How Game of Thrones Speaks to the Recent Violence in Charlottesville
This season of Game of Thrones has been especially political, and episode 7 relates to the social and political climate of the U.S. like never before.
14 August, 2017
Varys makes a point U.S. leaders could benefit from hearing as he shares a wine with Tyrion in 'Eastwatch'. [Image: HBO]
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">It’s impossible to disentangle the relevance of <em>Game of Thrones</em> with our current political and social environment. This is what great art has always done: address the issues of the day through narrative, but not with so much fantasy it’s no longer pertinent. <a href="https://www.americanbluesscene.com/2014/07/language-blues-griot/" target="_blank">Griots</a> and <em>corrido</em> singers transmit news through song; that today small screens transmit such messages does not mean it’s not part of the same process.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">This season has been especially political. One example, co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss kicking off this year’s <a href="https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXdnZT5DhATDx" target="_blank"><span class="s2">Spotify playlist</span></a>—songs that reflect the undertones of the show—with “Immigrant Song.” Not exactly subtle. Nor was the roasting of Randyll and Dickon Tarly for refusing to bend the knee because, in their pre-conditioned heads it’s better to become dragon fodder than bow to an immigrant.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span> </span></span></p> <div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="sebastian-junger-on-tribalism-and-democracy" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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</div> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">'Eastwatch' was especially meaningful this weekend given the death of Heather Heyer, who was protesting white nationalism in Charlottesville. Her killer was a Hitler-loving 20-year-old experiencing road and life rage. While it’s easy to pin blame on him, we have to investigate the conditions which led to such an action being possible, which, in this case, implicates hundreds of tiki torch-bearing neo-Nazis and a leader who gets them off in coded language.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Which is exactly the point Varys makes while sharing wine with Tyrion: “It’s what I told myself when I watched them beg for mercy: I’m not the one doing it.” Vary is not exactly comforting Tyrion, who is in a vulnerable position having just watched a bloodline fried on the battlefield. When he punts to “being the hand, not the head” of Daenerys, Varys reminds him, no, actually, you’re part of the problem. If only our elected leaders could be so brave.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">What became especially clear this week is something we’ve always known, on screen and in life: humans are tribal animals. Discussing his new book, <em>Why Buddhism is True</em>, author Robert Wright put this into perspective when I <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/earthrise-w-derek-beres/id1010889888?mt=2" target="_blank"><span class="s2">recently chatted with him</span></a>.<span> </span></span></p> <blockquote><p class="p1"><span class="s1">"Tribalism is the greatest threat to humankind today, to the planet. When people think of tribalism, they may think of rage, aggression, wanton slaughter. I think it operates a lot more subtly than that. When I talk about the psychology of tribalism I’m just talking about the various cognitive biases that are involved in our tendency to identify with one group in opposition with another."</span></p></blockquote> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Yes, wanton slaughter is part of <em>Game of Thrones</em>, but so are subtler aspects: the arrogance of the Archmaester tribe forcing Samwell Tarly to flee the Citadel, for example. The biggest theme, however, dates back to the rice fields of China: a millennia-long struggle between individualist and collectivist cultures.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"> </span></p> <div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="robert-sapolsky-us-vs-them-thinking-is-hardwired-but-theres-hope-for-us-yet" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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</div> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">In his exhaustive book on the biology of human behavior, the aptly-titled <em>Behave</em>, Robert Sapolsky points out that rice was domesticated in China roughly 10,000 years ago. And to successfully harvest rice under such environmental conditions everyone has to pitch in to help each family’s crop. Collectivist.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sapolsky compares this to the most individualist culture the world has ever known: modern America. While our agricultural roots are not nearly as old, our crops were no less laborious. Yet our solution was not exactly community-minded. Instead, slavery. Individualist.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">This has led to stark cultural differences. People from individualist cultures, he writes, constantly seek out uniqueness, boast about personal accomplishments, use first-person singular pronouns more often, and describe themselves in personal rather than relational terms. They also tend to remember who they’ve influenced yet struggle to recall who influenced them. Collectivist cultures act in the exact opposite manner on all accounts.