The change of Margarita's body type is lore-breaking. It is said in the books that the "attractiveness" of all sorceresses is a symbol of their status. "Unlike priestesses, who were reluctant to accept unattractive or disabled girls, sorceresses accepted any girl with a talent for magic. And should the girl succeed in completing her studies, magic was implemented to fix [imperfections]. A sorceress became attractive as her status required. As a result they were seemingly beautiful women, with evil and cynical look in their eyes - the look of an ugly girl". This is but a paraphrase of the original, but the sense is clear. Margarita can't be fat. To make matters worse, becoming fat in medieval times was not an easy feat. And it is coming from a fat, old woman who loves the Witcher and hates Netflix for their foolish and/or vile shenanigans.
The weird thing is, that precise habit of using magic for beautification is a major part of Yennefer's story for the show. She sacrifices her ability to have children to look beautiful, and has issues with that choice. It's actually a great plot point, if not often executed well *stares at season 2*. So they're fully aware of it, but making casting choices for other reasons.
Well I doubt that the conjuction of Spheres and witchers existed during the Medieval times but then what do we really know about that time period. My issue with your argument is that you link skinniness to attractiveness, a social Standard for beauty, whereas in many cultures of the world, skinny women were undesired. A woman can still be overweight and sexy. Paloma Elsesser, kate Wesley and Iskra to name a few plus size models who also look sexy
After you pointed out your problem with Margarita and Keira (which I share), my first thought was Oh you gonna be called a fatphobe or something for sure. But sorceresses were called shallow, vain and superficial, they should look the part, not someone who couldn't care less about their looks. Sabrina Glevissig was spot on, she should have been the baseline for all other sorceresses there.
I actually think that you are one of very few RUclipsrs who is capable of thinking critical but also quite objective about things without simply hating it to the ground, although the show literally hurts you as much as many of us. I really appreciate your videos und think highly of your thoughts and opinions.
Hating stuff to the ground and freaking it is the only thing people click on. I disliked Rings of Power, The Witcher, new Star Wars and other weird stuff but there are waaaaay too many big youtubers who make these long ass rage videos, nonstop complaining about how the wOkE destroy their childhood franchises or something. See Quartering or Shadiversity, it's always about politics and stuff that triggers people lol
@@bighatastrea yeah they overdo it but make no mistake, political motivations are the exact reason these shows suck. All the casts, all the writers, the directors and the industry at large have political views and very often they can't help but implement that into their products. It's understandable, but at the same time if you're making a sequel to something or adding to something that exists you can't put your own view to the forefront.
Peter Jackson: ''We made a promise to ourselves at the beginning of the process that we weren't going to put any of our own politics, our own messages or our own themes into these movies.'' I wish Netflix would have mirrored this, but no, they just had to insert their modern politics.
@@f0ggen929 I don't care about the skin colour and Jaskier is bisexual, which IMO doesn't contradict the character. But the obese I don't understand. There are enough beautiful young women they could have cast. Nothing against body-positivity as a concept, but Sorcesses are supposed to be very beautiful, and show-Margerita does simply not fit that description. No offence to the actress.
@@countluke2334 I think it actually does contradict the character, it was shown in the books and games that he is a ladies man who jumps from one to another. I believe it was never mentioned that he also likes men
@f0ggen929 if he jumps from one women to another it's not a far stretch that he'll also jump from one person to another. That's what I meant. It's way less of a problem than an unattractive sorcerress.
i think you should not pander to those people, you cant make them happy anyways. any sane person will see that your critique is quite mild, almost too mild for a show that could have been great and was pretty disappointing for every witcher fan out there...
Something interesting I’ve noticed recently (as I’ve started working in the film industry) is that studios and companies are obsessed with IP. They will eat up anything that already exists, be it a game, an older movie/show, or a book. Production companies almost always green light the project if it’s attached to an existing IP, regardless of the scripts content or relation to the actual franchise. During the first season of the Witcher, I gave the screenwriters a pass since it’s incredibly hard to change mediums from a book series to screen, and still enjoyed the season apart from Geralt not meeting Ciri in Brokilon. Season 2 was an absolute mess, and deviates so incredibly far from the books. While the books themselves are far from perfect (and could honestly be improved in some parts) they should still be respected and the show should stick with the main story. The issue with IP obsession within the film industry is that it truly is seen as a chance to make money, not a faithful adaptation, so 99% of the time studio execs will green light something without a care to how relevant it is to the source material. Writers can obviously influence and affect the story for the worse as well, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of viewers have no clue how much power the studios have over the people they pay. If they want something done a different way, they will force it to be done on screen. I can’t count the amount of crappy random storylines or changes in an otherwise faithful adaptation because a producer felt the need to do so. Corporate greed is ruining these franchises simply because they know there is a guaranteed audience who will watch, even if they end up hating the end product.
