Game of Thrones – Did they go too Far?

Any Game of Thrones fans out there? I admit that I didn’t read the books, but I do enjoy the show tremendously. In fact, I’ve had a couple mini-parties to watch episodes with some friends here and there. That’s right, I don’t do clubs, but I’ll watch the hell out of a good fantasy tv show.

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If you have not watched the series, a basic synopsis of the show is that there’s a fantasy world that’s in a medieval time, where magic exists (a bit) and some technology is present, to an extent. The main focus is the drama surrounding the different noble families attempting to wrest control of the throne of the Kingdom of Westeros. Although, even that storyline becomes a side story with some of the arcs.

The biggest appeal of this HBO show is that it’s filled with so much story and the richness of the characters set in this world. The characters have a vast diversity of morals ranging from very self centered and evil to being very noble and honorable. Take my advice, don’t get attached to the honorable ones. They don’t last very long.

 

At first, the main focus seemed to be on the Stark family, but after several deaths in their lineage, and with other characters coming into the spotlight, the Starks are more just regular characters in the big story. Sansa Stark is one of the few remaining Starks and she has kept her nobility and moral conscience. She was brutally beaten by her former fiancee, King Joffrey after having to witness her father’s beheading. After a bit of work, it appeared that her character had finally broken free and was on her way to becoming a strong woman in her own right. However this was not the case on May 17th’s episode. On Season 5, Episode 6, we were witness to the young Sansa Stark being raped by her newly wed husband Ramsay Bolton.

 

Ramsay Bolton is a character that can arguably be even more hated that King Joffrey. And that says a lot as Joffrey is probably one of the most hated people on the series. Ramsay is brutal, sadistic and out-rightly evil. He raped Sansa on their wedding night and forced Theon Greyjoy, who was a surrogate brother to Sansa, to witness this event. Let’s not even go into what Ransay did to Theon, who is now forced into being called Reek (he cut off his penis). But this rape has caused a lot of uproar in the Game of Thrones community. A lot.

 

 This isn’t the first controversial event to happen in Game of Thrones. In the first episode, we find out that Queen Sersei and her twin Brother, Jaime Lannister are secret lovers and that all of Cersei’s children are actually produced from their union. Later, Jaime rapes his sister in front of the corpse of their oldest son, Joffrey. These are just many of the other rapes and attempted rapes that take place on the series. The deaths and brutal acts between the families is numerous and there’s not an episode that passes that something horrific occurs.

With Sansa being raped, now many viewers feel that the series has finally crossed the line. Twitter messages back and forth from the book author George R.R. Martin has shown that he supports the rape scene, despite it not occurring in the book.

 

I myself found this scene horrible and I was legitimately sickened by what happened. I do not know why a character who had been tortured previously and worked to free herself and become a stronger person, has to be put through the same event all over again. However his time it is with someone even more evil and crazy than the last person. I feel like the show is attempting to shock the viewer, but is doing it to such an extreme, that they are trying to out do themselves in previous seasons. Unfortunately for them, by trying to shock the viewer in such a sickening way, they are going to lose some of their audience.

 

 I am curious, what do you think?

Sansa Fuck You

 

 

 

5 thoughts on “Game of Thrones – Did they go too Far?

  1. I heard somewhere that, in the book, Ramsay forces Theon to rape Sansa on Ramsay and Sansa’s wedding night. In any case, I think the Red Wedding and Death of the Viper were both more shocking than this. Like you said, we have seen this (rape) before …

  2. This show has multiple rape scenes that serve no narrative purpose. Cercei’s rape, for example, happened and was never mentioned again and didn’t really influence much story-wise following it. There have been many more instances in this show where something brutal and sickening happens purely for shock value instead of narrative value. There have been multiple scenes that make me wonder why I keep watching this show. I’m a few episodes behind right now. Will this episode finally be the one that convinces me to give it up? We’ll see.

  3. Haven’t watched, but if I did, this is where I’d stop.

    Fortunately, I can enjoy this actress’ work in X-Men Apocalypse when it comes out. Now that I’ve seen her, I can honestly completely endorse her for portraying the new Jean Grey.

  4. Since I haven’t seen much of GoT, I won’t comment on much. However, when a character, especially a FEMALE character in today’s media, goes through so much to become a stronger and better character, acts like this seem to dehumanize and demoralize both them and the audience.

    Again, having not seen much of the series, I can only give an outsider’s viewpoint, but this does feel like an egregious step in the wrong direction.

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