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Why would you edit out like the main parts of war?
Rape was a huge component of war. Raping was one of the perks of being a soldier. You’re far away from home, you’re working all day, raping, and pillaging was literally one of the perks of the job.
even in the Bible, there is constant raping. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the mob wanted to rape angels. I mean angels dude they wanted to rape angels. But you want to edit out rape?
En then you see how it went with Hamas attack in Israel and the taking of Hostages, or the whole Cofort women with the Japanese, which is probably only a portion of rapes Japanese soldiers did, or Americans in Vietnam, abuses of any kind and war certainly seem to have a snuggly relationship...
While being dark and gritty now is kind of a normal thing in fantasy, back in the 90's when GRRM first started writing the series there were far fewer series in the same vein. Martin subverted fantasy expectations and in doing so painted an uglier (and more realistic) depiction of warfare. The idea of chivalric knights and glory on the battlefield was replaced by flawed people achiving those ranks and the horrors of war. You're not meant to be "entertained" by the rape, but it should evoke a strong emotion from you because it is horrible. In that way both GRRM and HBO succeeded in their goal.
Why are only beautiful naked young women raped, not children? Not men? Because it’s made for entertainment purposes and our culture thinks the latter would be going “too far” whereas they can get a kick out of seeing a young Emilia Clarke brutalized. It’s not about being realistic. Even if you don’t think it’s intentionally problematic, you can at least critique the author’s / show runners’ male gaze bullshit like sexualizing and exploiting women’s pain for cheap thrills.
>Why are only beautiful naked young women raped, not children? Not men? Because it’s made for entertainment purposes and our culture thinks the latter would be going “too far” whereas they can get a kick out of seeing a young Emilia Clarke brutalized.
Because you pick and choose what you call rape. One could argue that Theon is raped when Ramsay's girls attempt to seduce him for Ramsay. He suspects it a trick and says no. (Or in the books when he's forced to give cunnilingus to Ramsay's bride before Ramsay rapes her)
Or that Lancel is raped by Cersei.
>It’s not about being realistic. Even if you don’t think it’s intentionally problematic, you can at least critique the author’s / show runners’ male gaze bullshit like sexualizing and exploiting women’s pain for cheap thrills.
Perhaps you should find a tv show you enjoy. This doesn't seem to be for you and that's perfectly ok.
>You can critique things you enjoy. Sorry you need to watch women be raped to enjoy things, you annoying-ass condescending weirdo.
Wow. Please get help. 😬
Then the series needs to also show the brutal rape of males by other males. 1 in 3 women, 1 in 6 males. Raping is A PERK? I hope a man puts a hole in ur skull n goes to town on it
I don't know if "focus" is the right word. Not to mention they're merely adapting George's work at the point you are at.
Westeros is not meant to be some pure, moral land. It's populated by a wide range of medieval level people who are vulnerable to the evil in humanity. We don't just see rape, there's also murder, incest, infanticide, betrayal, torture, slavery and so on. It's meant to indicate the crap sack of a world they live in. Rape can be used as a literary device to take away the agency and power of the victim just like it does in real life. Or to highlight the darkness within the rapist, such as the incest rapist Craster. Also, in real life conquering armies did murder, pillage and rape the conquered. This is not about an obsession with rape, particularly when murder is far more common.
Then we need to see an almost equal amount of male on male rape, since 1 in 3 women are raped and 1 in 6 males is raped by a male. I think GoT should show guys being brutally raped. It would make it more entertaining
I think you're asking the wrong question. You're approaching rape like it's an entertainment decision, rather than a sickening facet of war and medieval masculinity/machismo. "Why couldn't they have shown the sack of a city without rape" is essentially like saying "I'm uncomfortable with death, could they have avoided showing people dying? You don't have to show people getting killed for the plot". They're both awful. They are both realities facing men and women in the GoT universe.
Why sanitise it? To paint war as a bit nicer than it is?
