On Game of Thrones 4.03
Like a lot of people, my knee-jerk reaction to the scene in which Jaime rapes Cersei in the sept (next to the body of their dead son, naturally) was very much Do Not Want, but I wasn't sure exactly why. It has been suggested that people are mad because they don't want to stan for a rapist, which is supremely insulting and also clearly not true since plenty of people stan for other rapists in this and other fandoms without any issue. It has also been suggested that people are upset that the scene played out differently than it did in the books, which, yes, but not because those people are being pedantic, but because it fundamentally changes both characters and their relationship.
So since I couldn't exactly put my finger on what I hated so much about it (or why I'm still thinking about a single scene in an episode of a show I watched two days ago, which almost never happens), I went looking for someone else who could say what I couldn't quite. Through this post on Tumblr I found this article: Rape of Thrones in which the author picked out one of the things that bothers me most about this particular adaptation choice. Have a few quotes that I found particularly relevant:
So the question is not, exactly, “Why change the books?” Because the answer is clear: Many, many details must be changed, just to make the transition from book series to televised series work. The question is, instead: “Why change this?” Why make a scene from the book that depicts consensual sex into one in the show that depicts rape?
And given that so much of the show is about these characters upending or reinterpreting the rules of their world, it’s hard to follow that a rape scene might say more about the world than it does about its rapist.
It seems more likely that Game Of Thrones is falling into the same trap that so much television does-exploitation for shock value. And, in particular, the exploitation of women’s bodies.
Ultimately, this scene could be the beginning of what areinteresting, sensible (from a characterization standpoint) storylines for both Jaime and Cersei. And I hope that it is. But the thing that worries me is how rarely such a scene has been used for true character growth in a way that isn't exploitative in the past, both on this show and in media generally.
So since I couldn't exactly put my finger on what I hated so much about it (or why I'm still thinking about a single scene in an episode of a show I watched two days ago, which almost never happens), I went looking for someone else who could say what I couldn't quite. Through this post on Tumblr I found this article: Rape of Thrones in which the author picked out one of the things that bothers me most about this particular adaptation choice. Have a few quotes that I found particularly relevant:
So the question is not, exactly, “Why change the books?” Because the answer is clear: Many, many details must be changed, just to make the transition from book series to televised series work. The question is, instead: “Why change this?” Why make a scene from the book that depicts consensual sex into one in the show that depicts rape?
And given that so much of the show is about these characters upending or reinterpreting the rules of their world, it’s hard to follow that a rape scene might say more about the world than it does about its rapist.
It seems more likely that Game Of Thrones is falling into the same trap that so much television does-exploitation for shock value. And, in particular, the exploitation of women’s bodies.
Ultimately, this scene could be the beginning of what areinteresting, sensible (from a characterization standpoint) storylines for both Jaime and Cersei. And I hope that it is. But the thing that worries me is how rarely such a scene has been used for true character growth in a way that isn't exploitative in the past, both on this show and in media generally.