A Fan Post --Can You Believe It?

I fully admit to being obsessed with Game of Thrones.  I watch the YouTube videos, particularly those by Talking Thrones and Gray Area.  I read everything I can.  I never once dreamed that I would write a fan post.

Everything about Game of Thrones is spectacular, starting with the imagination and masterful storytelling of George R.R. Martin and extending to the tenacity of David Benioff and D.B.Weiss to the associate producers, the writers, directors, special effects, costumes, ad infinitum. But it is the cast that brings the story into the living rooms across the world.  

Certainly, Game of Thrones is stacked with talented actors. I have great respect for the entire cast, even those on Arya's hit list.  The good and the bad evoke a visceral response in me.  I will continue to watch anything with Aidan Gillen, even though I hated Petyr Baelish.  I will look forward to more work by Lena Headey.  I was fascinated by the Waif, played to perfection by  Faye Marsay. Don't get me started on Gwendoline Christie.

Of all actors that stand out to me, the most notable are those who play the Stark kids.  These men and women were babies when the show started, and unlike so many other young stars, they have handled their fame gracefully. Kit Harington and Maisie Williams probably attracted the most attention, but in my mind, Sophie Turner has done the most phenomenal job with a very challenging plot line. 

In 2011, Turner was 15, and at the right stage in her own life and development to play a love-struck young girl who wants to be a queen.  What 15 year-old couldn't relate?  Sansa had to grow up quickly, but before the true abuse by Joffrey began, Turner played the temperamental  teenager to perfection, fighting with her sister and being smart-mouthed with Septa Mordane.  After Ned's imprisonment and subsequent execution, we saw no more of that teenager.  We saw a survivor.  In Turner we saw an actor who could hold her own with Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey and the remarkable Diana Rigg.  

In Seasons Six, Seven, and Eight, we saw Sansa Stark as a woman who was in command of the situations around her.  The last time we saw vulnerability in Sansa was when she and Theon were escaping Winterfell.  Once Sansa embraced Jon at Castle Black, she was a woman in command. She did not rely on Jon, Brienne or Baelish; she utilized their talents.  As the Lady of Winterfell, she kept her priorities on Winterfell itself and the people in the North.  No one, save Danerys and Arya, challenged her authority.  Sansa Stark did not cave.  Sophie Turner executed this role regally, as would befit the future Queen in the North.

Now, in 2019, Turner is 23, a married woman.  She has the courage to speak up against concepts she finds contemptable.  Earlier this year Sansa's image was used in an meme to encourage white people to date and marry only whites.  She has been upfront about her feelings of depression and self-image during the time she worked on Game of Thrones.

I see Sophie Turner as a very positive role model for young women.  I wish her continued success and great happiness in the years to come.  I will be following her career as she continues her personal journey.