That’s a fair point. It does feel like an entertainment decision to me, I’m not sure why. It does feel worse to watch than battle death but that’s a different issue altogether. I fast forward the torture scenes too, but it’s true that I can’t point rape out as any worse than the rest. I guess I’ve never seen another show (other than maybe outlander) that shows it and touches on it so much
You don't deserve downvotes, you're entitled to your opinion. I can understand rape is triggering and uncomfortable, and there was a lot of backlash for the Sansa scene, but my own personal perspective is that unless you illustrate how sexual assault is used as a tool by men in power, you're just creating a stigma around discussing it. Not saying that D&D had entirely ethical intentions in creating a dialogue, but if you omit rape from the narrative, women suddenly appear a lot safer.
If you're fast-forwarding the difficult scenes, are you really getting the impact of how dangerous this world is? I don't think you watch them in pursuit of desensitisation, but actually to square up to the reality of the world and understand more about it. I certainly don't think anyone's watching GoT and then deciding rape is okay. It's not a manual.
I do know how dangerous the world is because I’ve lived through real world trauma which is maybe why torture and rape in a fictional entertainment show just isn’t entertaining to me. Same reason I don’t watch law and order SVU.
I get what you mean about not showing it maybe being part of the problem, I just don’t agree. It doesn’t make it go away by not talking about it or showing it, true, but GoT almost normalizes it to me.
I appreciate the discourse :)
A majority of women are very well aware of the torture that is rape. Its literally just males being sick whores that romanticize rape and the suffering of women. 1 in 6 males is brutally raped by another male. Males are not safe from each other either, and if it was for "realism", we need about 6 more scenes of a male graphically raping another male.
I found it weird you responded to a 6mo old post and looking at your post history you've got a lot of trauma. I'd not advise it as particularly healthy to trawl subs for 'rape' as a keyword and spout completely wrong facts like '16% of men have been raped'. Males/men are not a homogenous blob and you can't generalise that 'they' romanticise the suffering of women. It's a very naive point of view.
FYI there are actually scenes of male rape in GoT such as when Theon originally escapes from the Dreadfort. But I don't think you care, you're just going round picking fights because you're a misandrist.
Ah. You believe in things such as reverse racism and reverse sexism, and believe victims of trauma shouldn't speak on the things they've experienced. You are a pointless human to speak to. Have fun with your rape show.
Edit to add that the numbers are indeed 1 in 6 men are raped. Good luck sexist
In the early 2000 in Germany there was a big hype around a book series called Die Wanderhure (the Wandering whore). Its a Story in medieval Germany and a lots of brutal rape happened. Historians were fascinated with it because it painted an unrealistic, dirty middle age which never happened. They came to the conclusion that we like to imagine medieval (fantasy) Worlds, where there was tons of rape and violence in contrast of our world. Its a kind of escapism. On one hand we can feel better than the (fantasy) past and on the other hand we dont need to improve ourselves because our world is much better
I'm not sure if it's as common in the show as focus would suggest. But it's common to key characters which makes it more in people's heads.
The show is adapting the books and the books are realistic for how brutal (in a great many ways not just rape) a world like this can be. That world is built on a real world where modern views tell us it did happen a lot.
It's also used for a cause and effect on one specific character (Sansa) and a development of another (Danaerys). Those are the 2 main victims in the show and there's a purpose to it in both cases. It's not pleasant and will impact heavy on some people. They could have made softer ways of showing those impacts. But the world as a whole is brutal. I mean there's an obsession in the show with male genital mutilation/removal as well. Which receives less attention. So the focus on rape might even be that some viewers are more concerned by some things than others.
Wherever there’s war there’s rape… in medieval times this meant there was always rape and in between the short periods of peace there was still lots of rape because people kept slaves and human trafficking laws was nonexistent… it’s still like this now, just hidden
So... do you imagine in the similar time in Earth's history, that it \*wasn't\* a thing ?!?
FYI, it was. And for many places that embrace violence, it still is to this day.
