‘Game of Thrones’ - which is currently shooting season four at Paint Hall studio in Belfast - has been honoured with a ‘Visionary award’ at the Media Access Awards in LA for its realistic depiction of people with disabilities.
According to winteriscoming.net, creator and author George R.R. Martin accepted the award, which recognises the efforts of members of the entertainment industry in promoting awareness of disability and the accurate depiction of characters with disabilities.
Mr Martin received a letter from David Radcliff of the Writers With Disabilities Committee of the Writers Guild of America, explaining the reasoning behind the award:
‘Game of Thrones seems a natural fit for this recognition. Since its earliest episodes, your gripping series has introduced us to a paralyzed boy with a supernatural gift, has endeared us to a Little Person defined not by his height but by his wit, and has regularly mined the lives of “cripples, bastards, and broken things” to celebrate their strengths and complexities.
In fact, it is a fantastic credit to your work that Game of Thrones is not commonly thought of as a show that “deals with” disability - it is something even better: a show that embraces the reality that no one is easily definable.’
As IFTN previously reported here, HBO’s fantasy series is responsible for boosting the Northern Irish economy by €77 million to date - with season four set to debut on Sky Atlantic in Spring 2014.
