Today we have a contrast between having a commanding presence worthy of respect and slapping someone to make a point.
Molly slaps Sherlock, because he has relapsed and she wants him to know how awful that is for everyone but himself… which is really not how anyone should go about dealing with drug addiction issues, but that is a whole other conversation. She slaps him three times and he doesn’t particularly seem to care. This is supposed to show how strong of a character Molly is, but really it just seems out of character or like she’s throwing a tantrum. On the other side, Jamie says something very rude, Brienne dramatically stands up in objection, and Jamie immediately realizes his mistake, apologizes, and sakes forgiveness. Yes, Brienne is nude in this scene, you will note how that doesn’t prevent Jamie from apologizing and behaving in a respectful manner, because breasts don’t actually posses the power to make people loose control over their own actions.
In the second row is River, slapping the Doctor for something he hasn’t done yet. He pulls a hurt face, before making a joke about how much he’s looking forward to doing whatever River is mad at him for. If the slap was meant to do anything other then express River’s anger through violence, it did not work. In the next frame is Danearys, telling Jora off for letting his infatuation get out of hand. He immediately backs down respectfully, apologizes, and asks forgiveness.
If someone considers your feelings irrelevant until you hit them, they don’t respect you. Expressing anger towards a supposed loved one through violence should not be considered a comedic or reasonable course of action no mater what genders are involved. And, as a side note, the notion that you can snap someone out of drug addiction by shaming them and beating them is emphatically false and really awful.
This, exactly. I love this commentary. I love this whole post. Here’s hoping that Steven Moffat figures out the dynamics of female strength and how that truly embodies itself most effectively and without having to resort to violence.