Why Critics Hate Viewers Love ABC “Good Doctor”

Few performances have completely divided critics and viewers into the ABC’s new “ Good Doctor ” movie. The performance gets strong acceptance from 90 percent of the audience, but a poor 37 percent from Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

Doctor

This 53 percentage point difference is huge and rivals the announcements of some of the biggest TV shows or movies on the online review site. (In comparison, the critically hated 2013 Adam Sandler movie “I Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” has a difference of 55 percentage points.)

Critics seem to think that “good doctor” – a great autistic surgeon – is too sentimental. But viewers are embracing that sentimentality and raw feeling. The show is a big hit for ABC and Any Network’s latest drama this fall.

The performance is both melodramatic and powerful. The season premiere features flashbacks depicting the terrible start to Dr. Shaun Murphy, actor Freddie Highmore, show. We are talking about death and homelessness.

Highmore doesn’t have many rules, but his short speeches are strong. He simply explains to administrators who do not dare to hire him why he wants to become a surgeon. At other times, he asks doctors why they are rude or arrogant.

The dialogue may have shrunk slightly. The doctor wonders that Dr. Murphy saves the boy at the airport with an impromptu operation: “He’s breathing! You saved his life! Then to the crowd around them,” He saved his life! Everyone is happy.

The president of the hospital, who asked for Dr. Murphy, gives a warm speech to the reluctant government, which was concerned that an autistic doctor could lead to lawsuits, including this sentence: “We hire Shaun and run this hospital. Better for him. ”

Yes, the show works hard to draw your heart. Most of the time it works. The performance is entertaining, dramatic and fascinating.

Good luck

The success is a coup for actor Daniel Dae Kim, a former Bethlehem resident who bought the rights to the Korean drama “Good Doctor” and is the lead producer of the US version. Kim presents other exhibitions with her new production company.

The creative force of the show is David Shore, who also created the drama “House” about a brilliant doctor who also had problems with other people. Shore made no apologies for the emotional level of the “good doctor.”

“There is an honest, shameless honesty in this show that I find very refreshing,” said Shore Indiewire. “She makes you cry without a problem.”

Fantastic creatures of the world of “A Song of Ice and Fire

Creating the world of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, which has now become one of the most popular fantasy universes, writer George Martin was inspired by the real history and biology. Martin inhabited his novels by a multitude of diverse creatures: from those, which are standard for a fantasy genre to extremely unusual ones. The author takes the process of creating his fantasy world very meticulously, including the description of its rich fauna. In this article, we offer to take a look at the most significant and unusual creatures of “A Song of Ice and Fire”.

1. Dragons

Dragons are for sure the most famous animals in “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. At the beginning of the plot these huge flying lizards were considered extinct, but the inhabitants of Westeros did not forget about them. People retold different legends and songs about dragons and some castles had walls burned by their flame.

Externally Westeros dragons looked like their counterparts from other fantasy novels. However, local dragons have only two paws. A pair of leathery wings grows from the dragon’s shoulders and their head is decorated with horns. They have long twisted neck and equally long tail. Dragons are capable of breathing fire, which has an extremely high temperature and is able to melt metal and stone.

Dragons are very rare animals and in the past times were found mainly in the mountains on the southern tip of the continent of Essos. Valyrian aristocrats tamed the mighty lizards and conquered much of the continent with their help. But the series of terrible cataclysms destroyed the Valyrian Peninsula along with the dragons. Only a few of the dragons survived when Targaryen transported them to a small islet on the Eastern part of the Westeros. However, each new generation was smaller and weaker and in two hundred years the last adult lizard died.

It is believed that dragons are somehow connected to magic. After the fall of Valyrian Freehold, the magic in the West was almost extinguished. But there is also a reverse pattern: after the death of the last dragon, magic became weaker and supernatural phenomenon practically disappeared. The summers became colder and shorter, while winters were longer and sterner. However, when three new dragons were hatched in the funeral of Drogo, the magic began to return to the world of Westeros.

Dragon egg

Dragon egg

2. Animals behind the Wall

The reader of “A Song of Ice and Fire” will from time to time come across living creatures, prototypes of which died on Earth thousands of years ago. Nevertheless, according to the novels, these species are also under the threat of extinction and live only in the most remote and hard-to-reach areas, mainly behind the Wall.

Direwolves

The lands behind the Wall are poorly studied and have almost no connection to the rest of the continent. This might be the only reason why severe predators direwolves survived. Direwolves are much larger, fiercer and smarter that the ordinary wolves. Their heads are rounder, legs are longer and the muzzle is more prominent. To the South of the Wall there are no real opponents for the direwolves among the animal world, therefore people were the most likely reason of their extinction. During the winter direwolves would gather together and attack neighboring places, so no wonder that the northerners decided to get rid of the dangerous creatures.

