[BOOK SPOILERS] Pod and whores

[Nezzer]

Astoundingly awful. Of all the butcheries in this episode, this takes the cake. I can only imagine George's reaction.

His reaction must have been the same one he had when he wrote the Myrish Swamp and Irri & Dany scenes :cool4:

[Pinkie Baelish]

In a show that spends what 2 minutes on the opening credits, every minute is important, to lavish 7 or 8 minutes on this kind of nonsense is crazy to me. And it isn't as if Pod becomes some kind of main character at least as of the last book. Okay, so he's a nice kid and loyal to a fault and follows Brienne around Westeros..unless GRRM has something big planned for him...he isn't even important to the story arc. For argument's sake they could have completely left Pod out and had Bronn save Tyrion's life, unless he's going to do something heroic in the books that aren't yet written.

Funny thing is, by that logic, you could make the exact same argument against including Hot Pie and Arya's farewell. What great purpose did that scene have? It didn't advance the plot, Hot Pie's a minor character, he could have easily been excluded, why waste valuable screentime on him and his loaf of bread? Why? Because it was a good scene. It served its purpose. As did Pod's scene. It was meant to be funny, and while I didn't find it as such, I was at least entertained enough to not worry about it.

The show is filled with minor characters getting monologues and small segments that flesh them out and make them memorable. Alliser Thorne, Benjen Stark, Doreah have all had scenes that didn't advance the plot at all. But it's become very obvious, as this thread shows, that people only seem to blast these little scenes if they feature unwanted nudity. If you disliked the nudity, then that should be your main grievance against it. If you didn't find it funny, that should be your main argument against the inclusion of the scene. But to shit on the scene simply by saying that it's "pointless" is overall a weak argument. No show runs, or should run at such a pace where every scene features a notable shift in plot development.

His reaction must have been the same one he had when he wrote the Myrish Swamp and Irri & Dany scenes :cool4:

This.

[Khal Porno]

I didn't realize so many 70 year old women watched this show and posted on these forums.

[The Dragon has three heads]

Entertaining? Yes.

Bit pointless, yep.

[teemo]

I didn't realize so many 70 year old women watched this show and posted on these forums.

yes, i'm sure that's the average age and gender of the poster in here...

[GeorgeIAF]

I think that it is good to have a moment of joy and "comedy" in the show, because this season will be dark almost all the time, so for me it wasnt such a waste of time. I really laughed when Tyrion and Bronn were requesting details from Pod, and also when i saw Pod's face when he was saying that he got a free time with the whores :))))

[Khal Porno]

I think that it is good to have a moment of joy and "comedy" in the show, because this season will be dark almost all the time, so for me it wasnt such a waste of time. I really laughed when Tyrion and Bronn were requesting details from Pod, and also when i saw Pod's face when he was saying that he got a free time with the whores :))))

Exactly. I thought the whole thing was hilarious. I liked the little nod to the fans as well.

[SilentSense]

Complaining about the length of the scene is legit, there are 8 stories running in parallel now which leaves precious little time for each as it is .

Of course, the real reason some people so intensely dislike this is because they don't like the nudity/and or the portrayal of women.

[PatrickStormborn]

And I think they opted for a comedy scene simply because, well this episode is pretty dark. A funeral, two attempted rapes and a hand getting cut off calls for something to lighten the mood.

Sex workers should not be used as props to "lighten the mood".

[Khal Porno]

Sex workers should not be used as props to "lighten the mood".

Give me a break, dude.

You know I hear there's some great family programming in the mornings and afternoons on PBS you could watch instead, which don't contain any material that you might find offensive.

[HouseLark]

His reaction must have been the same one he had when he wrote the Myrish Swamp and Irri & Dany scenes :cool4:

Ha! So right. Martin is no stranger to letting his pervy side run wild. I know plenty of people will say "sex serves a purpose" in the books and they are right, but it's amazing how often Martin dwells on the stuff that (presumably) titillates him and leaves the stuff that doesn't excite him either implied or to take place "off screen" e.g. any male gay sex, any sex between two older people.

Yeah, more horrors of war stuff would be useful but the Pod scene was a nice change of pace. There's a great scene in the Wire which goes on for 7-8 minutes which is just Bunk and McNulty walking around a crime scene repeatedly saying "motherfucker". It's a great, funny scene that serves very little purpose; I wouldn't have taken it out for the world.

[PatrickStormborn]

Give me a break, dude.

You know I hear there's some great family programming in the mornings and afternoons on PBS you could watch instead, which don't contain any material that you might find offensive.

