After jumping on the Game of Thrones bandwagon a month ago, my husband and I are now officially caught up. It didn’t take long, because being able to binge-watch a great TV series every night is the best part of showing up late to the party.
The worst, on the other hand, is the loneliness. You have to avoid every article, analysis, fan theory, and even the casual overhearing of anyone else discussing the show. Just in case you end up hearing spoilers.
So I’m now struggling to fill the painful void that new GoT episodes once filled by reading all the articles that I’ve been avoiding. And I came upon something interesting…
E-Poll Market Research put out some fascinating research about a week ago about political affiliation and favorite TV shows. Their monthly E-score tracker analyzes the viewing of over 3000 US television programs, providing detailed research to media and Fortune 1000 companies.
Turns out, Democrats love Game of Thrones and Republicans really don’t.
Now, I’m sure that tons of individual Democrats hate it and particular Republicans love it, but there’s an enormous disparity between the two groups as a whole. GoT came in first place for favorite Democrat shows, but didn’t even make the Republican top ten.
First, for Republicans, was Supernatural… a show I haven’t even heard of. Apparently, both teams love The Walking Dead and The Big Bang Theory.
Interesting… I wonder why Game of Thrones rubs Republicans the wrong way.
Certainly, there’s loads of gratuitous sex and violence. Of course, The Walking Dead isn’t exactly short on gore.
Maybe it’s all the boobies. I don’t know that you can get through a single GoT episode without eventually seeing someone’s boobs flapping around, which isn’t exactly family friendly.
But there are also a lot of nasty villains who eventually get their comeuppance, which seems like it should appeal to Republicans. The researchers found, after all, that Republicans tend to like shows with storylines heavily focused on good vs. evil.
Of course, “good” is a very relative concept in this show. Extremely good characters, like Ned Stark, tend to lose their heads. Or at least their neck integrity.
Other characters, like the Hound, see so many kind characters slaughtered in their dog-eat-dog world that they conclude that decency is a death sentence. It’s a world of extreme moral relativity, one where survival always wrestles with altruism.
Maybe it’s my Progressive filter talking, but I have to wonder if it has something to do with the nasty, brutish, might-makes-right existence depicted in a world without regulation or relative class parity. Even the good characters must lie, cheat and steal if they want to stay alive, because those are the conditions a truly free market creates.
I’m guessing a Republican might have a different take, though.
It reminds me of the time I suggested that Robin Hood was a good hero for both the left and right: he gives to the poor, but is anti-taxes.
A good Republican friend of mine, however, claimed that Robin Hood showed the evils of strong government. I pointed out that Robin Hood broke the unfair rules created by people born into an entitled class for the betterment of a strangled underclass. He countered that Robin Hood’s enterprise was stifled by unfair regulation.
It’s fascinating how the same story can be read so differently through different ideological lenses, isn’t it?
I wonder what it is about Game of Thrones that makes Republicans and Democrats react so differently. Any thoughts?
Bubbles and Beebots 
Maybe it’s too close to home? 😉
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Haha, maybe so 😉
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If we go with the topic of Republicans preferring good vs evil, I can see why Game of Thrones wouldn’t necessarily appeal to them since everyone mostly swims in the moral grey area. The most noble characters tend to suffer along (although not always) and evil often goes unpunished (but not always.)
It might be because there’s no clear person to root for. Rooting for the Starks kind of implies rooting against Dany, since the Starks helped overthrow her family. And rooting for Dany could be bad for the Starks, if she’s not forgiving.
And maybe they feel that Winter is Coming is a climate change parable. Or that Littlefinger’s opportunistic schemes hit too close to home?
Just throwing out ideas.
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You make good points. Democrats seem more accepting of moral gray areas, whereas Republicans like hard lines… and there are so few in the show.
No one’s hands are clean. Even the “good” guys have flaws (Tyrion with his drinking and whoring, Jon Snow’s initial entitlement, Arya’s tendency to murder…)
I hadn’t thought of the fact that rooting for the Starks puts you at odds with the Dragon mother, but that’s true too.
Also, there are complicated political and economic issues brought up by Dany’s freeing of the slaves. It seems like the right thing to do, yet lots of chaos ensues, which is probably realistic.
I guess region doesn’t fare well either, especially if you see the Sparrows as Christians, though I doubt Republicans who hate the show would make it that far into it…
Haha, Winter as a climate change parable! that’s truly inventive and I can see your point. Also with Littlefinger, though I’m guessing conservatives would consider him liberal.
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Love this! And so PC. 🙂 I am a conservative (yep, I admit it) and I LOVE Thrones! Fun post. Thanks!
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Haha, many of my best friends are Republicans, though I’m obviously not.
I’m sure there are outliers, but it was an interesting finding. They also said Democrats like diverse casts, but I thought that may be unfair. The Walking Dead has a diverse cast and it’s high on the Republican list.
Maybe it’s just that young people skew liberal and they’re also more likely to watch show last with lots of sex and violence. Who knows? 🙂
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It’s all so interesting. Love Walking Dead too. Now I’ll be polling my Dem/Liberal friends. Lol
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Yes, let’s see how the theory plays out in real life!
I could see a traditional conservative interpretation of the show too– the idea of why law and order is so important when human nature can be so bad. I know some Republicans who are also fans… Now I want to throw it out on Facebook and see what they say 🙂
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