Game of Thrones Season Five! No Spoilers Please!

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Michael, Apr 6, 2015.

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  1. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    Not well south of The Wall, but it has been a problem at Castle Black.

    L.
     
  2. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Yep. Remember the dead man coming back to life an attacking Jorah Mormont back in season 1?
     
  3. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    If it were starting to happen well south of The Wall, can you imagine what the scene outside of Winterfell would be like at this point?!?

    L.
     
  4. mep

    mep Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    Maybe he just can't be burned; there are other characters in GoT, where the same thing happened. Fire can't hurt the... ;)
     
  5. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    North of the wall, they can be reanimated. South of the wall, they can't, the wall itself has many old and strong spells weaved into it. It's not merely ice! They can't pass through the wall, the evil influence or power can't pass through the wall either.

    The two bodies that they brought back earlier were already reanimated but playing possum (or another better term for that :laugh: ) that woke up (I guess) when brought to Castle Black. Don't forget (or is this just in the book??) that their hands were already black (blood flows to the extremities and freezes there).
     
  6. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    that was exactly what i thought. i'll accept both explanations.

    aw c'mon, that's part of the culture of this forum. like another said: beatles & oogling nude women.
     
    dkmonroe likes this.
  7. Daz

    Daz Forum Resident

    Completely agree. Played out perfectly. Had me, for the first time, empathising with Cersei. Well, until we saw the look in her eye of revenge.

    This is why I don't. Understand those who feel this and, to some extent, last season have been boring. The character developments have been as good as TV have ever produced.
     
  8. His Masters Vice

    His Masters Vice W.C. Fields Forever

    I'm thinking that Stannis will wish he was dead if he’s somehow survived, because the Iron Bank lent him a lot of money which they will never get back. I think Davos should watch his back as well, since he arranged the initial meeting and I'm sure the Bank would like to “send a message” that they are not to be trifled with.
     
  9. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    Finally watched the season 5 finale tonight. The misogyny on this show is off the charts in my book. Not to mention the cruelty/sadism in general. Not sure if I want to continue down this road anymore. I love certain dramatic interactions but they're becoming fewer in number.
     
  10. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Misogyny? The show takes place in a version of medieval Europe. Not to mention that half of the "good" characters left are women, especially one who is one of the best fighters on the show.

    This isn't directed at you chacha, but are people really that overly sensitive over gender issues? It's a tv show, it's not real, and for every show where it looks like men have the advantage there are likely three where it's the other way around.
     
    agentalbert likes this.
  11. ptmconsulting

    ptmconsulting Member

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    We don't know how white walkers themselves are made. Are they just upscaled versions of the dead that were raised? Are they natural?

    I could see Jon coming back as a true white walker, and not just a raised from the dead soldier. He knows the brotherhood and the defenses. Turning him completely to the other side could be a really cool plot twist, and not at all outside of Martin's imagination.
     
  12. brew ziggins

    brew ziggins Forum Prisoner

    Location:
    The Village
    With respect to 'mysogyny', I would say it is exactly the opposite. It's equal opportunity cruelty. Everyone on the show has an equal chance of having something dreadful, or worse, happen to them at any time.
     
  13. Dinstun

    Dinstun Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle Tennessee
    Yes. Other than some horrible death, who has suffered more than Theon?
     
    Aggie87 likes this.
  14. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Yes we do know how they're made. They showed us last season with the baby taken from Craster's Keep.
     
  15. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    I think there's a sort of tension in the show. On the one hand there's the frank representation of a world in which women are terribly constrained (the representation of misogyny is not the same thing as misogyny itself), and that comes along with the representation of a number of very strong, richly and sympathetically imagined female characters on all points along the moral spectrum (a large number of these for a TV show or a series of fantasy novels--and for TV that also means a larger then usual number of satisfying roles for great female actresses in several different age ranges).

