Before I begin, I must disclose that my day job is working for a company that retains HBO as a client. That said, my company’s affiliation has no bearing on my views regarding HBO or its series.

Warning: This commentary contains spoilers.

This blog has always been wholly dedicated to film, but allow me to take a left turn for a moment and focus on another of my passions: television.

A couple of weeks ago, HBO aired a controversial scene in Game of Thrones in which nobleman Jaime Lannister (portrayed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) rapes his twin sister and frequent lover Cersei (Lena Headey) in front of the corpse of their eldest son. And then a fan uproar commenced. Diehard fans of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series—on which Game of Thrones is based—immediately flocked to the Internet to complain that this scene was not accurately depicted on television as it was in the book. I haven’t read the books, but I understand that the novelization depicts a consensual sexual encounter—certainly not a rape. Book lovers, get over it. Television and film depictions are often different than what’s in the source material, and that’s done for a reason. But that’s another commentary for another time. My current interest is in defending the scene as it played out on screen.

Continue reading Game of Thrones: Why That Controversial Scene Is Okay in My Book →