There was no consent in a brutal “Game of Thrones” scene. It’s time for rape to stop being cable’s narrative device
Last night’s “Game of Thrones” episode “Breaker of Chains” was shocking, which is saying something in a show that has consistently expanded the threshold for shocking us. Sure, some of the show’s most perverse scenes come from George R.R. Martin’s brain. But the show runners continue to take strange liberties with the source material, particularly when it comes to sexual violence.
At this point, audiences have come to expect that there are no limits to the brutality these characters will be forced to endure. At its best, “Game of Thrones” tempers this brutality by embroiling its very compelling characters in all manners of intrigue. At its worst, “Game of Thrones” makes brutality seem gratuitous, unremarkable and, at least within this fictional world, inevitable.
In last night’s episode, Cersei was raped by her brother and lover Jaime, next to the corpse of their son Joffrey. Jaime was enraged because Cersei had asked him to kill Tyrion Lannister, their brother, whom she blames for the murder of Joffrey. There was no ambiguity to the scene. Cersei repeatedly said no. She said, “Stop.” She said, “Not here.” She said, “This is not right.” She resisted Jaime’s efforts, to no avail. The scene was unequivocally a rape scene and it was not merely shocking. It was thoroughly senseless. The episode’s director, Alex Graves, said, of the scene, “Well, it becomes consensual by the end, because anything for them ultimately results in a turn-on, especially a power struggle.” He goes on to add, “That’s one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever done.”
Whatever Graves’ artistic intentions may have been, something went terribly wrong here. What ended up on the screen was sensationalized rape. In the books, Cersei and Jaime do, indeed, have a sexual encounter as Joffrey’s corpse lies in repose, and that scene is rough — but Cersei’s consent is clear. It is curious that the show once again decided to take a consensual sexual encounter, as written in the books, and turn it into rape for the television audience. It’s a shame that they knew they could take this liberty without consequence.
Sick Boy
/ July 3, 2015How about simply not watching if you’re bothered with it?
You know time it really is? It’s time for you activists to stop rallying for causes that will infest even more censorship and more political correctness onto this wretched western culture.
Banning free speech won’t stop the deeds of evil people. Just get over yourself!