Yes, it's such a big deal to want equal nudity and less objectification of women. :rolleyes:

[Khal Porno]

Yes, it's such a big deal to want equal nudity and less objectification of women. :rolleyes:

Once again, you don't have to watch it. I don't like excessive gore for gore's sake so I don't watch The Human Centipede type movies. You are well aware that Game of Thrones features graphic nudity and sexual situations, and if you find it offensive don't watch it. Then everyone is happy.

[PatrickStormborn]

Once again, you don't have to watch it. I don't like excessive gore for gore's sake so I don't watch The Human Centipede type movies. You are well aware that Game of Thrones features graphic nudity and sexual situations, and if you find it offensive don't watch it. Then everyone is happy.

So I shouldn't watch a TV show based on one of my favourite book series simply because I'm tired of the constant sexism?

No. I'll keep watching it. And I'll keep posting about its major flaws. Feel free to blacklist my posts if you find my posts offensive. You're well aware that I'm critical of the show for its misogynistic objectification of women, and if you find my criticism offensive don't read it. Then everyone is happy.

:)

[Drowningfish2304]

They could have used so many more scenes to lighten the mood, that would have advanced the story a little at the same time!

Justifying the scene plainly because they "needed something to lighten the mood" isn't enough because they could have had:

• A scene of Ygritte teasing Jon about sex like in Season 2 - that was quite light-hearted and fun to watch, and it would have brought the romance back between them this season that has been completely void so far
  
• A scene between Thoros and Arya, Thoros telling her where he plans to take her because that hasn't been explained yet, could have used a few light-hearted dialogue between Arya and Gendry here too
  
• Maybe a conversation between Bran and Jojen, introducing Jojen a little bit more, a scene of them playing with some cute direwolves? I'm sure that'd lighten the mood
  
• There are probably tonnes more that would have worked better than the Pod + whores scene.
  

[StannisandDaeny]

It was supposed to be a bit of light hearted humour, and guess what, it was. I laughed and was grinning like an idiot.

Exactly.

[SilentSense]

So I shouldn't watch a TV show based on one of my favourite book series simply because I'm tired of the constant sexism?

No. I'll keep watching it. And I'll keep posting about its major flaws. Feel free to blacklist my posts if you find my posts offensive. You're well aware that I'm critical of the show for its misogynistic objectification of women, and if you find my criticism offensive don't read it. Then everyone is happy.

:)

What are your thoughts on the sexism in the book? You're aware the ASOIAF society is sexist? (Which is by no means its only fault compared to the 21th century of our world. I think beheadings without trial and torture are quite bad as well!)

[Khal Porno]

So I shouldn't watch a TV show based on one of my favourite book series simply because I'm tired of the constant sexism?

No. I'll keep watching it. And I'll keep posting about its major flaws. Feel free to blacklist my posts if you find my posts offensive. You're well aware that I'm critical of the show for its misogynistic objectification of women, and if you find my criticism offensive don't read it. Then everyone is happy.

:)

The show is not misogynistic. There are a number of strong, intelligent female characters. Yes there are prostitutes - however I would not say that they are portrayed particularly poorly. Just because you see naked women doesn't mean the filmmakers hate women and want you to think they are worthless.

Why aren't you complaining about the hostile depiction of men on the show? We've seen reams of brutes, rapists, and murderers who are men.

[Khal Porno]

What are your thoughts on the sexism in the book? You're aware the ASOIAF society is sexist?

That's an excellent point. There are quite a few prostitutes in the books, and humor about prostitutes as well if I remember correctly.

[PatrickStormborn]

What are your thoughts on the sexism in the book? You're aware the ASOIAF society is sexist? (Which is by no means its only fault compared to the 21th century of our world. I think beheadings without trial and torture are quite bad as well!)

If you've ever read any of my posts on the main forum you'd know that I'm sometimes critical of GRRM's portrayal of women. But it's still far better than anything the showrunners have done.

The show is not misogynistic. There are a number of strong, intelligent female characters. Yes there are prostitutes - however I would not say that they are portrayed particularly poorly. Just because you see naked women doesn't mean the filmmakers hate women and want you to think they are worthless.

Why aren't you complaining about the hostile depiction of men on the show? We've seen reams of brutes, rapists, and murderers who are men.

"The show is not misogynistic" is a very bold statement that doesn't really hold true. In the latest episode, the show used four sex workers (including Ros) to entertain dudebro viewers. That is misogynistic.

Men are not an oppressed group, why would I care about their depiction?