“Game Of Thrones”: HBO’s Double Standard
In her perceptive review of “Game of Thrones,” Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker’s TV critic, gets at the double standard prevalent in virtually all HBO dramas that contain sexuality. She writes: ‘There is something troubling about this sea of C.G.I.-perfect flesh, shaved and scentless and not especially medieval. It’s unsettling to recall that these are not merely pretty women; they are unknown actresses who must strip, front and back, then mimic graphic sex and sexual torture, a skill increasingly key to attaining employment on cable dramas. During the filming of the second season, an Irish actress walked off the set when her scene shifted to what she termed “soft porn.†Of course, not everyone strips: there are no truly explicit scenes of gay male sex, fewer lingering shots of male bodies, and the leading actresses stay mostly buttoned up. Artistically, “Game of Thrones†is in a different class from “House of Lies,†“Californication,†and “Entourage.†But it’s still part of another colorful patriarchal subculture, the one called Los Angeles.’
