Don’t think this anything to do with SJW politics to be honest. Can’t remember any demands from anyone for a non-white Ciri.
Television The Witcher | Netflix | There are book spoilers here
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Before people put on their forced outrage hats. In the books (which this is based on, not the game) she is apparently described as having fair hair and green eyes. The author of the source material has distanced themselves from the games story and character portrayals, and has described the world as a diverse place and backs the casting choice.
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Where has Sapkowski said this? I can't find it.
He distanced himself from the games because he's salty over how much money he got.
Keep looking. I only came to put out the fire...
What fire?
Well, partly because we had whitewashing for decades with little more than a peep being heard about it (till recently). Partly cause I understand why they'd want to add a BAME character in what will otherwise be an overwhelmingly white cast, to reach a wider audience. Partly cause this is fantasy, i.e. not historical in any way, so changing the story to have a non-white nation and maybe one major non-white character out of 4-5 is inconsequential as feck.
For those reasons I find people losing their shit over this as quite funny.
It is more like being a bit weird to see a character that was blonde in games to be Asian or African. It also might have some unintended consequences like the 'most evil' nation on the world who holds slaves and attacks it neighbors to be a country whose people are dark skinned or Asian. Robert Jordan was heavily criticized for making the same thing, when he had the slavers being black.
Yea, as a totally straight man, Henry Cavill is a dreamboat. He's way too good looking to play gaunt, crusty Geralt.
Geralt is more scarred silver fox than crusty. Every Sorceress ever wants to bang him.
Apart from the lesbian one with no eyes
So because white people made lots of shows starring white people for decades now there needs to be representation in everything? Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians did fine reaching wide audiences without any of the real leads being changed to white. Do black and asian people not watch shows starring white people? I genuinely don't get how this only works one way.
I don't even know why I'm arguing those points to be honest. I don't have an issue with representation, I have an issue with how it's often handled as a PR stunt and how Hollywood/the media/gaming then use it as a shield against criticism. Look at the idiocy around Star Wars, Ghostbusters and Battlefield 5 for example. It's gotten transparent, cynical and tiresome. I'd also prefer it if the Witcher main characters stay as they are and if they want to add representation then there's scope to add their own characters. I don't see how that can be portrayed as losing ones shit or any sort of fire that needs put out. It's not at all unreasonable and no one in here is being uncivil.
Still, Cavill is a, dude walks into a room, and you can smell the moistness. Geralt is a, dude walks into a room, and you can smell the fecal matter, and you're not sure if it's because everyone shit their pants, or because he slept in in a sewer.
Sapkowski is used in an advisory role for the show, isn't he? So I'm sure any major character castings would align with how he envisaged that character. Can't really argue against the original author, can you. He was very specific in describing her as ashen haired though, so I wouldn't suddenly expect a Ciri with black hair or anything.
I think the best looking Geralt they could’ve gone with would’ve been like Hugh Jackman in Logan. Gritty and rough but still a handsome looking chap.
Polish guys I work with have been fiercely proud of the success of the Witcher, and very wary of US studios messing it up. Also have plenty of anger/resentment over how that entire region is represented in US/UK media, not unreasonably I would suggest.
They wanted some Polish/Lithuanian/Slovakian actors in this.
They wanted some Polish/Lithuanian/Slovakian actors in this.
@Sarni for Dandelion.
True. I'm not particularly happy with the Cavill casting either. The Witchers are supposed to be hated outcasts and spat on until needed or until people see just how dangerous they are. I dunno how you go from Superman to that.I always thought Geralt in the games was a bit too buff too, like he should have looked more gaunt from being on the road and not paid for a lot of his work, but that's overly nitpicking.
True, but then all the women in his world seem to want him, though maybe I am allowing the games power fantasy to overly influence my perception. His known infertility in a setting where an unwanted pregnancy could easily kill the woman possibly a reason for his success.
I always thought Geralt in the games was a bit too buff too, like he should have looked more gaunt from being on the road and not paid for a lot of his work, but that's overly nitpicking.
You're not. He fecks a lot in the books too: https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/35h2gx/lore_does_geralt_have_as_much_sex_in_the_books_as/
Definitely has consequences in terms of the book politics. As Ciri is the daughter of the Emperor, the implication of her being BAME - would imply that the whole of Nilfgaard (his region) is too. Or at the very least the emperor? That will hugely affect the politics of the show as the Nilfgaardians are actually the ones who do the persecuting against the book minorities; elves, dwarves, mages etc.
Or just make her mother not white.
Unless they specify that people of Cintra are BAME. In this way, Ciri might be, but Nilfgaard and the Emperor don't necessarily need to be.
But aren’t the Cintra people direct descendants of the Elves and that’s where Ciri gets her Lara Dorren(?) heritage from.
I don’t know, man. It just feels totally unnecessary to me.
I don’t know, man. It just feels totally unnecessary to me.
Are all Elves white? If so they may just go down the Robb Stark route.
It does feel a bit unnecessary but I can see why they want to have a clear separation from any Daenerys comparisons.
