Interview - Tumblr Posts
GRRM on morality, heroism, villainy, and parallax in ASOIAF:
Time magazine wrote of you, “What really distinguishes Martin and what marks him as a major force for evolution in fantasy is his refusal to embrace a vision of the world as a struggle between good and evil.” Do you agree?
I think the struggle between good and evil is central to fantasy and, indeed, in some ways, central to most fiction. It's certainly a worthy subject for fiction. But I regard the struggle between good and evil as being waged within the individual human heart. […] You know, the greatest monsters of history, as we look back on them, thought they were the heroes of the story. You know, the villain is the hero of the other side, as sometimes said. That doesn't mean that it's all morally relative. That doesn't mean that all things are equally good and evil. I think there is good and there is evil in the world. But you know, it's sometimes a struggle to tell one from the other and to make the right choices. I've always been attracted to great characters, maybe because that's what I see when I look around the real world, whether I read about it in history books or the news or just people I meet. I mean, all of us have it within ourselves to be heroes. All of us have it within ourselves to be villains. We've all done good things in our lives, and most of us have also done selfish things, cowardly things, things that we're ashamed of in later years. And to my mind, that's, I don't know, the glory of the human race. We're such wonderfully contradictory, mixed-up creatures that we're endlessly fascinating to write about and read about.
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Do you purposely start a character as bad so you can later kill them?
No. What is bad? Bad is a label. We are human beings with heroism and self-interest and avarice in us and any human is capable of great good or great wrong. In Poland a couple of weeks ago I was reading about the history of Auschwitz - there were startling interviews with the people there. The guards had done unthinkable atrocities, but these were ordinary people. What allowed them to do this kind of evil? Then you read accounts of acts of outrageous heroism, yet the people are criminals or swindlers, one crime or another, but when forced to make a choice they make a heroic choice. This is what fascinated me about the human animal.
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In your work, you have essentially captured Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of polyphonic fiction, where the characters are equal, and the reader can root for any of them. This has been impossible to convey on the TV series.
I wouldn't say all the characters are equal, but they have (hopefully) human traits, especially the viewpoint characters. I have seven viewpoint characters in the first book, and each book has a few more. So, by now, we're probably up to 12 or 13 viewpoint characters, and those are the ones where I go actually inside their skin, so you're seeing the world through their eyes. You're hearing their thoughts. You're feeling their emotions. And I try to paint over those viewpoint characters, and some of them are noble and just, and some of them are kind of selfish, and some of them are very intelligent, and some of them are less intelligent and even stupid. But they're all human, and I want to portray their humanity. […] I think the battle between good and evil is fought all over the world, every day, in the individual human heart, as we all struggle with the choices that define us and define our lives. And we have to choose what we are going to do, and sometimes the choice is not easy; it's not this absolute juxtaposition of the good guys and the bad guys. And I wanted to get to that with my characters, and show some of the difficulties that they face.
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Another element I liked about the series was the moral relativism of many of the characters. Too many Fantasies rely on the shorthand of truly evil villains in the absolute moral sense, but your characters, while they might commit terrible acts, generally do so either from short-sighted self-interest or because they truly believe they are acting for the best. Was this a deliberate decision, or is it just more interesting to write this way?
Both. I have always found grey characters more interesting than those who are pure black and white. I have no qualms with the way that Tolkien handled Sauron, but in some ways The Lord of the Rings set an unfortunate example for the writers who were to follow. […] Before you can fight the war between good and evil, you need to determine which is which, and that's not always as easy as some Fantasists would have you believe.
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Martin's realm is not one of unambiguous heroes and villains. His characters, from royals to peasants, tend to be ethically mutable. So-called good people, like the noblemen Ned Stark, his son Robb Stark or the indomitable Daenerys Targaryen ("the Mother of Dragons"), make terrible mistakes - out of weakness, pride or an overly rigid sense of right and wrong. And horrible people, like Jaime Lannister, known as "the Kingslayer," do terrible things and then, over the course of several books, reveal themselves to be capable of heroism and sacrifice.
