The hit HBO series Game of Thrones returned for its
seventh season on July 16th, as any user of social media – even those
who aren’t fans of the show — will have noticed. Was there ever a show
that benefited more from free publicity and word-of-mouth than Game of Thrones? Naturally the show has satanic themes, uses satanic sigyls and imagery, and crosses every line of decency under the sun. When satan is your master, the rule is, offend and shove it down the throats of everyone under the sun. Make them eat it.
But even while in many corners of the World Wide Web,
critics and fans alike are eagerly dissecting plot developments and the
story arcs of their favorite characters, there is a growing sense that
in their desperation to keep maintain the high-level of shock and
titillation that characterized past seasons, GOT is starting to turn-off once faithful fans.
Writing for The Guardian, Stuart Jeffries shares his experience of
souring on the show once he came to realize “how right Ian McShane was
when he described Game of Thrones as ‘only t*ts and dragons,’ by which
he meant, surely, formulaic hokum that degrades its viewers by
commodifying women’s bodies, making entertainment out of sexual torture
and pimping up its spectacles.”
One might wonder why it took seven seasons for Jeffries to finally realize what one director frankly admitted to in a 2012 interview,
when he shared that an unnamed producer said to him, “’Look, I
represent the pervert side of the audience, okay? Everybody else is the
serious drama side—I represent the perv side of the audience, and I’m
saying I want full frontal nudity in this scene.’ So you go ahead and do
it.” Nevertheless, the fact that he finally is coming to this realization is, at least, some progress.
But the problem is certainly not unique to Game of Thrones. An
aspiring actress, disgusted by the endless casting calls requiring
nudity from female actors, took to posting the notices on her Tumblr
page, “Casting Call Woe”: “Fake boobs are a plus,” “We can pay for any
plastic surgery she may require for the movie.” “Be sexy. It sells,”
“Nudity required but not shown on film,” “NOT UGLY.” These are for
so-called “legitimate” roles, mind.
The backlash is building.
Writing for CNN, actress
and activist RaVal Davis observes, “For far too long, naked women have
become such a staple in TV and film that it’s hard to notice, much less
quantify, the inequality unfolding right before our eyes. But a recent
study from Mount Saint Mary’s University did just that and found that
actresses are almost three times as likely as their male counterparts to
be required to strip to their unmentionables… Undoubtedly, female
nudity has become an accomplice to get viewers through bad plot-lines and
awkward acting. And sometimes it’s just the cherry atop the box office
sundae.”
She continues, “But it’s not only an issue for the viewer.
It’s an even larger issue for the actress being asked to display her
body. As a new actress trying my best to break into episodic television,
I have to admit I cringe every time I read those typical female
character breakdowns. You know the ones: The waitress in the club who
has no more than five lines but happens to have sex with the main male
character. She’s totally inconsequential to the plot but helps move the
episode along somehow. And, of course, NUDITY REQUIRED or MUST BE OK
WITH NUDITY is bolded at the bottom of the script. It’s degrading but
seemingly sometimes a necessary evil for actresses to make their way
above the five-line mark.”
But though Davis correctly identifies the problem, she
misses the mark in offering up solutions. She points to the film “Girls
Trip,” as correcting the balance by featuring male nudity, instead.
And then what? When we’ve crossed every line, where is
there left to go? Maybe instead of seeking parity in the nudity featured
in entertainment we should instead try telling better stories that
don’t rely on nudity to draw-in the viewers.
These monsters are monsters. And there is no end to it. Just seeing Netflix's offering of shows reveal how depraved TV programming has become in our time. And it's sickening. These people are simply so satanically fucked up, that it's just offensive to any decent human being on Earth.
Melissa Henson is the program director for the Parents
Television Council, a nonpartisan education organization advocating
responsible entertainment (www.ParentsTV.org).
