Sophie Turner: Game of Thrones Fan Petition “Is Just Disrespectful”
John F. Trent
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Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner defended the series finale and called fans “disrespectful” for signing a fan petition requesting HBO remake the series.
Turner, who will appear as Jean Grey in the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix film, spoke to the New York Times about fan reaction to the series finale.
She indicated she was “not surprised” by the negative fan reaction surrounding Season 8 and more specifically the final two episodes. She states, “People always have an idea in their heads of how they want a show to finish, and so when it doesn’t go to their liking, they start to speak up about it and rebel.”
She goes on to defend Season 8’s decisions by noting there have “always been crazy twists and turns.”
“The thing about “Game of Thrones” that’s always been amazing is the fact that there’s always been crazy twists and turns, right from Season 1 with Ned’s beheading. So Daenerys becoming something of the Mad Queen — it shouldn’t be such a negative thing for fans. It’s a shock for sure, but I think it’s just because it hasn’t gone their way.”
Turner would then target fans claiming they are being disrespectful for signing a petition requesting Season 8 be remade.
“All of these petitions and things like that — I think it’s disrespectful to the crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years, and for 11 months shooting the last season. Like 50-something night shoots. So many people worked so, so hard on it, and for people to just rubbish it because it’s not what they want to see is just disrespectful.”
Interestingly enough, earlier in the interview Turner admitted she hadn’t even watched the final episode.
“I haven’t actually watched it yet because I was alone when it came out, and I truly can’t be alone to watch it. But I read the script and I acted in it, so I kind of know what happens.”
She also admitted that she’s been pretty emotional now that Game of Thrones is officially over.
“I don’t know. This whole time I felt like I’ve been prepared for it, and now that it’s come to the day and it’s over, it feels horrible. And, I’m doing a press day for my new movie but everyone keeps asking me about how I feel, and I just want to cry.”
While Turner might think that fans are being disrespectful for requesting Season 8 be remade, the fans obviously felt they had been disrespected by the season. And they have reason to feel that way. This season should have been another two seasons at least with much more palace intrigue in Winterfell with Daenerys and Sansa Stark. The war with the Night King should have also been much more prolonged. It should not have been reduced to one episode with Arya Stark becoming a Deus Ex Machina in order to kill him.
There should also have been more moves by Cersei especially with her Golden Company and the improved ballistae. We could have had some skirmishes overland with Jon Snow’s army being harried. She should have been able to exploit the fact that Snow and Daenerys split their forces especially after they suffered immense losses at the hand of the Night King.
There’s plenty of other story adjustments they could have made to prolong the series and make it so it wasn’t rushed and you didn’t have months of time passing in mere moments in the final episode. They could have explored Grey Worm arresting Jon Snow. Sansa discovering the fact that Jon Snow killed Daenerys. The in-fighting that must have occurred between Snow’s Northmen and Grey Worm’s Unsullied. Did the Dothraki remain loyal to Grey Worm or did they decide to set out on their own? All of this could have been explored, but was just tossed aside.
Aside from the story adjustments they could have made, their quality control for this season was also deplorable. First, a Starbucks coffee cup was discovered during the feast after defeating the Night King. During “The Bells,” a cameraman is included in the scene, and in the most recent episode there are multiple plastic bottles of water underneath people’s chairs.
On a separate point, if it is “disrespectful” to ask for a remake of Game of Thrones Season 8 because of the hard-work that went into the film, then it must be disrespectful every time Hollywood reboots an old franchise or tries to put a “modern” spin on an old story.
Creating a petition to remake Game of Thrones Season 8 is not disrespectful. In fact, the creator of the petition Dylan D. even noted in an update that technical work of the show from the casting department to the cinematography and costuming “deserve all the accolades they can get.” He even clearly states, “this petition is not a comment on their contributions to the show.”
He does not the petition was created because he “was immensely disappointed and needed to vent.” He also quotes Heath Ledger’s Joker, “‘It’s not about the money, it’s about sending a message.’ And I think this message is one of frustration and disappointment at its core.”
Fans are allowed to be frustrated and disappointed in entertainment they’ve enjoyed for years. They are allowed to express that frustration and disappointment in various ways. And creating a petition to express that frustration is not “disrespectful.”
In fact, even Kit Harrington, who plays Jon Snow, described the series finale as “disappointing.” Emilia Clarke also admitted she was flabbergasted when she found out what would happen with Daenerys.
And over a million fans have expressed that frustration and disappointment. The petition has currently been signed by over 1.4 million people.
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