Cooke described Alicent Hightower's connection with Larys Strong as "disgusting, degrading, and assaulting." "However, she isn't really left with many options"
The House of the Dragon season one finale has its share of stunning moments, but there's one scene from the penultimate episode that fans can't get out of their brains no matter how hard they try.
Alicent encounters the perpetually frightening Larys Strong in the darkness of her chamber after a hard day of going head-to-head with her father to locate and control her kid Aegon. Larys gives her details about spies and how her father initially learnt of Aegon's whereabouts. But the full details come at a cost for Alicent: she has to reveal Larys her bare feet and turn away as he masturbates at the sight of them. The fact that the interaction occurs in an unsaid, almost normal manner suggests that it occurs frequently.
Olivia Cooke, who portrays Alicent, discussed the topic for the first time in a recent interview with Variety, and revealed that the sequence made her just as uncomfortable as the rest of us.
"It's revolting, degrading, and an assault." "But she doesn't have many options," Cooke explained. "She's surrounded herself with killers and psychopaths." There are no other options. "Perhaps she felt she could turn to Talia, but she turned out to be a spy." Alicent has every cause to be desperate, and Larys, knowing this, takes advantage of her need for his own sexual gratification.
"She understands what Larys is capable of, how powerful he is, and how he is willing to kill his entire family to advance in this court," Cooke remarked of the power dynamics between Larys and Alicent in the moment. "It's challenging because she has no option but to agree with a lot of what he does." She requires the information. She eventually figures out how she's going to obtain it. If she doesn't have the knowledge, it might lead to her murder, usurpation, or the death of her children... It's just an essential requirement, regrettably."
Cooke also had some things to say, not just regarding the power dynamics of the setting, but also about how the scene has subsequently been received by House of the Dragon's huge following. The memes have been... bizarre.
"It's wild because there are beheadings, people having their cocks cut off, graphic violence, and brothel scenes," Cooke said. "Isn't it amusing? On the day, I knew I didn't want this to be gratuitous because I knew my feet would end up on various sites. It's amazing how you can't predict which scenes people will react to the most, and unfortunately, it was that one." Given the going rate for feet photos on the internet, I hope Ms. Cooke is getting paid by HBO.
Aside from the admittedly pretty funny jokes about Larys and Alicent's little deal, there's a lot about the scene that's quite unsettling. To Cooke's point, it's essentially a form of abuse in that Larys takes advantage of Alicent's need for information in order to survive and protect her children. Then there's the overt ableism—the camera pans between Alicent's feet and Larys' metal foot as he doesdles himself, reminding us of his disability. Even if HotD didn't intend to associate Larys' disability with his creepiness, the damage has already been done.
In any case, Cooke has my full respect—not only for her performance as Alicent, but also for facing the full force of the internet foot fetish industrial complex. What was the point of her sacrifice if she didn't win an Emmy for it?
#GameOfThrones #HouseOfTheDragon #HBOMax #HOTD #HOTDFinale
SOURCE: jezebel
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