The 'Game of Thrones' Rape Problem

“Well, We’re Talking About Rape Again,” is the headline of a column at Jezebel, but it has nothing to do with debate over the wording of campus disciplinary codes. The author, Madeleine Davies, is angry about “Game of Thrones.” With a couple of repulsive minutes at the very end of Sunday’s episode, the show everybody hates to admit they love has suddenly been transformed into the show everybody loves to admit they hate.

You needn’t be a fan of the program to be aware of the controversy. Shorn of the trappings of story, what happened is this: Sansa Stark, who has evolved into a popular character, was brutally raped by her husband, Ramsay Bolton, on their wedding night. Ramsay, it should be added, is known to viewers as a psychosexual sadist, whose torture and castration of another character occupied far too much screen time two seasons ago. And the writers have been to this well before. Says Davies: “This is a series with an unfortunate and well explored history of using the rape of its female characters to shock, entertain, and force character development.”