Did The Witcher go woke?

[WhiteWonder 2,903]

I enjoy the main show… it seems the recent mini series origin story that came out a few days ago went out of its way to cast a lot of color in prominent roles. 
 

not that there is anything wrong with it, just that we’ve had a lot of topics on this concept in 2022. I don’t know much about the books and I think this origin story is a new adaptation so it’s tough to say. 
 

reminds me a lot of the new game of thrones. Casting color for the sake of color. 

[Djgb13 2,339]

It has the lowest audience rating on rotten tomatoes for a Netflix show at 9%. Goes completely against the lore of the Witcher. Then they made the main character a lesbian. Made Henry Cavill leave and then went on a smear campaign trying to say the female writers were offended by him cause he’s a “toxic gamer bro”. That didn’t go over so well with the public cause they came out immediately to defend him and denounce Netflix so they immediately tried backtracking on those statements. It’s too late though. No one wants to watch that spin-off nor do they want to watch the new season with a new actor as the MC. 

[WhiteWonder 2,903]

24 minutes ago, Djgb13 said:

It has the lowest audience rating on rotten tomatoes for a Netflix show at 9%. Goes completely against the lore of the Witcher. Then they made the main character a lesbian. Made Henry Cavill leave and then went on a smear campaign trying to say the female writers were offended by him cause he’s a “toxic gamer bro”. That didn’t go over so well with the public cause they came out immediately to defend him and denounce Netflix so they immediately tried backtracking on those statements. It’s too late though. No one wants to watch that spin-off nor do they want to watch the new season with a new actor as the MC. 

I’m pretty sure the new season is still headlined by Cavill. He isn’t leaving until season 4 unless I am remembering incorrectly. Also for what it’s worth, the lesser hemsworth isn’t a horrible replacement…. But I agree. I doubt I’d continue to watch it other than curiosity. It just feels like Henry Cavills show. 
 

I was a big fan of altered carbon until they recast the lead to Anthony mackie. Not a race issue there, I just think mackie is a shiit actor. 

[lickin_starfish 2,000]

Looks like another show I'll have to stop watching.

[IGotWorms 4,062]

Who cares? Get a life

[dogcows 1,049]

I watched it.

The show didn’t delve into social issues. Pretty mindless entertainment, but it was only a few episodes, and I do enjoy fantasy shows (other than the endless Tolkien money machine).

If you want a diversion for a couple hours with dwarves, elves, dragons, magic, sword fighting, etc… It fits the bill.

[WhiteWonder 2,903]

41 minutes ago, dogcows said:

I watched it.

The show didn’t delve into social issues. Pretty mindless entertainment, but it was only a few episodes, and I do enjoy fantasy shows (other than the endless Tolkien money machine).

If you want a diversion for a couple hours with dwarves, elves, dragons, magic, sword fighting, etc… It fits the bill.

No social issues but this mini series prequel seemed like certain casting choices were made possibly just to make up for any lack of them in the main show. 

[Hawkeye21 2,454]

I haven't watched it yet but I've seen more negative reviews than positive.  I was looking forward to watching but now I'll put it on the back burner of shows to watch.

[BuckSwope 654]

8 hours ago, WhiteWonder said:

I enjoy the main show… it seems the recent mini series origin story that came out a few days ago went out of its way to cast a lot of color in prominent roles. 
 

not that there is anything wrong with it, just that we’ve had a lot of topics on this concept in 2022. I don’t know much about the books and I think this origin story is a new adaptation so it’s tough to say. 
 

reminds me a lot of the new game of thrones. Casting color for the sake of color. 

How in the world do you know this?  

 

[dogcows 1,049]

15 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

No social issues but this mini series prequel seemed like certain casting choices were made possibly just to make up for any lack of them in the main show. 

Seriously? God forbid non-white actors get roles.

[MLCKAA 586]

Ariel is black girl in the upcoming remake of The Little Mermaid 

[jerryskids 7,048]

All I heard is that Cavill is a big fan of the Witcher franchise and felt that they were veering from being true to it.  Hard to believe he'd care about casting different races enough to leave; my guess is a bunch of alphabet story lines.

[dogcows 1,049]

1 minute ago, jerryskids said:

All I heard is that Cavill is a big fan of the Witcher franchise and felt that they were veering from being true to it.  Hard to believe he'd care about casting different races enough to leave; my guess is a bunch of alphabet story lines.

Speaking of alphabet story lines, have you seen “Evil” on CBS (or Paramount+ now)? Pretty good show; season 2 all the episodes were named for letters of the alphabet, e.g. Z is for Zombies, etc.

[jerryskids 7,048]

7 minutes ago, dogcows said:

Speaking of alphabet story lines, have you seen “Evil” on CBS (or Paramount+ now)? Pretty good show; season 2 all the episodes were named for letters of the alphabet, e.g. Z is for Zombies, etc.

Sounds interesting, although I don't have Paramount+. At least I don't think I do... one of our goals this year is to unsubscribe to things we've forgotten we subscribed to.  

