[ SECRET POST #2919 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2919 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones]


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03.
[Father Ted]


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04.
[Dragon Age]


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05.
[Star Trek: The Next Generation]


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06.
[Sleepy Hollow]


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07.
[Full Moon o Sagashite]


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08.
(Christmas with the Kranks)


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09.
[Cary Elwes]









Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 019 secrets from Secret Submission Post #417.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

If you truly believe that the only time a man would ever bother to defend a woman is because he loves her, then yes, that is correct. If you are open to the idea that there are some men who'd defend Brienne because she's a good person who doesn't deserve being denigrated for her appearance, then no, that's not necessarily evidence of Jaime's romantic feelings.

[(Anonymous)]

But it IS open to interpretation.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, that's what I said. I do think it's a little sad that people see a character acting with decency as some sort of hugely significant romantic rather than, well, the decent thing to do. It says volumes about what low expectations people have, not just of Jaime but in general when it comes to human behavior. But yes, totally open to interpretation.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

I agree with this. I ship them myself and definitely argue for the romantic interpretation, but if you point at a scene like this and go, "There! See! He defended her, therefore he must have feelings for her," then it's kind of sad and I don't like those implications.

[(Anonymous)]

ayrt - Yes, that's my reasoning as well. I don't care one way or the other if people ship it, it's the implications about how believing a woman deserves respect can't have any other meaning for some people. It's as if well, if you don't want to bone her or marry her, then you wouldn't bother standing up for her. That's messed up, and if that's Jaime's motivation for doing the right thing in defending Brienne, it actually doesn't speak very well of his character.

[(Anonymous)]

I think the case can be made that in the ASoIaF universe specifically, defending a woman in that way could indicate romantic feelings. Seeing that doesn't mean that someone thinks the only time a man would ever bother to defend a woman is because he loves her, it just means they think it fits in with the gender politics of the world.

[(Anonymous)]

But it would also fit with the gender (and class) politics of the 'verse (at least the Westeros part of it) that defending a noble lady is exactly what a knight should be doing. On the other hand, Jaime was pretty cynical about the meaning and the duties of knighthood until he (a) became the captain of the Kingsguard and (b) met Brienne.

[(Anonymous)]

Well of course it could. I didn't say it couldn't mean that. But in the specific context of Jaime, it's difficult to argue he's only acting out the gender politics of that world because then how do you explain so many of his actions before? The gender politics of that world surely doesn't condone incest or violating the succession (which would've been a HUGE thing in the sort of setting GRRM describes) by putting your own flesh and blood on the throne. Gender politics--or more accurately, knightly behavior-- doesn't condone killing children, or your queen.

So to follow your reasoning, you'd have to ask yourself why Jaime doesn't follow the expected gender politics all his life but suddenly does it when confronted with Brienne? Remember that Brienne herself is not conforming to the expected gender roles, either. Gender politics AND knightly behavior is more about the courteous and chivalric treatment of high born women who conform to gender stereotypes, not women who fall outside that strictly defined role.

You also can't have it both ways. When Jaime defends Brienne, is it romance or merely gender politics?