The popular HBO drama, House of The Dragon is many things, but what it is not is misogynist, s*xist, and fundamentally against strong women who seek to defy socially preconceived norms. This sets it far apart from its successor, Game of Thrones, making it thus a fan favorite.
A most common theme in Game of Thrones is the lack of consensual s*x scenes as well as featuring multiple exploitative intimate scenes in a storyline that features multiple strong and able female characteristics. In an attempt to correct the past, its predecessor House of The Dragon had the show’s lead prepare their s*x scenes for an excruciatingly long period.
House Of The Dragon Star’s Excruciating Preparation For An Intimate Scene
If Game of Thrones was scandalous, enticing political war drama, then House of The Dragon is certainly that and much more. Not only does it feature an equally interesting storyline, but it also seeks to correct its successor’s past mistakes, especially the ones in the ‘intimate’ department.
Time and again Game of Thrones has been criticized by viewers for its gratuitous and unnecessary n*de scenes. Not only does it often deviates from the source material, but it also seems to sell itself with its ‘exploitative’ and ‘victimization’ content.
Thus, it comes as a no-brainer that the cast and crew of House of The Dragon put extreme effort to prepare for Princess Rhaenygra Targaryen’s (Milly Alcock) and Ser Criston Cole’s (Fabien Frankel) intimate scene in the fourth episode. In an interview, Frankel stated,
“It was something we talked about over seven months. It was one of the first things I was very keen to talk about… The big thing for me was about it not feeling like another gratuitous, sweat-glistening-off-their-back sex scene, ’cause it’s just not like that… It’s awkward, especially when you are young. There’s an uncomfortability that one has to sit in, and there’s a discovery and understanding of each other’s bodies — not to mention the practical side of the whole thing.”
Frankle then revealed that he wanted their s*x scene to be very real.
Fabial Frankel Wanted House Of The Dragon S*x Scene To Be Practical
While most movies, series, and dramas feature intimate scenes as a legalized, glorified obscenity, Frankel states that is hardly the case in real life. He mentioned how being intimate isn’t beautiful but rather uncomfortable and awkward. Thus, not only did he want it to be more practical, his discussions with his co-star Milly Alcock often involved how to make it more ‘human’.
“I just remember back and forth texts, back and forth phone calls, back and forth meetings between Clare, myself, Milly, and our intimacy coordinator. But particularly me, Clare, and Milly going, ‘How do we make this human?'”
And so fans were quick to applaud their efforts to portray intimacy as realistically human and beyond the normalized sensationalized portrayals.
House of The Dragon is available to be streamed on HBO Max.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
