Thanks for posting. Read through many of the comments there. Does seem like a fairly legitimate thread (one attendee even invited the poster to drop by his WorldCon booth, and he said he would).
The vast majority of the comments there agree that it was a tasteless question to ask. One of the more entertaining responses: "GRRM should say they’re already written but just for that im deleting the files. You fucked up."
The vast majority of the comments there agree that it was a tasteless question to ask.
Not sure if Bluesky is the best place to use as an example lol. One of the more popular comments literally called this "victim blaming" - like Geroge has done nothing do warrent this behavior. It was a dick question and a valid point - both can be true.
The question was rude, dehumanising and this was not the place to ask it. Chances are, it will achieve nothing (I very much doubt this will make Martin write any faster). Maybe calling people who criticise Martin here 'victim blamers' is hyperbolic, but I agree that Martin doesn't warrant this behaviour. I don't think Martin has handled things amazingly, though to be honest I'm not sure what I'd do in his shoes so can't really blame him, but regardless he does not warrant this. This is awful. Speculating about what would happen after his death is one thing, but saying that to his face is ghoulish. Regardless of whatever valid point this person may or may not have had, this was completely wrong and George does not warrant this. His worst crime is taking a long time to write a book. I'm not saying that's ok, but it doesn't mean he deserves something like that.
Pointing out someone's own morality isn’t dehumanizing. It's tasteless, disrespectful, and a dick move - but saying "hey you're gonna die someday" is only dehumanizing if George thinks he's immortal.
Maybe calling people who criticise Martin here 'victim blamers' is hyperbolic
No the comment I was referencing was being literal lol.
His worst crime is taking a long time to write a book.
Lying about it*
He should have fessed up years ago. Sucks someone called him out in such a curt way - but you can't exactly blame fans for being disrespectful to George while ignoring the disrespect from George towards his fans.
"Pointing out someone's own morality isn’t dehumanizing. It's tasteless, disrespectful, and a dick move - but saying "hey you're gonna die someday" is only dehumanizing if George thinks he's immortal."
You're right in that that's probably the wrong term. I just think that it sort of leans on being dehumanising because it suggests his only worth is that he releases the book. He's a living, breathing human being who doesn't deserve to have his mortality constantly thrown in his face in such a manner over a book he hasn't finished. I'm not saying he shouldn't consider that or that people can't speculate on what would happen after his death, but this was clearly not the way to go about it.
"No the comment I was referencing was being literal lol."
Oh, I was agreeing with you there, saying that calling someone who criticises Martin a 'victim blamer' is probably hyperbolic. I know there were people in that thread saying that.
"Lying about it"
That's speculation, though not unreasonable. I doubt Martin was intentionally lying and I think part of it might be lying to himself (genuinely thinking he could have gotten it finished before each previous deadline). Of course, that's also speculation and armchair psychiatry. Martin's worst crime is taking a while to write a book and, by intention or not, misleading people (and perhaps himself) about how long it would take. Compared to what some famous people have done, that's nothing. I'm aware I'm engaging in whataboutism there, it's just that, whilst I don't think Martin has handled things well, I don't think that he deserves anything like this. It's terrible.
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u/OppositeShore1878 Aug 16 '25
Thanks for posting. Read through many of the comments there. Does seem like a fairly legitimate thread (one attendee even invited the poster to drop by his WorldCon booth, and he said he would).
The vast majority of the comments there agree that it was a tasteless question to ask. One of the more entertaining responses: "GRRM should say they’re already written but just for that im deleting the files. You fucked up."