Despite so-called powerful female characters and apparent moral ambiguity, “Game of Thrones” and “True Detective” tend to resign themselves to the darkness — to the way things are. There may be an acknowledgment of the harm that living in patriarchy causes people, but more often than not, there is a real pessimism in how these shows frame oppressive systems. It’s easy to mistake scenes of human suffering with actual empathy for the suffering, but folks at HBO don’t spend $8 million on a battle because they want us to despise the idea of war. They want us to watch it in awe, tune in next week, be entertained, as more people and environments are destroyed.
And if a drama created by men repeatedly fetishizes the horrific actions of humanity, making millions while depicting “gritty” wars and sadistic acts of violence, we might ask: Is it truly interested in change? Or would it rather continue playing the same old game, where the rules are always weighted in favor of men?