Are people in their 30s less likely to be into gritty fiction than the younger generation?

I'd say it's more the area where they're from and whether or not they're trying to look distinguished, respectful. Some people will claim not to watch it in public but still do. Others might not watch it because it just isn't what they're into. I doubt it's an age thing, it's more a preference thing. Also, many people in their 30's are starting families so when you have young kids running around, you kinda become more...subdued in your tastes... You kinda feel like you have to set a good example for the kids so some shows you might exclude from your watch list.

Uh...GoT has been very controversial from the beginning. The violence, nudity, homosexuality, incest...it deals with themes some folk would like to keep under wraps. Especially people in overly religious communities.Heck, some folks even criticize the "magic" in the show. Personally, I think GoT does a good job of presenting ancient/historical attitudes, but some people would prefer to ignore the grittier side of things and whitewash over them.

There have always been programs that seem to stoke the ire of different groups, (ie: Braveheart was criticized for its violence, Soap was criticized for including a gay main character, and it was either I Love Lucy or maybe the Dick Van Dyke show that first had a married couple sleeping in the same bed. Before that, married couples were always shown to have separate twin beds...and heaven help the director who actually showed a toilet in a bathroom scene. 

We live in a time where "reality" television is staged and "fantasy" television exposes the brutal facts.

Uh..... Epic post. Kudos!

I'm in my 30's and I'm more into gritty fiction than I was before.

I used to enjoy superhero movies, tv, all that kind of stuff. I gradually got bored of it. I kind of assumed it was because it was too clean, but actually I think this may have been wrong. I'm bored of it because it's too predictable. It doesn't matter if the show is pg or adult rated, most of the time I'm able to tell how the story will unfold. Maybe not the fine details, but the gist of it.

Take GOT for example. I actually appreciate the sex, the incest, the child-killing. It's just a show. Some of this is just for shock value and it does annoy me, because instead of getting emotional over it it just makes me roll my eyes. I wish it was better thought out. But I appreciate the show not shying away from subjects that where taboo for a long time in media, I just wish they were better executed. But here's the thing - I do not expect, for one moment, that the show will end in the White Walkers leveling the lands and ruling over them. And you know what? I want to. I want to be kept on my toes, since the show established itself to be so 'gritty'. If the gimmick is 'anyone can die', I want to experience that. I want to be surprised and shocked. But in all honesty, I bet I won't be. Someone from the human side will win, and it might be a 'bittersweet' victory, but it will still happen in accordance to popular media laws. It's all just so... predictable.

Mind you, I appreciate nice, wholesome stories. I like the good guy winning. But I'd also like to see other narratives, where the good guys don't win, shit just happens, and no one can do anything about it. That's bad, but that's how life is, sometimes. The thing is, right now 'gritty' media aren't really 'gritty', they're titillating. Rape, incest, horrible murder happens, but someone nice still wins in the end, so who cares. We may shed a few tears for the dead characters we liked, but they died for a good cause in the end, eh?

Haha, maybe I'm biased, but I'm genuinely bored by media that never manage to surprise me anymore. All in all, I want different narratives, nice and unpleasant ones, not tropes recycled over and over, whether they're 'wholesome' or 'gritty'. I'd like to see good characters become bad and succeed, bad characters win because they're ruthless, ambiguous characters become ruthless and succeed at doing good... idk, just anything that hasn't been done to death before!

I look at the popular young adult fiction and how it's most cheerful, and funny, and laid back. Then I look at a lot of adult fantasy, which is currently a bit grim dark. Then I think "probably not"

Not sure a statement like 'people in their 30 do ____ ' is all that helpful. People will like what they like usually regardless of age. I think other factors like location, up bringing, lifestyle, income, education and happiness play a much larger role than age.

GoT was not a reason of morale decline but a sign of decades long moral decline incorporated in G.Martin books that got visualized by HBO.