Direwolf

Direwolf

Shadowcat

These large animals mostly hunt for goats and rams but might eat a man on occasion. The size of these cats makes them a dangerous opponent even for direwolves. However, these wild creatures rarely intersect, since direwolves mostly live in forests, while shadowcats prefer mountains. Shadowcats emit low deep roaring and have narrow gray eyes. Thick and warm black fur with white stripes makes them coveted prey for hunters.

Mammoth

Mammoths live far to the North behind the Wall on the island of Ibben. Mammoths are large enough to carry two giants. They are covered with thick wool and have huge tusks. Wildlings domesticated mammoths and use them for riding. Other wildings use mammoth as fighting animals and put wooden turrets on the back of the animal, where several archers can be places.

3. Mythical creatures

In “A Song of Ice and Fire” series the truth and fiction intertwined so closely, that sometimes it is hard to figure out which animals of the local folklore live in the world of Westeros and which are just a part of human imagination.

For example, kraken (a symbol of the Greyjoy House) is a giant squid, which has not been seen by anyone during the whole series, therefore it’s hard to tell their actual size. On the other hand, according to the legends, kraken is quite capable of dragging a whaling vessel under the water, so it is probably not just a simple octopus.

Another House decided to depict basilisks on its emblem. These evil and dangerous creatures from the Yi Ti jungle externally look like chickens. But unlike domestic animals basilisks are poisonous and if a person would add their blood into the food, it would cause a violent insanity.

There are also Manticores, which live on the continent of Essos. George Martin describes them as aggressive and dangerous insects with sharp sting on the tip of the tail and one part looking like a human face. Their bite is deadly, and the poison acts almost instantly, which makes them a favorite weapon of poisoners.

Manticore

Manticore

4. Non-Human races

There are no usual elves, orcs or dwarfs in the fantasy world of George Martin. But humans are not the only intelligent race. More ancient races have survived behind the Wall.

Giants are one of them. They are powerful creatures, covered with thick wool and a height of three or four meters. Giants look more like bears than humans. Although they retain some semblance of civilization, they still speak the language of the First Men. Giants live somewhere North and rarely can be seen near the Wall. Many members of the Night Watch decided that this race has died out. However, when Mance Rayder has assembled an army to storm the Wall, there were several giants, perhaps, the last ones.

Children of the Forest

Children of the Forest

Another intelligent race in the world of Westeros is the Children of the Forest. Small creatures have inhabited the lands of the Seven Kingdoms long before the kingdoms itself. They settled in thickets, caves and island in the middle of lakes in secret dwellings on the trees. Little Children of the Forest, according to the legends, worshiped the Old Gods even before people did. They were dressed in outfits made of bark and leaves and did not know any metals.

White Walker

White Walker

The Giants and the Children of the Forest have no special business for people, but behind the Wall, there is a much more terrible race - White Walkers. These sinister supernatural beings are associated with cold, night and long winter.

Once, White Walkers invaded the territory of the Seven Kingdoms and brought with them a long winter and a long night. They destroyed cities and villages and a life of Westeros in general. But in the end, they were defeated and thrown back to the far North. It was after the victory over the White Walkers the giant Wall was built on the northern boarder of the Seven Kingdoms, which protection was entrusted to the Night's Watch. During this time the White Walkers never showed up, and the Night's Watch turned into a place of exile for criminals and fallen.

5 reasons to start reading “A Song of Ice and Fire immediately

“A Song of Ice and Fire” is a series of epic fantasy novels by an American writer George R.R. Martin. The first three novels received the Locus award. The series has been translated into more than 20 languages and has a screen version in form of a TV show. Events of the plot take place in a fictional world, mainly on the continent called Westeros. The main characters are engaged in a fight over the Iron Throne. After the murder of King Robert I Baratheon unfolds a bloody battle over the power, in which the positive characters die first. “A Song of Ice and Fire” is full of blood, suffering, death and despair. George Martin luring the reader into a trap: one second the reader feels a hope for a successful outcome, but everyone dies instead.

