Dude, I’m starting to think Ned Stark might be a leeeeeeeeeetle bit unobservant. Little Finger has been creepin’ on Cat and Sansa, has told Ned to not trust him, and then was all LOLLERSKATES if you have someone you trust completely you should send them to this specific location LOLLLLERSKATES haha you shouldn’t've said you had someone you trust completely INTERESTING THING TO FILE AWAY, amirite??? Anyways, so Ned went to the armory on the hill that Little Fingers told him about and found King Robert’s bastard by a blonde woman, and has begun realizing that Robert’s girth, build, and coloring are so powerful that it’s hella weird that him and Cersei’s kids don’t look like him.
Sansa is starting to realize that she’s been giving a shit stick to beat on a shit drum and if she doesn’t play along with a shit melody, she’ll be up shit’s creek without a shitty paddle. She asked her nurse what would happen to her if she only had daughters once she became Joffrey’s Queen, noted that everyone hates her, including Joffrey, and then asked why her grandfather and uncles had been killed in the throne room years before. The actress has my heart — she manages to convey Sansa’s rising panic while at the same time emphasizing that Sansa’s still thinking of the court, the court, the court! as the end-all of these machinations. The actress for Arya is also charming, though my friend and I LOL’d at what her teacher said about cats and their sneakiness. My cat is really easy to catch because she’s LAZY.
Daenarys is… growing on me. I still think she looks badly photoshopped into every scene she’s in, and my friend and I had an energetic debate at to whether that was an issue of camera contrasts, or make up. I think make-up, and that they went heavy with an opalescent shimmer on her breast-bone and cheeks so that she appears to glow a little in comparison to everything else. Anyways, she whacked her douche of a brother with a heavy metal belt in the face because he hit her, but noticeably didn’t tell him to not hit her slaves as well. Siiiiiiiiiigh.
Catelyn also totally GOT Tyrion — when they met at an end in the area of Westeros she’s from, she quickly reminded EVERY MAN IN THE ROOM that she was their kin/friend of their kin/uniquely of this area in a way the Lannisters never were, and got them to arrest Tyrion for her for trying to assasinate Bran. Speaking of Bran… Tyrion got the designs for a special saddle so that Bran can learn to ride, even though he can’t walk. That whole sequence where someone “helps” Bran by carrying him like that… gah. I can’t tell if the show is troubling stereotypes/mythos about the disabled or what, but I do know that Bran’s dignity was profoundly insulted, something interesting to see on the face of a little kid. Also: Jon made friends on the Wall. Yay? One of them is a weepy fat boy who has HIDDEN DEPTHS.
Concluding thoughts:
1. GOD, isn’t Catelyn just SUPER? She was so completely regal in EVERY scene, and that concluding moment where she asked these men whose loyalty she had to arrest the Queen’s brother? HOLY GUACAMOLE, Batman.
2. Ned sucks at playing detective.
3. If Sansa and Daenarys are both pawns because of their femme-dom, it’s interesting to see how/if they’ll be the lucky pawns that get promoted to Queen or are just expendable.
4. Arya is SUPER cute. <3
5. Finally, this show really needed more diversity in casting. There are a lot of stoic white guys with brown/dark hair, and I CANNOT tell them apart unless one of them starts talking. It’s like Glee and the bevy of white blondes, or BSG and the symbolic white blondes. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
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Well, I think the scene with the saddle plans would be more upsetting/bad if it didn’t come from someone who had clearly had to deal with ‘how to ride’ himself. It’s not so much the show as the books, because again that scene is from the books and unfortunately there is no way for Tyrion to supply the plans in a more discreet way (and he’s very much about…confronting people about their attitudes, although normally with his wit? idk. From his talks with Jon Snow he seems…sympathetic to being the object of jokes and even pity, but he has very definite ways of dealing with it himself and he obviously feels that others should deal with in a similar way.) While that’s not particularly sensitive of him, it’s pretty bang on character for Tyrion.
Pewter(Quote) (Reply)
I wasn’t talking about that scene — I was talking about the scene with the really tall guy who carries Bran around.
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
and when he picked Bran out of bed.
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
GOD, isn’t Catelyn just SUPER?
I’ve only seen the two first episodes so far and only read the first three books, but no, sorry. I lost all respect for her in the first book (and I doubt the tv series will change that), and actually, the whole getting of Tyrion and what follows that is a major part of that – she’s a strong character, sure, terrifyingly strong in some ways, but, well, you see, she’s not, she’s…
Uhm – what was the spoiler policy around here again?
oneiriad(Quote) (Reply)
Ah, again, it’s something from the books. The depiction of Hodor is definitely not without issues, imho, as he’s basically just a wheelchair substitute for bran rather than being considered as a character. I don’t think Martin is in the business of subverting tropes of disability in the same way that he attempts to with sexism, sadly (and obvs neither are the show runners). On the other hand, what choice would they have if the boy is ‘summoned’ by his lord?
Pewter(Quote) (Reply)
oneiriad,
SPOILERS RULE!
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
@Pewter, good point. I had the impression from the book that Hodor was like… a giant who never spoke?
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
@Oneiriad –
I know Tyrion didn’t do it, if that’s what you’re referring to? I do think she’s an awesome character tho…
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
I’m on the third book right now, & I vastly prefer the novels to the show. The show, for me, is a Peter Dinklage vehicle, mostly.
mordicai(Quote) (Reply)
Which one is PEter Dinklage?
