Emilia Clarke: It’s ‘so anti-feminist’ to criticize Game of Thrones’ sex scenes

Miranda Kerr attends a photocall to promote Marukome organic miso

Something nice: I like Emilia Clarke’s haircut here, on the August cover of Elle Magazine. She used to wear her real hair a lot longer, but for a while now, she’s been wearing it a bit shorter and it suits her. That being said, “Enter the Dragon” should not be the cover line unless you’re actually going to put motherf–king Drogon on the cover!!! Drogon belongs on the cover of Elle. Maybe if Drogon tells you that skinny jeans are SO 2009, you’ll listen. What’s in for 2017? Fire and ice makeup, white-blonde hair and devouring your mother’s enemies. God, I wish Drogon was on the cover. Instead, we get Emilia talking about how it’s sexist to point out that Emilia seems required to get her t-ts out as much as possible?

On her anxiety over shooting the final season of Game of Thrones: “Oh God, I get sleepless nights over it. ‘Oh, you’re gonna mess it up. It’s the last season, and it’s going to go wrong.’ My mates are like, ‘It’s you—you [and Daenerys] are one and the same now. You need to trust your instincts!’ And I’m like, ‘ No, I’ve got to do more research!’ The higher everyone places the mantle, the bigger the fall. That sounds really awful, but it’s true! I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”

On shooting her commanding sex scene with Dario (Michiel Huisman) in the fourth season of GOT: It’s brilliant. I actually went up to [GOT cocreators David Benioff and Dan Weiss] and thanked them. I was like, ‘That’s a scene I’ve been waiting for!’ Because I get a lot of crap for having done nudes scenes and sex scenes. That, in itself, is so antifeminist. Women hating on other women is just the problem. That’s upsetting, so it’s kind of wonderful to have a scene where I was like, ‘There you go!’

[From Elle]

“Because I get a lot of crap for having done nudes scenes and sex scenes. That, in itself, is so antifeminist. Women hating on other women is just the problem.” I like Emilia and everything, but I’m starting to feel like she has problems explaining her thoughts on anything beyond dragons. Remember the struggling explanation of racism and sexism in her Rolling Stone interview? I largely gave her a pass, because I felt like the context helped her out a bit. But chica could explain better. It’s not “antifeminist” to wonder why the Khaleesi always seems to get her t-ts out, nor is it sexism to wonder why the man-meat-to-lady-parts ratio seems so skewed on Game of Thrones. Most of the time, people are critiquing the show, not criticizing or “hating on” Emilia in particular. I know that she means well, but her statement makes it seem like she got her feminist education from The School of Taylor Swift-Feminism, aka “feminism means no one can criticize me or anything around me!”

Miranda Kerr attends a photocall to promote Marukome organic miso

Photos courtesy of Elle.

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69 Responses to “Emilia Clarke: It’s ‘so anti-feminist’ to criticize Game of Thrones’ sex scenes”

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  1. Karen says:

    Its special snowflake feminism.

    She can criticize women for criticizing her (show)… this makes her a feminist and them anti-feminist.

  2. Wow says:

    Her body, her choice

  3. AnotherDirtyMartini says:

    Agree. The ratio is definitely skewed. They show completely nude women & very little dong. When they finally do show dong, it’s not sexy – example, the stage actor examining his bits & wondering what in the world that wart on his peen is! Blech – that was just a huge eff you to those of us who want sexy naked men.

  4. Nicole says:

    Yea no

  5. Mia4s says:

    Yeah she’s really not very smart is she? That’s not an anti-feminist criticism by the way…that’s based on an evaluation of the available empirical evidence.

    I don’t see any of the GOT gang breaking out after the show ends, I just don’t. They’ll work, absolutely; she’ll stay visible in that pending Han Solo movie disaster, I think another one of them is in X-Men, but the more I see the more I assume GOT will be the peak. Great peak though!

    • QueenB says:

      Dinklage would be a huge star if people werent so hung up about disabilites but I am sure he will have a good career after it. In that sense he has an advantage, he actually is able to act and can do good roles and isnt depending on being the Hot Buff Dude.

      • Kitten says:

        I could see him having a Patton Oswald-ian type career as a character actor. I could definitely see him as a love interest simply because he’s so charming and charismatic on-screen.

        The rest of the cast? See: Orlando Bloom’s career.

      • M4lificent says:

        Peter Dinklage had a solid career before GoT, and he’ll have a solid career after.

