Comment

Feb 21, 2015LT rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
There are so many attractive things about this series--the characters, the settings. the intricate plot, the costuming--that I am partly inclined to give it a pass with respect to its scenes of graphic violence and coercive sexuality. However, the directors' persistent focus on, say, dead bodies of beautiful naked women, spurting gore, close-ups of shaven female pubises, and quasi-titillating rape/torture scenes is both calculating and prurient. Nickolaj Coster-Waldau and Gwendoline Christie (Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth, respectively) do an excellent job. Peter Dinklage has great acting chops and has created a muy simpatico version of Tyrion. Unfortunately, he has a very uncertain command of the approximately British accent he's been asked to assume. Lena Headey (Cersei) always looks stunning, but is capable of only two facial expressions. Number one is a sort of blank-faced pensiveness that's a universal indicator of sorrow, boredom, fear, and anger. Number two is a (generally inappropriate) half-smile. The actress or the director may consider this look mysterious and alluring, but I would be more inclined to attribute it to the side effects of Botox. Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) mopes about on-screen without ever making an impression apart from her prettiness; not her fault, really, as that is all the dimension that George Martin and the directors have allowed her. Maisie Williams did well in the first and second seasons, but her portrayal seems to have crystallized into a monolithic interpretation of Arya Stark as child Nemesis. I hope that she has more latitude of expression in future episodes. Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is somewhat offensively portrayed as the great white hope of the Westerosi equivalent to Africa. She spends a lot of time looking self-consciously noble, fiery, and compassionate. One would think that at least one native of the continent could scrape up the spirit and resources to lead a revolution without needing a white-skinned platinum blonde foreigner as a figurehead. My quarrel with this series is the same as my quarrel with the books: Martin has sensationalized all the foullest aspects of the Middle Ages. He makes his characters wallow in the muck, perhaps even more so than the real-life inhabitants of the medieval era had to. He and HBO pander to those in the audience who slaver for a little (or a lot) of salacious cruelty in every chapter. But will I stop reading and watching? I will not, because damn them, they tell a good story.