Apparently, something big happened in Game Of Thrones last night. I don't know what it was, and I'm not going to find out. I have stopped watching Game Of Thrones for two reasons:
1) I don't watch shows or movies that include torture or rape. I watch shows where bad guys get punched and shot, but not where they get tortured. If a bad guy is attacking your family, it's OK to shoot him. It's never OK to torture or rape him.
I don't ignore torture and rape in the real world. I know they exist and make some effort to stop them (such as by being a member of Amnesty International). But I don't want it in my fiction.
2) I believe that Game Of Thrones is rape culture. I'm sure this point will be more controversial than #1, as my circle of friends includes an above-average number of feminists and an above-average number of GoT viewers. I don't have the time to construct a cogent argument (especially since I promised no spoilers), so I will just leave this point open for discussion...
There's a lot I like about GoT. I look forward to renting it on Netflix five years from now, after the torture and rape culture have been edited out.
Uh, they are never going to edit stuff out like you suggest down the road. And things like Game of Thrones would be significantly worse without realism.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how naked women and torture count as "realism". They do exist in the world, but so do Care Bears, and GoT has no Care Bears.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read the books but was told that when Tyrian visits Winterfell in the book, his first stop is a library, to show the character's thirst for knowledge.
On HBO, Tyrian's first stop is a whorehouse. So if "realism" means matching the books, HBO failed in favor of adding tits.