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">These differing mindsets even affect our vision, and not just in a metaphorical sense. Individualists look first at the center of every photo and notice humans quicker, while collectivists understand images in a holistic context, with their eyes darting around the entirety of the picture.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">This is a trait we pass along, not only genetically. When shown a photo of a school of fish with one in the lead, mothers in individualist cultures will say he’s the fastest or the leader, whereas in a collectivist culture, mothers mark him as banished from the group.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span> </span></span></p> <div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="identity-and-choice-in-the-west" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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</div> <p><span class="s1">While fans claim Jon Snow’s “elevator pitch” needs work, this entire season has proven him to be a collectivist leader. Sure, you can squabble over petty land rights, and yeah, I won’t bend the knee, but none of that will matter when we’re all toys for White Walkers. As I <a href="https://bigthink.rebelmouse.com/21st-century-spirituality/game-of-thrones-episode-three-climate-change-jon-snow-daenerys-targaryen" target="_blank"><span class="s2">wrote</span></a> two episodes ago, climate change is one such Walker everyone needs to be wary of, but there’s something else—and we</span> witnessed in Charlottesville this weekend.</p> <p class="p1">It is true that our biological inheritance points to tribalism. A psychology that unites small bands of people to fight the elements, other tribes and other species, and all the ravages of nature served us well throughout the course of evolution. It was a necessary mindset for our survival.</p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">But evolution is not a static process, and that time is past. Aggression and violence kept us safe; empathy and cooperation are what truly raised us above the elements. Climate change never gets solved if first we don’t recognize that we’re all in this fight together. A history of working with instead of against one another is our true legacy on this planet—one that’s in danger of being wiped away if we can’t remember what the best of our abilities create. And right now, America is not sending the best of its people to the front lines.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">--</span></p> <p><span>Derek is the author of </span><em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Motion-Training-Optimal-Health/dp/1631440721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476996488&sr=8-1&keywords=whole+motion" target="_blank">Whole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health</a></em><span>. Based in Los Angeles he is working on a new book about spiritual consumerism. Stay in touch on </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span> and </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span>.</span></p>
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Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen's Face-to-Face Shows the Myopia of Climate Change Denial
Ice finally met fire on last night's episode of Game of Thrones, and their first conversation proved a perfect case study in the distance between power and reality.
31 July, 2017
Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow finally meet in Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 3
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">While promoting his new documentary and book, <em>An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power</em>, on <a href="https://getcrookedmedia.com/here-have-a-podcast-78ee56b5a323" target="_blank"><span class="s2">Pod Save America</span></a>, former vice-president Al Gore paraphrases Nelson Mandela when stating, “It’s always impossible until it’s done.” He’s discussing the “ferocious resistance” to climate science, a movement he compares to Civil Rights in the South of his youth. Over time, he believes, the choice becomes clear. His universe bends toward justice.<span> </span></span></p> <blockquote>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">When these questions get less complicated, when the underbrush is cleared away, and we get a clearer view of the binary choice at the heart of it, between right and wrong, then the outcome becomes foreordained. And I think we’re really close to that with the climate movement.<span> </span></span></p>
</blockquote> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Perhaps. Civil Rights <em>was</em> a giant step forward in America, but in recent years we’ve witnessed a sense of racism and entitlement that was boiling underneath the surface all along. The same for gay rights: most Americans, thankfully, are for it, but then a tweet dismantling transgender rights in the military exposes bigotry in less than 140 characters. It might truly be minority opinion, but it’s a loud and crude one.