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HBO’s hit show “Game of Thrones” cleaned up at the Emmys last weekend, and actress Gwendoline Christie praised the show as “progressive.” Christie, who stars in unconventional female roles in each franchise, focused on the “progressive” view of women in “Star Wars” and “Game of Thrones,” contrasting it with the allegedly sexist characterization of women in other sci-fi and fantasy series.
Nevertheless, the political themes of the hit HBO show do not fit neatly into a liberal mold, and some might even argue they are conservative.
Why “Game of Thrones” May Seem Liberal
Christie lumped “Star Wars” and “Game of Thrones” with the final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy — “Mockingjay, Part 2.” She has roles in all three upcoming releases. “All three projects are incredibly progressive, so it feels as though everyone’s caught up the the idea of that, and everyone’s dedicated to giving their absolute best to honoring the set of ideas and setting them forth into the world,” Christie told Variety.
Christie is far from the only voice calling the show liberal or progressive. Some have praised the show for including an openly bisexual character, while others tie in various themes to Climate Change, or praise the “struggle against tradition” involving the rise of a radical religious group in the latest season.
CNN’s John Blake presented a strong case in “How ‘Game of Thrones’ is like America,” arguing that the show’s themes are meant as a subtle critique of America’s struggles. He mentions sexism — how strong women break through a male-dominated society in both the show and, allegedly, the United States — debt, race, climate change, immigration, and the “1 percent.”
Many of the connections between the struggles of “Game of Thrones” and liberal/progressive causes are tenuous at best, like the connection between the ice zombie “White Walker” threat and Climate Change. George R. R. Martin, author of “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the book series behind the show, broadly identifies as liberal, but that does not mean his fantasy series is overtly political or lacks conservative themes as well.
The Conservative Themes in “Game of Thrones”
As in all good literature, “Game of Thrones” presents values and facets of the human condition which can be championed by people across the political spectrum. The real meat of the show is portraying moral conflict in individuals — and showing the true heroism in a flawed human being. This complex view of morality may indeed argue for a more conservative approach.
Martin aimed to create a morally complex world. “The sort of fantasy where all the people get together to fight the dark lord doesn’t interest me,” he told The New Republic in 2013. Martin works to present “stories of the human heart in conflict with itself,” using such themes as “love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.”
This mixture of good and evil in each character arguably reflects the Christian understanding of mankind. Created in the Image of God with minds, souls, and moral agency, men and women nevertheless carry the stain of sin. Even the saved struggle to do good, as St. Paul writes.
This internal conflict, rather than erasing virtue, accentuates it. As The Federalist’s Lachlan Markay observes, the heroes in “Game of Thrones” “do both good and bad things, making it all the more interesting — and heroic — when they embrace the better angels of their nature.”
The heroism of virtuous characters like Gandalf and Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” prove inspiring, but also seem out of reach. One of these characters is a wizard, and the other carries long life and kingship in his very blood. “Great deeds in a fallen world are more interesting — and arguably more inspiring — than those carried out simply because doing so is in a character’s DNA,” Markay argues.
Heroism emerges throughout the show: when self-described coward Samwell Tarly kills a terrifying ice zombie to save a woman and her infant son, when a blacksmith leads four soldiers to their deaths by standing his ground against a giant, and when a dwarf leads a nearly hopeless charge against a much larger army.
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