    • Honest B says:

      I’m hoping Captain Phasma features a bit more in the upcoming Star Wars movie. Gwendoline is my fave.

      • third ginger says:

        Absolutely! Christie and Dinklage are proven talents and highly acclaimed actors. Clarke, Harrington, and the youngsters have a great deal yet to prove.

      • Mia4s says:

        Both Gwendoline and Peter are amazing and will have long careers but sadly let’s be honest about Hollywood here, they will not be considered for all the roles they probably should be. Gwendoline is not just taller than 99% of leading men she towers over them, and Peter is perceived a certain way. Both are brilliant talents but I’m also very realistic about the extent of Hollywood’s “imagination”. I hope that indie films give them a chance to do some really interesting and varied work.

      • third ginger says:

        Sad truth. Would love to see both on stage as they are great there, too.

      • Megan says:

        Peter delivered a heartbreakingly beautiful performance in Station Agent and a hilarious performance in Death at a Funeral. I think he will be just fine because he has a huge range and that something special that electrifies on screen.

    • V says:

      I see Lena headey getting steady work like she has been for years. Hopefully she’ll be more exposed because she is the best actor on the show

      • sunnydaze says:

        I LOVED LOVED LOVED her in Dredd. She was completely unrecognizable, but so flipping good!

  6. grabbyhands says:

    God, here we go again. One of the problems with modern feminism is this idea that women must absolutely be above criticism, ESPECIALLY from other women. Bullsh*t. All that has done is reinforce the idea that women are precious, delicate snowflakes that can’t take criticism.

    Part of equality is admitting that women can be assh*les too and there shouldn’t be a stigma about calling people out or questioning what they say and do. I hate that women like Taylor Swift (the frigging poster child for white feminism) use it as a shield that allows her to shade others but be protected from it herself.

    What is it about the actresses on GoT?? Was there a clause in their contracts that says they have to respond with pre-planned buzzwords about the level of male gaze on this show? I get that you don’t want to trash the people who are paying you, but why is questioning or criticizing something that numerous people of both sexes have commented on a bad thing? How is it anti-feminist?

    • Heat says:

      Amen!
      I’m also sick of hearing this drivel about how un-feminist it is to criticize other women. To me, if a person is an idiot, they are an idiot; I don’t care if it’s a man or a woman. Ultimately, the goal of the feminist movement is for women to be treated equally to men in all ways, good and bad.
      If their logic is correct, then they should be labelled as un-feminist for criticizing me as un-feminist…right!?

      Side note: the main reason for the hub-ub over Dany’s early nude scenes were the fact that, according to the books, she was only a child.
      As for the rest of the gratuitous T&A (especially in season 1), it was really just too much. I’m not saying that in a prudish way…I just think that it was an unnecessary distraction from the plot; like, they were just trying too hard to hook people with sex. Also, it was rather annoying, trying to watch one episode from beginning to end with my kid always running into the room.

    • detritus says:

      I think it must come from the top. This must be the culture of Game of Throne on set or something.

    • Tanya says:

      Hello! My point exactly.

  7. MM says:

    It’s anti-human to not be able to criticize whatever I feel like criticizing. I’m not a fan of sex scenes just for the hell of it, if it serves a purpose in the story ok, but I don’t have to enjoy all the sex scenes just because I HAVE to. Being liberated doesn’t mean I have to enjoy seeing naked women all the time.

    • Maria F. says:

      i agree. I was okay with the first season, but it seemed to me a by the second season that most of the sex scenes were shown for voyeuristic purposes and not to bring forward the plot. Same with the torture and violence. It seemed to me that they bought their own hype about being such a cool show and decided to bring it even more.

      • Elisa the I. says:

        Ha, you are voicing my thoughts on the show perfectly. That’s why I stopped watching after season III, and am a bit surprised why it continued to have such a huge fanbase.

    • Janetdr says:

      I do not care for watching sex scenes and am quite sure that I have sufficient imagination to manage without. HBO shows all seem to have that in common -and it is particularly horrible when you are trying to watch something with your grown children….. I don’t feel seeing the bits and pieces of either sex is doing anything to advance the plot line!

  8. nemera34 says:

    Can someone give these women a course on what feminism is. Because they don’t have a freaking clue. Maybe develop and online course. Every time they open their mouths to justify something in their work or their projects they embarrass themselves.

  9. Sixer says:

    She’s not the sharpest tool in the box, is she?

    • nemera34 says:

      I have to laugh because people were so so in love with her. The Sexiest Woman Alive.

