The Problematic Gaze
Direct from PG Towers, join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV, Film and Popular Culture of yesteryear that has since been considered problematic. Each week we focus on a different piece of pop culture, and put it into context by looking at the news events and cultural landscape of the year it was released. Out and proud, Dr Lee and Our Dave present a humorous take on life as LGBTQ+ men of a glorious age, and present a digestible mix of academic social commentary, unflinching life lessons, media analysis, and hot takes on feminism, race, politics and cancel culture.
The Problematic Gaze
Winter Is Problematic: Gender, Race, and Ableism in 'Game of Thrones' (2011)
In this episode of The Problematic Gaze, we rewatch the very first episode of Game of Thrones with our eyes wide open — and the rose-colored glasses off. Once hailed as a gritty feminist epic, the show’s legacy now looks a lot messier. We dig into how Game of Thrones glorified sexual violence, punished ambitious women, and stripped its female leads of power and complexity. But it didn’t stop there: we also unpack the show’s troubling handling of race — from the white savior fantasy of Daenerys to the one-dimensional portrayal of the Dothraki and Unsullied — and how disability was reduced to metaphor or moral punishment. In the game of thrones, you win or you die… but some characters were never even given a fair shot.
We watched Game Of Thrones Season 1, Episode 1 'Winter Is Coming' on Sky Box Sets on the UK.
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