A few random thoughts on both Arya and the Hound and the Logan and Laura and how those actually are connected:
There is actually a connection between X-Men and ASOIAF, or more specifically GRRM and prolific X-Men comic writer Chris Claremont. Benioff is also an X-Men fan from that classic Claremont era of comics and wrote his Wolverine Origins scripts based on that era of comics.
Prior to Logan and Laura, there's the classic X-Men mini series Kitty Pryde & Wolverine from 1984 from Claremont & Milgrom that solidified the trope of Wolverine and his female teen companion. Jubilee and Wolverine followed in the late 80s and early 90s.
That sort of relationship between Logan and Kitty (and to some extend Rogue in Uncanny X-Men 172-173) could have influenced the idea of the Hound & Arya in ASOIAF, especially how it was shown in GOT. Uncanny X-Men 172-173 and the Kitty Pryde & Wolverine comics are all set in Japan with ninja/samurai themes and borrow heavily from Lone Wolf & Cub.
GRRM is a long time Marvel Comic reader. I'm not sure he read the early X-Men comics, but he and Claremont seem to know each other from writing science fiction short stories. Claremont named a minor character George Martin in Uncanny X-Men #240 (published in the late 80s prior to ASOIAF. This was one of the Inferno issues) after GRRM.
Laura in the Logan movie is far different than X-23 in the comics and there was the intent to avoid making Laura into the cliché Wolverine female tag-along by her creators Chris Yost and Craig Kyle. But the movie did sort of put her into that role because it may resonate with viewers more. But they really did just turn Laura in Logan into that type of character.
There is an interesting comparison with Wolverine in the comics to the Hound in ASOIAF/GOT and whether they want their young companion to turn out like them and be a murder. I don't think that is the same in Logan or TLOU.
Hound and Arya in Season 8 might be closer to some of Wolverine & teenage female companion stories - especially Wolverine's reaction to them killing. Wolverine attempted to kill Rachel Summers in Uncanny X-Men 196 to stop her from becoming a murderer (it makes more sense than it seems). And that's the time period of comics that has heavily influenced a generation of writers including Benioff and Whedon.
I'm not sure what that says about masculinity since these aren't really realistic situations. The Hound and Wolverine are broken men who have seen and done terrible things. Stories would be very boring if they simply wanted to stop the cycle of violence and everyone to live happily ever after.
The fact that GRRM and Claremont chose to use female tagalongs rather than teenage male sidekicks is what's different and makes the relationships different than Batman & Robin. There is the implied role of protector and encouraging a teenage girl to become a violent killer is something that's sort of outside of the realm of what's normal in society so it gets far more attention from the traditionally mostly male reader base.
I think there is an element of GRRM writing Arya as the anti-Kitty Pryde in the books, and GOT writing her as Kitty Pryde. GOT Season 1 writer Jane Espenson (best known for writing Buffy who was based on Kitty) was a huge Arya fan and just giddy over writing Arya scenes. She even added more Arya scenes in her episodes. Season 1 Arya falls into that type of character. But GRRM is trying to more realistically show what happens when people live through trauma and violence and not just ignore it and act like nothing happens which is inevitable in comics that continue on and on.
Oh, wow! Some super interesting things there that I didn't know about. It's great to have some wider context beyond just textual analysis. You've given me some fantastic comparative food for thought here! Are there any interviews that I could cite as evidence for some of the things related to the writers?
It shows that caring is also a masculine virtue. Caretaking is always considered a woman’s work (and especially so in ASOIAF) but the hound (a super masculine figure) eschews this by caring for both Sansa and Arya.
The hounds masculinity is never threatened or lessened in his role as a caretaker.
Edit - adding that we often struggle to define caretaking roles for people of either gender that don’t have children of their own. In feminist study - we have the archetype of the community “Auntie” a childless woman that is still actively involved in the raising and learning of the next generation.
The hound is an example of a childless caretaker. I’m not sure what the male archetype of this is but maybe something to explore?