As we're discussing this in the theater, Martin quotes Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" from memory: “The evil that men do lives after them ;/ The good is oft interred with their bones.” Then he adds his own version: “We shouldn't forget about the evil that good men do. But we shouldn't forget about the good either,” he says. “I do think a society needs heroes. They don't have to be flawless.”
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Your books have a very strong storyline associated with the atonement of sins. For example, the way of Jaime Lannister, do you yourself believe in karma?
I don’t believe in karma per se, although sometimes I have my doubts because sometimes I think I see things that could be explained by karma. But no, I don’t really have any beliefs in the supernatural. I do believe in the possibility of redemption. And I believe that human beings, all human beings, are grey. And I try to remember that when I write my characters. We are all heroes, we are all villains, we all have the capacity for great good and we all have the capacity to do things that are selfish and evil and wrong. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. In your lifetime, you can be both. And it’s making choices that defines us as human beings. There’s this sensation of compartmentalism. This eagerness to judge everybody based on the worst thing they ever did, not the best thing they ever did. And you know, I think Shakespeare in "Julius Caesar" wrote “The evil that men do lives after them ;/ The good is oft interred with their bones.” And sadly that’s true. And I think it should be the reverse. We should remember the good things and the noble things that people did, and forgive them for their failures and moments of selfishness or wrongdoing because we all have them. When we forgive them, we are essentially forgiving ourselves. Redemption should be possible.
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Are there any characters that you've kind of fallen out of love with, that you just don't, you know, get excited about any more?
I still love all the characters. Even some of them who aren't very lovable. At least the viewpoint characters. When I'm writing in the viewpoint of one of these characters, I'm really inside their skin. So, you trying to see the world through their eyes to understand why they do the things they do. And we all have, even characters who are thought of to be bad guys, who are bad guys, in some objective sense, don't think of themselves as bad guys. […] “What evil can I do today?” Real people don't think that way. We all think we're heroes, we all think we're good guys. We have our rationalizations when we do bad things. “Well, I had no choice,” or “It's the best of several bad alternatives,” or “No it was actually good because God told me so,” or “I had to do it for my family.” We all have rationalizations for why we do shitty things or selfish things or cruel things. So when I'm writing from the viewpoint of one of my characters who has done these things, I try to have that in my head. And I do, so there's an empathy there that makes me love even people like Victarion Greyjoy, who is basically a dullard and a brute. But, he feels aggrieved and sees the world a certain way. And Jaime Lannister and Theon Greyjoy, they all have their own viewpoints. I love them all. Some I love more than others, I guess.
Who do you think to be the most important characters?
They're all important. I don't favor them, or I don't think of them in terms of importance. The viewpoint characters in the first book I have are Bran, Tyrion, Catelyn, Ned, Jon Snow, the two girls Arya and Sansa. There is the core of the Stark family plus Tyrion to represent the Lannister family. Then I have Dany on the other side of the sea, Daenerys Targaryen, whose story runs parallel and some ways doesn't connect to the others, but some day I'll eventually bring those two stories together. In each subsequent volume I drop some of my viewpoint characters and add new ones. Although the same core still dominates, the cast changes somewhat, and I like to do that. In the third volume which you haven't gotten to yet (he refers to me) I have a new viewpoint character. He's been a major character, but now you see things for the first time through his eyes. Which I think changes your perception of things somewhat. I like to play that kind of game, because we all have our own way of looking at the world. Something occurs and two people witness it. They might have very different versions of what happened, and very different explanations. I like to play with parallax in my fiction, and get different versions of the same thing.
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A Song of Ice and Fire has much of the complex texture of authentic history, both generally and in its specific echoes of actual historical episodes. What laws and principles (if any) in your view govern human history, and how has your understanding of historical processes shaped the series?
Historical processes have never much interested me, but history is full of stories, full of triumph and tragedy and battles won and lost. It is the people who speak to me, the men and women who once lived and loved and dreamed and grieved, just as we do. Though some may have had crowns on their heads or blood on their hands, in the end they were not so different from you and me, and therein lies their fascination. I suppose I am still a believer in the now unfashionable "heroic" school, which says that history is shaped by individual men and women and the choices that they make, by deeds glorious and terrible. That is certainly the approach I have taken in A Song of Ice and Fire.
