Orgies, porn, sexual violence - everything was part of the rush of Game of Thrones

 Orgies, porn, sexual violence - everything was part of the rush of Game of Thrones

"Game of Thrones" used to be often referred to as "fantasy medieval porn with violence". After seven seasons, the violence is still there.

But explicit sex scenes have largely disappeared. For good reasons. Because the series has moved with the times.

The fantasy epic "Game of Thrones" enters its final round on April 14 American time (April 15 German time). Even if the viewers don't yet know who is sitting on the Iron Throne at the end - one thing is certain: there will be an excessive number of sex scenes in the series that the "GoT" actor Ian McShane once lovingly "Tits & Dragons" (German : breasts & dragons) called, no longer give.

That used to be different. Season 1 in particular was obsessed with sex and nudity: 33 people showed up naked, most of them women. Female characters were often introduced into the plot only for sex scenes. And even female lead roles were strongly sexualized: Dragon Queen Daenerys, for example, presented herself to the viewer in her very first scene – completely unnecessarily – stark naked.

Ultimately, sex scenes and eroticism in Game of Thrones were often just filler, much like the slow-motion scenes in Baywatch used to be: inserts designed to appeal to the baser instincts and keep viewers hooked (and the over 40 minutes playing time of an episode).

What is particularly shocking is the casualness with which sexual violence and sexual humiliation flowed into the series of images in the first season. We remember: Khal Drogo raped his wife Daenerys Targaryen on the first night of their marriage. Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish uses naked women as a side table and explains to them in an almost agonizing way on living objects how a man wants to be satisfied and what sounds a woman should make to do so.

However, from seasons 2 to 7, on-screen nude scenes steadily decreased. Of course there were a few - very opulent - exceptions: The orgy scene with the Martell family. Jon Snow and Ygritte in the cave. Or the Night's Watch detachment raping Craster's Keep behind the ice wall. However, and this is new, sex and nudity are now rarely used as clumsy episode fillers aimed at the horniness of male viewers. There is usually only sex when it is actually necessary for the plot or the development of the characters. Excessive nudity is usually avoided.

From the second season, the series also deals with the topic of sexual violence more and more seriously. Female characters in Game of Thrones live in constant fear of being raped by the nearest man: Sansa (raped by Ramsay Bolton), Ros (was forced to rape her co-worker), Gilly Craster (whose father raped all of his daughters indiscriminately). ) and Brienne of Tarth (saved from rape by Jaime Lannister) are just a few particularly memorable examples. The fates of these women, the cruelty of sexually violent men are portrayed with a urgency and seriousness that has nothing to do with "Tits & Dragons".