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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   32946 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 10, 2022

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There's a challenge to the succession claims of her kids, but all of the arguments against their succession are like 'I just have a sense for these things. I just know they aren't her kids' or there will be a quiet and vague reference to the fact that her kids don't look like her husband. But no one is ever just like 'she has 5 kids and they are all white. She has blonde hair and her kids all have curly black hair. Obviously they are not her kids'.

In the most recent episode, one character points this out to the gathered court in no uncertain terms and is promptly beheaded for Noticing. His actor even straight up ignores the show pretensions and straight up says that "they're white". I'm amazed that was released via an official channel.

I thought you meant that in the scene he does say he knows because they aren't white. For the record, he did not make that claim. He just said they were bastards and was beheaded.

I think the actor saying that in the link you shared demonstrates that, to some extent, ignoring the race of characters is pretty absurd. Because the actor, as you linked to, said it was obvious because they are white. But because of the belief suspension that we are supposed to have with respect to race, and as many have lauded on this thread, you don't know if that belief is supposed to be suspended or not. I am certain that this practice is going to recede or at least done in less absurd ways.

To be fair, if you can have your head lopped off for expressing suspicions about the paternity of the royal children, then it would be very vital for your continuing good health to try your utmost not to notice anything that might point out the reality. A combination of the Emperor's New Clothes and See Deer, Say Horse. "Lovely children, take after their mother" is as much as you'll venture, if even that.

if you can have your head lopped off for expressing suspicions about the paternity of the royal children, then it would be very vital for your continuing good health to try your utmost not to notice anything that might point out the reality

This just strikes as a very strange way to frame things. There are at least two or three unstated assumptions here and I'm not following. Even if we take everything at face value are you genuinely incapable of noticing something without saying something?

I agree, but when it was suggested that they were not her kids, they never said it was because they were white. at that point, the seal had already been broken when he called them bastards. The guy's head would've been chopped off whether he said it was because they were white or not. There would have been no additional downside to bringing up their race as the reason, unless Westeros is more woke than I thought.

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