![]() “ Tolkien and CS Lewis were two of the largest influencers of modern English-language fantasy,” says Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games. That is not to say it doesn’t draw on past traditions. The shape of its world is limited only by the imaginations of its creators and – perhaps more so – its viewers. Photograph: HBOĪlthough fans with a shaky understanding of medieval Europe have often claimed otherwise, Game of Thrones is fantasy, not history. ![]() Because, presumably, ice zombies and dragons are perfectly plausible, but fully rounded non-white characters would be a stretch too far?Ĭivilising influence? ‘Breaker of Chains’ Daenerys (Emilia Clarke). Reaction below the line and on fan threads was mostly variations on a similar theme of historical accuracy and the challenge that black actors present to the audience’s ability to suspend disbelief. One Forbes piece argued that while diversity is important, calling out a franchise “based entirely on British history and mythology is completely counter-productive” and, ultimately, “to the detriment of the story”. In fairness, GoT does feature two or three black actors with speaking parts, but the public rebuttals of Boyega’s point went way beyond a simple fact-check. Even if you’re a racist, you have to live with that.” “I ain’t paying money to always see one type of person on-screen …Because you see different people from different backgrounds, different cultures, every day. “There are no black people on Game of Thrones,” he said. A few weeks earlier, Star Wars actor John Boyega, a man with some personal experience of fandom-specific racism, brought the issue up in a GQ interview. The backlash might not have been so severe, however, if Game of Thrones wasn’t already perceived to have a problem with diversity. The project has since been delayed indefinitely. The announcement was met with near-instantaneous social-media anger from activists including #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxane Gay, who described it as “slavery fan fiction”. ![]() In 2017, all this became an official talking point when GoT’s co-creators, Benioff and Weiss, announced that their next project would be Confederate, an alternative history drama, in which the south won the American civil war and slavery never ended. As Dr David Wearing, an international relations expert and Game of Thrones fan says, “One episode ends with the blond, white Daenerys being borne aloft in gratitude by a sea of faceless people of colour, at which point we’re scarcely in the realms of interpreting subtext.” We have also been introduced to the Dornish, another dusky ethnic group from a distant land who are defined by hyper-sexualised and aggressive behaviour you needn’t be a dedicated student of Edward Said to decipher the creeping orientalism in these plot lines. Photograph: HBOīy season five, Daenerys has bagged herself a black friend (ex-slave Missandei, played by former Hollyoaks actor Nathalie Emmanuel) and has taken her conquering/liberating mission to Slaver’s Bay where she is hailed as “mhysa” (mother) by the freed slaves. Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei and Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm. That is until Westerosi princess Daenerys arrived, like Stacey Dooley on a Comic Relief jolly, and civilised them all. In the east, or Essos, the Dothraki people were depicted as a nomadic tribe of violent, rape-happy savages. People of colour were not absent from the show but they were relegated to its cartographical margins. ![]() The majority of the action took place in Westeros, George RR Martin’s skewed spin on medieval Britain and the west, where the fair-haired, fair-skinned Lannisters engaged in a generations-long power struggle with the darker-haired, fair-skinned Starks. It was clear then that showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss envisioned their world as a white one. This much should have been obvious from way back when the very first episode aired in 2011. Yet there is one aspect that is yet to receive adequate attention: Game of Thrones – great show, but is it racist? In the time since it last aired, memes have been shared, elaborate theories have been devised and revised, bets have been laid (Lyanna Mormont FTW) and cos-play outfits have been lovingly stitched. T his month, the biggest TV show in the world returns for one final dragon-slaying, wall-toppling, throne-nabbing season.
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