[dogcows 1,049]

2 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Sounds interesting, although I don't have Paramount+. At least I don't think I do... one of our goals this year is to unsubscribe to things we've forgotten we subscribed to.  

I had a free year for some reason I can’t remember. At the end of the year, I cancelled. I watched all their Star Trek content, and the “Evil” show was the only other thing worth watching on there.

[jerryskids 7,048]

4 minutes ago, dogcows said:

I had a free year for some reason I can’t remember. At the end of the year, I cancelled. I watched all their Star Trek content, and the “Evil” show was the only other thing worth watching on there.

Yeah, that's how they getcha... I just got a free year of Peacock as part of my Golf Pass subscription, I was like meh, whatever.  Then I looked and we are watching The Office now, then we'll do Parks and Rec.  I don't think they have my CC so I can't be auto enrolled (maybe in Golf Pass tho, but I like that so I don't really care).

[dogcows 1,049]

2 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Yeah, that's how they getcha... I just got a free year of Peacock as part of my Golf Pass subscription, I was like meh, whatever.  Then I looked and we are watching The Office now, then we'll do Parks and Rec.  I don't think they have my CC so I can't be auto enrolled (maybe in Golf Pass tho, but I like that so I don't really care).

They got $5 from me because I was auto-enrolled and I saw the charge after a year and then promptly cancelled. I guess it was fair since I watched hours of their stuff for free before that.

[MDC 7,811]

54 minutes ago, MLCKAA said:

Ariel is black girl in the upcoming remake of The Little Mermaid 

Everyone knows real mermaids are white.  

[Cloaca du jour 2,157]

4 hours ago, dogcows said:

Speaking of alphabet story lines, have you seen “Evil” on CBS (or Paramount+ now)? Pretty good show; season 2 all the episodes were named for letters of the alphabet, e.g. Z is for Zombies, etc.

That is an awesome show!!

[WhiteWonder 2,903]

5 hours ago, jerryskids said:

All I heard is that Cavill is a big fan of the Witcher franchise and felt that they were veering from being true to it.  Hard to believe he'd care about casting different races enough to leave; my guess is a bunch of alphabet story lines.

I’m not suggesting he left due to racial castings. My notations on the racial castings are not even for the main Witcher show. 

And again, it doesn’t bother me, I just find it … amusing? Odd? When they go heavy in one direction. It’s almost too obviously done to make up for a lack of racially diverse  casting in the original series. 

[WhiteWonder 2,903]

5 hours ago, BuckSwope said:

How in the world do you know this?  

 

Well one of the producers of the show said that house valeryon (spelling?) being black made it easier to tell characters apart. 
 

Sounds like terrible reasoning 

[WhiteWonder 2,903]

5 hours ago, dogcows said:

Seriously? God forbid non-white actors get roles.

Wasn’t really my point. The actress who plays the lark in this origin story is pretty good. I’d have been in favor of more actors if color having prominent roles in the main Witcher series. 
 

What I’m wondering is did they purposely shift in the opposite direction for this mini series? It’s a valid question 

[MTSkiBum 1,626]

I am worried they are straying too far from source material. I have extremely low expectations going forward which is too bad.

I really enjoyed both the books and the video games and to me those are canon.

[BuckSwope 654]

2 hours ago, WhiteWonder said:

Well one of the producers of the show said that house valeryon (spelling?) being black made it easier to tell characters apart. 
 

Sounds like terrible reasoning 

Sure, but I guess I don't consider that "woke".   

[BuckSwope 654]

2 hours ago, WhiteWonder said:

Wasn’t really my point. The actress who plays the lark in this origin story is pretty good. I’d have been in favor of more actors if color having prominent roles in the main Witcher series. 
 

What I’m wondering is did they purposely shift in the opposite direction for this mini series? It’s a valid question 

It is a valid question, but aren't things like universal appeal, reaching more audiences, and reasons like that also valid business decisions for shows and movies?    It doesn't always have to be woke agenda as the driver. 

[WhiteWonder 2,903]

3 minutes ago, BuckSwope said:

It is a valid question, but aren't things like universal appeal, reaching more audiences, and reasons like that also valid business decisions for shows and movies?    It doesn't always have to be woke agenda as the driver. 

hence my asking in the topic title and opening it up for discussion. There have been a few threads this year about woke shows, and this same premise. 

I could also say that the idea of "reaching more audiences" when you already have a very popular show, does tend to lend itself to the woke agenda more so than a simple business decision. 

[Horseman 2,684]

9 hours ago, WhiteWonder said:

No social issues but this mini series prequel seemed like certain casting choices were made possibly just to make up for any lack of them in the main show. 

Black woman, Chinese woman, midget woman.   White blonde woman had to be a cripple.  

The best part was when they ambushed the soldiers and then took their armour and uniforms to disguise themselves as them. Nobody notices a soldier with long dreads hanging out of her helmet, or the long blonde hair cripple walking or the midget.  And where exactly did the midget get her uniform from?. There wasnt a troll in the elf army to steal it from.