House of the Dragonmay have had a phenomenal first season, but it is not immune to criticism. In a recent interview, showrunner Ryan Condal discussed fan complaints and when criticism takes a step too far.
House of the Dragonfeatures plenty of amazing performances and has lots of love and care going into it. Some have complained about certain aspects of the show, however. From fan complaints about the darkenedlighting ofHouse of the Dragonepisode 7to complaints about certain aspects of the writing,House of the Dragonis, by no means, perfect. But of course, such complaints are subjective, and sometimes the fanbase can go a bit far in its criticism.
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Condal addressed some of theseHouse of the Dragoncomplaints in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter. With regards to the lighting, Condal stated, “…it’s hard to account for everybody’s everybody’s televisions and their calibrations and sometimes the file can get compressed. So the show can look very different than the thing that we saw and approved and released.” However, Condal seemed conscious of the criticisms, and said, “But look: It’s our job to take all that into account. These are one of the things that you learn in the making of a show – you take that knowledge into account when making season two and say, ‘How can we do better?’ The feedback was certainly heard. I get it. And we want the show to be a great viewing experience for everybody.”
House of the Dragonexecutive producer Sara Hess has recently faced the ire of parts of the fandom. There have been severalchanges toHouse of the Dragon’s source material- some of which worked, and some of which did not. Some did not like Hess' decisions and she received a wave of backlash on social media in certain circles. “I was actually pretty horrified at the way Sara has been treated. She was horribly attacked in a way that’s completely unacceptable. She’s my right hand in this. We wrote the first season together – 85 percent of the writing in the first season is Sara and I. Nothing that was put on screen did not pass through my filter – or hers, for that matter," Condal said of the hate. “Nothing is done in a silo, it all comes across my desk, that’s my job, that’s how it works. And the idea that just because you don’t agree with something that happens in a fictional television show you may go and attack real people online remains a bizarre, alien and, frankly, horrifying concept to me. It’s why I don’t exist on social media.”
Ultimately, it comes down to the issue of parasocial relationships on social media. While in the fans’ minds, Hess is just an abstract figure for fans to latch onto with theirHouse of the Dragoncriticisms, Hess is actually a real person. Facing a tidal wave of harsh criticism and outrage, including calls for her to lose her job, Hess' treatment is a bit overboard.
Criticism ofHouse of the Dragondoes not need to be vitriolic. Some fan complaints are perfectly valid (the lighting issue also plaguedGame of Thrones' final seasonin “The Long Night”), but they cross the territory into absurdity when creative decisions are taken as a personal attack. Fans have a great connection with these characters, which means something is going right, but the characters are fictional, and the crew is not.
House of the Dragonis streaming on HBO Max.
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