15 Years Ago: Game of Thrones Premiered
Today in 2011, HBO dropped the first episode of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy masterpiece
This newsletter has at its disposal an infinite array of ways to frame the anniversary of Game of Thrones, which premiered on HBO 15 years ago today. We could discuss the demise of monoculture. We could rail against the finale. We could deliberate the rise and fall of recap culture. We could discuss those topics and so many more.
Instead, we will simply hand over the commentary reins to Jason Pargin, one of my favorite lesser-known internet creators.
Here, Pargin compares the despair of George R.R. Martin to Frank Herbert, and along the way, makes an excellent observation about how the magic of the series being unique characters interacting with each other:
Here, Pargin considers the controversial idea of whether someone will eventually use AI to give Game of Thrones a better ending:
And here, Pargin discusses why some actors from the series become famous while others did not:
I have my own controversial take about Game of Thrones: The ending was actually perfect! As you might predict, people yell at me whenever I present this theory. Friendships have been lost.
This newsletter is too young to lose subscribers, so instead of getting into that, I’m happy to put Pargin in the hot take ring. It’s healthy to offload your takes to someone else.
In my experience, creator culture can be alienating, until you find someone who thinks about the world like you.
MORE ANNIVERSARIES
25 Years Ago Today: Jennifer Lopez released the single “Play.”
50 Years Ago Today: Following months of Chevy Chase mocking him as an inept klutz, Gerald Ford appeared on Saturday Night Live after Al Franken talked his press secretary, Ron Nessen, into being a guest. Nessen would call it among his greatest regrets.
65 Years Ago Today: The Bay of Pigs invasion began.
100 Years Ago Today: The earliest known version of the spiritual song “Kumbaya” was recorded, sung in the vernacular of Gullah.
Tune in Tomorrow: How photography of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake makes the past seem more distant than it is.