Small Council: Should the producers change things about the show because of fan reaction?

Earlier this week, director Jeremy Podeswa said that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were “responsive” to the intense fan reaction following Sansa Stark’s rape by Ramsay Bolton in Season 5 and changed “a couple of things” as a result. Was this the right call? Should the showrunners be sensitive to fan reaction, or should they stick to their vision even if it alienates viewers? Does it depend on what they’re reacting to? The Small Council discusses.

RAZOR: Three words, one reaction: HELL F#%@ING NO. This is the absolute worst possible thing that could happen to Game of Thrones. I’m a self-admitted Book Purist, and even I don’t want Benioff and Weiss to change the show because some whiny and petulant children in the form of Game of Thrones fans start crying about a scene or multiple scenes. You want the producers to change because you don’t like their interpretation of the material? Go watch some random garbage on the CW (The Flash and Arrow excluded). If you want quality, edge-of-your-seat drama, then keep your damnable overly-sensitive and unnecessarily-entitled opinions to yourself…or at the very least, confine them to message boards like the ones here at WiCnet, where all are welcome.

DAN: Okay, so Razor is against it. Maybe. His response was kind of ambiguous.

While I generally think that the creators of a show should hold steady to their vision regardless of what people say, I do think there’s room for other perspectives. If fans point out to David Benioff and Dan Weiss that one of their plotlines didn’t work (and plenty of people would argue that some of the plotlines in Season 5 didn’t work), why shouldn’t they bend an ear and do what they can to correct the problem going forward?

I’m not saying that Sansa’s marriage to Ramsay didn’t work dramatically, but imagine if Jeremy Podeswa had said that Benioff and Weiss had recalibrated their approach to Dorne instead. I, along with a lot of other fans, had a number of problems with the Dornish plotline in Season 5—the Sand Snakes were poorly drawn, the logic of events didn’t add up, and the tone was both too light (for most of it) and too dark (I don’t think they earned a dramatic moment like Myrcella’s death). If Benioff and Weiss absorbed these criticisms and retooled events in Dorne so they fit better into Season 6, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

The issue is where to draw the line. If the producers bend to the whims of every fan they meet, it’d be impossible to make the show, since different fans want different things. Even if fan opinion is strongly in favor of one course of action over another, I still think they should be careful about heeding it, since the popular opinion may not necessarily be the right one. After hearing Podeswa’s comments, I’m nervous about how they may have altered Sansa’s plot in Season 6. I don’t want to watch her suffer for the sake of shock value, but I also don’t want the producers to overcompensate and make her an indestructible badass. That’s boring, and boredom is death to entertainment.

Ultimately, the characters should tell the writers what they’re going to do next, not the other way around. I don’t know what alterations were made to the plotlines of Season 6 as a result of the fan outcry following Sansa’s rape—for all I know, they were well-reasoned and we’ll be celebrating them by the time Season 6 is over. Hopefully, Benioff and Weiss had the insight to change what needed changing, the courage to leave alone what was better left alone, and the wisdom to know the difference.

LEXI: I agreed with the producers’ decision to take Sansa back to Winterfell and combine her story with that of book character Jeyne Poole. The move allowed Sansa to remain a central part of the story instead of meander around the Vale as she does in the books.

As far as Sansa’s wedding night, after everything Game of Thrones has tossed our way this is what people are upset about? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I never understood why that scene was so maligned. Did anyone expect Ramsay to serve her up some lemon cakes and sing a lullaby? I think Sansa’s wedding, in addition to everything else she’s suffered, will play a pivotal role in her story arc and help drive her forward to become a stronger player. To echo Razor’s sentiments, if you’re looking for light and fluffy fare, cruise on over to the Hallmark Channel.

I hope Benioff and Weiss wouldn’t actually cave and change any of their major visions for the show based on fan response. If any changes were made to Season 6 based on fan outcry, hopefully they were minor. Podeswa’s comment also serves as an acknowledgment that HBO is open to constructive criticism, which is never a bad thing. If George R.R. Martin could trust Benioff and Weiss with his books, then so can I.

