So the first episode of season six has come and I feel like I have more questions than answers... Jon Snow has yet to come back to life (seriously...I am still convinced this is going to happen), Tyrion looks as though he is failing miserably in Meereen (I still believe in you Tyrion!), Sansa has fianlly accepted Brienne (FINALLY!), and Daenerys seems to be in a lot less danger than the season five close lead viewers to believe (of course if you read the books you probably were not all that worried...).
But even through all of the turns from last night's episode of HBO's Game of Thrones, all I really want to talk about is Melisandre's old, wrinkled, and naked body.
Of course Game of Thrones is no stranger to nakedness, not an episode goes by that viewers are not meant to endure several instances of nakedness. Of course the typical display is young, toned and, what most would consider, classically beautiful. The media is largely guilty of acting as a visual gate-keeper. Only those who meet specific aesthetic criteria are usually deemed worthy of being seen on screens both large and small. These exclusionary practices are particularly brutal for women.
I would be remiss not to give credit where credit is due, however. Efforts have been made in recent years to center women with varying body-types and allow them starring, rather than co-starring, roles, but I would argue that these women are still relatively young, have some degree of classic beauty in their facial features, and are typically white (e.g. Melissa McCarthy, Rebel Wilson). Even with a degree of flexibility in the body shapes present there is little movement to be inclusive of "women of a certain age" unless they are already well established celebrities. Even then, several of these well established female celebrities are refused roles by casting agents for being "too old" to play opposite males of similar, if not older ages. For example, just last year, Maggie Gyllenhaal cited an instance when she was turned away as a potential love interest for a man nearly 20 years her senior. Gyllenhaal's claim triggered an influx of Hollywood's women to share similar stories.
In addition, older bodies are very rarely seen naked. For a show that has notoriously been criticized for its generous use of nudity, even causing critic and academic Martin McNutt to coin the term "sexposition" to describe its over-use in scenes of plot exposition, the ending scene of "The Red Woman" episode (S1.E6), in which Melisandre bares both her true age and the body that corresponds, certainly feels like something different from the nudity that has been seen thus far. And let's be honest, in the wake of Melisandre's big season six reveal, the twitterverse was BRUTAL. Here are just a few tweets:
I am a firm believer that it is only through naturalizing diverse bodies (age, size, race, ability etc.) through media outlets that we can begin to disillusion ourselves from some of the more culturally prominent and destructive notions of beauty and worth to which we so often find ourselves beholden. Regardless of the direction that Melisandre's character takes in future episodes, I find myself grateful for a reprieve from the usual onslaught of the homogeneous female body type that Game of Thrones typically has on fully nude display. There is nothing unnatural about aging or the body showing signs of wear and only through showing this in the media can we disabuse ourselves of the notion that the aging body (especially the aging female body) is something to be feared and thwarted at any cost.
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But even through all of the turns from last night's episode of HBO's Game of Thrones, all I really want to talk about is Melisandre's old, wrinkled, and naked body.
Of course Game of Thrones is no stranger to nakedness, not an episode goes by that viewers are not meant to endure several instances of nakedness. Of course the typical display is young, toned and, what most would consider, classically beautiful. The media is largely guilty of acting as a visual gate-keeper. Only those who meet specific aesthetic criteria are usually deemed worthy of being seen on screens both large and small. These exclusionary practices are particularly brutal for women.
I would be remiss not to give credit where credit is due, however. Efforts have been made in recent years to center women with varying body-types and allow them starring, rather than co-starring, roles, but I would argue that these women are still relatively young, have some degree of classic beauty in their facial features, and are typically white (e.g. Melissa McCarthy, Rebel Wilson). Even with a degree of flexibility in the body shapes present there is little movement to be inclusive of "women of a certain age" unless they are already well established celebrities. Even then, several of these well established female celebrities are refused roles by casting agents for being "too old" to play opposite males of similar, if not older ages. For example, just last year, Maggie Gyllenhaal cited an instance when she was turned away as a potential love interest for a man nearly 20 years her senior. Gyllenhaal's claim triggered an influx of Hollywood's women to share similar stories.
In addition, older bodies are very rarely seen naked. For a show that has notoriously been criticized for its generous use of nudity, even causing critic and academic Martin McNutt to coin the term "sexposition" to describe its over-use in scenes of plot exposition, the ending scene of "The Red Woman" episode (S1.E6), in which Melisandre bares both her true age and the body that corresponds, certainly feels like something different from the nudity that has been seen thus far. And let's be honest, in the wake of Melisandre's big season six reveal, the twitterverse was BRUTAL. Here are just a few tweets:
And I dunno why, but #Melisandre looks a bit like #Kreacher.— Navpreet Singh (@navpreet_tweets) April 25, 2016
Rules for dating Melisandre. At the risk of sounding superficial, the necklace stays on!— Linden Ashby (@lindenashby) April 25, 2016
#Melisandre without her necklace— Jorge Barragan (@designgeorge24) April 25, 2016
"The night is dark and full of terrors"#GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/Nrq1HFuwJq
I will not argue that this turn in Melisandre's physicality will not have a more narritorial purpose in the future of the show (how would I know now that they are off book), but there is arguably something to be said about this bodily display from a cultural standpoint (especially considering some of the more cruel reactions). What I think is important about this scene is that it speaks loud and clear to a culture that is obsessed with youthful beauty and the, often, unobtainable bodies that correspond with these cultural ideals. People age and bodies will inevitably show signs of this process. Melisandre's aged body in all it's nude glory is clearly a stark reminder to viewers that physical beauty is fleeting and even those who seem to possess it may be flaunting bodily falsehoods.I'm sure a lot of ladies will want this as birthday gift #GameofThrones #Melisandre pic.twitter.com/JNo1lwDm0D— Andrés DÃaz (@newandrewayne) April 25, 2016
I am a firm believer that it is only through naturalizing diverse bodies (age, size, race, ability etc.) through media outlets that we can begin to disillusion ourselves from some of the more culturally prominent and destructive notions of beauty and worth to which we so often find ourselves beholden. Regardless of the direction that Melisandre's character takes in future episodes, I find myself grateful for a reprieve from the usual onslaught of the homogeneous female body type that Game of Thrones typically has on fully nude display. There is nothing unnatural about aging or the body showing signs of wear and only through showing this in the media can we disabuse ourselves of the notion that the aging body (especially the aging female body) is something to be feared and thwarted at any cost.
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