There’s been a lot of talk on certain parts of the Internet this season on the omnipresent misogyny on Game of Thrones. The existence of that misogyny is not up for debate: Female characters on the show are beaten, raped, and burned alive. It’s there. The question is whether the misogyny is an acceptable reflection of Westeros (which has much of its origins in history)?
To that question, Amanda Peet — the wife of Game of Thrones‘ showrunner David Benioff and the star of HBO’s Togetherness — says that it’s absolutely acceptable, as she told TheWrap:
“It’s a misogynist world, this world that George R.R. Martin created, but we have to experience it without thinking that people are condoning this.”
Peet also added that the backlash over the misogyny is “really misplaced,” noting that the show writes “some of the greatest female characters that are on television.”
“It’s much more insidious to have middling, ancillary female roles where the women are not part of the plot — where they don’t advance anything,” Peet insisted “Wife roles, girlfriend roles, there are very few of those in Game of Thrones. If someone takes their clothes off and it’s a massive part of the plot? So be it.”
Peet, however, did take issue with one plot point in Game of Thrones (and spoilers, if you’re not caught up): She was absolutely “furious” over the death of Jon Snow.
“[Benioff] was already in Belfast, he’s back to work now on the next season,” she said, but at the end of the episode, “I texted him and said, ‘I’m single now.’”
(Via TheWrap)