Spoiler of the Spoilt
May. 19th, 2015 09:06 amAt the same time that menimists are complaining about the way Charlize Theron plays a person as opposed to reward totty in Mad Max Fury Road, thereby emasculating the whole of western civilisation, the Game of Thrones TV writers have created a whole new plot out of the vicious rape of a main female character.
It's not as though there isn't enough sexploitation in the books; every so many pages, GRR Martin would have a new degradation for some woman. A man might die or be tortured, a woman would inevitably be sexually tortured and humiliated before death. The given explanation is that Westernos is a horrible world. But notice that male rapes and child rapes, also part of our horrible world, do not turn up in Westeros...because they aren't where the frisson is. Write in that kind of stuff and it looks questionable at best, disgusting at worst. Rape? Well, rape is a useful plot device for when even dragons can't hide the fact that the series is draggin'.
There is a cure for rape culture. We don't have to buy it. The TV has an off button, time to use it.
It's not as though there isn't enough sexploitation in the books; every so many pages, GRR Martin would have a new degradation for some woman. A man might die or be tortured, a woman would inevitably be sexually tortured and humiliated before death. The given explanation is that Westernos is a horrible world. But notice that male rapes and child rapes, also part of our horrible world, do not turn up in Westeros...because they aren't where the frisson is. Write in that kind of stuff and it looks questionable at best, disgusting at worst. Rape? Well, rape is a useful plot device for when even dragons can't hide the fact that the series is draggin'.
There is a cure for rape culture. We don't have to buy it. The TV has an off button, time to use it.