The sorceress thing is a problem because the show made this whole thing about them making a sacrifice specifically to become powerful and match the beauty standards set, original aside, they did that on the show. So it's a huge issue when there is no consistency with that and so many of the mages look just like every other character but with flamboyant outfits. It's the same issue with racial casting, if you're going to add in more races, that is fine, but you need to pick a region and make that race tied to that region so there is consistency, the world has so much xenophobia and strong cultural divides as main plot points so you can't just have everyone be different races and have no one acknowledge it because it runs in opposition, those 2 things do not make sense together. You can't just have some overweight sorceresses and some that look like stereotypical models because it makes the core idea they chose to set up make no sense anymore. "But everyone is beautiful" does not work when the show opened with Yennefer being "ugly" because of her disability and trading her womb to look "beautiful". She set the tone for what the show was deeming to be the idealized beauty. If they weren't going to follow it, they should have changed it, they changed Yennefer's, and most of their backgrounds anyway so if they didn't want them all to look like models they didn't have to make that the focus of Yennefer's background and explanation of the sorceresses from the start of the show. I haven't read the books, but I was expecting a certain look as well solely because of the way they chose to portray it on the show itself.
Very well said, the internal inconsistencies of this "show" are not stressed enough. Another example is that the first episode was very close interpretation of to the original story "Lesser evil," and it was the hook, at least for me. But then there was almost nothing that was similar to the books. There was really no reason for that , because first episode was well done and it showcased how well written these stories are. I don't know if writers hate the source material or not, but looking from what they are writing they definitely does not understand not only this world but also good fantasy.
Also we know from the books the sorceress use their beauty as a weapon. There were many times sorceress seduced a man for information or other reasons. Like for example Fringilla Vigo who seduced geralt to make him stay in Toussaint throughout the winter.
One the "stick to one race for a region"-part: From the lore of the world it is in my oppinion actually pretty easy to say that it is heavly mixed from the phenotypes. Humans came from another world, maybe even the Nordlings came direct thru a portal when thier ships landed 500 years ago. Off course if you want to be realistic, unless the more "extreme" phenotypes are from isolated regions(you can say the near extermination of many monsters in the last 150 Years made it only recently easier to travel) then almost everybody should be of heavyly mixed origin, but good look finding enoug actors who represent that. Also seems to me, thats not the goal of the creators.
@@Quasimodo-mq8tw The problem is that the show has extreme xenophobia and bigotry over comparatively minor differences but then things like race and orientation, no one bats an eye so it makes no sense. And especially so since they wrote a lot of the races to try and make some point about real world bigotry instead of actually showing that in a consistent way when the show actually has different races and orientations on top of very clear regional divides. They're trying to play both sides, like all this bigotry exists to the point that even the main cast engages in it like Jaskier has been incredibly racist, but then they also act like no one cares, everyone is accepted as who they are. Same issue with the mages, a huge part of the sacrifice for power thing was them making themselves look like the idealized beauty standards so them not looking like young supermodels goes against the narrative they chose to present. That sacrifice does not make sense or hold weight in a world where all bodies are beautiful, you have to pick what you're trying to convey and what the issues in the world actually are and make them consistent or it all falls flat. Also from a world building perspective, having certain races have racial and cultural ties to certain areas makes the casting also aid in world building, you can't tell where anyone is from or really get any info visually from characters without them telling you because there is no consistency in either racial features, wardrobe, hair styling, none of it. Again with the mages too, if you see effectively a runway model in a crazy gown that should immediately scream that they are a mage but if no one told you a character like Fringilla was a mage, she would not stick out from the rest to let you even think that for example. And that's not calling her ugly either, but they effectively made Yennefer the blueprint with her introduction so many of the mages that do not match her aesthetic do not read as mages.
7:16 “A seemingly small change, like making Radovid older, has a diminishing effect on the entire Redanian plot…the issue isn’t [the new content] it’s the fact that it comes at the expense of something.” I think you perfectly summed up the issue of changes from source material here. The content of the change may vary, and may be inoffensive (as in the writing quality/content way), but knowing that there existing great content in the source material that the show creators purposely ignored which has led to the adaptation being poor quality is the real issue. I also appreciate that you a genuine in expressing your actual opinions. I call myself a “Salt Mine”, but I always appreciate the honesty and balance.