A Song of Ice and Fire undergoes a very interesting progression over its first three volumes, from a relatively clear scenario of Good (the Starks) fighting Evil (the Lannisters) to a much more ambiguous one, in which the Lannisters are much better understood, and moral certainties are less easily attainable. Are you deliberately defying the conventions and assumptions of neo-Tolkienian Fantasy here?
Guilty as charged. The battle between good and evil is a legitimate theme for a Fantasy (or for any work of fiction, for that matter), but in real life that battle is fought chiefly in the individual human heart. Too many contemporary Fantasies take the easy way out by externalizing the struggle, so the heroic protagonists need only smite the evil minions of the dark power to win the day. And you can tell the evil minions, because they're inevitably ugly and they all wear black. I wanted to stand much of that on its head. In real life, the hardest aspect of the battle between good and evil is determining which is which.
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When you are writing the different conflicts in Westeros, do you personally pick a side? Or feel that one side fights for a more just cause than the other?
Yes, certainly. I mean, I’ve often said that I believe in grey characters, I don’t believe in black and white characters. But that’s not to say that all characters are equally grey. You know, some are very dark grey, and some are mostly white but they still have occasional flaws. I’ve always been fascinated by human beings and all of their complexity— even human beings that do appalling things, you know, the question is ‘Why?’ And it’s interesting to get inside their head and see why. Some of my viewpoint characters have done some incredibly reprehensible things: Theon, for example, or Victarion Greyjoy. Why? Were they born a monster? Weren’t they born like a cute little kid wanting to be loved and all that? We all start out that way, right? But things happen to us on the way that lead to junctures in our lives where we make decisions, and those decisions and the consequences of them color everything that comes after. You look at [historical figures] and what’s the verdict on these men? Are they heroes, are they villains? Are they great people, or people we should despise? I mean, they are fascinating characters because of their complexity.
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“I don't concern myself over whether my characters are “likeable” or “sympathetic.” (I had my fill of that in television). My interest is in trying to make them real and human. If I can create a fully-fleshed three-dimensional character, some of my readers will like him/her, or some won't, and that's fine with me. That's the way real people react to real people in the real world, after all. Look at the range of opinions we get on politicans and movie stars. If EVERYONE likes a certain character, or hates him, that probably means he's made of cardboard. So I will let my readers decide who they like, admire, hate, pity, sympathize with, etc. The fact that characters like Sansa, Catelyn, Jaime, and Theon provoke such a wide range of reactions suggests to me that I have achieved my goal in making them human.”
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“You want the reader to care about your characters — if they don’t, then there’s no emotional involvement. But at the same time, I want my characters to be nuanced, to be gray, to be human beings. I think human beings are all nuanced. There’s this tendency to want to make people into heroes and villains. And I think there are villains in real life and there are heroes in real life. But even the greatest heroes have flaws and do bad things, and even the greatest villains are capable of love and pain and occasionally have moments where you can feel sympathetic for them. As much as I love science fiction and fantasy and imaginative stuff, you always have to go back to real life as your touchstone and say, ‘What is the truth?’”
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Nick Jonas shuts down gender stereotypes while simultaneously encouraging people to take care of themselves.
