House of the Dragon

[PanzerMeyer]

The prequel to Game of Thrones is almost here. The premiere episode will be out next Sunday on HBO and HBO Max. One great difference from Game of Thrones with this show is that George RR Martin is one of the executive producers and thus is heavily involved in the creative decisions. There should be no rushed shortcuts like what we got with the last season of GOT. Who else will be watching?

[Hammer]

would love to, seems like it might be a good story, but as you all know for some reason most everything nowadays had to be made far too "adult" (not sure it really is adult - just childishly ridiculous with extremes) for my liking and household.

[PanzerMeyer]

Oh it goes without saying that this is not appropriate for kids. That’s for sure. This is why many parents will be watching this after the kids are in bed. Lol.

[Trichome]

The wife and I will be watching. Just haven't decided if it'll be the night it airs or we'll wait until the first season is over and binge watch it.

[PanzerMeyer]

The wife and I will be watching. Just haven't decided if it'll be the night it airs or we'll wait until the first season is over and binge watch it.

If you do the latter tread carefully on the internet because there will be spoilers everywhere.

[Hammer]

yah - understood. but my wife and i tend to hold ourselves to the same standard. there is absolutely no reason for all the "adult' themes, blood, gore, sex and foul language that people and/or creators feel are needed in media nowadays. A good story can be made/told without all the crap! In my opinion is is a large reason why our society is in a downward spiral.

[Cr33p3r]

I agree there is too much unneeded stuff on premium subscription channels. My wife is mostly Scottish so we were really interested in outlander. Lots of stuff in there that doesn't need to be there so we just fast forward those parts. I agree with the idea of holding the standard. Neither my wife nor I drink or smoke and our adult children while they have tried it really haven't made either a regular habit. We as parents set the norm for our children.

[PanzerMeyer]

Sorry, I clicked on report instead of reply.

There’s plenty of stuff out there that you can watch that is “family friendly”. Just simply don’t watch what you don’t approve of. The road down to censorship is a dangerous one.

[Hammer]

Creeper, glad someone else understands. Panzer, I said nothing about censoring.

I am a HUGE supporter of the constitution. ALL of it. I served in the military, in the infantry, and would have been on the front line in any conflict. There were hairy situations at times during the cold war period both in general and in my personal experience. Did I ever regret being there? No. I would have (and still would) give my life in defense of our country and constitution. I understand everyone does not feel the same way I do about that, not life and society and culture in general. But that is OK, I would defend those that are completely opposite of my beliefs and would denigrate me as a war-monger, baby killer, whatever. Those people will never get it, but that is OK. It is part of what makes the world go 'round. We have a set of policies, principles, and law in the Constitution that are rather unique. Despite our issues here in the US, we live in a great country.

I feel in general people can do what they want as long as it does not harm others. I also feel that the current bent of our media and entertainment is helping, if not leading, to the downfall of our current culture just plain being good, well behaved, and respectful of others. Is blood, gore, sex and other sensationalism in entertainment actually freedom of speech? I feel there is definitely a difference between entertainment media and news/communication/information sharing, etc. But, entertainment is labeled as a form of speech, so there you go.

Moral/ethical degeneration has happened in history before, no? What happened in those cultures?

All that said, and as I stated, I do exactly what you wrote. I choose not to watch or participate in those things I find offensive. I will also keep these forums to those standards, as you all know.

[Cr33p3r]

Its from having children I think. I didn't think about this stuff as much until I realized I had little minds and eyes on what the tv was showing and how it might affect their behavior. I was talking with my daughter friday night (shes 24 now) and she had been telling a friend how her parents (me and my wife) wouldnt' let her watch rugrats on the cartoon channel because of the attitudes they would pick up...and it was noticeable at first. They are little sponges. We can't protect them from everything but we can hope to plant a good moral compass in them, let them make their own decisions as they get older, and watch them see how the decisions they make affect them and those around them, without judgment or shame. Its quite a challenge and we've had some tough convos with the "children" about choices they've chosen. Eventually they will see mom and dad weren't idiots ha ha.

The home is where stuff needs to be taught (one reason why we homeschooled). I'm thankful we have the freedom to make our own choices here in the US.

OK, sorry for the soapbox. I'm glad we can all share our perspectives and opinions here.

A side note: I helped run a virtual airline (p3d, fsx, xp11) for years and the creators said it should be G-rated. The min age was 15 I think (i could be wrong) and we didnt' want any parent to look over their son's shoulder and be concerned with what he/she was involved with. IT took a lot of work. the Arma3 community I'm a part of now is defintely not G-rated but there are some moral lines that cannot be crossed. I'm not in charge of those rules but it took some getting adjusted to hearing a bunch of sailors on discord after so long ha ha.

Again, sorry for the dissertation. I do not judge anyone here for disagreeing with anything I've written, especially as the "new" guy ha ha.

[Hammer]

agreed, we can air our opinions and discuss, not an issue. i do not fault anyone for disagreeing with my opinions at all, it is their right. just do not try to make me conform to your opinions and way of life. ;)

we also do not let out kids watch some things as do not want them to pick up behaviors we see.

[PanzerMeyer]

we also do not let out kids watch some things as do not want them to pick up behaviors we see.

