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Old May 24th, 2014 #1
Karl Radl
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: The Unseen University of New York
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Default Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin and the Jews

Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin and the Jews


I have been a fan of the George R. R. Martin's novels since before he became a by-word in popular culture with the release of HBO's television adaptation of his 'Song of Ice and Fire': 'Game of Thrones'. Recently I've seen several questions asked again about whether Martin is jewish and the honest answer is that there is no evidence of any jewish heritage in the man at all. Monstrously fat he maybe, but jewish he is not.

We do however know that Martin frequently encountered jews in his time at university in Chicago although this apparently; and perhaps surprisingly, did not leave him with any negative impressions. (1)

Martin has also said that the of works that he drew inspiration from in writing the 'Song of Ice and Fire' uppermost in his mind is the work of French writer Maurice Druon. (2) Druon's popular historical-fiction series 'Les Rois Maudits'; known as 'The Accursed Kings' in English, is set in the struggle for the control of the French throne between the Capets and Plantagenets (otherwise known to history as the 'Hundred Years War'), served as almost the blueprint for the 'Song of Ice and Fire' and while the writing style of both authors differs it is clear (having read Druon in the original French and in the English translation) that Martin draws much from him in terms of the form of his novels as well as the disparity of the themes that underlie them.

Druon however was not a Frenchman, but rather a Polish jew resident in France (who managed to survive the anti-jewish laws and the 'holocaust' till 1943 [his first play was staged in 1942 in 'Nazi-occupied' France] when he got to London). (3)

Martin's debt to the jews is however more extensive than this given that his fame lies primarily not on his fantasy novels (which were something of a cult favourite among aficionados of fantasy novels like me, which is but a niche market), but on the 'Game of Thrones' television adaptation of his books (which has taken them to a global audience). This adaptation was and is produced by two jews named Daniel Weiss and David Benioff (nee David Friedman) (4) who by their own admission were simply lucky in 'striking gold' in their screenplay adaptation. (5)

Despite its decidedly kosher origins 'Game of Thrones'; with its trademark explicit, violent and gory battle and sex scenes, is causing consternation among the religious jewish community as Yeshiva students and rabbis are having to grapple with it as too 'morally subversive' for even their post-Freudian tastes (which is really something if you've read anything post-Freudian). The more conservative religious jews are boycotting and condemning it as 'moral sedition' (6) while the liberal religious jews are actually fantasizing about it and using it as an aid to Talmudic study. (7)

That says something about the religious jews: doesn't it?

They either ignore something completely and pretend it is 'moral sedition' to even watch it (After all you can see women going about with their hair uncovered. Oy Vey!) as it doesn't 'conform' to the supposedly high jewish 'moral standards' or they think that 'Game of Thrones' is just like the Talmuds: full of gaps in which any half-educated individual can use to justify any intellectual position they like if they have but read and made notes on the text.

Thus we can see that both Martin's 'Song of Ice and Fire' and the television adaptation 'Game of Thrones' are decidedly kosher: so much so they are being used for study aids by some rabbinical students!


References


(1) http://www.georgerrmartin.com/about-...hes/the-usual/
(2) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2945193.html
(3) http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-jew...e-of-thrones/; http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Cultur...ovelist-347613
(4) http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/05/21...ones%E2%80%99/
(5) http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-jew...me-of-thrones/
(6) http://forward.com/articles/178866/s...thrones/?p=all
(7) http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...lem-youth.html

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This was originally published at the following address: http://semiticcontroversies.blogspot...artin-and.html
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