Wow, I hadn't even considered the points you made about HBO's dumbing down the female characters in the show. I'll have to keep my eye out for that. I know I found HBO's portrayal of female nudity and sexuality gratuitous and disturbing. I'm not opposed to images of nudity or sex on screen, but when it appears that the nudity (breasts, buttocks, full-frontal) is primarily confined to the female characters, one has to wonder.
Of particular concern was the scene in which Littlefinger commands one female prostitute to fistf**k another female prosititute from behind. Some fans have said that the scene was necessary because it revealed Littlefinger's controlling, ice-cold nature; but, what I noticed was that the camera did not linger on Littefinger's face, but on the sexual actions of the two female prostitutes.
HBO has a formula: develop excellent character-driven dramas, ensure that many characters say "f**k" A LOT (although this isn't true for Game of Thrones due to its fantasical nature), and interlace the drama with scenes of gratuitous female nudity and sex. When you compare the premiere shows of AMC, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, you can really see the difference. Although these shows sometimes address sexuality (and especially Mad Men), it is never done in a gratuitous way.
Hadn't considered
Of particular concern was the scene in which Littlefinger commands one female prostitute to fistf**k another female prosititute from behind. Some fans have said that the scene was necessary because it revealed Littlefinger's controlling, ice-cold nature; but, what I noticed was that the camera did not linger on Littefinger's face, but on the sexual actions of the two female prostitutes.
HBO has a formula: develop excellent character-driven dramas, ensure that many characters say "f**k" A LOT (although this isn't true for Game of Thrones due to its fantasical nature), and interlace the drama with scenes of gratuitous female nudity and sex. When you compare the premiere shows of AMC, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, you can really see the difference. Although these shows sometimes address sexuality (and especially Mad Men), it is never done in a gratuitous way.