    On the other hand, the creators of the show at least (this isn't true in the same way about the novels) go out of their way to pile on the female nudity and to linger over scenes of sex and sexual cruelty (especially involving prostitutes). The purpose of that it to heighten the titillation factor of the story, and that by its nature appeals to a less savory side of the core audience's sensibilities--a mostly male audience (and I include myself in that).

    So it doesn't surprise me that some people react negatively to the manner of the show's representation of sex and of women's bodies and don't necessarily register the more "empowering" aspects of both the story and the production. It's particularly easy to see and feel an uncomfortable connection between the representation of prostitution in the show and what it requires of the very many young actresses it employees for the purpose of peopling those sexy brothel scenes--young actresses that don't have the clout to include "no nudity" clauses in their contracts, requiring careful camera work or body doubles. And of course we know that many of them (maybe not all of them) would include such clauses if they could--just like Emilia Clarke did as soon as she could and that Lena Heady has (although I don't know when it was negotiated).

    It's worth noting, too, that the show's frank representation of homosexual sex plays a little differently, but that's an interesting discussion of its own.

    L.
     
    mikeyt likes this.
  16. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    It's funny you mention that:
    When I started to give the show 'a try', the 'sex & violence' seemed, in my mind, to be the typical 'pay-TV/soft-porn' attraction that most of us have come to expect. Right then and there, I was ready to give it the ax on watching.... not 'coz I was offended. I assumed they might've thought this would bring in viewers.
    Of course, that changes once you get a feel for the characters.
    Now, the question is;
    Will they keep the amount of 'sex-violence-cussing' (to me, the cursing is the 'funniest' part!) in this massively popular show?
     
  17. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    I think they will stick with the formula that has worked commercially thus far. If anything they've ramped up the titillation factor, while also trying to work around the requirements of some of the actresses who are in strong negotiating positions.

    L.
     
  18. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I don't see where they've ramped up the "titillation factor" as you call it. Why do you think that? The show seems the same as its always been since season 1.

    The people crying misogyny make me laugh. One has to do all sorts of cherry picking to support that claim. I wish they would stop watching the show, as they so often threaten, so I didn't have to hear their whining.
     
  19. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    I can't give you a systematic account--and I might be wrong--but it seems to me that there have been more scenes in the last couple of seasons created, it seems, for no other reason but titillation. Brothel scenes not in the book for instance. But I didn't mean that as a criticism. I don't mind those things myself--I find them titillating, and I like a bit of that. You're right that it's been part of the formula from the start, and it's an appealing formula.

    I wasn't trying to justify the charge of misogyny, just to explain why some people jump to that conclusion.

    L.
     
  20. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Not accusing you of anything. You made a good point noting the difference between "depictions of misogyny" and misogyny itself above. But I don't agree that just because a scene is not in the book and appears in the show, its the creators amping up the titilation factor. This season, for instance, brothel scenes have served to establish how the sparrows work, how the Sons Of The Harpy work and as the setting for Arya killing (torturing, in a way, but I don't think THAT was meant to titilate) Meryn Trent. Those scenes are integral to the plot.
     
    ronbow likes this.
  21. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    In the first season it felt like someone was in a brothel every week -- the scenes that caused the term "sexposition" to be coined.
     
  22. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    But, in the end, that's just the way HBO/Cinemax/Showtime, etc., etc....are, though.
     
  23. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I was responding to the allegation that there are more titillating scenes in the show now than there were when it started.
     
  24. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    Those scenes were only central to the plot because the screen writers chose to tell the story that way. I really like that term "sexposition" (thanks, Squealy)! Again, I'm not objecting, but the show is obviously designed to be titillating in the way a lot of made for HBO material is titillating. That doesn't always mean that this stuff is bad as art. It's just titillating art.

    The books have some of that too, but not as much or in the same way. It's a slick, sexy production. A big part of it's appeal.

    And let's not forget that the violence is exciting in its way, too.

    L.
     
  25. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    You don't feel the cruelty and sadism has ramped up as the show has progressed?
     
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