GOT Demonizing Women and Idealizing Men
GOT had a nasty habit of portraying their female characters in the worst light possible, while painting so many men as better/more saintly than their books counterparts.
Now, obviously, I am not talking about characters like Cersei or Lysa, who very obviously are meant to be antagonists. Neither am I talking about Baristan Selmy or Ned Stark. And I am perfectly aware of how well they portrayed Ramsay Bolton and Walder Frey. Therefore I am not talking about them, nor do I need to be "reminded" of them.
The Women
Doreah
Doreah was one of Dany's only friends in AGOT (ie one of her handmaidens). She helped her learn to survive with the Dothraki, taught her ways to get Drogo to love her, and was a support to Dany as a fellow outsider in the Khalasar. When she dies in ACOK, it's in the Red Waste. Dany held her as she died and gave her water from her own skin, despite they were in a desert and needed to keep moving.
For whatever reason, the show decided to completely destroy her. In season one, she is used pretty much only for a queerbait scene, and other than that she's basically another faceless member of the Khalasar. In season two, not only does she survive the Red Waste, but she dies after betraying Dany. She sells the dragons, strangles Irri, and gets locked in Xaro's vault with him to starve to death. This is made even more disgusting by the fact that she is a victim of sex trafficking.
Now, I can understand why Dany's handmaidens don't get super fleshed out, I mean they're not very fleshed out in the books anyway. There are a lot of more important characters, and many side characters got removed to make it all less confusing. What I can't understand is turning Doreah into a shallow and sex obsessed traitor.
Sansa Stark
Now this one may seem a little confusing, "But Ellie, Sansa is one of the only women who gets a happy ending!" That may be true, but in giving her this happy ending, GOT made her into a manipulative, cold, and uncaring character.
Sansa not only constantly undermines Jon Snow as king, she flat out gets Rickon killed by refusing to tell Jon about the Vale knights when he's strategizing. According to Sophie Turner, she did this purely for the glory that moment would give her. Much like Cersei, you know, a mentally unstable tyrant, she places herself and her desire for power over the lives of her last living relatives (that she knows of) when she's spent almost the whole show wishing to be reunited with her family.
She openly takes inspiration for her ruling from Cersei and Littlefinger, two of the primary antagonists in her storyline. Like them, she doesn't care about anyone or anything but her own desire to rule.
When Daenerys arrives in the North, Sansa openly insults her and risks driving her away or goading her into attacking. Daenerys' dragons and army are needed to prevent the literal apocalypse; but Sansa doesn't care about the literal end of the world, she just wants to be the most powerful person in the room. Again, much like Cersei.
Speaking of her relationship with Dany, something D&D literally said about their meeting was that Sansa literally dislikes her because she's "too pretty". As in Sansa hates a woman because she might be prettier than her. How fucking shallow and insulting to women is that? And, again, they make her a reflection of Cersei in that.
For some reason, D&D decided that in order for Sansa to have her "good" ending, she has to become Cersei 2.0; in other words, yet another vain and cruel tyrant. Even D&D's supposedly favorite character is completely destroyed.
In the books, while Sansa is cruel to Arya and superficial in AGOT, she grows. She is learning that those who she was taught are lesser than are actually equally deserving of care and understanding (as Alayne Stone). She desires to care for her people if she was ever to become queen (even though she is currently being manipulated by Littlefinger). The last thing she would ever want to be is a second Cersei, yet that is what D&D turned her into.
The Sand Snakes
The show decided to defang the Sand Snakes (and the entire Dornish Plot) and turn them into simply opportunities for more sex scenes. They lose any individual personalities, competency, and ambition. Their plan is only used to kill off Myrcella. After that, they fail and are basically useless except to be turned into sex objects to please the horny male audience D&D most wanted to target.
Daenerys Targaryen
I have made so many posts about how GOT fucked over Dany. I don't really feel like going into it in a lot of detail again, but instead I'll try to summarize it.