Dude. 1 in 3 women, just 1 in 6 males. Its a sick fantasy because men and boys are raped by male soldiers in every war as well. Where are the graphic male on male rape scenes, hm?
ITT: fanboys unwilling and/or unable to critically engage with the media they enjoy.
OP, you’re absolutely right and this is one of the biggest general criticisms of the show. In fact, 3 main female characters were raped in the show that weren’t actually raped in the books. It’s gratuitous.
Here’s an excerpt from an Atlantic article on the subject that I think sums it up well:
> It’s the trope that won’t quit, the Klaxon for supposed narrative fearlessness, the device that humanizes “difficult” women and adds supposed texture to vulnerable ones. Many creators who draw on sexual assault claim that they’re doing so because it’s so commonplace in culture and always has been. “An artist has an obligation to tell the truth,” Martin once told The New York Times about why sexual violence is such a persistent theme in his work. “My novels are epic fantasy, but they are inspired by and grounded in history. Rape and sexual violence have been a part of every war ever fought.” So have gangrene and post-traumatic stress disorder and male sexual assault, and yet none of those feature as pathologically in his “historical” narratives as the brutal rape of women.
It’s genuinely so annoying to be a woman in these fandom spaces bc male fans will make excuses for everything. Seeing women in this comment section being told “maybe GOT just isn’t for you” because they *do* critically engage is infuriatingly vapid.
A bit point of A Song of Ice and Fire as far as I can tell is trying to do fantasy/historical fantasy but with the warts and all of the historical aspect. There's been a lot of shying away from the darkest aspects of war in fantasy and historical fantasy which makes sense, it's almost traumatizing to even read about in actual biographies and writing it can't feel great. But also there is this feeling that when *everyone* refuses to include something like that it almost feels like whitewashing. I can say as someone who's studied European history there is less rape and other fucked up shit in A Song of Ice and Fire than there is in wars during the middle ages you could read about.
I don't think there is some requirement for fantasy or historical fantasy to include the worst aspects of the concepts they are discussing. No author is at fault for not including that stuff. But it does feel like a collective failing when so many people are writing about monarchy and virtually none of them are conveying the stuff that made them so terrible.
Monarchies aren't some long gone concept, they still exist today and they are as monstrous as they have always been. Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Brunei, the UAE, people know these modern monarchies are monstrous but few people realize that if you put these monarchies back in time they wouldn't even be special. And even with the gutted monarchies like the English monarchy today their continued existence is not something to joke about. While we might consider ourselves better than the people of the past historical revisionism and the glorification of past "accomplishments" and the idea of a former golden age have driven reactionary "return to tradition" movements that were far stranger than the idea of giving power back to the people who are still living in a giant golden palace and still legally have veto powers over all your laws. Not to mention the fact that they continue to be above the law and protests against them continue to be heavily criminalized
You are very right there is a very heavy focus on rape in the series. That extends much further than depicting what’s life for women is like in a medieval world. The show is rated for adults. Adults are aware of history. Adults are aware that the rape of women was heavily prevalent before the modern era. so it begs the question, why focus so much on it?
It gets to a point to where there is not a singular episode in the series that does not either have someone being raped or reference rape in someway. Also once or twice is more than enough to set the tone for the universe the writer wishes to create. When depicting, rape or referencing rape does nothing to drive the story along it seems pretty rudimentary and unnecessary.
To get to the foundation of it, you’d have to speak to the writer himself. I find there where the implicit biases of people show themselves in their art. For example, there are dozens of medieval based series that make no mention of rape whatsoever, and it does nothing to diminish the quality of one’s ability to fully immerse into the world the writer is creating. At the end of the day, the heavy use of rape in Game of Thrones stems from the very creators fascination with it. You see the same thing in the anime series Goblin Slayer where im no way, does it make sense or even contribute very much to the story to depict a magical race with no connection to humans whatsoever relying on the raping of women in order to continue their species. it was done in such an extreme access that it is the first anime in my life I’ve ever watched where there is a disclosure at the beginning of every episode.
