George R.R. Martin reveals the climate change lesson from Game of Thrones
The author of the “Game of Throne” books that became a hit HBO series told the New York Times this week that, yes, his work has “a great parallel” to modern day climate change.
Pundits and fans alike have long argued that Martin’s fantasy epic is a climate change metaphor or parable since a major theme is that the climate is about to change for the worse in a way that endangers everyone.
Even Reuters weighed in a few years ago with an article asking “Is ‘Game of Thrones’ aiding the global debate on climate change?”
But Martin has rarely talked about the metaphor. In a 2013 Al Jazeera America interview, Martin did explain that a recurring theme in world history is “people being so consumed by their petty struggles for power … they’re blind to the much greater and more dangerous threats.”
He added briefly that “climate change … is something that can wipe out the human race. So, I wanted to do an analogue with the work, not specifically to the modern-day thing but as a general thing”.
But in a new Q&A with New York Times reporters published on Oct. 16, Martin offers his longest answer to date on the subject of whether he agrees with those who say “Game of Thrones” is “a perfect metaphor for understanding climate change.”
Martin notes that “It’s kind of ironic because I started writing ‘Game of Thrones’ all the way back in 1991, long before anybody was talking about climate change.”
He then adds that the “parallel” is that his characters “are fighting their individual battles over power and status and wealth. And those are so distracting [for] them that they’re ignoring the threat of ‘winter is coming,’ which has the potential to destroy all of them and to destroy their world.”
https://thinkprogress.org/george-r-r-martin-confirms-that-yes-game-of-thrones-is-a-climate-change-parable-8ca53041c8d3/
= new reply since forum marked as read