KATIE: So here’s the thing… I watch shows on the CW. I watch light and fluffy TV. I dig boy bands and romantic comedies and all sorts of things that make you feel good. But that doesn’t change the fact that I was raped, or that the crime as a whole isn’t taken seriously enough, whether socially or legally. You watch Game of Thrones, you know there’s going to be trauma and gross murder and incest and the rest of it, but the difference is that those things are pretty universally acknowledged as bad, whereas all you need to do is a little research to figure out that rape isn’t regarded the same way.

Did I expect Ramsay to treat Sansa well? No, although I had hoped that the plotline would involve Sansa manipulating Ramsay, rather than him torturing her. Did I expect him to rape her? Also no. That scene hurt, and was incredibly triggering, and it’s beyond insensitive for people to make rape victims explain why they were devastated by this scene. We are always forced to explain ourselves. And the real kicker here is that the scene cuts to Theon, thereby refocusing Sansa’s suffering, as though her rape is worse for someone who’s not experiencing it.

I think it’s great that the producers are taking criticism into consideration—constructive criticism helps art to evolve. But honestly, all I want from them is an apology to victims/survivors, rather than their constant attempts to explain themselves with the old “we want to portray the horrors these characters are living” schpiel. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Rape victims do not need anyone to tell us that rape is horrific and damaging and part of reality—it’s our reality. 

Should this issue be shied away from in media? No. We shouldn’t act like rape doesn’t happen. But it’s not a plot point, either, or an excuse to sprinkle a little more drama into the mix. I’m less concerned about the producers’ decision to write Sansa’s rape, and more concerned that they don’t seem to empathize with those who were triggered by it. There’s nothing “overly sensitive” about it—people were actually, mentally, emotionally affected by Sansa’s rape in negative ways. 

Rape is discussed in media such as Speak and Degrassi, but it’s done so in a way that spreads awareness of the crime and its effects on victims. In the case of Game of Thrones, however, I was told time and time again that “it doesn’t matter,” and the like. The producers’ attempts to explain themselves, as well as fan defenses of the scene, sounded more like they were telling victims/survivors to “be quiet.” So if the producers want to take steps to avoid that, I say go for it. I am tired of explaining myself to people who think that I’m “just being sensitive” about a crime that has irreparably affected me, and I will never see justice for.

Rather than switching channels, I say that if you don’t want people to negatively react to portrayals of rape, perhaps help to create an environment in which this crime is taken seriously. As for the producers, I say go where the story takes you, but they would do well to keep in mind real-life trauma sufferers when they explain their thematic choices.

ANI: This is one of those places where I feel like I get both sides. Like Katie, I have been through trauma. Like Lexi, I’m not sure why people expected anything other than what we got, the moment Sansa’s story clearly put her in the shoes of Jeyne Poole. Hell, I was slightly thankful the show merely locked her away, instead of some of the really horrific things Ramsey did to his bride in the novels.

Now, do I think the producers are right to curb themselves and think twice about their choices when they get the sort of outcry that occurred last season? I think they’d be fools not to acknowledge it somehow. After all, this show is a business. Game of Thrones is a money-maker. If the customer complains once or twice, one might be able to write it off as a customer who shouldn’t shop there. But when the customers’ complaint narrative takes over the entire internet to the point where it drowns out what the showrunners were trying to do with the scene (which, for the record, was to show that Ramsay gave no damns about Sansa now that she was his property, and that her entire “I am a Stark in Winterfell” line was just more fairytale nonsense on par with “Joffrey is an amazing human we should automatically respect and love because he will be king”), it’s time to perhaps consider the complaints.

Do I think it’s a bad thing for the showrunners to ask themselves if their motivation is titillation, or if their choices further the story and provide meaning and context further down the line? I think every showrunner should ask themselves that, period, because it’s the difference between the former and the latter that separates shows like Marco Polo from Game of Thrones. And if they asked themselves a couple of extra times more this season? Especially in light of the fact that they have entered the uncharted waters of the unpublished books? I don’t think it would hurt anything, and might in fact accidentally help in one or two places, especially if it means that we never have to hear a half-dressed woman purr at someone about wanting the baaaad puooosy ever again.

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