Of empathy, and good intentions gone sour

[airiefairie]

I'm sure the Game of Thrones fans have already watched the latest episode of the hit show on HBO. The show has gone into quite some controversy lately, what with all the gore displayed on screen, and the violence against women, and a number of other controversial issues. But last weekend's installment of the epic story provided yet another piece of

Comments

[garote]

What was the point you were making about Our Lady of Kibeho again?

[dexeron]

"N.B., I am eagerly awaiting the point at which people wake up to the fact that GoT is a soap opera and get over it already."

Hey now, ain't nothing wrong with soap operas. ;)

[airiefairie]

Soap operas can convey messages and shape or reflect the public's perceptions just as well as any other piece of intellectual product. Examples abound of greatly influential soap operas that have become part of culture.

[mikeyxw]

I'd have to agree with the others who have said that empathy is at the core of good policy. There is a good reason that economists are advisors to leaders but rarely are themselves presidents or prime ministers. Sure, the US might be capable of making more stuff, but nobody is saying that the greatest problem facing the US is a lack of stuff. The reason we need a government is to ensure that people all have opportunities to have the stuff they want and what to do with those who can't get the stuff they need. I'm certainly all for economic growth and I like stuff as much as the next guy, but this isn't what we need a government to do

[airiefairie]

Apparently, some people are reading a message in those tragedies that is not there - like ascribing some kind of rationale behind the display of abuse against women which is somehow understood to convey approval thereof. That is not the case, of course. As has been said on the thread, the purpose of displaying forms of injustice and suffering in the story is not to advocate them, or make them acceptable, but the exact opposite: to show how terrible they are.

[garote]

I fancy those people's heads would just plain explode if GOT introduced a character who took sexual pleasure in getting her bare ass whipped with a riding crop, and then spent several lavish minutes of multiple episodes just showing this in action.
"It's violence against women!" "No, it's celebrating alternate forms of sexuality!" "No it's promoting abuse!" "It's masochism!" "It's allegorical!" "It's a stand-in for the viewers themselves!" "Ooo Eerr -- buttocks!"

[dexeron]

The real problem is: things aren't always equal. One could make two movies, both highlighting the "horrors" of war. One might be a stunning epic that brings attention to a worthy cause. The other might be an exploitation flick. It's all in how the material is presented

[policraticus]

I've only read the books and don't have HBO, so this post makes me sad, since Shireen hasn't died, yet, in the books. Certainly not as a sacrifice to the Red God. Since this is G R R Martin we'er discussing, I'm not saying that it would be impossible, but for those of you who haven't read the books, this is a major departure from the story arc as written, so farIt seems to me that passion is the enemy here, not empathy.. Empathy is intimately wedded to reason. Rightly understood, they are not opposites or in conflict. Part of the application of reason is giving consideration and weight to the effects of a policy. If you only use statistics then you aren't looking at every part of the equation and you open yourself up to error

[telemann]

I'm not saying that it would be impossible, but for those of you who haven't read the books, this is a major departure from the story arc as written, so far.

I never read the books myself, but the producers are changing things as the series is progressing, which is certainly keeping the book readers on their toes now. For example,. the series had a rape scene between Ramsey Bolton and his newlywed bride, Sansa Stark is different in the books. It was a pretty rough scene (in fact the actor who plays Ramsey Bolton, ‎Iwan Rheon, has said in interviews, the role really challenges his comfort zone, and he has a hard time with it.

[policraticus]

From what I understand, there are a lot of conflations, telescoping narratives, additions and omissions in the series. Which is fair enough. Adaptations are their own stories, and should be. You could hardly have a coherent plot line, given the cluster fuck exercise in gratuitous unedited masturbation that are the last two novels in the series, without leaving much more out than Martin put in. And now they are heading beyond the books, so I guess everything becomes fair game.

Frankly, an eventual novelization of the series might end up being a better novel than the source material.

[telemann]

Frankly, an eventual novelization of the series might end up being a better novel than the source material.

But I really like the big scope of Game of Thrones, its sort of like Der Ring des Nibelungen for me.