Ngl, it may be mostly inconsequential story wise, but seeing Radovid as an adult at this point in the story and sleeping with a traditionally womanising bard, who's at least in his 30's by now, just screams creepy hollywood agenda to me.
The show is beyond the point of no return. There is no way of making things right without retconning everything and starting from scratch. Lauren Hissrich and her team should be fired for their incompetence.
I agree too. Its so ridiculous how they choose the scorceresses. It starts with fringilla- shock! Now Rita and Keira -shock, shock. I'm also totally against the masses of black people in the series. Witcher doesn't play in America but in eastern europe.The producers did everything to destroy the Witcher.
Thank you for going into the trouble of finding all the quotes and doing all the research. You truly are the voice of the thoughts a lot of us have in our heads.
I loved your videos before, but I enjoy them even more now after a few of your critiques. It is so refreshing to hear someone talk about something in such a fair and based way even though they are so emotional and enthusiastic about the topic itself. Your manner to find your own opinion based on critcal takes, finding supporting sources and quotes to put them in perspective as well as countering questioning arguments in open minded thoughts feels like you founded a new scientific discipline. And I am totally up to enroll :D
you are my favorite witcher-related channel, in my opinion your takes and reviews on most things are highly objective and without any type of prejudice, idc what others think just stating my experience from the past 3-4 or so (i believe i started watching you in the swtor days). never disappointed me, keep doing your thing man
I feel you about being "lenient", whatever that means in this case. My anger towards this show was back in S1, where just like you, the biggest issue was the lack of Sword of Destiny and on top of that I had higher hopes. It's been 4 years since then, I'm not angry anymore and I know really well what this show is and what it isn't. Still being angry and up in arms about it after three seasons and Blood Origin seems silly to me. You know what you're getting into watching it, don't have high hopes.
We have that magic of transformation which is "plastic surgery" (of course you will need a skilled mage which is doctor in order to perform it successfully). Almost everyone wanna be matched with beauty standard because that's how you gain attention. (Rep ,Skill and Wealth can help you too but beauty is far easier method for attention)
The point was, especially with sorceresses, that they purposefully manipulated their looks with magic for their jobs - an idea that has interesting parallels with influencers. When you do the diversity dance and make them less "perfect," this plot point is lost.
They're not plump, they're fat. Fat and unhealthy, there's no beauty standard for unhealthiness period. All Netflix is trying to do is diversity cast for the sake of it. I haven't even watched season 3 and from the small portions I've seen here and there, it's worse than season 2, there''s no reason
Ironically, it's not even actual diversity. The original story is diverse. It has peoples influenced from all over medieval Europe, be that Polish or other areas of Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Celtic, and so on. What the show is doing is taking an existing world and turning it into the present-day United States... one country, at a specific (and wholly out of place) period in time. That's the OPPOSITE of diversity. If anything, these sorts of people actually hate real diversity, and can't stand the thought that people from other places in the world don't share their specific world view. It's xenophobia masquerading as diversity.
Dude right? If people prefer girls with “more meat on their bones” I get it. I really do. But Margarita is literally clinically obese and you can see that from shape alone. It is NEVER healthy to be clinically obese. I used to be the same way until I lost over 115 lbs by just following CICO and upping protein intake. For the most part, you are what you eat.
@@CMiY0 I was 378 7 years ago till I actually had a heart attack at 27.... 27!!!!! That was when I said enough is enough and throughout 4 years I lost almost 200 pds. I'm 195 as of right now, still 10 pds above my perfect weight, but by the end of this year I should be there
@@fluffyness2990 nice man! Congratulations on your journey. And I feel like a lot of people who have struggled with weight issues are the ones speaking out on how it’s not the right way to be lol. It’s usually the small stuff people don’t automatically think about. For ex, walking for prolonged distances would hurt my feet and I would wonder how people can just do it. Now I’m much more energetic and can walk hours on end with no complaints at all. Now im a cool 6’ - 165 and have zero issues with a lot of my old problems.
no just NO! if someone (Netflix or anyone) wants to appeal to other preferences than the ones in the source material then they are welcome to CREATE their own IPs without needing to change the source material of already existing IPs if they don't do this then it's on them for being unable to create interesting IPs but fans of already existing IPs shouldn't get their experiences tarnished and harmed in any way because of this
6 days?! im unsubbing!! seriously thought i appreciate the transparency, taking both sides of the coin, addressing the extremes, and being such a key voice in how a majority of us feel.
