Chuck's out

Judderman said:
Misery porn is somewhat of an exaggeration. Ok it is often grim and you can claim a few scenes fall in to that category but we are seeing intrigue interspersed with shocks. In the TV series the main comedy or more light hearted sections come via Bronn and Tyrion. Also Sam to some extent in earlier episodes and the odd dry comment by the likes of Jaime, or seeing royal advisors being foolish. I agree Edd could have been kept as amusing on TV. Also the sexual imagery could be toned down, but as has been said this probably adds viewers.

Sansa tries to escape so she does show a kind of bravery to take the risk.
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And in the show, they are sadly not enough of those scenes. And I'm not talking about just comedy. I'm talking about small and short scenes of humanity and love and warmth that find their way to shine. I'd much rather they kept the scene where Jon talks to Alys Karstark than half a dozen of those sex scenes they feel the need to abuse to much. Or where Loras speaks about his love for Renly and how he takes the white because when the sun goes out, no candle can replace it (which they replaced with that Generic Gay Guy #12). Or Ellaria's passionate speech about the never-ending circle of vengeance that only brings death, and emptiness, and no consolation for anyone (instead of "Doran's way and peace or my way and war" blah ew). Or kindness Jaime does to Pia and how he learns to balance and trying to build instead of just destroy and how to honour his vows. Show sucked out the humanity from the story at least for me because it took the sex and the gore and the flashiness and made it the focus instead of an equal part and I got bored of it and it became a chore. When all you bank on is the shock value, it just stops being shocking and gets boring because you have nothing to contrast it with.
 
Not sure the show is mainly misery porn (though there is misery porn in it). It's really about pushing the envelope of shock, melodrama, sex and violence. There's an audience that can't get enough of that stuff. But it is a kind of porn in the sense that a lot of people most avid for it will get de-sensitized to a given level of shock, sex, and violence, and so need to see things relentlessly ramped up to get the same kick of shock.

Srylanna said:
Martin is pretty aware that you can't overstuff it with misery and, for me personally, it is very visible in the Jon Snow storyline due to sheer genius of creating Dolorous Edd.
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While Dolorous Edd is a memorable character, and a great foil for Jon Snow, I'm pretty sure he was inspired by the character of Preserved Killick from Patrick O'Brian's naval novels. Here's what wikipedia has to say about Preserved Killick:

Preserved Killick is Aubrey's shrewish steward, inherited from Captain Allen when Aubrey assumes command of HM Sloop Sophie in Master and Commander. He also comes to unofficially care for Maturin (The Fortune of War, p. 57), particularly his long-suffering uniforms and clothes, and never resists the opportunity to nag either of them (though mostly Maturin, his habits generally leaving him looking much shabbier than Aubrey) for their carelessness in appearance. He is also known to listen in on their private conversations, steal from the captain's private stores, and drain more than his fair share of wine from the captain's table. Despite all these shortcomings, he is a highly valued, fiercely loyal and well-respected member of Aubrey's crew.​

Killick complains all the time, generally expects the worst, and yet is steadfastly loyal. Since Martin is an avid reader of historical fiction, and O'Brian's works are some of the most famous and well-loved in the genre, I'd lay odds that's where Dolorous Ed came from.
 
MWagner said:
While Dolorous Edd is a memorable character, and a great foil for Jon Snow, I'm pretty sure he was inspired by the character of Preserved Killick from Patrick O'Brian's naval novels. Here's what wikipedia has to say about Preserved Killick:

Preserved Killick is Aubrey's shrewish steward, inherited from Captain Allen when Aubrey assumes command of HM Sloop Sophie in Master and Commander. He also comes to unofficially care for Maturin (The Fortune of War, p. 57), particularly his long-suffering uniforms and clothes, and never resists the opportunity to nag either of them (though mostly Maturin, his habits generally leaving him looking much shabbier than Aubrey) for their carelessness in appearance. He is also known to listen in on their private conversations, steal from the captain's private stores, and drain more than his fair share of wine from the captain's table. Despite all these shortcomings, he is a highly valued, fiercely loyal and well-respected member of Aubrey's crew.​

Killick complains all the time, generally expects the worst, and yet is steadfastly loyal. Since Martin is an avid reader of historical fiction, and O'Brian's works are some of the most famous and well-loved in the genre, I'd lay odds that's where Dolorous Ed came from.
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Insipred doesn't mean not created. It doesn't really matter for the point I'm making TBH.
 
That the show is getting these kind of responses out of people means it's doing its job pretty damn well. It's getting inside people's heads, sucking them in, striking a chord in their hearts. And then tearing them apart...

Even if the responses declare negativity towards the show, D&D can still take it as a positive and consider the show a runaway success. Just look at how crazy things are on facebook over this most recent season. Ever since the finale, each time I open my news feed, I see new posts/comments about the show, some positive, but more negative, yet these people keep watching it anyway. They live for that misery. They want something to complain about. And they love it when the show gives them exactly what they need to vent.
 
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Apart from the misery, of which there is quite a lot, the acting is damned good. Thevshow, similar to the books, is riveting in parts and plodding in other areas. The strength of the show lies in how the actors play their parts which allows the series to rise above the 'misery porn'. Lena Heady is brilliant as Cersei, Stephen Dillane brought depth to Stannis, I have witnessed Sophie Turner develop as an accomplished actor through the years and I really cannot wait to see actor playing Bran show of his acting chops as a tree.

Personally I do not get a kick out of the misery. The other night I was at a talk given by Robert Fisk and he was recounting the events of his latest trip to Syria. What he described was real misery in a world destroyed by civil war. Westeros is a fictional world destroyed by civil war. I think Martin would be selling his audience short by stinting on the horror of war. For me ASOIAF has always being an anti-war story dressed up in epic fantasy.
 
I'm not sure he intended to make an anti-war story dressed up in epic fantasy. Rather, Martin wanted to bring the blood and betrayal and arbitrary misfortunes of history (and historical fiction) to the fantasy genre. The graphic portrayal of said misfortunes are his reaction against the constraints of working in television in the 80s and 90s.
 
It is my interpretation of the story, Martin quite possibly wrote it for the reasons that you say, I believe he has said so.
 
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