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
Maria
It’s not so much that Tyrion didn’t do it and more that she basically drags him off to fantasy-Guantanamo, wanting to force him to confess, on nothing more than Little Finger’s word. Catelyn seems to me a character primarily motivated by a motherly love so intense that it goes beyond madness and – well, unfortunately, it makes her do some pretty shitty things to people who really, really didn’t deserve it, like Jon and Tyrion, and I’m not really comfortable with her.
Oh, and Peter Dinklage is the dwarf.
oneiriad(Quote) (Reply)
I’m not sure dwarf is appropriate language?
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
Maria,
Sorry. I’m honestly never quite sure what the American pc term for loads of things are, being a Dane. So let me re-phrase that: Peter Dinklage is the awesome actor portraying the awesome character Tyrion (and when he gets done with Game of Thrones, somebody needs to abduct him and make him do some huge Vorkosigan saga movies).
oneiriad(Quote) (Reply)
Maria,
It’s worse than that. “Hodor” is so called because he only ever says the word “hodor,” and in fact, *spoiler spoiler* as Bran develops the ability to trade skins with animals, ie psychically control them under limited conditions, he’s able to take control of Hodor because of his “simple mind.” Yes, GRRM actually said that. Disabled people are just closer to animals, you know?
I THINK dwarf is appropriate language, but preferred language varies from disability to disability, and you never have any guarantee that a specific advocacy group actually includes the population it’s advocating for, so I’m not certain.
As an aside, I had assumed my inability to tell almost anyone on the show apart was just my regular inability to distinguish faces from each other, but my able friend told me she was having trouble because they all looked like brunette white guys.
Shaun(Quote) (Reply)
Dwarfism is a medical condition, which the actor has per Wikipedia.
Sylvia Sybil(Quote) (Reply)
Maria,
From what I’ve been able to google, “Dwarf” and “little person” are both acceptable, but “midget” is not. Some people prefer to go by little person, because dwarf is associated with non-human mythological figures, whereas others say little person is cutesy and associated with non-human mythological figures too.
Attackfish(Quote) (Reply)
Sylvia Sybil,
Right, but Mongolism was considered a medical term once upon a time as well, and part of the DA rights advocacy for people with Down’s syndrome was getting rid of that label.
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
Attackfish,
Thanks!
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
Shaun,
O_O
o__O
O_o
O_O
Wow. That’s… really so not okay I don’t even know what to say about that.
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
Maria,
There are days. I think I deliberately blocked that out.
Attackfish(Quote) (Reply)
Sylvia Sybil,
Actually, Dwarfism is a set of medical conditions.
Attackfish(Quote) (Reply)
Maria,
Achondroplasia is the medical term, & you can’t go wrong with “little person.” Peter Dinklage, as I’m sure you’ve figured, is the gentleman in question– I HIGHLY recommend seeing the movie “The Station Agent,” which I originally picked up because Stephen Trask (co-writer of Hedwig & the Angry Inch’s music) did the soundtrack. Peter Dinklage blew me away. Also, if I recall correctly– I mention this only as a side note– I remember reading that he preferred the term dwarf, but I can’t find a source for that & when you google “Peter Dinklage dwarf” all that comes up is stuff about Narnia.
mordicai(Quote) (Reply)
@mordicai
Thanks! I thought “little person” sounded right, but then I was like, MAAAAAAAAAYBE I’m wrong, since I thought he preferred “person of short stature?” I know Station Agent is supposed to be awesomely good, and was the first feature film with a little person as lead.
(Also, he was hot as Tina Fey’s date on Thirty Rock)
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
I found this link helpful:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050501/COMMENTARY/50429001
Ebert used the term midget, unaware it was considered offensive, and actor Daniel Woodburn (scroll down for his pic and you’ll probably recognize him) informed him it was hurtful. Ebert apologized and asked for further clarification (for example,if LP was always the correct term). There’s an essay in the middle of it which is interesting, but then the email discussion continues. I think Mordicai is right that one “can’t go wrong” with LP, even though you may well run into people who aren’t crazy about it (and you usually need to note for the benefit of average-sized people that it IS a preferred term of respect, and not a put-down).
Woodburn also mentions something that never occurred to me:
“The truth is Little People or Persons of Short Stature or Dwarfs do not
have equal rights under the law. We are forbidden to join the military or police force based purely on size and not ability. Accessibility laws laid down by the ADA are not always accommodating to Little People. The ACLU, has not, in my experience acknowledged such issues as forcible eviction, denial of housing, or employment and education when it comes to people with Dwarfism. The response was “We don’t recognize that there is any such race as the Dwarf race.” True though it may be, in my opinion there needs to be a precedent set in support of Little People.”
ACLU fail.
Jennifer Kesler(Quote) (Reply)
As far as Peter Dinklage personally, from what I can find he DOES prefer the term dwarf, or at least uses it to describe himself: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3130881
Shaun(Quote) (Reply)
Thanks, Shaun!
Okay, BACK TO GoT!
Is Daenarys going to come out anti-slavery?
Maria(Quote) (Reply)
Maria,
Yes. Ohhhhh yes.
Shaun(Quote) (Reply)
Maria,
“Disabled people are closer to animals” ????
I have no words strong enough to express my disgust!
Sally(Quote) (Reply)
Ooops, should have referenced Shaun, since he was the one who quoted GRRM’s saying that.
Sally(Quote) (Reply)
Maria,
About Daenerys – she’s is going to come out as very, very, very anti-slavery. And sort of awesome.
oneiriad(Quote) (Reply)
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