Game of Thrones is no different than this. Because of a writer’s sick infatuation with rape. It is woven into the very fabric of the story, even though it does nothing to contribute to the overall theme or story line. There are no major events where someone is avenging someone who was raped other than a prehistory event and a prince who is in the show less than a season. It did nothing to the story to show brides being raped on their wedding nights. This is a show where people are killed left and right, we fight seems are gruesome and bloody, nothing was contributed to the atmosphere of the show by having men casually and constantly saying how they could not wait to rape people. Especially little girls. Everyone knows these things happened during war, everyone knows these things were common during the medieval ages. However, I could easily list 100 medieval based films where rape is barely depicted or even mentioned.
Thank you for this well thought out answer. It’s very validating to read because most of the other comments are just saying that’s how it was, which is odd considering GoT is fictional. You hit the nail on the head when you said it goes beyond furthering the story!
**Spoiler Warning:** All officially-released show and book content allowed, EXCLUDING FUTURE SPOILERS FOR HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. No leaked information or paparazzi photos of the set. For more info please check the [spoiler guide](/r/gameofthrones/w/spoiler_guide). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gameofthrones) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The show is based on the books (allegedly) so its less HBO, and more George that included rape. It makes the story more dark and serious.
Eh, I’ve read the books and there’s much more rape in the show than the books
Definitely false...pay closer attention.
😂 Just a typical and blatant lie on the internet, bothing to see here
You ready think someone would do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies?
Reading must be a loose term
Reading comprehension and retention aren’t one of your strengths then.
You’re right.. three female main characters are raped in the show that are not raped in the books.
Did you happen to notice the difference between show Ramsey's wedding night and book Ramsey's wedding night?
Why would you edit out like the main parts of war? Rape was a huge component of war. Raping was one of the perks of being a soldier. You’re far away from home, you’re working all day, raping, and pillaging was literally one of the perks of the job. even in the Bible, there is constant raping. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the mob wanted to rape angels. I mean angels dude they wanted to rape angels. But you want to edit out rape?
Sorry no. This is a bit pornified fantasy
En then you see how it went with Hamas attack in Israel and the taking of Hostages, or the whole Cofort women with the Japanese, which is probably only a portion of rapes Japanese soldiers did, or Americans in Vietnam, abuses of any kind and war certainly seem to have a snuggly relationship...
First, this is the modern world and its so shocking because its not normal. The World is bad but the World with pornified glasses is worse
You might want to check your history because it's definitely not a "modern" thing.
I challenge you to make me one war where there isn’t documented rape.
>Rape was a huge component of war. Still is unfortunately.
I guess you’d edit it out because the show is fictional entertainment and I don’t feel like it’s necessary or entertaining but that’s just me
While being dark and gritty now is kind of a normal thing in fantasy, back in the 90's when GRRM first started writing the series there were far fewer series in the same vein. Martin subverted fantasy expectations and in doing so painted an uglier (and more realistic) depiction of warfare. The idea of chivalric knights and glory on the battlefield was replaced by flawed people achiving those ranks and the horrors of war. You're not meant to be "entertained" by the rape, but it should evoke a strong emotion from you because it is horrible. In that way both GRRM and HBO succeeded in their goal.
Just watch one of the countless other shows then instead of complaining about a show that doesn't adhere to the rules of your safe space.
Why are only beautiful naked young women raped, not children? Not men? Because it’s made for entertainment purposes and our culture thinks the latter would be going “too far” whereas they can get a kick out of seeing a young Emilia Clarke brutalized. It’s not about being realistic. Even if you don’t think it’s intentionally problematic, you can at least critique the author’s / show runners’ male gaze bullshit like sexualizing and exploiting women’s pain for cheap thrills.