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span> </span></span></p> <div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="margaret-atwood-on-anti-science-and-anti-intellectualism" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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</div> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The White Walkers are ideal archetypes for whatever the society’s greatest fear is. In <a href="http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/sundays-game-of-thrones-was-a-message-to-black-america-1797386445" target="_blank"><span class="s2">this column</span></a> from episode three they’re white supremacists. Before season seven kicked off, Vox <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/7/14/15969034/game-of-thrones-theory-climate-change" target="_blank"><span class="s2">speculated</span></a> that the entire series is about climate change, with the White Walkers leading the metaphor:<span> </span></span></p> <blockquote>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Their zombie minions are equally happy to rip apart people of all nations and noble houses. Yet instead of uniting to combat the shared threat to human existence, the houses in the show spend basically all their time on their own petty disagreements and struggle for power. White Walkers are generally ignored; some nobles deny their existence outright.</span></p>
</blockquote> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">This theory came to life last night during the most-anticipated meeting in the show’s history, that of Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow. While the focus today has been on the fact Snow refused to “bend the knee,” their first conversation proved a perfect case study in humanity’s painful history of the distance between power and reality.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Targaryen’s sole focus is that the King of the North recognizes her legitimacy. A longstanding agreement between the Targaryens and Starks, with the former always ruling the latter, is “in perpetuity”—Tyrion provides the definition should the word not register with Snow. When the bastard replies that everyone is acting like a child Daenerys, well, acts like a child. She reminds Snow of the ancient pact and her flying friends.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Which is fascinating. No one believed the dragons could be resurrected, but she did it. That’s her superhero power. While she does receive a glimpse of Snow’s superhero power, the ancient concept of resurrection which dates back well before the Christ mythology, Snow instead turns to anecdote:<em> I’ve seen the White Walkers. I know what they can do. Wake up.</em><span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Daenerys’s reaction is expectable: I only believe in my myth. Snow, of course, has seen the dragons, but given his last few seasons he’s more primed to take anyone at their word regarding magic and superstition. Daenerys, not so much. The well-traveled Tyrion proves more open-minded, which is why he brokers obsidian for trust. Daenerys’ thinking is fundamentalist, Snow’s, pragmatic, though in truth the Queen of Dragons is not so brittle that she’ll suffer Lady Olenna’s fate: a failure of imagination.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">How do we confront an enemy no one believes in because no one can see it? That's the question Snow leaves us with. We can see iceberg calving thanks to patient videographers positioned at the planet’s edges—a relative term, of course, as circles don’t have edges. But at this moment most would rather watch the videos on their screens rather than give up the behaviors that are part of the problem that’s causing calving. We tend to choose the superstitions that benefit us, not the ones that point at our destruction.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span> </span></span></p> <div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="parag-khanna-on-climate-change-and-connectivity" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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</div> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Which defines metaphysical religious thinking. A benevolent “energy” for our ultimate good is one we desire, regardless of its absurdity in the face of biology and evolution. Likewise, one bent on our downfall cannot be the ultimate force in the “universe,” which bends toward “justice” and “love." Catchphrases stir our emotions even as they muddy the rising waters.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">So as Daenerys continues her quest of legitimacy and Cersei pitches the benefits of monarchies to <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Mycroft Holmes</span> Tycho Nestoris, Jon Snow prepares to mine the earth for cooled lava in hopes of defeating the planet’s biggest threat. He recognizes the binary choice Gore points to, the first of the bickering children to reach adolescence. We can hope the other leaders follow suit, but we shouldn't expect it. It would be a boon for humanity, but it makes for terrible <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">religion</span> fiction.</span></p> <p class="p1">--</p> <p>Derek is the author of <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Motion-Training-Optimal-Health/dp/1631440721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476996488&sr=8-1&keywords=whole+motion" target="_blank">Whole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health</a></em>. Based in Los Angeles he is working on a new book about spiritual consumerism. Stay in touch on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p>
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Game of Thrones: Why Samwell Tarly Was the MVP of 'Dragonstone'
Poop, soup, books — repeat. Who could forget that montage? Here are the key takeaways from the first episode of Game of Thrones season 7, which crashed the HBO website like wildfire taking down the Sept.