    • third ginger says:

      A dull “tool” indeed, along with Kit “don’t objectify me” Harrington. I know I have said it before, but they are lucky to have jobs. And I love GOT.

      • Sixer says:

        She’s not that hot at acting either, in my view. There was a GOT scene between her and Iain Glen (I love Iain Glen) in which she finally rejects him and the chasm between skill sets was so great it was actually embarrassing.

      • third ginger says:

        Iain is among a number of veteran actors on GOT whom I have been watching for decades. If you have not seen it, MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON with Glen is great. At the risk of sounding like an old person [which, of course I am] I hope the younger actors are learning from the old pros.

  10. D says:

    “Enter the Dragon” shouldn’t be the cover line unless you put Bruce Lee on the cover…but I guess Drogon would be okay too.

  11. Tulip Garden says:

    I haven’t watched GOT since the second season. In the books, Daenyrs wasn’t one of my faves and I found that to be even more the case with the series.
    I’ve wondered if she will have much of a career after GOT. Opinions?
    Also, get naked til the cows come home but don’t equate nakedness or lack thereof with feminism. Neither is inherently feminist. Feminism is equality as a human being with other human beings. You don’t need a vagina to be one and whether you show off your tits or not doesn’t indicate either way. No, females as a monolith don’t have to get together and come up with “rules” for feminists. That is the point actually, individuals with their own thoughts, feelings, and belief systems that ARE inherently as important as any males. Ha! Maybe that’s my “rule”, no rules just equality.

    • Honest B says:

      I can’t imagine that she will have much of a career post GOT. Her acting has not blown anyone away (talk about one dimensional.) I yawn every time she’s on screen. Let’s hope she’s saving those GOT pennies.

      • Tulip Garden says:

        Thanks for the input. I’ve seen her in interviews like on Graham Norton and she seems nice enough, very bubbly but from what I saw her acting was, meh at best. I had hoped she improved because that will be a hard fall from “Mother of Dragons” to c/d list actress.

    • Aren says:

      Your perspective is spot on, loved it.

    • Ksenia says:

      Tulip Garden: That was a wonderful definition of feminism. Thank you for it.

  12. Nancy says:

    I am no prude by any stretch of the imagination, but sometimes GOT goes a tad overboard on female nudity. My husband and a few of our friends have GOT watch parties and I do enjoy the show, but I don’t need to see so much ah, shall we say…not a dog but a pussy….cat…..lol. For those who disagree and I know there will be many…shame shame shame shame shame shame shame shame shame shame shame, etc etc on me! By the by, I swear I remember her saying in the past she hated the nude scenes. Maybe it was a dream? Lol again. Good day!

  13. poorlittlerichgirl says:

    All of this feminism talk is so exhausting. It’s turning into an argument similar to religion. One person thinks they have the only right explanation or answers and will argue to the death to prove they are correct. Everyone just goes round and round until we’re sick of ourselves and everyone else.

  14. Aiobhan Targaryen says:

    I agree that she does not explain herself at all. If you are going to start talking more about these subjects it would be best to get a more in depth information before you open your mouth. But like everything else, it takes time before you get it right.

    I feel like these are two similar subjects that are getting conflated into one thing or maybe they overlap in a way. She did or still does get crap for her nude scenes ranging from people calling her fat or stupid on her social media pages and some of those comments are coming from a misogynistic place. Her getting crap is not “the” problem” but it is certainly a problem. A symptom more than the root cause.

    Then there are the choices that D&D are making when they write in female nudity on the show. Yes, Dany taking control of her sexuality and autonomy of her body is amazing and exactly a goal in the feminist playbook, but there are other ways to do that besides showing boobs and butts. It is low hanging fruit; a simple and easy choice that D&D make too many times because they are lazy. They do this instead of writing dialogue or advancing Dany as a character because they either a) don’t care for her character or b) they don’t know how to write dialogue that fits in with the way the characters have to speak. Criticizing D&D for constantly taking the easy road on this is perfectly fine since they are writers and executive producers of the show. We should be critizing them more often because of the content they are choosing to put out. I feel it is a little different when you are an actor.

    Lastly, she looks good in these photos.

    • Nancy says:

      Just commenting on your last sentence. I have never seen anyone transform their appearance by simply wearing a wig than she does. Man she looks like a different woman. If you see her in a live interview, with her accent and hair, it’s amazing to me every time. I would think this in of itself will help her acting career post Thrones.