From little I have seen out of 3rd season, I liked Yarpen Zigrin's lines, portraial of The Professor and Codringer&Fenn. I can't think of much more than that.
@@Okkotsu86275 Yet it was not surprising. Of course a show that race swaps characters, makes canonically thin characters fat, has feminist speeches for no reason, etc is gonna make at least one of the characters gay and Dandelion was the perfect target. Haven't seen the season though, don't know if they approached it extra poorly, but overall, not unexpected.
@Evija3000 Yeah, I shouldn't be surprised or disappointed by what Netflix is doing, but I am. I wish someone who actually respected the franchise had the rights, also wish the show was animated.
Dandelion was a typical lady's man, he was only ever interested in women, he did not like men and did not experiment with men, why is it so hard?! I don't understand this twisted bs, where everyone has to be bi, it kills the character, and basically a game where you can romance anyone is also bad, because characters who like only men or only women adds to their personality, it's better storywise. What they did with Dandelion is blasphemy. Well, good it's only an American show that will quickly be forgotten, it already received a massive backlash. In fact everything woke is lately getting a massive backlash. And why would any woman who's sorceress who can manipulate their appearance make themselves fat?! Ffs, this show doesn't make any sense, at all! Take your fat/colorswapping etc. ideology back to America... oh, how good it'd be, an adaptation made before 2016, before all this woke nonsense. Before the trash that is Hollyweird and Disney since at least 2018 - since that time I haven't watched a single movie, because nothing's worth watching. TV show killed the book star.
@@Evija3000 S1 being the best one, the out-of-place feminist speeches by Yennefer and others was jarring - nothing hints that their motivation is with men yet they say that they do have a problem with man's world. So out of place, poorly integrated and by S2 it was gone. Not sure about 3rd season as I haven't watched it.
On the topic of “beauty standards” - The Witcher world isn’t the size of the globe, the beauty standard is going to be consistent amongst nobility. So wouldn’t all the sorceresses be aiming to either appear as thin or plump as the standard dictates. Basically, I’m saying, choose a standard and have all the sorceresses aiming for that, not a “oh some choose to be this way for their feelings”
People tend to forget that at one point in time things were much different than how they are now. Back when the witcher novels were written, back in the early 90's (I believe Sapkowshi wrote the very first novel in 1994) the "ideal" standards of what made a woman "sexy" was the stereotypical supermodel "look" extremely thin; small waist, thin legs, thin arms, small but firm butt and big boobs. Oh, and caucasian of course. Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss, and so on and so forth. Naturally this "standard" of what made women sexy was set forth by pig-minded cis/straight male standards and expectations of what women should and must look like if they wanted to be deemed incredibly sexy. This obviously lead to eating disorders, body dysmorphia complexes, light skinned black/brown women being deemed more beautiful than darker skinned women, etc, etc. Luckily we find ourselves within a current time where all of that (the past expectations of what made a woman sexy) is considered to be disgusting and most importantly, there is now an awareness of how f*cked up it was (how harmful and damaging those "standards" were). Who frickin cares what size a person is, who effin cares what color their skin is, or if their nose is "too big" for the character they're meant to be playing/portraying. When will we as a whole (as the human race) simply start seeing one another for the one thing WE ALL have in common, a soul. We are all people, we all look the same from the inside. Can we finally come to the point where we see an actor act and the very first thing we bother to judge them on is the way they are actually ACTING as that character apposed to what dress size she is, or the color of his skin, or how their facial features aren't "to par" for the character they're supposed to be depicting. I personally think Rochelle Rose made a stunningly beautiful Margarita and I'm sure she will do an amazing job portraying (acting, since that's her job lol) as Margarita.
From the context it's clear it came from the Fat Liberation Front. Anyone can be targeted by them, for any reason, at any time. It doesn't need to make any sense.
Your opinion is of most importance because you were the face of Witcher 3 for the longest time and i agree with most of it as a book reader especially.
I shared your vid about this show and my friends say your review is the nicest compared to the tired and clickbait-y screamers and rageful YTubers out there and they genuinely like your opinion about the show. keep on doing what you're doing!
