Image Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO
HBO’s much-hyped swordsy fantasy epic Game of Thrones packed loads of stuff into its premiere episode Sunday: severed bodies, decapitations, bastards, sex, dwarves, sex, dire wolves, incest, and more sex. But it’s a matter of some debate whether strong female characters are part of the Game plan. There’s no doubt that among the seemingly infinite cast there are women — and memorable ones, at that. The question is whether they’re an endless parade of misery and victimhood or inspiring figures who triumph in a very masculinized fictional world where no one even thinks of giving the titular headwear to a chick.
I come down on the latter side, though I found myself in the curious position of arguing that this geekboy fantasy fest was, in fact, quite feminist with EW’s own Doc Jensen, who thought the pilot was misogynistic. Granted, I have the context of having read the entire book on which the first season is based, and having watched the first six episodes. But I certainly see where he was coming from when he asked in an email, “Do the women get to do anything more than be miserable or sex objects (willing, paid, or raped) for the men?” READ FULL STORY »
