talking GQAlthough not actively seeking criticism for the nativity scenes in “The House of the Dragon,” Emma D’Arcy admitted that they “take seriously the idea that we shouldn’t see women portrayed with bold realism during childbirth, and blood and placentas.” Birth is often presented as a “miracle of life” or a “beautiful experience”; this may be true given the life-changing emotional response that comes with bringing a child into this world.
That said, it’s true physically labor can be brutal, traumatic, and physically exhausting. Sure, there are many people with manageable deliveries straight out of a movie, but for many parents, their experience reflects Rhaenyra Targaryen (or, tragically, her mother, Aemma Arryn) in “The House of the Dragon.”
D’Arcy took additional trouble with criticism, thinking that a key unique selling point of the whole “Game of Thrones” was the inclusion of “big, bloody battle scenes.” “We want women to conform to a certain image,” D’Arcy said. “It’s interesting when it comes to acting, because there’s a lot of fun doing big, physically demanding sequences. And it’s interesting that sometimes that just isn’t enough for the female characters.” D’Arcy is right to accept her comments as fact, even if it evokes feelings that are hard to handle.
Sometimes life brings immeasurable challenges, and for many people, birth is one of them. D’Arcy’s comments can be a reminder that what is traumatic for some can be therapeutic for others, and it’s up to all of us to set personal boundaries instead of asking a TV show to do it for us.