There's too much representation, diversity and Goddamn Identity Politics... it didn't feel like I was watching a big budget fantasy TV show, it felt like I was watching a LARP game played by some nerds.
Excuse me? People seriously got offended?! I'm a fat woman and I absolutely detest the casting, it's so damn annoying when the shows like witcher netflix will crap all over the source and try to be politically correct instead of actually adapting the witcher and when people don't like it, the crazy defenders will pull out a "fat shaming" or "racist" card. Those who made the ridiculous complains you mentioned should rethink their life choices. They ruined the show, misunderstood every single plot point and destroyed pretty much all the characters. There's no saving it and I noped out after season 1 to not watch one of my favourite sagas corpse being paraded around.
You are so very right about Margarita... I spent some time on Tumblr due to writing fanfiction and it was always this 'Yeah, being dark skinned and overweight perfectly fits Margarita'... but to me, it always seemed... strange to think that way. I personally see Margarita especially as kind of... fitting a beauty ideal. And since it is an ideal, all the other sorceresses (or at least SOME OF THEM) around her would need to at least TRY to fit that too, especially in such a 'small' geographic and cultural unit as the Northern Kingdoms. Another hint for Margarita to not be as depicted as in the Netflix series is Ciris POV where she describes Rita as incredibly beautiful by comparing her to Yennefer with Yen being the height of beauty to little Ciri and Rita being even more beautiful. If people don't like how sorceresses are portrayed in the books regarding their appearance... fair point, their opinion... but the sorceresses are not meant to be 'nice characters' at all... or inclusive... or role models.' They are MEANT to be vain, to be arrogant, to be egoistic... and most of them are to certain degrees, more or less, depending on the character itself and the context we see them in. And despite having some individuality, I would say they know the advantages of being seen as beautiful by the people and would do everything they can to fit that image, especially since their over earthly beauty is an important tool. There are exceptions, like Nilfgaardian sorceresses, where mages have a different standing in society. Not only Isabel aep Muir Moss but also seen in the books with Assire var Anahid, who is described at her first 'meeting' with Philippa, Margarita, Triss, and Keira, I think, as... not the most beautiful woman, to put it mildly. And even she later washes and curls her hair and fixes her chewed fingernails (if I remember correctly). So... to me, the sorceresses in general are too... diverse regarding their appearance. But as I said, that's a very personal opinion. What I really didn't like regarding Margarita, what I see as even the bigger problem with her character than her looks and especially weight, is, against, what you said in the video, that her character did indeed undergo specific changes. And, in my opinion, not for the better... and funnily enough, this actually is the same problem I have with the entire season, the relationship between Ciri and Yen and especially the dear friend letters. I think the Netflix writers saw something in the books, didn't read or understand the context and then put it into the series. This is why the Dear Friend letter(s), makes Yen seem (in my opinion) like a teenager who had an argument with her boyfriend over whether the milk he bought is fat reduced or not, that escalated into a full-blown fight and her leaving him messages on the fridge instead of talking. The dear friend letter in the books, on the other hand, is the epitome of passive-aggressive writing on Yennefer's part. Especially the meaning of this 'dear friend' she so pointedly uses gets lost in the series because we never get the information that she only addresses him like this because he DARED to do it in the letter he sent her. And while I'm happy that they DID include stuff like that because it reminds me of the books and characters I loved, it's even more painful to see it being butchered due to the writers... I don't know... negligence? Same with Rita... there is this one scene with her, where she stops Ciri in Gors Velen... Ciri reacts as everyone would react, she tries to get away, and then Margarita punches her out of the blue. And knowing the books it makes sense. We have this background, that adepts escaped from Loxia, that Tissaia and Rita were looking for them (that Rita actually IS the headmistress of Aretuza and Tissaia has nothing to do with it, which isn't really addressed in the series at all, which should have been in my opinion because we have this fixation on Tissaia and how important Aretuza is to her... while I personally have no idea by now, what her actual role in Aretuza is at that point) and being alerted by Ciris use of magic. In the series... there is no conclave to be planned, therefore no adepts who could have escaped through Loxia, therefore no reason for Rita to BE in Gors Velen and terrorize young girls by punching them without warning. Same for the bathhouse scene... where Ciri is degraded to a mere cupbearer, while in the books, she is included in this entire 'Spa day' experience Yennefer and Rita (and Tissaia... who is mainly arranging chalices on a table) have. She's not humiliated or treated like a servant, but rather... like a girl, yes, but Rita is actually friendly to her and the entire scene seems inclusive regarding Ciri. She's treated like being... not one of them, but on the way to becoming one of them and therefore with a bit of respect. Maybe the only reason why I am that invested in this is, that Rita was amongst my favorite characters in the books. But I always saw her, regarding their character, as more... friendly, more bubbly, far more positive. While what I have seen of Rita in the series actually fits Ciri's verdict in the side room of the bathhouse, when she argues with Yen. I personally think that Netflix focuses on the casting and as soon as they have someone who 'fits the agenda' call it a day... Rita being overweight and dark-skinned SEEMS to be enough for them, she doesn't need to be anything else. When I read about the casting for Rita I was... a bit concerned. Now, after watching the show, I personally see the casting and looks (a woman who has nothing in common with the description of Rita according to the book AND gel nails) as the smallest problem regarding her. And tbh... I think that's pretty sad.