      • Mia4s says:

        “I would think this in of itself will help her acting career post Thrones.”

        Depends on if you mean for artistic goals or for popular success. Artistically it might help with variety, but let’s face it we are not exactly short on British brunettes 25-35. Lots of people can wear wigs.

        For popular success it could well be the opposite. The general public is quite lazy and are more likely to know her as blond Mother of Dragons than her actual name. They see a girl who looks different and they don’t always make the connection. Producers of bigger films will want to cash in on the GOT connection and without the blond wig she’s pretty but not distinctive. It’s not the same situation but when Jennifer Grey drastically changed her looks after Dirty Dancing her career fell apart partially because no one recognized her from her huge breakout role. Producers want actors to be recognizable for quick association with their earlier success.

      • Aiobhan Targaryen says:

        I have seen people write this several times but I honestly think she looks the same with or without the wig.

        She is definitely more animated in interviews than Dany is on the show.

      • Nancy says:

        Mia: I disagree. What did our friend Johnny Depp say, he lies for a living. In essence an actor transforms themselves into another character. I believe Emilia does that and has the luck and the “it” factor and enough talent to have a successful career. Jennifer Grey? She was fine as Baby in DD, but let’s face it, she’s no Meryl Streep. With or without the surgery, I doubt things would have gone much differently than they did. Only time will tell if Emilia and Jon Snow will end up as the actors who used to be…..or will go on. Doesn’t really matter to me, I’m a fan of the show, not one particular actor….except Peter Dinklage and the dragons!

      • Mia4s says:

        @Nancy but every time Depp “transforms” it’s very clearly Depp. VERY clearly. She gets mislabeled in red carpet photos so often it’s comical. And, ummm, agree to disagree on her level of talent. Luckily after her utterly disastrous attempt at a stage role she seems to have realized she shouldn’t try to stretch. She has a good niche in the sci-fi/fantasy genre though.

      • Nancy says:

        Oh Mia4 I was by no means comparing the Depster to this woman. I just read somewhere that he said that. A lot of the oh so cool method actors describe their jobs as being liars, saying other characters words. I think Ethan Hawke said the same thing. Right now, Emilia has the prime role on the biggest hit on HBO. It may be her one and only shining hour, but at least she has it. Some actors or wanna be actors never get a role, let alone the one she has. I know where I will be Sunday night!

    • Tulip Garden says:

      I get everything you are saying but I think you are giving GOT makers too much credit. Simples, show some T&A and now days throw in the gyno shot as well. It takes away from the character or, at the least, adds nothing to her. If she enjoys it, fine, but for me it does a disservice to the actresses and characters that the main male actors and characters never have to contend with.
      This could be a controversial opinion but it is my honest thought. GOT isn’t made with feminism, or more precisely with a female audience in mind. It is made for the same group as over-sexed video game heroines.

      • Frigga says:

        Agree, the show was NOT made with feminism in mind. They just know what many viewers want to see and what will keep them coming back for each episode. It’s worked the past 6 seasons.

  15. lightpurple says:

    But where is Drogon?

  16. Cleo says:

    “Enter the Dragon”… In your dreams, Jorah.

  17. Monsi says:

    When I read the headline, I thought: that’s Taylor swift kind of feminism. Women that dare to “critize” (in her case, a light hearted joke by Tina and Amy) deserves a special place in hell.
    The show is good and everything but to point out that it has a lot of gratuitous sex/female nudity scenes is not critize her or hating on her. It’s just stating the obvious.

  18. Frigga says:

    Emilia is pretty and seems nice, but she is not very articulate. What does feminism have to do with nude scenes? Seriously? Just stop this fake feminism bullshit and pose nude if you want to. Fuck the haters.

  19. shelley* says:

    I can personally do without the swinging dicks, it puts me off my dinner. A nice bit of arse and chest action is fine though.

    Does that objectify men ? Probably. Do I care ? No.

    I do miss Oberyn Martell though, he served up a good portion of wit with his sleaze.

  20. Zondie says:

    IMO the GOT showrunners are responsible for the presence of so much female nudity, not the actors. I think it’s wrong that it falls to the actors to explain the choices of the screenwriters and directors. Especially since GOT has such great source material in GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Benioff and Weiss have butchered the story. For example, I’m still trying to figure out how Arya survived getting stabbed in the gut, barely recovering and then going on an extreme chase scene in which she emerges victorious, then mysteriously is released from service to the Faceless Men. I think it was some shoddy work by Benioff and Weiss. I’m willing to believe in dragons but not illogical or improbable character choices.

