Did anyone see the news, over the past few days, of President George W. Bush's faux head being put on a pike, in the first season of Game of Thrones ?

Do you believe the excuse the studio has released in response to some of the criticism ?

Do you think it's disrespectful ?

Do you even care ?

It's much ado about nothing. It was a background prop in a scene and nobody even noticed it until someone mentioned it to the media last week. For those who aren't aware of this story, what happened was during production of the first season of GoT, the effects guys needed some phony heads to use in a couple of scenes where heads were shown to be on spikes. A few, like Sean Bean's head were custom made and the rest were made from various fake heads kicking around the production buildings. One of the heads used was a George W. Bush head which was given a wig and turned away from the camera so that the face was obscured. The head was not used as a political statement or to insult Bush, it was just a matter of using the supplies on hand instead of spending extra money to make new heads for a few quick shots.

It aired numerous times and nobody noticed or cared. Then earlier this year, the dvds came out and on the commentary track for the episode where the head appears, the commentators pointed it out and stated what I typed above. Again, nobody noticed or cared... until last week when the media got ahold of this non-story and made a big deal about it. Subsequently, HBO has issued an apology, halted distribution of the dvds, and pulled the episode from distribution until they can alter it.

Over react much, HBO?

In the books, they coat the heads with tar so they last longer on the spikes. All this could have been avoided if they had coated the heads with tar.

Has anyone asked George Bush how he feels about this? Maybe he's a GOT fan.

quote:

Originally posted by Freddy:

Do you even care ?

No!

I have the DVD, but didn't get to that episode yet.

I saw the photo on the internet and first thought it looked more like Lyndon Johnson.

Seems silly that a model of a President's head would just be kicking around the studio and that someone would say let's stick it on a pike. Then, when no one notices, the show's commentary goes out of its way to point it out.

Does anyone care? No, but when did that ever stop the media in an election year.

I thought this was something that happened in season 2, I can't believe it's from season 1, it was ages ago. Total over reaction imo.

Well, since I started this post I'll put my two cents into it.

I believe it was an insider poke at the 43rd President of the United States {Bush}. And that the producers tossed it into the show, so they could show their Hollywood buddies what they did. Kind of like an insider Easter Egg for all the Bush hating leftists in the world.

I'm guessing that once the DVD commentary came out they just couldn't contain themselves any longer, and they had to let their little "Egg" out of the bag, so more could admire what they slipped in. But of course they had to cover their own arses up by saying, "hey, we had to use whatever was around...{sic}".
Even if this prop was "...just laying around" I find it very disrespectful that a faux head of an ex US president was put on a pike. Symbolic too, because putting heads on pikes are for traitors of the state, back in those 'good old days'. Hence the "poke" or outright insult to Pres. Bush. And yes, I would even feel the same way if it were Pres. Obama's faux head that was used.

In a nutshell, the Hollywood Bush haters are still out there. From the prop departments to the producers. It's just a real shame that dignity and respect is no longer the norm in this world.

On a side note; I'm wondering if there's any legal ramifications regarding this ? Using another persons likeness without their consent ? But I'm pretty sure Pres. Bush is not that insecure about his likeness. It'll just prove that there is still some class left in some of us.

This is an amazing show, one of the best shows that are airing currently.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Magdalene123,