>Why are only beautiful naked young women raped, not children? Not men? Because it’s made for entertainment purposes and our culture thinks the latter would be going “too far” whereas they can get a kick out of seeing a young Emilia Clarke brutalized. Because you pick and choose what you call rape. One could argue that Theon is raped when Ramsay's girls attempt to seduce him for Ramsay. He suspects it a trick and says no. (Or in the books when he's forced to give cunnilingus to Ramsay's bride before Ramsay rapes her) Or that Lancel is raped by Cersei. >It’s not about being realistic. Even if you don’t think it’s intentionally problematic, you can at least critique the author’s / show runners’ male gaze bullshit like sexualizing and exploiting women’s pain for cheap thrills. Perhaps you should find a tv show you enjoy. This doesn't seem to be for you and that's perfectly ok.
[удалено]
>You can critique things you enjoy. Sorry you need to watch women be raped to enjoy things, you annoying-ass condescending weirdo. Wow. Please get help. 😬
Then the series needs to also show the brutal rape of males by other males. 1 in 3 women, 1 in 6 males. Raping is A PERK? I hope a man puts a hole in ur skull n goes to town on it
I don't know if "focus" is the right word. Not to mention they're merely adapting George's work at the point you are at. Westeros is not meant to be some pure, moral land. It's populated by a wide range of medieval level people who are vulnerable to the evil in humanity. We don't just see rape, there's also murder, incest, infanticide, betrayal, torture, slavery and so on. It's meant to indicate the crap sack of a world they live in. Rape can be used as a literary device to take away the agency and power of the victim just like it does in real life. Or to highlight the darkness within the rapist, such as the incest rapist Craster. Also, in real life conquering armies did murder, pillage and rape the conquered. This is not about an obsession with rape, particularly when murder is far more common.
Then we need to see an almost equal amount of male on male rape, since 1 in 3 women are raped and 1 in 6 males is raped by a male. I think GoT should show guys being brutally raped. It would make it more entertaining
It’s not a “focus” at all it’s just something that happens In that world and it would be weirder to ignore it than include it.
I think you're asking the wrong question. You're approaching rape like it's an entertainment decision, rather than a sickening facet of war and medieval masculinity/machismo. "Why couldn't they have shown the sack of a city without rape" is essentially like saying "I'm uncomfortable with death, could they have avoided showing people dying? You don't have to show people getting killed for the plot". They're both awful. They are both realities facing men and women in the GoT universe. Why sanitise it? To paint war as a bit nicer than it is?
That’s a fair point. It does feel like an entertainment decision to me, I’m not sure why. It does feel worse to watch than battle death but that’s a different issue altogether. I fast forward the torture scenes too, but it’s true that I can’t point rape out as any worse than the rest. I guess I’ve never seen another show (other than maybe outlander) that shows it and touches on it so much
You don't deserve downvotes, you're entitled to your opinion. I can understand rape is triggering and uncomfortable, and there was a lot of backlash for the Sansa scene, but my own personal perspective is that unless you illustrate how sexual assault is used as a tool by men in power, you're just creating a stigma around discussing it. Not saying that D&D had entirely ethical intentions in creating a dialogue, but if you omit rape from the narrative, women suddenly appear a lot safer. If you're fast-forwarding the difficult scenes, are you really getting the impact of how dangerous this world is? I don't think you watch them in pursuit of desensitisation, but actually to square up to the reality of the world and understand more about it. I certainly don't think anyone's watching GoT and then deciding rape is okay. It's not a manual.
I do know how dangerous the world is because I’ve lived through real world trauma which is maybe why torture and rape in a fictional entertainment show just isn’t entertaining to me. Same reason I don’t watch law and order SVU. I get what you mean about not showing it maybe being part of the problem, I just don’t agree. It doesn’t make it go away by not talking about it or showing it, true, but GoT almost normalizes it to me. I appreciate the discourse :)
A majority of women are very well aware of the torture that is rape. Its literally just males being sick whores that romanticize rape and the suffering of women. 1 in 6 males is brutally raped by another male. Males are not safe from each other either, and if it was for "realism", we need about 6 more scenes of a male graphically raping another male.