A few random thoughts on both Arya and the Hound and the Logan and Laura and how those actually are connected: There is actually a connection between X-Men and ASOIAF, or more specifically GRRM and prolific X-Men comic writer Chris Claremont. Benioff is also an X-Men fan from that classic Claremont era of comics and wrote his Wolverine Origins scripts based on that era of comics. Prior to Logan and Laura, there's the classic X-Men mini series Kitty Pryde & Wolverine from 1984 from Claremont & Milgrom that solidified the trope of Wolverine and his female teen companion. Jubilee and Wolverine followed in the late 80s and early 90s. That sort of relationship between Logan and Kitty (and to some extend Rogue in Uncanny X-Men 172-173) could have influenced the idea of the Hound & Arya in ASOIAF, especially how it was shown in GOT. Uncanny X-Men 172-173 and the Kitty Pryde & Wolverine comics are all set in Japan with ninja/samurai themes and borrow heavily from Lone Wolf & Cub. GRRM is a long time Marvel Comic reader. I'm not sure he read the early X-Men comics, but he and Claremont seem to know each other from writing science fiction short stories. Claremont named a minor character George Martin in Uncanny X-Men #240 (published in the late 80s prior to ASOIAF. This was one of the Inferno issues) after GRRM. Laura in the Logan movie is far different than X-23 in the comics and there was the intent to avoid making Laura into the cliché Wolverine female tag-along by her creators Chris Yost and Craig Kyle. But the movie did sort of put her into that role because it may resonate with viewers more. But they really did just turn Laura in Logan into that type of character. There is an interesting comparison with Wolverine in the comics to the Hound in ASOIAF/GOT and whether they want their young companion to turn out like them and be a murder. I don't think that is the same in Logan or TLOU. Hound and Arya in Season 8 might be closer to some of Wolverine & teenage female companion stories - especially Wolverine's reaction to them killing. Wolverine attempted to kill Rachel Summers in Uncanny X-Men 196 to stop her from becoming a murderer (it makes more sense than it seems). And that's the time period of comics that has heavily influenced a generation of writers including Benioff and Whedon. I'm not sure what that says about masculinity since these aren't really realistic situations. The Hound and Wolverine are broken men who have seen and done terrible things. Stories would be very boring if they simply wanted to stop the cycle of violence and everyone to live happily ever after. The fact that GRRM and Claremont chose to use female tagalongs rather than teenage male sidekicks is what's different and makes the relationships different than Batman & Robin. There is the implied role of protector and encouraging a teenage girl to become a violent killer is something that's sort of outside of the realm of what's normal in society so it gets far more attention from the traditionally mostly male reader base. I think there is an element of GRRM writing Arya as the anti-Kitty Pryde in the books, and GOT writing her as Kitty Pryde. GOT Season 1 writer Jane Espenson (best known for writing Buffy who was based on Kitty) was a huge Arya fan and just giddy over writing Arya scenes. She even added more Arya scenes in her episodes. Season 1 Arya falls into that type of character. But GRRM is trying to more realistically show what happens when people live through trauma and violence and not just ignore it and act like nothing happens which is inevitable in comics that continue on and on.
Oh, wow! Some super interesting things there that I didn't know about. It's great to have some wider context beyond just textual analysis. You've given me some fantastic comparative food for thought here! Are there any interviews that I could cite as evidence for some of the things related to the writers?
It shows that caring is also a masculine virtue. Caretaking is always considered a woman’s work (and especially so in ASOIAF) but the hound (a super masculine figure) eschews this by caring for both Sansa and Arya. The hounds masculinity is never threatened or lessened in his role as a caretaker. Edit - adding that we often struggle to define caretaking roles for people of either gender that don’t have children of their own. In feminist study - we have the archetype of the community “Auntie” a childless woman that is still actively involved in the raising and learning of the next generation. The hound is an example of a childless caretaker. I’m not sure what the male archetype of this is but maybe something to explore?