Terrible People Making Bad Decisions
aka all the shows I watch
Game of Thrones: as seen by the internet
I haven’t read or seen Game of Thrones! But I know plenty about it, because Tumblr. Mostly, what I know is everyone is probably dead and Winter is Coming? So, here’s a breakdown!
HAIR GUY:
This is Hair Guy! So named because he looks like he’s in a goddamn shampoo commercial, seriously. He could be Sam Winchester’s curly haired ancestor or something. Probably participates in “Ye Olde Familie Buisness.” He stands around in the snow looking sad a lot. He’d probably be happier on a beach! Get a tan, show off for some babes. But he’s stuck in the snow. Poor Hair Guy.
Samwell Tarly. Doing it right.
In Defense of Sansa Stark
Sansa plays an important role in the narrative, because she shows how societal expectations of women completely screw them over. She believes in everything that her parents and her septa have taught her. She believes in stories, and she believes that the greatest thing she can do is marry the prince (who will, of course, be chivalrous and honorable and handsome and kind) and have his children. She has spent her life in the cold castle of the North, dreaming of stories of tournaments and beauty in the south. Because people want her to be that way. That is how they think the ideal young woman should be. And it almost destroys her. Worse, it brings the reader’s hatred down on her, because even though women are told they are only “good” if they fit into this role, the role itself is seen as weak, manipulative, stupid and generally inferior. It is the Catch 22 of being a woman, both in Westeros and in our own world: no matter what you do, you are criticized, especially if you don’t act like Arya Stark and fight to become “one of the boys.” And so some “fans” of the series declare that they wish Sansa would get raped, a woman’s punishment for daring to act how she has been taught. For daring to act feminine, and making mistakes while doing so.
And all this hatred misses the fact that Sansa is one of the strongest individuals in the entire series. In a world where people drop like flies, in an abusive situation that would break so many people, Sansa survives. Sansa endures. She stays strong, and she never gives up. As Brienne says to Catelyn, she has a “woman’s courage.” She learns how to play the game. She wears her courtesy for her armor, and she listens, and she adapts, and she keeps her cards close to her chest. She learns how to smile and curtsey and use her words to keep going long after other, older, more experienced players, including her father, are destroyed. But she will not kneel. She will not weaken. She remains strong, and she remains determined, because the North remembers, and her day will come. Her “woman’s courage” keeps her alive and in the game where characters like Arya would not last five minutes.
…
Traditional femininity is not innately inferior. It has its own kind of strength and its own kind of power, and Sansa Stark demonstrates that better than any other character I’ve encountered. She is not fierce or rebellious. She is not ruthless or brutal. But she is strong. She is a survivor. And that should not be dismissed.
I’m just going to say it. I was expecting at least ONE female actress from Game of Thrones to be nominated for an Emmy.
I MEAN AT LEAST ONE.
You’ve got:
can someone say SNUBBED?!?!?!
Eddrrd Stark.
Eddrrd.
EDDRRRRRD.
more reasons to hate sansa stark
- she is responsible for ned’s death
- she kissed joffrey this one time
- she is not arya
- she started robert’s rebellion
- she killed aerys targaryen
- she killed a stableboy once
- she thinks cersei has nice hair
- she pushed bran out of a window
- she is a communist
- she hates cats
- she basically started WW2
- she fucked patchface
SPOILER ALERT- White Savior in Game of Thrones
I have major issues with Game of Thrones.
As much as I love it, reading/watching the scenes about the Dothraki gets under my skin. The Dothraki are written by GRRM as savages, they have sex in front of everyone to see, they steal, they’re violent, uncivilized animals. In the book they’re described as having copper-toned skin and in the show they’re largely portrayed by black people.
Oh and surprise, surprise, there are also common stereotypes about black people that fit a lot of what the Dothraki are described as.
And then to make things even better (sarcasm people), there’s a precious white person who comes in to save the Dothraki people from themselves when Khal Drogo passes away.
Really when you piece apart the story line, it’s the classic white savior trope in action.
So obviously I have a lot of problems with this. But I think what I find most offensive is that we see a white person talking over black people yet again. Dothraki obviously have an established culture in the story, you’d think that there would be a Dothraki telling this story and giving us a feel for their world. Despite how offensive their world is, it would still be nice to give them a voice. But instead the focus is on Daenerys and her battle to reclaim the throne.
It’s not surprising; somehow white people always speak louder than everyone else.
THIS ^^^
I Haven’t read the books (though I hear they are really good) so can only go from the two seasons:
I love the Dothraki people. They are badass POCs But it felt awkward the way they written, even more so when Drogo (he’s so hot oh my god) was killed off and the whie princess got to be the leader.
I realy liked when one of the Dothraki men stood up to Khaleesi and basically told her to fuck off because they can do things themselves without the help of an outsider. I feared they’d kill Drogo off because the story is centered all about the lilli white princess and how she’s going to ‘save the Dothraki people’. There was no way a POC would be given too much spotlight- he had to go (the characters were portrayed by a mix of both black and other POCs).
What made watching this even more uncomfortable is this is how I see some people from different AfricaN countries behave like. They treat the white bride to the black groom like royalty. and that was how Khaleesi was treated like, except she is royalty.
I love Game of Thrones but the savior stuff reeks from it at times.
I read the series aaaages ago, and I have to say although i liked it at first, once I got well into the second book I was less than impressed. It was difficult to explain at the time, but I honestly think this should be required reading for every woman who attempts reading A Song of Ice and Fire:
Enter Ye Myne Mystic World of Gayng-Raype: What the “R” Stands for in “George R.R. Martin”
This article/review started a legendary throatbeard fanboy harassment campaign. It’s pretty much totally right-on in everything it says.
I still watch the show, which I find to be LESS misogynist and racist than the books.
Yeahhhhhh.
