Sorry, Eskimo people are called Eskimo where I live, may be there is some other words in English for them but it's not my first language. There are also Aleuths.
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Ciri in Netflix Witcher series probably won't be white
- Thread starter Potterson
- Start date
It isn't. It is based on Slavic folklore and people for some reason translate that fact into based in Poland.
Since the author said he's fine with it, you should be ok with it too right? Since you're hinging your argument on author intent
That still doesn't explain why Netflix casting a non white actress to play Ciri is a bad thing. It's a fantasy series where anything is possible, but not a woc it seems.
The characters in The Witcher are literally descended from aliens that teleported from one dying planet to another. I guess when everyone was being teleported, somebody programmed the portal to segregate by color so all the PoC would be sent to offscreen lands.
I haven't played the game in a while and I'm not too much of a lore guy, but she wasn't the biological daughter of Geralt, was she?
She's still going to be Ciri. She's not losing any of the qualities that make her Ciri.
Somehow being Polish is essential to her character, but no one batted an eye at an English man being cast as the lead.
I wonder why that is...
I wonder why that is...
It's not a stereotypethe, the problem is that the most popular fantasy is always based on european medieval times, european culture and mythology and written by white people and almost all caracters are white... I'm pretty sure that there is popular fantasy books about african or asian mythology and culture out there that should be adapted into tv series or movies in my opinion.
Do you realize that the entire reason that this concept is racist is due to the decades of whitewashing characters or minimizing their historical context? Going from PoC -> White is almost always a racist decision and moving in the opposite direction is an effort to offset the history of doing that specifically to marginalize other races.
A brief, general overview for people confused on the seeming double standard for race swapping fictional characters:
You cannot discuss this subject in good faith if you're not acknowledging that casting takes place in a world built on centuries of double-standards that work for the benefit of white people and to the detriment of people of color, including systemic disenfranchisement from off-screen and on-screen roles.
Simply put, European colonialism has allowed white people to position themselves in media as the universal protagonist, the everyman that everyone else is supposed to relate to. However, this is a double-edged sword. Sure; it means an abundance of white characters, and thus plenty of opportunity for white actors, but it's at the cost of any actual sociopolitical meaning to the trait of whiteness (at least, any meaning that most white authors have the balls to tackle). I would wager the majority of characters aren't white because they need to be. They're white because whiteness is "normal" and thus serves as a shortcut for an author to focus on more interesting character traits.
On the other side of the coin, notice how people say that minorities need a reason to exist in certain genres, how it's ridiculous that a black person dare step foot in Europe before the 1900s? Yeah; that ridiculous gate-keeping means that, for better or worse, ethnic characters tend to be more tied to or indicative of a unique culture or perspective that you simply can't swap white people into without being completely tone-death and ignorant.
This is why a black Captain America is fine at the same time that a white Black Panther is stupid. It is also why outrage about casting non-white people as characters that were previously defined as or presumed to be white shows racial bias, because it has to presume a world of racial equity, which is also stupid.
You cannot discuss this subject in good faith if you're not acknowledging that casting takes place in a world built on centuries of double-standards that work for the benefit of white people and to the detriment of people of color, including systemic disenfranchisement from off-screen and on-screen roles.
Simply put, European colonialism has allowed white people to position themselves in media as the universal protagonist, the everyman that everyone else is supposed to relate to. However, this is a double-edged sword. Sure; it means an abundance of white characters, and thus plenty of opportunity for white actors, but it's at the cost of any actual sociopolitical meaning to the trait of whiteness (at least, any meaning that most white authors have the balls to tackle). I would wager the majority of characters aren't white because they need to be. They're white because whiteness is "normal" and thus serves as a shortcut for an author to focus on more interesting character traits.
On the other side of the coin, notice how people say that minorities need a reason to exist in certain genres, how it's ridiculous that a black person dare step foot in Europe before the 1900s? Yeah; that ridiculous gate-keeping means that, for better or worse, ethnic characters tend to be more tied to or indicative of a unique culture or perspective that you simply can't swap white people into without being completely tone-death and ignorant.
This is why a black Captain America is fine at the same time that a white Black Panther is stupid. It is also why outrage about casting non-white people as characters that were previously defined as or presumed to be white shows racial bias, because it has to presume a world of racial equity, which is also stupid.
In the end just because euro fantasy in the past has been mostly if not all white doesn't mean it needs to stay that way or should stay that way.
The world is less and less white every day. Why shouldn't genre fiction reflect the changing demographics of the world?
