She’s with her?
Hillary Clinton has definitely watched at least one episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ according to her new memoir, but may want to watch a few more before using the show to make comparisons to her own life.
In ‘What Happened,’ Clinton writes that she was treated by the crowds at President Trump’s rallies the same way that the residents of Westeros acted towards disgraced ruler Cersei Lannister during her infamous walk of atonement in the show’s fifth season.
That episode, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Dance With Dragons,’ depicted Cersei being led naked through the streets of King’s Landing as men and women spit and hurled rotten food at her body while a nun next to her repeatedly rang a bell while chanting ‘shame.’
Clinton does not seem to realize however that Cersei is vengeful, villianous and immoral, with the Machiavellian ruler later retaliating by murdering many of those who shamed her in the streets.
Bad day: Hillary Clinton writes in her memoir ‘What Happened’ that the men and women at President Trump’s rallies treated her like Cersei on ‘Game of Thrones’ (Cersei above during her walk of atonement)
Punishment: In the George R.R. Martin books and HBO show, Cersei is stripped naked and pelted with rotten food and spit as she walks through King’s Landing (crowds above)
Unacceptable: ‘They shouted, “Guilty! Guilty!” like the zealots in Game of Thrones chanting ‘Shame! Shame!’ while Cersei Lannister walked back to the Red Keep,’ she says (the crowd at a Trump rally this past November on election-eve in Florida)
‘It’s not easy for any woman in politics, but I think it’s safe to say that I got a whole other level of vitriol flung my way,’ writes Clinton in her memoir, which is now on bookshelves.
‘Crowds at Trump rallies called for my imprisonment more times than I can count. They shouted, “Guilty! Guilty!” like the religious zealots in Game of Thrones chanting ‘Shame! Shame!’ while Cersei Lannister walked back to the Red Keep.’
It is certainly accurate to say the violence that was shown towards Cersei was expressed by the crowds at some Trump rallies, with some supporters actually bringing signs that had a gun target around Clinton’s face.
The problem with this comparison however is that it paints Cersei out to be a victim, which is a hard argument to make given her actions prior to that point in the show.
In the first season of the show Cersei is caught having sex with her brother, and does not bat an eye when he responds by throwing the young child who caught them out of the window of a tower.
Later in the season she plots the deaths of both her husband and the man about to expose the fact that her children were all sired by her brother, Jaime.
She also ensures that her own son will stay on the throne by ordering her guards to murder all of her late husband’s illegitimate children.
Her side: ‘It’s not easy for any woman in politics, but I think it’s safe to say that I got a whole other level of vitriol flung my way,’ writes Clinton (left in March 2016) in her memoir (right)
Bromance: Clinton’s comparison suggests that Cersei is a sympathetic character however, despite the fact that she is being punished for committing incest (Cersei aboive with brother Jaime) and murder
Burning it down: Cersei also retaliates later on by blowing up the temple where her foes were gathered (above), resulting in the death of her son’s bride, who was at that time queen
It is also worth noting that Cersei is eventually let out of the Red Keep following her walk of shame and retaliates by blowing up the temple belonging to the group that forced her to atone.
The nun who walked her through the streets is spared that agonizing death only to be tortured and killed by her massive bodyguard The Mountain.
And among those she kills in the explosion is her son’s wife, resulting in the boy’s suicide.
So while Cersei may have been horrifically shamed and objectified in one scene of the program, her reprehensible actions elsewhere make it difficult to feel sympathy.
Those actions also make it unfathomable that a politician would want to reference Cersei in a positive light, suggesting Hillary may want to ask her editor what happened.