Our dear Andrew Garfield denying he's the werewolf. I'm glad it was a lie! 💫 https://twitter.com/KataDoodle/status/1483696233910874115?s=20
MCM post Ezra Miller @imezramiller ! If you haven’t already read his interview with one miss Erykah Badu @erykahbadu in November’s @interviewmag , pls do it now! Fabulous interview with gorgeous photos too. Here’s my illustration of the cover boy himself. Inspired by photos taken by @mikaeljansson , styling of the shoot by @ludivinepoiblanc . #mcm #interview #interviewmagazine #erykahbadu #ezramiller #theflash #justiceleague #justiceleaguemovie #justiceleague2017 #barryallen #mikaeljansson #ludivinepoiblanc #fashionillustration #mensfashion #mensstyle #mensfashionillustration #fashionillustration #fashionillustrator #portraitillustration #sonsofanillustriousfather #ezra #queerart #queerartist #supportqueerartists
Mcm Post Ezra Miller @imezramiller ! If you haven’t already read his interview with one miss Erykah Badu @erykahbadu in November’s @interviewmag , pls do it now! Fabulous interview with gorgeous photos too. I had to create another illustration from this beautiful shoot. Ezra is wearing @thombrowneny suit , @dolcegabbana pants and @alexandermcqueen boots.Inspired by photos taken by @mikaeljansson and styling of shoot by @ludivinepoiblanc . #mcm #interview #interviewmagazine #erykahbadu #ezramiller #theflash #justiceleague #justiceleaguemovie #justiceleague2017 #barryallen #mikaeljansson #ludivinepoiblanc #fashionillustration #mensfashion #mensstyle #mensfashionillustration #fashionillustration #fashionillustrator #portraitillustration #sonsofanillustriousfather #ezra #queerart #queerartist #supportqueerartists #thombrowne #thombrowneny #alexandermcqueen #dolceandgabbana #mcm #mancrushmonday
![[...] Doesnt She Look Bizarrely Like A Colombian Drug Cartel Leader?](https://64.media.tumblr.com/43966d034ca08b13b286a170095c3b91/383ce630b21d443b-7a/s500x750/11b4ca3caaf73ef69b69146d6b2d18f63df2b7f8.gif)
[...] doesn’t she look bizarrely like a Colombian drug cartel leader?
Katie McGrath on Lena Luthor's weeding look.
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Interview
Hello, all you wonderful little eggs!
Check out this interview I did, for a cool online magazine thingy called Twisted Plastic! I'm on pages 28 to 31. You should check out the rest of the magazine too. It's only the first issue, but it has interviews with cool famous people like God Machine. God Machine's famous right? I only know of him coz my mate Danners has a tattoo of his shit, so I assume he's famous. It'd make sense.
Hey all you BIG FRIENDS, There is a cool guy called Dom who conducts interviews while he does portraits of his guests, and he did one of meeeeee! Feast your eyes on Dom's cool art, coupled with the sounds of my awkward babbling! We talk about how much I love BIG FACES, and other stuff!
Hello friends! A little while ago a student at RMIT University in Melbourne contacted me and asked to interview me for a thing, so I said yes and did the thing. They were very nice and asked good questions and my hair is a bit messy but that’s ok!!!
What did she say?!!
Hello people of Tumblr!
So, in my communications class, we are doing a project in which we could choose to present any kind of topic that relates to pop culture. I chose to do Tumblr sexymen, as they have been a large part of my life for years and would DEFINITELY make an interesting topic to present lol
For my project, I am using examples from people of why they enjoy tumblr sexymen and what makes them special to them. If anyone is willing to participate and have me use their response in my presentation, leave a comment below telling me why tumblr sexymen are special and fun to you. Also let me know if you’d like to remain anonymous :)
Thank you all so much!!
His wifi sucked but he was still wonderful, and beautiful.
+kit being relatable
Hi, may I request Hugh Jackman x fem!reader were she's an interviewer and while she is interviewing Hugh and Ryan, Ryan notices how Hugh looks at the reader then says something about so Hugh ends up asking her out during the interview. (P.s- can there be a snippet after the fic or a part 2 were the reader and Hugh are getting married and Ryan is invited so during the reception he tells the story of how he played "matchmaker"?)
I love this!!!
I am so excited to write anyway thank you for requesting!!💗
Hugh Jackman x interviewer!reader
Warnings: Fluff Fluff Fluff!!!💗💗💗 reader is in her 30's in this fic and I decided to change Hugh's age a little as well and make him 50 (btw please tell me if there are any actual warnings because I'm delulu)
Hugh groaned as he opened his eyes to the blaring alarm in his ears. He reluctantly sat up to turn off his alarm. After he did so he yawned and stretched his muscles trying to get his sleep fogged brain to remember why he had to get up so early.
Then after a few minutes of struggling he realized he had interview with Ryan today about his new movie Deadpool & Wolverine.
He finally got up and started to get ready he took a shower, got dressed into nice clothes, and brushed his teeth and hair and when he was finally done he grabbed some breakfast (ngl I nearly put the australian term Brekkie) for the road.