17 July, 2017
Samwell Tarly does some light reading in the first episode of Game of Thrones, season 7. [HBO]
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Joseph Campbell never witnessed the widespread influence of his life’s work. His most famous work, <em>The Power of Myth</em>, a conversation with the journalist Bill Moyers, was published posthumously. Campbell’s wife, Jean Erdman, later commented that Campbell wouldn’t have enjoyed fame all that much. He was in it for the stories.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">That’s what led him to a life of mythology, reading about Native Americans as a young boy. When Moyers opens <em>The Power of Myth</em> with a question about the relevance of mythology in everyday life, Campbell replies that it just catches you. We’ve lost “the literature of the spirit,” he continues, we’re only concerned with the news and problems of the hour. This was thirty years ago.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">But a long view of history and culture is essential, according to Campbell.<span> </span></span></p> <blockquote><p class="p1"><span class="s1">When the story is in your mind, then you see its relevance to something happening in your own life. It gives you perspective on what’s happening to you. With the loss of that, we’ve really lost something because we don’t have a comparable literature to take its place.<span> </span></span></p></blockquote> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Fortunately we do have a literature of the spirit today, only for most people it takes place on a screen. How the story is transmitted is not as important as that it’s transmitted, however. The very problem that Campbell addresses made its way into last night’s premiere of <em>Game of Thrones</em>.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The montage of Samwell Tarly’s drudgery working as an intern at the Citadel—cleaning bedpans, serving bean soup, stacking books, books thrown at him; editing you won’t quickly forget—comes to a head when weighing organs for the Archmaester. Sam says he wants access to the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/crystalro/everyone-made-the-same-harry-potter-joke-during-game-of" target="_blank">restricted area</a>. He was sent to the Citadel to learn how to defeat the White Walkers, which the stuffy academics in their pearly tower don’t believe in. Sam, though, has seen them.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">What strikes most in this episode is the evolving maturity and confidence of certain characters: Jon Snow making adult decisions as king; Sansa Stark shutting down Littlefinger; Sam stealing keys to access the restricted area. Sam’s usurpation celebrates Campbell’s mythology: he’s seeking the long view of history, which, of course, he discovers by way of an archaic map of the volcanic island of Dragonstone. Suddenly in front of his eyes is the store of obsidian, aka dragonglass, he’s been looking for.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The emphasis on the library and its books—stored knowledge—gave this episode an exceptionally mythological feel. The series is the world’s current most popular mythology, a story so grand that the HBO website crashed last night when the premiere released. And a story only makes sense when it touches upon the climate of the times it is being presented in. Without a link to the modern world the story could not possibly have such impact.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Which is the function mythology has always served. Gilgamesh’s epic journey for the plant of immortality, still told in the dreams of Silicon Valley coders uploading consciousness into the cloud; Homer’s wars retold in theatrical narratives reflecting American invasions; the Vedas and Sutras reinterpreted in home furnishings and tattoos in a planetary remix of yoga. Humans communicate through stories. The ones touching the largest number of people influence the outcome of history.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">And they serve as warnings. The Archmaester tells Sam, “we are this world’s memories,” an important reminder at a time when the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/why-do-republicans-suddenly-hate-colleges-so-much/533130/" target="_blank"><span class="s2">very nature of higher learning</span></a> in America is under assault. The “uneducated” make good war fodder, whether that battle is fought by soldiers or for the <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2017/07/10/sharp-partisan-divisions-in-views-of-national-institutions/" target="_blank"><span class="s2">minds</span></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597" target="_blank"><span class="s2">wallets</span></a> of a nation’s citizens. The antidote to such ignorance is reading.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">While the Archmaester is certain of his institution’s role, he is not without blind spots. The wall has stood through it all, he tells Sam, and has emerged after every winter thus far unscathed. His final analysis: it can never happen here. Foreshadowing at its most blatant.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Before yesterday’s premiere I stumbled across a <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/7/14/15969034/game-of-thrones-theory-climate-change" target="_blank"><span class="s2">Vox video</span></a> relating themes in <em>Game of Thrones</em> to climate change. As expected, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ezraklein/" target="_blank"><span class="s2">Facebook debates</span></a> were heated, as every idea about this series inevitably is. But one recurring sentiment was stark:<em> Leave my television alone. I don’t want to think about the broader implications. It’s just a show. Let me keep something sacred.</em><span> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Ironic. The only thing that can actually be considered sacred—the planet, at least for us animals—proves to be not as important as what’s on the screen. A vehicle for escape, not a portal into reality. The screen has long served this role; arguably so has literature, to summer readers. But the contrast is especially loud when books are less valued and distractions are everywhere. Mythology becomes a myth, which is tragic.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sam knows that not only can it happen here, but it is happening at this very moment. The voluntary ignorance of his superiors astounds though doesn’t surprise him. And so he turns to books in what will help determine the future of the planet. We should all be so lucky.</span></p> <p class="p1">--</p> <p>Derek's latest book, <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Motion-Training-Optimal-Health/dp/1631440721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476996488&sr=8-1&keywords=whole+motion" target="_blank">Whole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health</a></em>, is out now. He is based in Los Angeles. Stay in touch on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p>
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