HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

"smallclothes" lol
Every so often I think I want to read the books but I know I couldn't stand it

Fwiw, it's really only the sex stuff that is so terrible. iirc, the Theon and his sister stuff was also pretty cringe-worthy in the books. The rest of the writing isn't nearly that awful.

Man who worked in Hollywood for years unable to write about sex well.

The food scenes however

they did this w/ dany and khal also. hbo.

I think it might be a miscalculation (opposing, sort of, AV Club review mentions that the scene in the book is from Jamie's POV and so Cersei deciding against it is probably slanted), but I don't think it's awful exploitation re: what HBO normally does.

In the books it was the first time they saw each other since he had left, right? Here they've added him there earlier and pointedly made her distant with him.

feel like the dany/khal scene in the book weakened Dany's character and stretched credulity tbh

re:the rape scene,the whole thing has been made worse by the episode's director coming out and stating that he does not see it/it was not intended as as a rape scene. which...oooooof.

^ wow. where did the director say that?

they did this w/ dany and khal also. hbo.

you might be right, my mind might be skipping to where she shows him how he needs to be fucking her

re:the rape scene,the whole thing has been made worse by the episode's director coming out and stating that he does not see it/it was not intended as as a rape scene. which...oooooof.

― Simon H., Monday, April 21, 2014 10:52 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark

In fairness, the writer (Benioff, I think) saw it as a horrific scene

http://m.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-game-of-thrones-breaker-of-chains-uncle-deadly

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/20/game-of-thrones-most-wtf-sex-scene-nikolaj-coster-waldau-on-jaime-lannister-s-darkest-hour.html

I think it's clear they don't know what the hell they're doing

in terms of "how is this brutal violence any different from whatever they've done before," i've just finally reached my breaking point in being able to stand it. i found it increasingly difficult to stomach season 3 with the constant groping of casually nude women by fully clothed men, all the rape jokes, etc. it feels like every time we see a poor peasant woman in a house somewhere and Men Arrive, you can bet they're going to manhandle her while she tearfully struggles. i can see why people think the book version of the scene in the sept was problematic because it reduced an intrinsically coercive act to "he ravished her but ultimately she liked it," but i would rather be having THAT conversation about nuance and gray areas and cersei's negotiation of agency within that coercive situation. instead it's just more unbridled violence against women in a show that already seemed oversaturated with it.

it can be tough

Interesting to see how fans react though. Rosenberg isn't one to let these things by normally, but she's a big fan: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/04/21/what-the-rape-scene-on-last-nights-game-of-thrones-means-for-the-show/

show features a lot of sexual violence against women so every instance of rape is inherently meaningless and should go unremarked upon

or idk show features a lot of sexual violence against women so it's fucking ridiculous that they'd go out of their way to add more for even more cheap lazy story drama

except yeah maybe the creepiest thing is what the director thinks consensual looks lke

A more detailed account from the director fwiw: http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/game-of-thrones-director-on-the-rape-sex-scene.html

It’s my cut of the scene. The consensual part of it was that she wraps her legs around him, and she’s holding on to the table, clearly not to escape but to get some grounding in what’s going on. And also, the other thing that I think is clear before they hit the ground is she starts to make out with him. The big things to us that were so important, and that hopefully were not missed, is that before he rips her undergarment, she’s way into kissing him back. She’s kissing him aplenty.

so is littlefinger's changing accent meant to reflect his shapeshifty personality

Kinda surprised how people are so disturbed by so many things in the show yet Theon being mutilated, dehumanized and spiritually crushed in the most profound way gets little mention. He did kill two innocent children but I'd say he gets the worst time of anybody.

Alfie Allen tbf

^^

most disturbing thing in this so far has been seeing someone my gf went to school w/ getting butchered

Nobody cares about theon cuz he's a shitty character

"tbf"? I'm terrible at figuring out abbreviations. It taken me months to figure out "otm" and I keep coming across more ones I don't get.

I feel really sorry for him.

Anonymous characters get more concern than him?

Also the kind of full body mutilation that theon undergoes isn't a thing that still regularly happens in developed western countries

_they did this w/ dany and khal also. hbo._

No, in the book it specifically says that he rapes her constantly after their first time together to the point she wants to die.
--gyac

If you're talking about daenerys, in the book their first time occurs after she requests not to have sex, then drogo rubs on her (sensually), and then the implication is that she's "into it" and they're good to go. which is pretty absurd and gross (she's 12-13 for one thing).

But then I adore lovelovelove Peter in Mad Men and a lot of people hate him.

I sometimes think Marnie from girls is more evil than Joffrey and hope for a gruesome bloodletting death scene (joking but I do dislike her a lot).

jaime and cersei having sex next to their dead son is disturbing and that's not what people are complaining about. no one's being like "oh my stars a rape scene in game of thrones won't somebody think of the children" lusty depictions of violent rape are normalized not surprising in any way + appear all the time in media for stupid or irrelevant reasons like in this episode

I need to master this spell correct crap, I meant "bloodcurdling"

Feel like it's too soon to say "irrelevant reasons" considering the way this show operates

yeah i just can't wait to see where this develops

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/game-of-thrones/10679012/Game-of-Thrones-star-Sophie-Turner-films-rape-scene-in-front-of-parents.html

Spoiler?

handwringing over this ep is hilarious

Stop enabling fictional rape with your amused indifference

handwringing over this ep is hilarious

that's...a pretty shitty stance to take towards people talking about media depiction of rape? like i understand that my tendency to have a stereotypically Humorless Feminist response to this isn't going to be shared by everyone, but maybe you could meet me halfway and not belittle my reaction by calling it handwringing?

I don't think he was belittling anyone specifically? There has been more than one person ITT criticizing the show, what makes you think he was singling you out?

i know he's not singling me out, but i'm a participant in this collective "handwringing" and i think it's a shitty way to categorize a discussion about the depiction of rape.

Fair enough!

If you're talking about daenerys, in the book their first time occurs after she requests not to have sex, then drogo rubs on her (sensually), and then the implication is that she's "into it" and they're good to go. which is pretty absurd and gross (she's 12-13 for one thing).

the comment of mine you replied to specifically says "after their first time". that aside, I don't have any problem with the point you raised wrt her age & ability to consent in the text (also the fact she was literally sold to him).

I feel really sorry for him.

So do I, and I hated his rape/castration scene and then all the subsequent jokes made about it (lol genital mutilation) but some people just can't get enough of those...

Thought the Theon/Ramsay scene was one of the best in episode 1 and that Ramsay is working out in ways he really shouldn't have.

Ramsay was really great in the dungeon scenes; felt like it overstepped into ham territory with his father though

littlefinger cracking me up so much after two lines i've had to pause it

Can we call him Long John Littlefinger now since he fancies himself a pirate

I'm with reddening. The bad taste in my mouth wrt this show has become too bitter to ignore.

I feel like a bad person for not really feeling in any way remotely upset, annoyed or offended by any of the scenes in this show.