Vikings creator Michael Hirst slams Game of Thrones for gratuitous sex and violence

What can Game of Thrones do to get people to stop criticizing it for gratuitous sex and violence? Is it even possible? Sooner or later, someone always seems to bring it up.

The latest person to bring it up is Michael Hirst, whose show Vikings just had its fourth season premiere on the History Channel (or just History, as it goes by now). The Season 3 finale of Vikings featured a scene in which Count Odo (Owen Roe) whipped a naked noblewoman (Karen Hassan) in his dungeon. When it comes to sex and violence, History doesn’t allow its shows the latitude that HBO allows Game of Thrones, so the scene came as a shock to some viewers. When Hirst was asked about the scene, he said that it was part of “a big storyline, a big pay-off. It’s part of (Odo’s) character so it’s not gratuitous.” As a point of contrast, he brought up Game of Thrones:

"I feel like a lot of other people, that sex in Game Of Thrones and other shows is completely gratuitous and unnecessary and a lot of the violence is gratuitous… It’s largely to shock."

This isn’t the first time Hirst has taken aim at the HBO hit. He aired some of his grievances to Variety in 2013. “Some shows like Game of Thrones and other cable programs were using gratuitous sex and violence just to try and sell the show,” he said.

"In Game of Thrones, you get to see a scene opening with two naked women, and then you see a couple of guys come in and that’s where the scene starts. We thought, “We’re not going to do that. We can’t do that anyway because it’s a network show…I think we’ve gone too far . . . you know, it’s all kind of violent porn and sex porn. I was very, very happy to not be part of that trend and to instead concentrate on the story."

Vikings from

Vikings

, seen here with all their clothes on.

I think Hirst is being a bit unfair here, as even when Game of Thrones does trot out bodies for the purpose of trotting out bodies (I will never forget the account of how an HBO executive basically forced director Neil Marshall to include full-frontal nudity in “Blackwater”), its main focus is still on the story. Still, at this point, I don’t think Game of Thrones can escape this reputation.

And that’s a shame, because I actually think the show has actually improved on this front. Recent seasons haven’t had as much casual nudity as past ones. We haven’t had anything as blatant as Littlefinger’s infamous “sexposition” scene from Season 1 (I imagine that’s what Hirst is referring to in his Variety interview) in a while. Season 5 had nudity, but it usually had a purpose. Melisandre stripped down to seduce Jon Snow, which may yet prove important to the plot. We saw characters like Daario and Olyvar naked, but they had just had sex, so it made sense in context. Cersei was naked during her walk of shame, but that sequence was focused on her emotional turmoil—it wasn’t titillating at all. And when Tyene bared her breasts for Bronn…okay, that one was pretty shameless. Baby steps, people.

So far as respectful use of nudity goes, I think Season 6 will be a proving ground for the showrunners. They’ve gone beyond the books now, which means they have more input in the story. If they really have confidence in it, they shouldn’t feel the need to include nudity just because—any nudity they do include should flow naturally from the story. If they start parading around naked bodies for no good reason, we’ll know we’re in trouble.

And now, to balance out this heavy story, here’s a preview of Graeme Of Thrones, a Game of Thrones parody show that originated in London and will be opening at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago this fall.

Per Playbill, Graeme of Thrones shows “what happens when Graeme, a superfan of the TV series, uses puppets, stuffed animals, electrical tape, and a lot of creativity to ‘show the world how everyone’s favourite sweary fantasy TV series should have been made.'” As a Chicago resident, I approve.

h/t RTEten