lizbee | (Reply)

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The Expanse is one where I do agree; it's a dark setting where characters can still choose to fight back and act decently, as opposed to, say, Game of Thrones.

Butting in to say that this is exactly why I like The Expanse. I found it really interesting that one of the main conflicts in Season 3 is between two characters (Drummer and Ashford) who both want what they feel is best for their people, but have differing ideas on what that means and how to achieve it. That led to some interesting moral questions and discussions. The actress who plays Drummer, Cara Gee, gave an interview where she made some interesting comparisons between Belters and her experiences as a First Nations woman and pointed out why Drummer's view as a woman of colour might be different to Ashford's view as a white man.

I stopped watching Game of Thones mainly because I was tired of the sexual violence, but also because I was sick of every character with even a shred of decency meeting a grisly end. While in some ways that might be more realistic, it's also unrealistic in others. Even in the darkest points of history there have been examples of people choosing to do the right thing, even if they didn't ultimately succeed. I found myself detaching emotionally from anything that was going on, and why continue to watch a show where I'm not invested in any of the characters because I know they will likely do something unforgivable or die horribly?

Compare this to, say, The Wire, which still manages to find moments of hope in situations that are overwhelmingly hopeless. It's bleak, because that is the point, but viewers are still invested in the characters because the show makes it clear that the evil is within the system and no person is entirely 'good' or 'evil.'