Irish actor Jack Gleeson has joined the debate about depictions of violence against women on the HBO television show Game of Thrones.
The actor, who played hated King Joffrey Baratheon up until his death in season 4, said that while he doesn’t think the fantasy series implicitly condones misogyny or violence targeted at females, “perhaps it’s still unfair or unjust to represent it.”
He told US website The Daily Beast that he found some of his more graphic scenes difficult to film, and that the show might make “traumatic and stressful” viewing for women who have suffered abuse. He said that while portraying sexual violence can expose brutality and engage empathy, it’s a bit of a grey area.
On the rape of character Sansa Stark, which caused a furore on the internet when it was first shown, he said:
“I think it’s always how you represent that kind of treatment: Are you in some way making it cool, or are you making it into an entertainment product, and is that wrong? Or are you doing it in order to expose the problem of sexual assault?”
Gleeson admitted that he now rarely watches the programme. He is currently gearing up to go to London with family theatre show Bears in Space, which he is working on with a group of friends from Trinity College.