As he got in the car he decide to call Ryan and talk on the drive there since it was an hour drive. As he was talking to Ryan he asked, "Hey do you know what we will be doing in today's interview?"
He honestly could never remember if it was a normal interview or something more like playing a game or something other than questions. Ryan replied, "It's supposed to be like a normal interview the interviewer is a woman this time Y/n l/n is her name or so i have been told."
that is a beautiful name he thought as he drove. Once he got there crew members were getting the shot ready. So he meet up with Ryan in the mean time who was talking the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Ryan looked up from his conversation with you and saw Hugh and eagerly waved him over. Hugh started walking as you turned to look at him you gave him a beaming smile that made your stunning e/c sparkle.
As he made his way over he couldn't help but be awe struck. Once he reached you both you stuck your hand out excitedly and introduced yourself "Hi I'm Y/n it is such an honer to meet you!"
He shook your hand with such gentleness it made your heart flutter you blushed at what he responded with "The honer is all mine, darling."
Ryan saw a look in Hugh's eyes as he stared at you and his smile turned mischievous "Y/n here was just telling me a bit about herself." Ryan told Hugh with a smirk.
"Really like what?" He asked you "He was just asking about my age and where I'm from stuff like that." you replied with a gentle voice Ryan added saying " she said that she is in her late 30's and is from (where ever you were raised)."
you smiled at them both as Hugh was about to respond one of the crew members came up to tell you it was time to start the interview. They get set up and soon the cameras start rolling.
"Hi welcome I'm Y/n l/n and today I will be interviewing Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds about their new movie Deadpool and Wolverine." You said with a enthusiastic voice. "Alright let's get started!" You continued before asking your first question.
"Okay so my first question is for Ryan what made you become a fan of Deadpool?" Ryan started laughing quietly "This is a funny story actually I found a Deadpool comic once and inside he described himself as looking like 'Ryan Reynolds crossed with Shar-Pei'."
Hugh added on "Oh yeah i remember you telling me that!" he chuckled "That is such a funny fact but I can defienitly see the Shar-Pei in him" you giggled a little and Hugh couldn't help but stare at you with love eyes.
Ryan noticed this and needed to say something before the interview was over as the interview continued with all sorts of fun such as jokes, laughter, and maybe a little flirting along with Hugh looking at you with a love sick face
“You know you two would be a really cute couple.” Ryan said randomly after one of the questions about his relationship with Blake “Really.” You say shocked. “Yea I mean you have good chemistry and man oh man you both look like lost puppy’s in love with the looks you are giving each other.”
Hugh laughed nervously but gained the confidence to ask you out "I have to agree with him on the last you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met and I would love to get to know you would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?" He said with so much hope in his eyes that this beautiful woman in front of him would say yes
"I would love to." You replied with an excited laugh "Finally, I thought I was gonna explode with how much sexual tension is happening here." Ryan added with a mischievous smile and glint in his eyes as he looked at the two people in front of him as they both turned into a blushing mess.
When the interview ended Hugh pulled you aside "Is dinner at 8:00 tonight good?" he asked with a gentle smile that made you week in the knees “It's perfect." you said with a giggle "Great I'll pick you up then." he winked at you as he left.
3 months later
you and Hugh have been thing ever since your wonderful dinner date after the interview and life couldn't be better except for Ryan’s constant bragging about bringing you together but you really couldn’t be more thankful for him for if he didn’t give you that little push who knows if you would have ever went on that date. You both have already fallen for each other fast and hard and you can't wait for the beautiful memories ahead.
I know its not great I'm still getting used to writing fanfics but I hope it lives up to your expectations
there will be a part two I loved this Idea so much please tell me if you would like to see there date and I will make that a bonus one 😉
thank you for requesting
much love,
Natt❤️
There aren't enough interviews of RJC on the internet! This one is a great little snippet
Is Rob still paying back his mortgage? He can't stop talking about it lol
He is lovely <3
Interview from Spanish TV, 2011.
@helpmemarty
The OG scheming bastards!
Who is the most attractive among the DA men?
RJC gives a complete analysis! But he's wrong about one thing.
How can he think he has no target demographic lol? I think he didn't know about Tumblr then... obviously he knows about it now ;)