Monday, October 15, 2012

There are Things Even HBO Can't Do

In the spring of 2011, I waited with trepidation for the premiere of Game of Thrones, having signed up for HBO Canada specifically so I could watch the series as it aired. Those who have read the George R.R. Martin books know that Games of Thrones is only the title of the first one, that the series itself is actually called "A Song of Ice and Fire", and that Talisa is a cheap and stupid replacement for Jeyne Westerling who has ruined Robb Stark's character irreparably (whew, sorry, that just needed stating). Semantics (and vitriol aside), the anticipation for the show built steadily from its initial announcement in 2007 to its premiere and the question (among fans, not GRRM) was whether HBO would be up to the task. 

 Season One was a solid adaptation of the (very filmable) first novel. Cinemaspy gave me the chance to review the first four episodes and I did so with great relief and appreciation. The arcs were so perfectly spaced in the literature that I was able to call the final shot for every one of the ten episodes. Yes, even episode nine and especially the premiere and the finale. There were a few forgivable (in my mind anyways) changes from the source material in Season One because, as stated in the title today, there are things even HBO can't do. Like mate a thirteen year old to a horse lord. Aging Dany to seventeen made a lot of sense in light of sparing most viewers' sensibilities. Turning Drogo initially into a stereotyped barbarian who drunkenly rapes her, on the other hand, was done for more sensationalist reasons or maybe to reflect Dany's outsider status among the tribe she had been sold to (maybe). Apparently, HBO is also unable to let a girl have a positive first sexual experience. Unless it's with her brother. Season Two (based on the second novel in the series, A Clash of Kings) was a harder narrative to adapt and diverged from the source material more (see above Talisa rant and Dany's storyline is almost unrecognizable) but the show maintains its watchability for lovers of the literature (unlike True Blood). 


 Today's shirt was yet another gift from Mitch and J, this time a birthday/engagement prezzie. (They got Jeff a "Winter is Coming" House Stark shirt as balance. :) Chapters bookstore had a nice little display of Game of Thrones merchandising set up - mugs, bookmarks, t-shirts, notebooks - mostly focussed on House Stark and House Targaryen. Understandable as wolves and dragons are just that much sexier than deer or squiddy-looking things. Even lions don't get the same props as having a dragon on your house sigil.

 I am consciously trying NOT to spoil anything for my readers who only watch the series (*waves*) and I'll ask commenters today to avoid giving away anything that happens in Storm, Feast, or Dance. What I'd like people who have read and watched the series to think about is the parallelism of Sansa and Dany. 
This only occurred to me this morning as I decided on my shirt. These characters began at the same age in the books - thirteen - and, in the television series, were aged up approximately the same number of years. So far in the television series, they have taken inverse paths. Sansa began with a large loving and supportive family and a pet direwolf and had it all stripped away from her, piece by piece. Dany began with only an abusive and crazy brother to call kin and (to gloss the series of events) gained a husband, had a child, won a tribal family and birthed three dragons. Both young women have become central to the machinations of the politics around them. Furthermore, there is the fact that in both the books and the television series, Sansa is designed to be disliked at the beginning - superficial, privileged, soft, a traitor to her family - while Dany is presented as the heir to the Dragon legacy - powerful, magical, resilient and responsible. Their storylines in the books and the show have never intersected but they are the only two characters of truly comparable age and station.  
At the end of Season 2, Sansa is still a virgin, still a maiden by the standards of Westeros, still living with fear and uncertainty on a daily basis while Dany has been made wife, widow, mother and matriarch and taken control of a city. There is a deep intelligence in painting these two in such contrasting light which makes me wonder at why they are not juxtaposed more obviously. Martin has been a subtle genius at crafting his female characters. In spite of his reputation for killing off his best-loved characters without sentiment (not naming them so I'm not spoiling it), his women survive. So far.

So, again, without giving away plot points beyond the end of Season 2 (and I understand that this hobbles the discussion a bit), can we discuss the women of Westeros, Essos, the Free Cities, etc? Beyond Sansa and Dany, can we compare Catelyn and Cersei as mothers? Brienne versus Yara as warriors? Margaery versus Shae for political savvy? Arya doesn't really have a comparable foil (which I'm starting to think is on purpose) but her subterfuge as a boy echoes Brienne's wish to be a son to her father. HBO has done some wonderful things with the female portrayals of the literary characters but also some great disservices in the name of sensationalism. It is, however, pretty great to see the women getting just as much screen-time as the men. It's pretty doubtful that they'll be wearing a lot more clothing (ie. less nakedness) as the seasons progress, even if Winter IS Coming...

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10 comments:

  1. Arthur KengOctober 15, 2012 at 12:16 PM

    I'm assuming I shouldn't read this post given I would like to watch it at some point.

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    1. DivinityOctober 15, 2012 at 12:49 PM

      Yeah, if you haven't watched it at all yet. You could give this post a miss. Thanks for the page view tho! :)

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  2. LaurelOctober 15, 2012 at 12:41 PM

    This only cements my resolution to not read the books for a few years. I love the series as it is!

