Game of Thrones Creator Defends Rape Scene

The rape of the till now innocent Sansa has caused many fans to lash out on the show creator for going too far morally and from the novel’s storyline.

Until now, the most brutal thing that had happened to Sansa Stark was Prince Jeoffery. He didn’t touch her though. Just killed her father but that was enough for her to loathe him. Sansa has been trying to find a way to go home since she was rid of Jeoffery and she got her way home by marrying Ramsay Bolton.

It felt like Sansa might finally be home and with a man who would love her. That all changed on Sunday night when sweet, virtuous and the only untouched character was ruined. Ramsay Bolton raped his newly wed wife in front of her childhood friend Theon, forcing him to watch. 

The shock got to many who had not anticipated it even though it has been talked about since it had been shooting last year. There has already been a poll to rule the consensus whether creator George RR Martin had gone too far with the content of the show.

Even though the show has been tinkling with sexual content since season one and there has been issues of changing their nature from consensual to non-consensual scenes but nothing has devastated the following quite like this.

A feminist blogger The Mary Sue even refused to stop endorsing the show. Clearly, the show has not only crossed the lines of morality and brutality, they have also strayed from the books to replace Sansa’s character for another character Jeyne Poole from Martin’s book A Dance With Dragon.

Sansa has been subjected to the brutality that Jeyne faces and given Sansa’s history compared to where Jeyne’s character was in the book, what happened to Sansa is perceived all the more brutal. 

Creators have justified their decisions against all the backlash they are receiving from the protestors. In an email to the Guardian, they clarified that Game of Thrones has remained true to the original content as much as possible compared to any other show that has been adapted from a novel for TV.

When creating a series, there has to be many plots and subplots, thrills and chills to keep the audience intact and move the story forward. This will make Sansa a main character rather than just a pawn and the story will move forward with her. 

The scene had already been discussed and approved and it didn’t go as far as it could have according to 51% voters on the poll. For once, the depiction is from a historic time where women were treated as such and they are definitely forgetting Daenerys’ wedding night.

The scene could have been much worse. The book depicted a much brutal scene with Theon ordered to join in the torture. No one seems to be commending the creators for putting a limit on it.