Tyrion Lannister (SHOW)
Tyrion Lannister is a dwarf in the tv show Game of Thrones. His sister Cersei hates him and thinks that he is a monster for killing their mother. In addition to this notion, his deformity subverts the idea of a monster to other people in society because when most people think of monsters they think of, glowing red eyes, claws, a tail, scary things. His family, but his brother, Jaime treats him like a monster, an accident, a freak of nature because they think that is what a monster looks like. At one point in the show Tyrion meets with a prince Oberyn, who told him that they had met before when Tyrion was a baby: My first time away from Dorne. I didn't like anything about the Rock. Not the food, not the weather, not your accents. Nothing. But the biggest disappointment... you." Tyrion says " You and my family have more in common than you might admit." Oberyn continued: The whole way from Dorne all anyone talked about was the monster that had been born to Tywin Lannister. A head twice the size of his body, a tail between his legs, claws, one red eye, the privates of both a girl and a boy. When we met your sister, she promised she would show you to us. Every day we would ask. Every day she would say, "Soon." Then she and your brother took us to your nursery and... she unveiled the freak. Your head was a bit large. Your arms and legs were a bit small, but no claw. No red eye. No tail between your legs. We didn't try to hide our disappointment. "That's not a monster," I told Cersei. "That's just a baby." And she said, "He killed my mother. It doesn't matter," she told us. "Everyone says he will die soon. I hope they are right. He should not have lived this long." A baby, everyone in his family enforced the idea that he was a monster from birth, killing his own mother. This what Tyrion the monster in the eyes of the Lannister family. The costume designers didn't emphasize his facial deformity in the show, however they focused on the dynamics of the Lannister's compared to Tyrion. Most of the dialogue from Cersei to Tyrion was, for the most part treating him like a monster. Tyrion's father Tywin Lannister believes that the most self less thing that Tywin has done has been to keep Tyrion alive and not kill him at birth. Tywin does treat Tyrion like a monster because of way he looks. Tyrion talked to his family over and over, that he is not a monster, he is simply different, however being different in any society does not fare well. Eventually Tyrion gets put on trail for a crime he did not commit, one of his judges was his father Tywin Lannister, who convinced Tyrion's lover to turn on him and tell the court lies so Tyrion gets convicted. Tywin was going to kill his own son because it ruins his family name, it was also later revealed that Tywin needed an excuse to get rid of own son, the trail became the perfect opportunity. Tyrion also changes the idea of a monster because even though Cersei and Tywin and everyone else treats Tyrion like a monster, his niece and nephews like him and do not harbour the same feelings about Tyrion like Cersei and Tywin do. The children having grown up around Tyrion know him and know that he is not a monster but simply their uncle. Tyrion in the show is made to be likeable and a diplomat wherever he goes, the people he meets during his travels usually know him by reputation about what a monster he is or how rich is family is, but everyone always treats Tyrion like a monster, their main goal is make Tyrion feel bad about being alive. Being different in society is challenging, whether is being a different gender than most people, different race than other people, class, face, family, and money are just some things that society will judge your worth with, looks being the primary one. The image of Tyrion Lannister connects with issues on race, being a different color than other people, people will judge that person and even hold them to a higher standard because of the way they look. Transgender people face this kind of discrimination regularly, where people would constantly tell them that "that’s not normal, and what are you supposed to be", in a way that constantly dehumanizes them and makes it easier for people to treat them without basic respect. It's easier to treat to entire group of people anyway that society wants as long as they are not human. Monsters are most notably known for having deformities or being a bad person or looking scary, usually it’s a combination of both, if people started treating other group of people like monsters because of their pre-conceived notion about what a monster looks like. Everyone can do whatever they wanted to this group of people because they are sub-human and do not deserve the same things as them. As long as you tell everyone that the enemy is sub-human and a monster, they will not care what you do with them, Tywin was about to kill his own son because he was the monster of the Lannister Family. Tyrion turns out to be a diplomat, who cares about the people as well as his families enemies. Overall, an ethically good person and not a monster.
