game of Thrones It was one of the most popular shows on television, and throughout his eight-season career, he has created many fans, but also many controversies. Some of those controversies had to do with violence against women, some with nudes and some with the lack of diversity of the program.
As game of Thrones it’s basically a medieval fantasy show, it also has the same diversity issues that many other medieval movies have. That said, the show was not entirely lacking in diversity and had some people of color. Most critics and fans agree that the show could have been better. Here’s a look at what one of those actors, Nathalie Emmanuel, had to say about it.
What is ‘Game of Thrones’ about
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As its title would imply, the show is about people in the Westeros world fighting each other for who will sit on the throne. This basic premise is more or less exactly what happened in every realm in the real world, and the show’s creators have said so.
That said, unlike other medieval shows about kings and queens, game of Thrones It also has a bit of magic, as there are also dragons and ice zombies. Clearly, the show is based on real-world people and politics, but with some magic.
‘Game of Thrones’ lacks diversity
However, despite being clearly inspired by fantasy and magic, the show’s diversity vision leaves a lot to be desired. For example, Westeros, which is actually the name of a continent, is similar to Europe, and as a result, most people in Westeros are white. Essos, the name of the continent where Emilia Clarke’s character Daenerys Targaryen begins her story, is a different continent.
Essos is similar to Asia, and as a result, it is full of different cultures and people of color. But since the show focuses on what happens in Westeros, most of the characters end up being white. Due to that fact, with few exceptions, the only times the show has people of color are in the Daenerys scenes.
The main exceptions have to do with the Dornish, who live on the south side of Westeros and are very similar to the Spanish and other Mediterranean cultures. As a result, people of color like Pedro Pascal and Jessica Henwick play important roles in those scenes. However, apart from them, the only people of color who had important roles on screen were from Essos.
For the first season, there was Jason Momoa, who played Khal Drogo. A few seasons later, Daenerys released many slaves, and befriended two of them in particular. The first was Missandei, played by Emmanuel, and the other is Gray Worm, played by Jacob Anderson.
What Nathalie Emmanuel said about diversity in ‘Game of Thrones’
As she told People, she and Anderson felt “really aware of how much we are part of game of Thrones It mattered to people. “They felt that way because they were the only people of color who had big roles for much of the show. Because of that fact, they also felt they had to” play any other person of color. “
In addition to that, it also made them very protective of their roles, and also made her think more deeply about race and representation on television in general. She concluded that if there is going to be a show like game of Thrones Once again, “the performance has to be part of the conversation from the beginning.”
There’s a game of Thrones prequel program that is in process right now, so maybe HBO will learn from its mistakes.