He bangs almost every woman he meets in the books too. Apparently there's a very pleasant tingle when you touch a witcher or a very repulsive one depending on your tastes. Also as a side bit of interest cats being creatures that can sense magic usually hate Witchers. Which is why most of the in game cats, especially around the 7 Cats Inn all hiss at Geralt. There better be hissing cats!
I thought it was pretty much all human nations that persecuted the non-humans. Hence the scoia'tael attacking all humans. I think Nilfgaard actually worked witht the scoia'tael too at one point.
They could make the elves BAME, which adds issues with white people then hanging them from trees and treating them like slaves.
I can see why they would want separation from Daenerys, but at the same time the show version of her is such a god awful character and so badly acted that they could easily blow it out of the water and I think they at some point need to give people more credit than not being able to separate two characters that look/sound similar.
I think her response to this is pretty great. The fact she s going out of her way to even respond to fans in a way is refreshing - and I think the point she makes about the falsehood of equating minority with race is an excellent one. Don't forget native American and Latin American is a minority classification too yet many times someone wouldn't blink twice for someone expecting a stereotypical white person. Also think about how often minorities are used to play other minorities and no one bats an eye. Case in point is the aforementioned Odette Annable - who many would look at and just think of as white, is actually of Latin America descent, and played someone of native American background on the show Banshee. I agree the pc stuff is getting tiresome occasionally but the response seems a bit excessive.The one I just put out.
Anyway I'll just leave this here and vacate...
Or maybe, you know, they could just go the all human cultures are multi-racial way, which is both the easiest, most inclusive, and least problematic in every way
Here, I'll explain.
Firstly, it was never about shows starring white people. That wasn't the problem. It was about whitewashing. I.e. putting white people in roles that were technically not roles of white people. Johnny Depp in the Lone Ranger, Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia, Ben Afleck in Argo, ScarJo in Ghost in a Shell etc.
Secondly, no. There doesn't have to be representation in everything. But when the production studio chooses representation is some shows/movies, it's a bit of an overblown reaction to lose our collective shit over it, isn't it? There's still shows made with almost exclusively white cast. As there's shows with almost exclusively black/asian casts, as you pointed out. These aren't a problem either.
Thirdly, there have been plenty of shows where none of the characters were supposed to be white but were added in for representation or appeal to the "mainstream" (i.e. majority white) audience. So you don't have to get how it only works one way... because it simply doesn't.
At a personal level, I like the Witcher franchise and understand how it's a mostly Slavic-inspired medieval-themed fantasy world. But I'm not gonna go ape shit if Ciri is a mixed race kid or what not. It just smacks of people that are either over-sensitive or looking to get angered over something.
Most likely scenario.
I can see how casting Ciri can be problematic within the context of the story world, but honestly I’m more concerned about Yen and Triss being hot because I’m superficial like that.
I'd love it if they cast Marcin Dorocinski in this in some role.
Crystal Reed for Yennefer anyone?
That’s her as Sofia Falcone in Gotham.
They'll have to be really, they're mages that use magic to make themselves beautiful. It's clearly stated in the books Yen is several hundred years old and wears a veil of magic to make herself more beautiful (and so do many of the other female characters with magic).
I would have no issue with making any of the cast black but Ciri is just a strange choice. She has too much family history known and with elven blood, elves are always known to be a white race as far as I know.
Imagine giving a feck what skin colour Siri is. What worries me is that she's the main protagonist instead of Geralt. To me The Witcher is all about Geralt.
The books are just as much about Ciri as they are Geralt TBH. Although Geralt is the lead Ciri is equally as important in the witcher world.
Yen is close to 100, not several hundreds years old. Philipa is I think 300 years old or so, while there was an even older sorceress but she did suicide in one of the books.
I don't think that Triss can use magic to change her appearance. She's allergic to it if I am not mistaken, but still she is hot. Yennefer is hotter. Yen mentions Margarita being even more beautiful, while Francesca is apparently the most gorgeous woman in the world. So, they should just get two models for those two.
Geralt without Geralt's voice ??? I like Cavill but it'll be weird for sure. I love TW just like many of us, easily in my top 10 best ever gaming franchise
Tbh Geralt in a game is a bit different type than in books. He wasn't that bulked up but I loved the voice from the game too, after all Geralt's a mutant so anything unusual or just plain weird I personally welcomed.
If the script is juicy, Cavill should nail it... oh and prepare for Geralt being not too all powerful as in the game. If they'll go Sapkowski's route witcher will get some heavy spanking in battle at times. Can't wait for one particular confrontation but I'm shutting my gob until they'll hopefully include and air it.
However it's done, I know I will like itTbh Geralt in a game is a bit different type than in books. He wasn't that bulked up but I loved the voice from the game too, after all Geralt's a mutant so anything unusual or just plain weird I personally welcomed.
If the script is juicy, Cavill should nail it... oh and prepare for Geralt being not too all powerful as in the game. If they'll go Sapkowski's route witcher will get some heavy spanking in battle at times. Can't wait for one particular confrontation but I'm shutting my gob until they'll hopefully include and air it.
Cavill might do a Christian Bale tho, “ I’m Geralt!”
I hope not
Bale was a bit ridiculous with that voice on Batman