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Is the Media Obsessed with History and Fantasy?
Sunday 5th April 2015 | Osh
Turn on your television, laptop or tablet right now and one of the first things you'll probably see whilst scrolling through the new releases or most popular sections of your provider's user interface will be a historically-based or fantasy film or series. Game of Thrones, Marco Polo, Noah, Exodus: Gods and Kings; these historically and fantasy-minded pieces of media are some of the most popular entertainment IPs of the now, but are we really becoming obsessed with these at the expense of other genres?
The history and fantasy genres have come to the fore in recent years primarily on the back of huge blockbusters such as The Lord of The Rings. When movies such as these were released, viewers realised that historically-based series didn't have to be the preserve of geeky elements, and that they could indeed be very satisfying, enjoyable pictures. This wasn't just a realisation within the minds of action lovers though. Series such as The Tudors, Downton Abbey and Rome have all shown that historical stories can be romantic, dramatic and interesting and huge new audiences has been created as a result.
This love for all things history and fantasy has spread into other mediums too. As gaming has gone mainstream, mass-marketed titles have taken on the mainstream's love for history and fantasy. Take the Montezuma slot game located at MrSmithCasino. If this had been released five years ago, it might not have been such a big hit. The same goes for publishing, Game of Thrones being the key title behind the new invigorated, fantasy-fuelled book and gaming market.
There are some terrible entries, however. Christian Bale's Moses-themed inaccuracy romp, Exodus: Gods and Kings, was critically-panned owing to poor acting, a strange storyline and an average approach to set-piece CGI. The same goes for Russell Crowe's Noah, another biblical melodrama. Whilst both of these titles were obviously going for something unlike the swords and spells fantasy of absurdly well-renowned series and films such as Game of Thrones, they didn't manage to reinvent the shots, scares and action that better titles managed to do.
Part of the success behind the best-regarded historical titles is their attention to detail, something that one could easily say was behind the early noughties' love for crime dramas. In many ways, Game of Thrones and, say, The Wire, are quite similar. Both are informed by real stories and power dynamics, and both focus upon both the powerful and the meek. This is perhaps the reason behind the ascendancy that historical media has enjoyed in recent years; for the first time ever they are excellently written and properly constructed.