Guess what EVERYBODY should be happy the world is becoming less white. More diversity is good for everyone. It makes the world a better place. In media and outside of media.
The world is less and less white every day. Why shouldn't genre fiction reflect the changing demographics of the world?
Guess what EVERYBODY should be happy the world is becoming less white. More diversity is good for everyone. It makes the world a better place. In media and outside of media.
You know, I thought we moved past the point where people were defined by the colour of their skin but apparently not. I've come to terms with it, a long time ago. I'm living it.
A fictional character that is defined by the colour of their skin though... that's some next level shit.
So who else is incredibly upset that the main character of Geralt isn't played by a guy with slavic ethnicity but by a regular ol' white brit actor? Everyone, right?
Right?
Right?
It's almost like they only care about skin colour, and all white people are the same somehow
Some are, with their backstory, motivations etc based on racism
But even if that was the case, it would be ok for them to change it in the adaptation to the small screen.
Yep. Some people online are doing such a poor job of hiding their racism, it's almost funny if it wasn't so sad.
It's fantasy. We can change what European centric fantasy means. Just because that meant white in the past doesn't mean we can't fix this.
There is no reason why a future LOTR adaptipn couldn't cast a black man as Aragorn or a Hispanic as Frodo.
It's fantasy.
Sure, i am. But let's be honest, no one really cares about that on this forum. It's so far up it's own ass with US centric ethnic issues that you might as well just not bother.
.... What kind of false equivalency. What that fuck is wrong with you?
You are not misandrist if you, a straight man, are not attracted to other men because that is an actual biological program.
It is, however, racist to claim not be attracted to an entire race because there is no inherent biological program. Race is not a sexual characteristic in humans. To say you are not attracted to a race is admitting you have a blanket repulsion to a person because of their presumed culture or, more often than not, stereotype whether or not that individual ascribes to the culture. OR it is admitting a learned repulsion of, or devaluing of, physical characteristics associated with a particular race, and blanket rejecting any member of that race whether or not that individual has those characteristics.
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Both Geralt and Yennefer are supposed to be sterile due to the process they had to endure to become a witcher and a sorceress respectively, so no. They're initially binded by fate due to a thing called "The Law of Surprise". She's the daughter of a nothern princess and a cursed errant knight, which was born in the empire the dominates the southern half of the continent.
Thank you for putting this so well. I was trying to get at this idea, and this is what it looks like when a competent person explains it.
The non-US members had plenty of time to make a thread blasting Cavill's hiring.
No one made a thread here complaining about it though.
I wonder why that is? Hmmm
The Witcher is something that Polish people seen very proud about, a lot of Polish artist I follow have worked in it so I wish they had a full Polish cast. I dislike they are changing her ethnicity since The Witcher is heavily based on Slavic culture.
And before someone call me a racist I'm a brown woman.
And before someone call me a racist I'm a brown woman.
I'm very upset it's Cavill. And it would be cool to see more European actors than Brits landing big roles in the US rather than Peter Stormare (as great as he is) playing all of those roles (often a Slav). But generally I'm fine with a Brit, just not Cavill. Or specifically Scottish would had been fine too, like James McAvoy. But this thread isn't about Geralt's casting, so I'll leave my fantasy casting at that.
Man, if only there was the same backlash for Henry. Was he pissed at him too?
why rather than change what european centric fantasy means we simply adapt fantasy based on other cultures? not everything needs to be based on europe, it's really tiring at the end.
User Banned (1 Week): Downplaying and disparaging diversity efforts.
I guess as someone who live in a small in development country I can empathize with Polish people more than I can with Americans and their imperialistic word views.
Watching someone play Spider-Man on Twitch today, one subscriber said: "I am glad MJ is not black in this", followed by "Why do you think so many people disliked the new Spider-Man?" when I used my handy ATPBigot emote on him. Another person said: "Black people are just popular in Hollywood right now." Plenty of gamers will oppose the casting of a PoC, and we all know the reason. As a European, my definition of ethnicity is detached from race, and I can acknowledge even white castings as diverse if they are. But casting a PoC is just as diverse if not more so, and diversity is always welcome. In a fictional setting, we do not need to impose rules on ourselves that thwart inclusion and diversity.
Because it isn't based in Europe. Witcher is not in a real place. So it's fine to fix it and make it a better representation of society.
CDPR spat on Poland by not giving all of the characters thick Polish accents in the English dub of The Witcher. Geralt had an American accent in the game and will likely have an English accent in the show. OH THE HUMANITY
I mean obviously because there are tons of racist out there
? The series native Polish VO has always been the best one since 2007.
