I noted yesterday that a number of people (including a sitting U.S. senator!) have declared themselves "done" with Game of Thrones following this Sunday's episode. (In order to avoid having to slap a spoiler warning here, I'll just say to click through to yesterday's post to see what the inciting incident was.) In that post, I highlighted that The Mary Sue, a blog for lady-geeks, by lady-geeks, had decided to stop covering the program altogether. I was intrigued by the word choice that accompanied this announcement:
The use of the word "promoting" there is an interesting one, especially when Pantozzi gets around to discussing what the site's decision actually entails:
So, from this point forth there will no longer be recaps, photo galleries, trailers, or otherwise promotional items about Game of Thrones on The Mary Sue. The newsworthiness of other items will be discussed by the editorial team on a case by case basis.
I am, perhaps, being a bit persnickety here. There's definitely a kind of gray area. Fans of the show are undoubtedly interested in seeing photos from the set and trailers—making them newsworthy—but said photos and trailers are equally undoubtedly "promotional" items. What is a trailer but an ad for something larger? What is a set photo but something to stoke your appetite?
The inclusion of "recaps" in this list, however, is a bit more troubling. Because it suggests that engaging in the critical art of the recap is little more than performing an act of advertising for the program. I would never dream of saying, "Well, I'm not going to review Tomorrowland because I don't want to promote the film due to its dopey environmentalist message." A critique is not (or, at least, it is not necessarily) an act of promotion. Certainly not if it's done well or with care. A critique engages with art, helps the audience place it within the context of similar works, and starts a conversation. Can a critic champion a work in order to help it find a broader audience? Sure. (See: Pauline Kael's advocacy on behalf of Bonnie and Clyde.) But that sort of work is generally the exception, not the rule.
That being said, using the word "promoting" to serve as a synonym for "recapping" is a clever rhetorical trick on The Mary Sue's part. Because what they're implying is that everyone else who continues to recap the show is engaging in a form of promotion. They are saying, more or less, that those who engage with Game of Thrones are promoting rape culture. This shifts the onus off of The Mary Sue and onto everyone else who chooses to engage with the show on a critical level: "Well, we're done with this show. If you want to keep promoting a show in which bad thoughts and bad actions are expressed, that's on you."