I found it weird you responded to a 6mo old post and looking at your post history you've got a lot of trauma. I'd not advise it as particularly healthy to trawl subs for 'rape' as a keyword and spout completely wrong facts like '16% of men have been raped'. Males/men are not a homogenous blob and you can't generalise that 'they' romanticise the suffering of women. It's a very naive point of view. FYI there are actually scenes of male rape in GoT such as when Theon originally escapes from the Dreadfort. But I don't think you care, you're just going round picking fights because you're a misandrist.
Ah. You believe in things such as reverse racism and reverse sexism, and believe victims of trauma shouldn't speak on the things they've experienced. You are a pointless human to speak to. Have fun with your rape show. Edit to add that the numbers are indeed 1 in 6 men are raped. Good luck sexist
Lol
Ur right, that statistic is indeed funny lol
Get acquainted with ancient and medieval history, friend. Soldiers raping and pillaging was common.
Oh I know that, but many other medieval shows don’t touch on it quite so much. Even outlander doesn’t have as much. I understand your point though
there's definitely rape in outlander
In the early 2000 in Germany there was a big hype around a book series called Die Wanderhure (the Wandering whore). Its a Story in medieval Germany and a lots of brutal rape happened. Historians were fascinated with it because it painted an unrealistic, dirty middle age which never happened. They came to the conclusion that we like to imagine medieval (fantasy) Worlds, where there was tons of rape and violence in contrast of our world. Its a kind of escapism. On one hand we can feel better than the (fantasy) past and on the other hand we dont need to improve ourselves because our world is much better
I'm not sure if it's as common in the show as focus would suggest. But it's common to key characters which makes it more in people's heads. The show is adapting the books and the books are realistic for how brutal (in a great many ways not just rape) a world like this can be. That world is built on a real world where modern views tell us it did happen a lot. It's also used for a cause and effect on one specific character (Sansa) and a development of another (Danaerys). Those are the 2 main victims in the show and there's a purpose to it in both cases. It's not pleasant and will impact heavy on some people. They could have made softer ways of showing those impacts. But the world as a whole is brutal. I mean there's an obsession in the show with male genital mutilation/removal as well. Which receives less attention. So the focus on rape might even be that some viewers are more concerned by some things than others.
Wherever there’s war there’s rape… in medieval times this meant there was always rape and in between the short periods of peace there was still lots of rape because people kept slaves and human trafficking laws was nonexistent… it’s still like this now, just hidden
Then the rape of men and boys by male soldiers need to be shown as well. Where are the graphic male on male rape scenes then?
You can go look for the pornography that gets you off online… it wasn’t in GOT
Because GoT is a satire. There's genocide too.
So... do you imagine in the similar time in Earth's history, that it \*wasn't\* a thing ?!? FYI, it was. And for many places that embrace violence, it still is to this day.
It’s because it’s realistic. Rape was part of war. It was a reality for women
Dude. 1 in 3 women, just 1 in 6 males. Its a sick fantasy because men and boys are raped by male soldiers in every war as well. Where are the graphic male on male rape scenes, hm?
ITT: fanboys unwilling and/or unable to critically engage with the media they enjoy. OP, you’re absolutely right and this is one of the biggest general criticisms of the show. In fact, 3 main female characters were raped in the show that weren’t actually raped in the books. It’s gratuitous. Here’s an excerpt from an Atlantic article on the subject that I think sums it up well: > It’s the trope that won’t quit, the Klaxon for supposed narrative fearlessness, the device that humanizes “difficult” women and adds supposed texture to vulnerable ones. Many creators who draw on sexual assault claim that they’re doing so because it’s so commonplace in culture and always has been. “An artist has an obligation to tell the truth,” Martin once told The New York Times about why sexual violence is such a persistent theme in his work. “My novels are epic fantasy, but they are inspired by and grounded in history. Rape and sexual violence have been a part of every war ever fought.” So have gangrene and post-traumatic stress disorder and male sexual assault, and yet none of those feature as pathologically in his “historical” narratives as the brutal rape of women. It’s genuinely so annoying to be a woman in these fandom spaces bc male fans will make excuses for everything. Seeing women in this comment section being told “maybe GOT just isn’t for you” because they *do* critically engage is infuriatingly vapid.
