I have written before that I try to guard my heart, and limit the negative imagery that I expose myself to. But I also find it edifying from time to time to explore the darker side of the human soul. Not that I am counseling engaging in sinfulness, no, rather I'm suggesting that art that may seem to border on the evil can be useful even to the Christian soul. For instance, I just recently finished the third season of GAME OF THRONES on DVD, and it has brought up some interesting thoughts and experiences.
Now the show is extraordinarily dark. It is extremely violent and there are some sex scenes that cross lines, but in the overall the show is a remarkable piece of art. It is well-acted and well-directed. The writing, based as it is on a successful and acclaimed series of books, is top notch as well. The cinematography, editing, special effects, set design, costumes, all of this is just the best television has to offer. But in point of fact, the aesthetics are only half the reason I watch the show.
This show contains no truly redeeming characters. It is not like the comic book WATCHMEN, where you literally come to hate almost every character. There are some characters you can root for, some that have some decency and some moral code. But none of these characters has a spirit that elevates the show. There is no sense that this world is worth living in, at all. To me, GAME OF THRONES shows us what the world would be like if God did not love us. The human spirit can never reach into the salvific because there is nothing salvific in the universe. Life remains 'deep', in the sense of there being magic and mysticism, which I think is true in the real world too. I mean, for me, the depths of the fullest range of my experience require a kind of 'mythic' reflection or else the description would leave a lot out. Life is experienced in such a deep way in Game of Thrones.
But that depth gives no one any confidence that behind it all is benevolence. In the real world, it seems to me, we have evidence, experience, that points to a depth of reality. In that depth we find both good and evil, both light and dark. Suffering does not always point to meaninglessness, in this world, and in fact suffering can bring about a depth of spirit and an achievement of the soul that is redemptive. This does not make suffering good or desirable, but what it does mean is that suffering is not definitively the end of the story. Death and evil may not have the last word.
In the good we experience a promise, a promise that what we do matters and matters ultimately. There is the sense we have that in the good is the eternal and that evil ultimately passes away. This contrasts starkly with Game of Thrones, where all depth is related to revenge and power, and the experiences of love, of goodness, even of beauty seem fleeting and without any mystical dimension. The contrast between that world and this one, between a story that has no redeeming characters and a story that has at least a few, brings forth to me an important lesson about life, especially Christian life. For I can see in the story of Jesus a genuine ground for hope. I can live in this world with at least the possibility that over it all is a God who loves and cares for us. The suffering of the world need not be the last story. Resurrection follows crucifixion. Sometimes you need to spend some time in the darkness to really appreciate the light.
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