I'm pretty sure this describes the great majority of parents but in your initial post you made it seem that everything you watch needs to be family friendly and that you don't watch anything without your kids. Please let me know if I misunderstood.

[PanzerMeyer]

Anyway, the premiere episode tonight was outstanding and I believe this will be a very worthy prequel to Game of Thrones.

[Hammer]

Panzer, you are pretty much correct. There are times when I watch war or other stuff without the family - but is is extremely rare. Family oriented almost 24x7, and I do pretty much stick to that. Now Lord of the Rings is probably not G rated, but it does not get watched due to the violence. Have you spent much time watching family friendly stuff recently? Not that there is much of it, we do have a difficult time finding stuff.

[PanzerMeyer]

Have you spent much time watching family friendly stuff recently? Not that there is much of it, we do have a difficult time finding stuff.

I don't know if you have cable or streaming at home but on my streaming service there are a ton of animated shows and movies that I would consider to be family friendly. As for me personally, I've watched stuff like "Encanto" and "Moana" which I consider to be family friendly.

[Bones]

I watched most of the episode last night, but not all the way through. So far it seemed fine, but didn't really grab me. Maybe I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the way the regular series ended--but we'll see. I'll give it another look.

v6,
boNes

[PanzerMeyer]

I watched most of the episode last night, but not all the way through. So far it seemed fine, but didn't really grab me. Maybe I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the way the regular series ended--but we'll see. I'll give it another look.

v6,
boNes

Did you not watch the whole episode because it just wasn't grabbing you or you got interrupted by some real world event?

Either way, definitely watch the whole episode before you make a final decision because a lot of big stuff happens in like the last 20 minutes.

[Falker939]

I got HBO last month just to get caught up on other shows and to see Game Of Thrones for the first time . Although I was falling asleep after episode 5 , when the White Walkers never game back - so I had to fast forward to season 4 where the action picked up and the plot thickened. After that I have been addicted to it all the way through. I think most here may have liked Jon Snow because he was brave man who was always honest and had a good character with better morals and principles then the rest of them. One thing I didn’t care for was when Daenerys Targaryen got on her dragon and burned down the entire city after the battle was over , when all she had to do was destroy the castle , or take the evil queen hostage. Eh , that took all the fun out of it for me.. and in the end Jon Snow had to go back to the Wall and head north. Well I’m going to hold off on House Of The Dragon for the time being and binge watch it later this holiday season.

I also got caught up on West World and was on the last episode when HBO turned it off on me. Although I’m sure I didn’t miss much – it was kind of a drag.

Talking about animated series
Dota: Dragon's Blood is alright , with Wizards and Dragons going head to head. The elves and humans fight each other , but there is no gore or beheadings that I recall. They have the game at Steam for free , but I’m sure you’ll have to pay for the perks.

Castlevania was a good flick , but not meant for kids.

Pixar Animation Studios makes some of the best animated movies.


And finally – Hammer, when you went under the name Steel ,( which I always liked better) you said you read the Book Amour by John Steakley. It was an excellent book that was filled with lots of blood and guts and gore fighting off giant alien ants. I always wondered if that’s where Starship troopers got their idea. Anyways things change when your raising a family. People can change too , when they take up religion. I’ve seen it .. and vice versa when a religious person goes back to something worse after a divorce. But yes I agree -there’s way too much adult content out there on TV , and The W.W.W. It must be scary for parents to raise a child in this day and age.

[PanzerMeyer]

I also got caught up on West World and was on the last episode when HBO turned it off on me. Although I’m sure I didn’t miss much – it was kind of a drag.

What do you mean HBO turned it off on you? Did you lose your internet or cable connection?


It's highly unlikely WW will be renewed so that finale episode that was released 2 weeks ago will most likely be the way it ends. The bottom line here is that WW is one of those shows that redefined itself over the seasons and thus it changed a lot. Some fans embraced those changes but the majority did not as evidenced by the declining ratings and the declining social media buzz.

[Hammer]

There is quite the distinction in reading about violence (I am talking combat - not the kind of violence that people should just be shot for, first in the kneecaps, then in the groin, and finally in the heart to bleed out slowly and suffer) and having it your screen. I was (am?) a warrior, so violence is part of war (i.e. survival on the battlefield). it is a horrible thing, and the pain and suffering is not to be taken lightly. but using violence as a means to sell entertainment does not at all appeal to me, and it (along with all the other things mentioned) should not be brought to the forefront of our culture. Quite different from warfare - although we can discuss all day and night about the justification of warfare. Face it, we are all here because we enjoy war simulations. I feel the same about games, BTW. No reason to have the extreme levels of blood and gore, while others seem to want it.

We only do streaming Panzer. We have Disney+, Netflix, Sling TV, and Apple TV. The difficulty is in finding new things to watch. Yes, both Moana and Encanto are excellent and have been watched multiple times. Even Harry Potter is acceptable (my oldest loves Harry Potter) although it is bordeline in the later movies. I would love to watch Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but my wife does not like fantasy and also fees they are a bit too violent. Probably in a few years those will be OK, but they are probably at the limit of what we would watch in terms of violence.

Yah - I am probably a dork and a prude, but if you reflect back in what was the norm in your childhood (at least for the older guys like me) and what is now - there is a huge difference in our society. Ever reflect upon why that is?