    • Miss S says:

      Sure but actors are the ones giving most of the interviews and this is a subject she should expect to talk about. There are ways to circle a subject without giving full answers, avoiding saying dumb stuff.

      • Aiobhan Targaryen says:

        You are correct that the actors give more interviews than the show runners, but I don’t agree that she should be asked about something that she cannot control. She does not write the scripts, D&D do. She cannot control how much nudity is on the show, they do. So why should she be held to a higher standard than her bosses? Why should she even be held equally as responsible as her bosses?

        My answer: She, nor any other actor on the show, should be held accountable for what the writers choose to write. For me, when we ask actors these types of questions it puts the onus on the wrong people.

        ‘On shooting her commanding sex scene with Dario (Michiel Huisman) in the fourth season of GOT: It’s brilliant. I actually went up to [GOT cocreators David Benioff and Dan Weiss] and thanked them. I was like, ‘That’s a scene I’ve been waiting for!’ Because I get a lot of crap for having done nudes scenes and sex scenes. That, in itself, is so antifeminist….”

        Again, she is talking specifically about this scene and people’s reactions to her being nude often on the show. Not the general sentiment that D&D are overusing female nudity. These are two seperate things and should be treated as such. Some people have in the past given her grief on her social media pages about being nude often on the show as if she is just as responsible for the nudity being written into the script as the writers of the show. She is no where near as responsible for these choices. She is talking about the comments against her which can be seen as anti-feminist, which I agree with to a certain degree. Why is anyone critizing her for being nude on the show at all?

  21. Miss S says:

    Oh God, I have no patience for this… I mean, go read a book or simply don’t make final statements, say something like “I’m aware of the criticism about the use of sex scenes, but I’m not sure I agree with it”. Don’t trash other’s valid views as if there can’t be any conversation about the choices made on the show. And this subject was even talked in depth, there were arguments about it, not just superficial negative comments on it.
    It’s not just her, it’s quite frequent to read interviews of famous people responding to some kind of criticism in ways that clearly show they haven’t even considered it properly, they instantly assume those critics come from “haters” or whatever they want to call them. And often it’s not even personal, it’s about the creative choices in films, tv shows, even music.

    • Zondie says:

      @MISS S +1

    • Aiobhan Targaryen says:

      She isn’t trashing the criticism about the overuse of nudity on the show, though. She is specifically talking about the comments made to her about her choosing to be nude on the show.

      People have said gross things to her about her body and her choice in doing the nude scenes on her social media pages. She basically alludes to that in her comment.

      • Otaku Fairy says:

        “She isn’t trashing the criticism about the overuse of nudity on the show, though. She is specifically talking about the comments made to her about her choosing to be nude on the show.” That’s what my assumption was too. I didn’t think she was saying it’s antifeminist to criticize the fact that there are more naked/topless women scenes than men scenes on the show. She’ probably means that specific ways some women and others discuss her (and other women) for not caring enough about feminine sexual modesty to reject nudity and sex scenes are very misogynistic. Pointing that out is nowhere near Taylor Swift’s or the right’s self-serving “A woman (or anything involving one) can never be criticized no matter what because FEMINISM!” I don’t follow Emilia Clarke, so I haven’t seen the way people talk about her, but knowing our society’s track record with anything that has to do with women, sexuality, consent, etc, for now I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and guess that people probably do slut-shame her and have all kinds of misogynistic commentary. But she definitely needs to learn to express herself better so the points she makes aren’t so easily misinterpreted.

  22. Mia says:

    Facepalm.

  23. Beatrix says:

    Yeah, if it wasn’t before? Now it’s pretty clear to me that this one isn’t too bright. Shame, I guess the beauty and accent had me fooled.

  24. Locutus of Brooklyn says:

    I might be too charitable in this interpretation, but to me it seems like she means that she actively chose to do nude scenes, and sex scenes, and that choice doesn’t make her a bad feminist. Also, that she’s been hearing that particular criticism. And if that’s correct, it’s a much more defendable statement.

  25. sarat9 says:

    Millennials have a brilliant strategy that involves making any critique of themselves seem like it’s a deficiency on the part of the other person. Oh, I just cut you off in traffic and you are acting like this? You must have an ANGER PROBLEM. Oh, I’m a woman, and I just cut you off in traffic, and you are upset about it? You must be an antifeminist and hate women!!

    Get used to it; they are the generation on stage now.