We’re now two episodes into the second season of Game of Thrones on HBO. If one thing is perfectly clear, it’s that this Is Not TV, It’s HBO. By “HBO” we mean Humongous Boob Overload.
In the comment fora across the Internet there were two main reactions to Sunday night’s offering. Viewers were either complaining that Asha Greyjoy’s name had been changed to Yara (because “Yara” sounds less like “Arya” than “Asha” sounds like “Osha”, or so they tell us) or that the amount of female nudity was just over the top(less).
Of course there are quite a few who respond to the nudity complaints by calling us (I’m one of those who is tired of it) both voyeurs and prudes. For those of us who are veterans of HBO’s other Adult series like Deadwood and The Wire there’s the argument of our fundamental inconsistency. There was always plenty of naked to go around in those other shows. Just look at how many times Tony took a meeting at the Bada Bing.
I’ve been puzzling over this and I think I’ve figured out why exactly all the Naked and Fake Sex is such a bother on this show. After all, I love the books so much I’m reading through them yet again and the sexual content doesn’t trouble me there. Why then do I keep feeling like I’m being assaulted by areolae every time I watch an episode of the show?
The nudity on this show draws reaction because it’s poorly done.
The show is very fragmented, and has to cover a lot of ground. Unlike Deadwood where Al was a center of the action–a presence even when not onscreen–or The Wire where we were seeing one story from several points of view, GOT has to fit multiple stories about multiple people into what is actually a small amount of time.
So they have to hit hard and capture attention in each segment. They’ve got very few devices upon which they over-rely.
Tyrion=oh no he didn’t! / humour
Joffrey/Cersei = oh no (s)he didn’t / shock
Arya = cute plucky kid
Dany=dragons or gore
Everyone else gets nudity. And it isn’t background nudity like strippers at the badabing during Tony’s meetings. It’s intentionally designed to grab your attention and staple it to an otherwise dull-seeming section of story.
It’s not that there’s so much of it, just that it’s being so overused to create a false interest. It’d be like a teacher slapping you in the back of the head with one of those pointy sticks teachers carry in Pink Floyd videos every time you were supposed to be paying attention to the details of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. You might start saying that you hate sticks, even though sticks are innocuous by themselves. Or you might hate treaties. Or teachers. Or school.
Obviously the producers are having success with the show; it just got picked up for a third season. I just hope they figure out a way to make the very interesting books survive the transition to television without having to use the Naked to prod us all into caring.
B-b-b-b-but the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was important!
I have nothing to say about the show, not being watching it. But there are people who get so carried away when they get permission to do something usually forbidden that they can’t just take it easy about whatever that thing is. And possibly, the permission to have nudity is affecting the writers in this way. Didn’t they change Dany’s husband from a gentle (with her) guy into a rapist so that they could show a rape scene last season?
Yes. Yes, they did. And I’m actually fuming about that anew since I’m rereading the books and just reread that scene.
Pardon the brevity and the typos. This was sent from my iPhone.
I gave up trying to watch it. I dealt with the nudity in the Wire because it struck me as organic to the characters and storyline, but in GoT it seems juvenile and prurient. Guess I’m not the only one who thinks that.
It’s a shame HBO is pawning such rich potential for playing to the cheap seats.
Ah well.
SNL did a bit about this very subject. Google it for a wry chuckle.
[...] of the three–and perhaps the fellow who holds the movie rights also–saw Season One of Game Of Thrones with all its over the top sexpositon and wankbank scenes and then decided that’s what Fantasy READERS are buying now. So far the titillation and [...]