When Games of Thrones Season 5 showed the sickening episode where Stark was brutally raped by the psychopath Ramsay in Season 5, many viewers of the HBO series declared war against the show.
Thousands of fans of the show thought that the scene was unnecessary and that the showrunners were distasteful to include it in the plot, just to shock its audience. Even high profile people have expressed their dismay over the hit epic drama. Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill used her Twitter account to protest against the scene. She wrote, "Ok, I'm done Game of Thrones.Water Garden, stupid.Gratuitous rape scene disgusting and unacceptable. It was a rocky ride that just ended." Media companies have also articulated how disgusted they were because of the controversial scene.
Due to the overwhelming criticisms and negative reactions, the next season of Game of Thrones will allegedly have major changes in terms of how they present violence specifically rape scenes, according to director Jeremy Podeswa.
Podeswa has directed two episodes of the TV show, and in a Fox Studios Australia event, he said that creators considered the reactions from viewers and that there would be some adjustments.
The director explains, "It is important that (the producers) not self-censor. The show depicts a brutal world where horrible things happen. They did not want to be too overly influenced by that (criticism) but they did absorb and take it in and it did influence them in a way."
Podeswa directed the 'Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken' episode last season, which showed the gruesome sexual assault of Sansa Stark played by Sophie Turner on the night of her wedding with Ramsay Bolton, which his childhood friend Theon Greyjoy was forced to watch in anguish.
Game of Thrones' cast and crew have backed up their showrunners' depiction of the scenes, saying that these were results of the war, and were based from the book series.