09 December, 2017

The racism that is Game of Thrones

Started this in 2013, and I promise to finish before GOT is done
Watch this space

Many a blogger (and fully fledged author) have written ad nauseum about the subtle and not so sublte racist underpinnings of GOT, and while I am an avid fan, I am not blind to these slights and would like to briefly touch on them here.

In summary, there are more people of colour in Peaky Blinders than GOT.





Now, the books had to be heavily sanitzed for TV ( shocking given the number 1 complaint of gratuitous sex, nudity and violence) so my critique is two fold.

Many creative liberties taken with casting, but besides logistical contraints, what else influenced those decisions? Tyrion the war vet is a lot better looking on HBO than the one described in the books, and we ALL know Targaryens have platinum blonde hair and purple eyes (would that have been too much to ask of Emelia Clarke...or her optician). GOT is a medieval fantasy and in the books, there's no getting away from the fantasy however over the past 7 seasons, the TV adaptation has leaned more and more towards a mere violent depiction of centuries past, save for a few dragons here and there, replete with homophobia, misogyny, double standards, and enslaved brown skinned folk. It seems that the only difference between Westeros and Western Europe is in name only. Literally, only   names have been changed to protect the innocent. Apparently you can't plagiarise history. My point is this: If we didn't feel the need to follow all the character descriptions to the letter why don't we have a more diverse cast? There was ample opportunity to flesh out the character of Jalabhar Xho besides his leering and peacock feathers.

As for the books and GRRM's actual handiwork...well you have to read it to believe it. It's no secret that his writing is inspired by real life events (red wedding etc) and a lot of the norms of Westeros are based on the prevailing culture of the middle ages however things start to get very awkward when he is only able to craft very simplistic descriptions of 'others'. The others being the Dothraki (North Africa [Moors]), the Summer Islanders ([Sub-Saharan] Africans) and Dorne (Iberian Peninsula) whose histories are a mere footnote compared to the elaborate genealogies of  the Westorosi, whose motivations are never discussed and whose beliefs and behaviours are either exotic or esoteric, but always undesirable.

My problem isn't the description of Summer Islanders as black, tar skinned, sexually adventurous, possibly incestuous, buck toothed primitive folk. None of this is done in a particularly negative light, afterall, they were responsible for rescuing Sam and Ginny and sexually liberating them...and curing his sea sickness-I forget the details. However it's clear to see what this narrative is based on.

My problem isn't the description of the Dothraki as barbaric nomads whose men as tanned and dark haired uber misogynistic sabre wielding horse riders with a penchant for blondes and Dothraki women as a mere necessity for fieldwork and reproduction-to be seen and not heard. Polygynous desert dwelling folk who 'will not cross the Mediterr Narrow sea'

My problem isn't describing Dorne as part of Westeros but not really. As very exotic, known for the wine and warm climate, beautiful women with olive skin and hot tempers, permissive ideas around amorous relationships and fatherhood and of course sartorial preferences. It isn't even the description of the 3 kinds of Dornish based on how closely they intermingled ( and hence resembled) the Andals who descended from the mountains of Caucasus...oh wait...that's not GOT, that's real life. You get my point.

Part of these similarities can be blamed on laziness or better, fatigue (again, take a look and the family trees) however since all of GOT is based on what GRRM has passively and actively imbibed over the years, it's quite sad that the African correlates's backgrounds could not beyond archaic depictions of Africans and African Americans in the US and beyond. Even in a world with dragons, zombies and magic, the same old black narrative remains.

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