Ok. Replace the word rape with "gratuitous sex" and your post reads like a fundamentalist Christian condemning the evils of Hollywood and why censoring is good.

Critical thought apparently being whatever you believe. You seem to think that a show must pass clear moral judgment on immoral acts or the show is somehow condoning them. That is an absurd position, in my opinion, reminiscent of conservatives who want art to promote "good positive values"

Because Cersei's actions in the sept are completely out of character ESPECIALLY given the change in the storyline.

I agree with all of that. Cersei was a cartoon. In fact she doesn't become a more fleshed out character until the later books.

Exactly. There are notable differences between the book and the show but the sex scene itself wasn't nearly as starkly different as being claimed by some.

I just watched the scene again. First they start making out. Then she says no. He blows through that stop sign. She says no a couple of more times and then clearly starts to respond to him. She is saying over and over "It's not right" but she isn't crying and she isn't fighting back.

I was listening to a podcast about the Civil War and they were talking about The Gettysburg Address. There hundreds of people in an open air area listening to hours of speeches before they even heard Lincoln. And just about everyone heard them. And Lincoln was hardly a boisterous voice.

Gray areas? LOL. I'm all for gray areas. I understand some of the reasons for criticisms on the Jaime/Cersei scene. But claims that the scene glorified the culture of rape or how THAT scene was exploitative are absurd.

You seem to prefer your characters to be more Tolkeinesque. Pure evil or pure good. You want Aragorns or Grim Wormtongues. Now I understand.

This makes the most sense. Anyone who thinks the show glorified Drogo either didn't watch the show or is simply ignoring EVERYTHING he did.

Yes I'm sure rapists are watching fantasy medieval shows in order to validate their lives.

Best comment I've read so far in this thread.

An odd argument given some of the arguments about why depicting rape is worse than depicting castration. In that context rape is worse because castration is so much rarer. Now rape is worse than murder because rape is so much rarer.

Well Jaime and Cersei's relationship doesn't last much longer in the books despite the rape that turned consensual that occurred in the sept.
They made a conscious decision to portray Jaime as more angry in the show compared to his apathetic attitude in the books. But they will both arrive at the same end point.

Oh for fuck's sake. Anyone who gets confused about what constitutes rape because of a rape on a show based on a fictional medieval society needs to be committed in an asylum.

Because all societies should be judged through the lens of 21st century American sensibilities?

Well at this point in the books he's pretty much realizing that he doesn't love her or even like her that much.

Completely agree on this point. I think the show runners wanted to make it clear that what Jaime did was bad. And honestly portraying distraught Cersei all of the sudden ready to shag Jaime next to their dead son would have looked almost absurd.

Give the male viewers a hard on? WTF? You think that scene was erotic to men?

I suspect that for some it is a sense of betrayal because they saw Jaime has someone on a path to redemption of some sorts. Certainly in the books he becomes far more likable later on in the story largely because he disavows his ties to the Lannisters and Cersei specifically.