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    1. DivinityOctober 15, 2012 at 12:53 PM

      This post isn't meant to be a critique on the adaptation. The title is meant to refer to the things that CAN'T be put on TV and rightly so. My issues with Season 2 are pretty much solely Talisa-based and, like I said, the series is still solid. Season 2 was when True Blood went off the rails and they did it much more dramatically. Waiting a few years to read the books is a good plan. By then, we might have book 6.

      Nothing to comment on the Women of Westeros, Laurel? That was the discourse I was fishing for. >_<

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  3. CJOctober 15, 2012 at 2:17 PM

    But, I love the Talisa and Robb relationship! Good thing I haven't read the books yet I guess.

    I never really thought about Sansa and Dany being about the same age. Interesting to think about. Dany has always come across as older than Sansa. I'll give it some thought.

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    1. DivinityOctober 15, 2012 at 2:32 PM

      Yeah, I know that I draw ire for dissing Talisa. And, really, there's nothing all that wrong with her as a character. I would probably have liked her in a different context but she is a writer's cheat, a cheap and easy way of destroying Robb's Character (with a capital C). By bedding and marrying her out of the heat of passion, he proved that he is NOT Eddard Stark's son. His relationship with Jeyne in the books cements the fact that he IS. Robb in the book has a nobility that echoes his father's. Robb in the show has now been reduced to another rutting noble. Might as well have been a Baratheon.

      Like I wrote in the post, the Sansa and Dany connection is a curious comparison. Arya's been aged up a little too but I love everything they've done with Maisie. The more noticeable aging up of Sansa and Dany is probably more for the sexual content but it may cause some wrinkles in Dany's story down the road. Of course, they've decided to re-write most of that plotline so maybe not.

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    2. Trisha LeighOctober 15, 2012 at 7:04 PM

      But in the books, Robb marries Jeyne AFTER he sleeps with her - out of duty (and also love, but the point remains that he takes her maidenhood FIRST and THEN does the right thing). I didn't see much difference in the substitution of Talisa, with the exception of her not being noble and a foreigner.

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    3. DivinityOctober 16, 2012 at 3:11 PM

      I think we've had this discussion via Twitter before. :)

      Talisa IS a noble. She was born a noble in the Free Cities but chose to learning healer's skills. And whether or not she was noble was never an issue. The entire purpose of Jeyne vs Talisa is night and day. Robb beds Jeyne out of an unthinking need for comfort. He had just learned that Theon had killed his brothers and displayed their bodies for all to see. Jeyne represents the everywoman. She's not especially beautiful, talented, spirited or clever. She's noble but she's dominated by others around her. So far. Robb beds her without thinking and then does the noble thing to right his wrong.

      Talisa, on the other hand, is ridiculously fabricated to be the epitome of female allure. Robb beds her out of lust and with the conscious knowledge that he is throwing his family's honour out the window. She is an obvious and flat character who solely serves the purpose of causing Robb to forswear his family's oath without the time and effort it would have taken to create a moment of generous emotion.

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    4. CJOctober 20, 2012 at 3:55 PM

      I didn't see Robb bedding her out of lust, rather out of love and companionship. Sure they are both ridiculously hot, but to downplay their relationship as lust is to cheapen their connection.

      Robb and Talisa were drawn together and he didn't initially sleep with her. It wasn't until they fell in love that they consummated the relationship.

      Besides reneging on the deal his mother made, there was nothing dishonorable about the relationship. If Ned was alive, I think he would have supported their relationship and tried to find a way to get out of the previous deal if that made his son happy. But, Ned is dead and that option wasn't available.

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    5. DivinityOctober 20, 2012 at 6:57 PM

      Awesome. Thank you, Carla! THIS is why I need people who have not read the books to discuss the series with.

      I still believe that their relationship is based on lust. Even when they fall into each other's arms, I recall the lines were "I don't want to marry the Frey girl" "I don't want you to marry her either" *smoochies then nakedness*.... There's no discussion of love or the future. It was a passionate, lustful encounter fulfilling a promise made by their initial clash at the beginning of a contrived relationship.

      In the terms of Westeros and the House Stark, there is no "besides" on the reneging of the Frey deal. The Frey deal was negotiated and based on the honour of House Stark and Robb is House Stark now that Ned is dead. Robb's willful choice to bed and marry Talisa would have shamed and destroyed Ned if he'd been around. (Jeff points out that there's no point in the "If Ned were alive" path because the whole show would be moot.) Without spoiling any possible television storyline, the books explain that Ned and Catelyn's marriage was one of honour, not of passion and Ned would never have supported Robb's marriage to Talisa where he would have understood his marriage to Jeyne. Ned and Catelyn were never meant for each other and although he did not love her, he honoured her as his wife and mother of his children.

      Again, this is my perspective in comparing the series to the source material. Without the source material, this relationship fulfills the popular concept of romantic love. In the source material, Starks (Sansa, aside) are not (never) romantic. But that's not TV-friendly. And again, I probably would be fine with Talisa if this plotline didn't destroy the core of Robb's character as a Stark and Ned's heir (as delineated in the books). Littlefinger has more consistency in the show.

      Would still love to hear your thoughts on the central women...

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