There is nothing more celebratory of my favourite pastime than
the Emmy’s. Sure, the Oscars are the big event with the better venue and more
expensive dress code (I assume, I wouldn’t know) but series is the real measure
of how millennial you are. I am miles away from having seen everything, but I
am very confused as far as some nominations are concerned. It is good to
celebrate good work when it is deserved. But handing out nominations in a
congratulatory manner is just making light of our investment and
disappointment. And while I had sworn not to do this, yes, this post is mostly
about Game of Thrones.
Marvelous Mrs Maisel got a bunch of nominations and nothing
could have made me happier. Well, Good Omens getting the recognition it
deserves would. But the comedy category was a ray of joy as well as Kumail
Nanjiani being nominated for a guest appearance in a series I have not watched (but
Kumail is life).
Nonetheless, I cannot get over the Game of Thrones
nominations. Direction is a bit more subjective and the grandiose of this
season cannot go overlooked, but how are Weiss and Benioff nominated for their
writing? There is a globe of fans disappointed about the whole season, the
character development, the poor plot, the underuse of certain actors and the underwhelming
resolution of the most important storyline of the whole series. I have at least
two friends that did not hate the season; that thought the last episode will
make up for all of it, fill in the plot holes and justify a number of
questionable choices. It did not. They were the most disappointed. And then the
final episode of this idiotic downfall of the most impactful fantasy series of
all time gets nominated for the writing? What writing? Tyrion got a couple of
good lines in when talking with Jon Snow or confronting Daenerys, but what else
is there? Everything that elevated Game of Thrones was missing and, frankly, it
exposed it for the mediaeval soap-opera it secretly was. I understand that it
is the final season and this is perhaps a celebration of an otherwise
impeccable series (other than the last two-ish seasons). Scratch that, I don’t.
Game of Thrones has enough awards from its good seasons, it does not need
complimentary ones.
I am happy about some of the actors’ nominations. I think
Gwendoline Christie and Alfie Allen getting nominated put a smile on my face
almost immediately. I cannot exactly pin it down, it is not like they had the
most screen time but something about them getting nominated made a lot of
sense. Theon was one of the most complete characters that this season did not
manage to wreck and I think Alfie Allen did the character justice. Peter
Dinklage and Nicolaj Coster-Waldeu were also enjoyable. I personally am not a
big fan of Emilia Clarke as an actor (but love her as a pop-culture icon), but
she did the ‘I’m fine-I’m crazy’ transition as well as anyone could have, I
guess. But then Lena Headey was nominated. She is wonderful. I am re-watching
season five and she is amazing. But in the currently nominated season, if it
weren’t for the different costumes, I would have thought that they shot her
once looking out the window with a wine glass in her hand and called it a day.
If the critics weren’t sure who to nominate, they should have taken a tour on
9gag and reddit and read all the memes about Headey getting a shitload of money
for doing nothing the whole season. Don’t get me wrong, we were all very happy
for her and her doing it shows that it can be done. I won’t lie and pretend I didn’t
cry for half an hour straight about her and Jamie’s death, the greatest plot
twist this season pulled off, so if that is why she is nominated then I’m
happy. No, scratch that again, if she is nominated I want it to be because of
the wine-drinking-window-looking.
I want to end on a positive note; I am nonetheless excited
about these Emmy’s. I am invested in many of these nominees and I think the
cultural change is more obvious than ever this year. The female nominees were
so much more exciting that the male ones. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Amy
Sherman-Palladino, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Amy Poehler dominated the comedy
category with Waller-Bridge taking the time to flirt with ‘Best Drama Series’
award as well. Now that gender inequality in Hollywood has been in the spotlight,
opportunities were distributed differently and we found out that stories can be
successfully told from a woman’s perspective and be funny and witty and
relatable. Shocking! I also want to end on a positive note about Game of
Thrones in particular. Even if I am projecting my disappointment with Game of
Throne’s final season on Emilia Clarke’s acting chops, I will be happy to hear
the speeches about this 10-year sexually charged, death-filled pop-culture
prodigy. And see Kit Harington out of rehab because I feel guilty about his
being there. We know it wasn’t your fault, Kit.