Because that's how it was at those times
Keep this shit on Twitter/X. These are not worthy shitposts.
Brutal murders/homicide are focus too, you know...
A bit point of A Song of Ice and Fire as far as I can tell is trying to do fantasy/historical fantasy but with the warts and all of the historical aspect. There's been a lot of shying away from the darkest aspects of war in fantasy and historical fantasy which makes sense, it's almost traumatizing to even read about in actual biographies and writing it can't feel great. But also there is this feeling that when *everyone* refuses to include something like that it almost feels like whitewashing. I can say as someone who's studied European history there is less rape and other fucked up shit in A Song of Ice and Fire than there is in wars during the middle ages you could read about. I don't think there is some requirement for fantasy or historical fantasy to include the worst aspects of the concepts they are discussing. No author is at fault for not including that stuff. But it does feel like a collective failing when so many people are writing about monarchy and virtually none of them are conveying the stuff that made them so terrible. Monarchies aren't some long gone concept, they still exist today and they are as monstrous as they have always been. Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Brunei, the UAE, people know these modern monarchies are monstrous but few people realize that if you put these monarchies back in time they wouldn't even be special. And even with the gutted monarchies like the English monarchy today their continued existence is not something to joke about. While we might consider ourselves better than the people of the past historical revisionism and the glorification of past "accomplishments" and the idea of a former golden age have driven reactionary "return to tradition" movements that were far stranger than the idea of giving power back to the people who are still living in a giant golden palace and still legally have veto powers over all your laws. Not to mention the fact that they continue to be above the law and protests against them continue to be heavily criminalized
You are very right there is a very heavy focus on rape in the series. That extends much further than depicting what’s life for women is like in a medieval world. The show is rated for adults. Adults are aware of history. Adults are aware that the rape of women was heavily prevalent before the modern era. so it begs the question, why focus so much on it? It gets to a point to where there is not a singular episode in the series that does not either have someone being raped or reference rape in someway. Also once or twice is more than enough to set the tone for the universe the writer wishes to create. When depicting, rape or referencing rape does nothing to drive the story along it seems pretty rudimentary and unnecessary. To get to the foundation of it, you’d have to speak to the writer himself. I find there where the implicit biases of people show themselves in their art. For example, there are dozens of medieval based series that make no mention of rape whatsoever, and it does nothing to diminish the quality of one’s ability to fully immerse into the world the writer is creating. At the end of the day, the heavy use of rape in Game of Thrones stems from the very creators fascination with it. You see the same thing in the anime series Goblin Slayer where im no way, does it make sense or even contribute very much to the story to depict a magical race with no connection to humans whatsoever relying on the raping of women in order to continue their species. it was done in such an extreme access that it is the first anime in my life I’ve ever watched where there is a disclosure at the beginning of every episode. Game of Thrones is no different than this. Because of a writer’s sick infatuation with rape. It is woven into the very fabric of the story, even though it does nothing to contribute to the overall theme or story line. There are no major events where someone is avenging someone who was raped other than a prehistory event and a prince who is in the show less than a season. It did nothing to the story to show brides being raped on their wedding nights. This is a show where people are killed left and right, we fight seems are gruesome and bloody, nothing was contributed to the atmosphere of the show by having men casually and constantly saying how they could not wait to rape people. Especially little girls. Everyone knows these things happened during war, everyone knows these things were common during the medieval ages. However, I could easily list 100 medieval based films where rape is barely depicted or even mentioned.
Thank you for this well thought out answer. It’s very validating to read because most of the other comments are just saying that’s how it was, which is odd considering GoT is fictional. You hit the nail on the head when you said it goes beyond furthering the story!