As expected, the novels end at the most interesting and exciting part, which makes it so difficult not to read the next one. Reading this series you will get you acquainted with the sullen, cruel, unfair, but unspeakably attractive world. It is not a secret that George Martin did not restrain himself while writing “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, which makes the books a little hefty. Therefore when HBO decided to make a screen version of the novels, its budget could not withstand every scene the writer came up with. For that reason “Game of Thrones” creators were forced to cut the original story, throwing out characters and even whole families just to squeeze the plot in 10 episodes per season. As a result, the viewer might have some unanswered questions, answers to which can be only found in “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels. But if you still feel like it is not enough to get you to read almost 4000 pages of fantasy, we’ve come up with 5 reasons to dive into the world of Kings, intrigues and unusual creatures right away.

“A Song of Ice and Fire” novels

“A Song of Ice and Fire” novels

1. Uncommon approach to a traditional genre of literature

The world of fantasy usually has a standard model: there are two opposing camps of characters with a clearly traced frontier. The reader can determine what’s good and what’s bad at the first glance and naturally pick the positive character. Events often accompanied by magic and mythical creatures in almost every chapter.

George Martin has destroyed the main templates of this genre and made his plot closer to the real world, which is not common in the world of fantasy. Legends about the white walkers and dragons intertwine with the main story line of the novel, which emphasizes the complexity of the political and social environment of Westeros. Magic is hardly mentioned in the first two novels. Martin puts the main emphasis on describing moral qualities of characters and makes them more human, hesitating between good and evil.

2. Photo-like description of characters and events

Unlike most novelists, Martin's writing style is similar to the art of photography. The author gives a reader an exhaustive and most detailed image of a character. Other writers often go into spacious descriptions, which can last up to several pages. George Martin, on the other hand, reveals the nature of the character with the progress of the narrative. He also does not focus reader’s attention on long preliminary acquaintance.

Martin’s characters are very different and multifaceted. The reader will enjoy observing the metamorphoses of individuals. It seems like the author allows you to enter someone else’s mind to demonstrate the whole complexity of the human soul. Detailed descriptions, juicy dialogues, filled with non-standard speech, allow experiencing the spirit of this epic saga.

3. The secret meaning of every phrase

Another unique feature of “A Song of Ice and Fire” series is its constant surprises and a secret meaning of almost every phrase in the book. There are no unimportant facts, unnecessary words or stupid actions. Even when the main secret is revealed, the reader still remains with a lot of unanswered questions. George Martin keeps his audience in a constant tension and allows his reader to build their own logical explanations and unthinkable theories. He surrounds the reader with numerous characters, story lines and specific political aspects of the fictional world. Moral dilemmas bring confusion into known values of life and provide a lot of food for thought. “A Song of Ice and Fire” series definitely leaves you with mixed emotions and bittersweet feelings after finishing it. Favorite characters die, while evil successes over good. Needless to say that unlike “A Song of Ice and Fire” the show “Game of Thrones” looks very much as a simplistic retelling, where separate story lines are simply removed and many hints and secrets look way too obvious.

A person reads “A Song of Ice and Fire”

A person reads “A Song of Ice and Fire”

4. Fantasy with a historical aftertaste

“A Song of Ice and Fire” is not just a colorful fairy tale about knights, kings and dragons. It is a quite serious story based on genuine historical events (the Wars of the Roses) transferred to the fictional world of Westeros. Furthermore, the amount of fiction in these novels is so insignificant that in many chapters it is simply absent. Due to this reason, the reader periodically gets the feeling that he is reading a serious historical novel. Everything from the language of the narrative to entourage and detailed description of the way of life contributes to immersing in the atmosphere of the Middle Ages. Even character’s attitude towards magic, dragons and other fantasy creatures is suspicious, which resembles with people from “our” world. Miracles are not something ordinary. Dragons and magic raise the fear and healthy curiosity in Martin’s characters.

The map of Westeros

The map of Westeros

5. Main characters may die any minute

In “A Song of Ice and Fire” series George Martin completely destroys the aura of immunity, which usually accompanies all main characters in fantasy stories. Anyone may die or become a cripple, even good characters. The reader may be shocked at first, but this unusual approach just brings more interest to the story. From now on every dangerous moment seems to be more real because there are no more guarantees that the character will survive. This fact keeps the reader in constant tension and suspense.

Another distinguishing feature of “A Song of Ice and Fire” series is the fact that the opposing forces of the plot are never purely evil or absolutely good. Just like in real life, everyone has their own truth, fighting for their happiness, family and well-being. There is no universal system of good and evil, character’s actions have complex moral overtones, which bring a level of empathy to the extreme peak point. Martin makes you cry, laugh and feel hurt together with his characters.

Daenerys Targaryen is one of the characters from “A Song of Ice and Fire”

Daenerys Targaryen is one of the characters from “A Song of Ice and Fire”

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