Not only does Dany end the show with the bullshit "mad queen" arc, but her kindness, love for her people, intelligence, and wisdom are all systematically removed as the show goes on. Her Meereen arc has all its complexity and intrigue removed and all the problems are solved in five minutes because the Slavers decided to just stop fighting after talking to Tyrion.
Dany in the books cares so deeply for her people (calling them her children), is a brilliant strategist, and is incredibly wise despite being sixteen and younger. The show drained all of that from her before killing her by having her lover stab her in the womb.
Other
There are so many women removed, despite the importance of their characters to the plot. Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, and Arianna Martell are each cut out of the show to make room for boring and pointless arcs and bland men.
The Men
Jorah Mormont
In the books, Jorah is a creepy, obsessive man who actively tries to sabotage Dany by trying to push away any other men in her life. He kissed her without consent and constantly made Dany uncomfortable with his inappropriate behavior. When Tyrion finds him in Volantis, he literally is finding prostitutes (who are sex slaves btw) who resemble her.
The show, however, decided to make his obsession with Dany into a noble and chivalric love. He's made out to be heroic and just wants to spend his life protecting her, even if she doesn't love him. Dany is portrayed as overreacting when she sends him away for literally selling her out to the man who wants to kill her.
I think these choices with Jorah show just how perverted D&D are. Jorah is a pedophile who tries to groom Dany. Even his second wife, Lynesse, was half his age; GRRM makes it clear this is a pattern for him. But D&D took this and made him into the only one of Dany's "love interests" to truly care about her.
Euron Greyjoy
I know, I know, Euron is still an antagonist in the show. However, he is made tame and even at times comedic rather than the complete psychopath who can give Ramsay a run for his money that he is in the books.
In the books, Euron literally molested his younger brother Urrigon, tortures and murders Aeron, and is implied to have murdered Baelon (or at least had a hand in his death somehow). His ship is manned by men he cut the tongues out of. He is obsessed with Valyrian magic, has a full suit of Valyrian steel armor and a dragon binder. His end goal is to literally help bring about the Long Night and help the Others.
Euron is meant to be in direct conflict with Jon and Dany, not an accessory to Cersei. The only big role he played in the show was when he brokered a marriage deal with Cersei and was killed by Jaime. Sure, the Iron Fleet shot down Rhaegal (which was total bullshit btw), but that wasn't even Euron's plan, it happened by sheer luck.
Euron is the most fantastical villain in the books aside from the Others themselves. But the show took all of that away and made him boring yet more palatable.
Varys
I literally can't understand where the show got that Varys' only true goal is "to serve the realm". Sure, that is a line he says to Tyrion in ACOK, but it is so obvious that he's lying. If Varys had been a woman, the show would have kept that motivation as a lie, but instead they made him a "true servant of the realm".
His true motivation is revealed in ADWD: to put Young Griff aka Aegon VI (supposedly) on the Iron Throne. Varys is implied to be a descendant of the Blackfyres (when he was castrated it was by a red priest who needed his flesh and blood for a ritual, ie blood of kings, he works with the Golden Company, who were founded by a Blackfyre), as is Young Griff. He's also believed to have encouraged Aerys' madness to increase the likelihood of a rebellion. Meaning his motivation is to fulfill Daemon Blackfyre's ambition, to put the Blackfyres on the Iron Throne.
The show chose to write Young Griff out completely (part of the destruction of the Dornish Plot), which left Varys free to be turned into a supposedly noble man who just wanted to protect Westeros.
Tyrion Lannister
Up until season 5, Tyrion is portrayed rather faithfully (as most characters were). After that point, D&D decided to make him the show's moral authority and the audience stand-in.
Tyrion is arguably the most morally gray of the key five, yet that is completely ignored. They use him to magically solve all Dany's problems in Essos, condemn Dany, and prop up Sansa and Bran. It's through this new Tyrion's eyes we are supposed to view the world. As such, he is given the morals of a 21st century man, rather than what he truly had in the book.
Conclusion
D&D make their sexism painfully clear in how they chose to alter GRRM's characters. Every woman is butchered while the men are given the best light possible for their positions.
