Episode 91 – Game of Tropes
Sorry for our delay in posting the podcast – we continue to discuss and dissect the latest episodes in Game of Thrones. We have MANY opinions on Game of Tropes – what do you think?
We have strong opinions on the show but here are some of our thoughts that may or may not have made it into the podcast:
- Rape is awful and doesn’t have to be used as the only example of trauma for a woman. Sansa has had PLENTY of trauma!
- There are so many other ways (apart from the source material they seem to be dismissing) that they could do Sansa’s arc without taking away her character agency. Reuben’s (tongue in cheek) example here.
- Articles worth reviewing:
- We do not need trauma for the sake of drama
- The recent drama isn’t shocking, we all saw it coming, we just wish it didn’t happen.
We will certainly touch base on this again to see what comes from this direction – if only to finally see what happens with Tyrion and Daenerys!
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Hey all-
I got a chance to listen to this while we were moving, but I’ve only recently had a chance to put down some of my thoughts on these two particular episodes. First and foremost, I think everyone (even Roobz) did a great job breaking down the issues with the rape scenes and ways to showcase drama without trauma. Personally, I haven’t had a chance to watch the previous 2 eps–and I’m still on the fence about returning to the show. If Sansa’s rape becomes Theon’s story, I think I’ll go ballistic…
Anyway, before I get to the heart of the comment, i need to provide a bit more context: the majority of my career has been with sexually aggressive children. I’ve provided case management, supervision, assessment and treatment of these kids. That’s where my expertise lies. Given the nature of the field, though, I’ve also been familiarized with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist and adult offenders (in this case, adult can mean 18+, but should typically refer to 25). I have also worked with a handful of kids (5 or so, mostly in residential) who were possibly sexual sadists and psychopaths. While I’m loathe to play the Diagnosis game on TV, sometimes it just happens. And the comments in the podcast about Ramsey encouraged me to leave a comment. I’m not going to justify his actions or the lazy writing–I am going to point out that they’re giving more screen and story time to a sexual sadist than they are to the character who is supposed to be coming into her own this season.
Ramsey is clearly a sexual sadist–His actions demonstrate it, the story his co-conspirator/mistress/psychopathic-other-half tells demonstrate it–and, I would argue, a full on higher-than-donald trump psychopath as documented by the hare psychopathy checklist (superficially glib, parasitic life style, pathological lying, manipulative/cunning, lack of realistic goals, criminal versatility etc). The only person he fears (or possibly respects) is his equally disturbing (but not quite as high on the list father) Roose. Why does this matter to his story? Because this background explains why he brutalized Sansa.
Ramsey was embarrassed and shamed at least twice in the previous episodes: Sansa did it, Roose did it. Shame/embarrassment has a distinct effect on psychopaths: It drives them to go above and beyond to get revenge. There is a lot of documentation (which i’m too lazy too look up and cite right now) that strongly suggests that people that score highly on the checklist have extreme emotional responses to shame. Roose takes his shaming one step further. He says (I believe in the same episode) that he can do whatever he wants to her “when they’re married.” Roose, who knows how fucked up his son is, gives permission for Ramsey to torture and brutalize Sansa.
This is where I am having issues with the show (and, quite possibly, what’s triggering me). They care to point out how this vile human being with NO redemptive qualities is given permission to do awful shit, they prime him to do awful shit AND then the awful shit is (so far) a set up for ANOTHER VILE HUMAN BEING. Well, I think Theon’s vile. He kills and strings up two innocent kids to showcase how manly he is. That’s pretty fucking vile. ANYWAY.
Ramsey’s actions weren’t impulsive. The minute his father shames him with the news of the new, 100% noble by birth, son, his actions are set in motion. Ramsey was shamed and then given permission to do what he wanted /on/ the wedding night.
The writers took care to show us a chain of events that lead to Sansa’s rape. The writers have put more attention to the attitudes and behaviors of a sexual sadist and psychopath than to the victim of the attack. It’s bullshit. I don’t think we need to give Ramsey this much attention. And if Ramsey isn’t dealt with in a way that gives agency and power back to Sansa, her entire Arc is less interesting than Quentin Martell’s book chapters.
Granted, I maybe reading too much into this because of my own background, but the fact that I’m having these thoughts makes me rethink my commitment to this show.
At this point, I’m pretty much only in it for the Tyrion / Daenerys scenes that are uncharted territories – but so much of this is off cannon that I suppose we are all in uncharted territories now.
I would have more faith in the show if the captain(s) of these uncharted waters seemed to give a shit about women.