Dear Junior Who Just Came Back From Abroad,

The rape scene in the most recent episode of Game of Thrones really gets my goat. As an avid reader of the original George R. R. Martin books, I know that the scene depicted was not canon. While in the original text, Cersei is at first cautious but then very enthusiastically consents, on screen she is resiliently against Jaime’s advances the whole way through. Not only does this open up a bigger issue about the withdrawal and validity of consent, but also how victims are portrayed in the media. Is this incident going to be brushed away simply because Cersei is a “baddie”? (Although, who among us can really say who is bad and good in this world? All the characters have valid motivations for their actions, even if they do end up conflicting — oh, I’m getting away from the point).

From,

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