that they can’t run because it hasn’t been dubbed yet.
When strikebreakers from Galicia were brought in, the Madrid-based strikers reached out to comrades in Barcelona to obtain their solidarity, and to reinforce the strike. It comes in the midst of a time when some are asking if dubbing is necessary at all, as some Spanish viewers want to take advantage of US television shows to learn English. If that social push intensified, it could spell doom for the workers, who have been fighting for the last two years for better terms on their contracts.
Their strike highlights the fact that while Game of Thrones and other entertainment can arouse passionate, ardent fans, they are also real-world labour, involving actual workers, and, in some cases, actual exploitation. When the Hollywood writers’ strike disrupted television production in 2007-2008, though, people didn’t side with the workers: they were only angry that their television series weren’t airing on schedule or had temporarily suspended filming to accommodate the length of scripts. Will the same hold true in Spain, or will the nation’s economic circumstances contribute to a greater depth of understanding and more solidarity with these workers, who just want their due from massive franchises like Game of Thrones?
Fans may have another concern, as well: the last season faltered in places, and Game of Thrones needs to pick it up in season four to continue driving the storyline and keep people glued to their screens. Television viewers can be impatient and fickle, and in the context of a world with a growing list of excellent programming on both network and cable television, shows need to do more to stand out and hold on to their viewers. Game of Thrones is competing with diverse, colourful, complex programming and if it can’t adapt or keep pace, it will die.