7:36 As long as that new character isn't a man. Altering Dandelion's sexuality from the books IS a problem. Nobody should be afraid to criticize it. It is a problem on its own and should never have been done. But it goes deeper than that. Of all the male characters they could have turned gay, they went for the guy who is flamboyant, dresses in bright, fancy colors, styles his hair and is a poet and a musician. Also he abhors violence and is scared of blood and other viscera. In other words, Netflix reinforced the negative stereotype that these traits in men are commonly and often almost exclusively associated with homosexuality. A harmful stereotype that is specifically common in countries where the Witcher books have the greatest popularity - across Central and Eastern Europe. So Netflix, for all their progressiveness, literally went "ah, we have a straight-as-an-arrow character that exhibits behavior commonly associated with stereotypes about homosexual men - let's make him gay!" Like, really?
I was one of the people who (more or less) criticized your take in the previous video, but it was more like a disagreement than a real criticism, and I certainly was not disappointed by what you said. It felt to me like you were trying to put the show in its best light rather than concentrating on the negatives --- the way I put, if I recall, was that you were trying to be too "diplomatic". But again, it wasn't so much a criticism of you, as a mild disagreement, and I simply took what you said as your opinion, which is perfectly fine by me. I wasn't showing displeasure at you, rather at the show, and I had to vent it somewhere, so writing a comment on your video seemed just the right place to express how I felt. I still enjoyed that (and this) video. You keep making them, and I'll keep watching them. Thank you for your work: it's very enjoyable.
You're really spot-on with the argument that, if there were facts establishing being overweight as a desirable trait (as it is or has been in various times and places in the real world, to various extents - there's a difference between being chubby and actually large), then Margarita's casting would make sense, but there's none, quite the contrary. The books clearly show how sorceresses (and sorcerers too, though we see more of that in Seasons of Storm - for instance there's a comment about one of them being bald and it's an extraordinary sight) ultimately all look like Photoshopped variations of the same beauty canons (aside from hair color they're all the same, right?) as a matter of personal status and membership to their caste (and implicitly argue that this practice isn't right)... So if Margarita is overweight and kinda setting a standard as Aretuza headmistress, then why would Yen, who went through so much to fix her body, have stayed as slim as she is? And bravo for bringing up Isbel, this is again an example of CDPR being better than Netflix at their own things. Writing efforts matter, who would have thought?
It's kinda hilarious that you have to explain to some ppl why casting a fat person as a mage who were supposed to be prettiest woman in this universe is a problem. World is going in the wrong direction. Great video as always my friend!
Do not concern yourself too much with these issues, friend. Whenever someone touches on subjects such as race/gender portrayal in today's entertainment industry, there are gonna be issues and backlash, no matter how you approach it or what your opinion is (especially if Netflix is involved, as they clearly don't give a crap about these people and are just monetizing their aggressiveness and their vulnerability). I think no one questions just how dedicated you are to this franchise, and everyone knows you're not one of those political, noisy channels that complaint about everything that smells faintly like "inclusiveness". You're a Witcher fan, and your opinion is sincere. I support your content now and always just going by that fact alone
Your reviews always seems faithful to the source material and especially the games, while even those have flaws you point out. And... anyway, in life you can never please everyone and some people just want to nitpick or feel upset about something.
I think that is best way to put the issues (or why people feel particular ways to those issues with the show) I have seen on a video. Anyway, I got distracted my the Witcher 2 cinematic toward the end.
i have never read the books so most of my knowledge is from the show but i like the idea of the sorcerers and sorceresses magically transforming themselves to be beautiful because from what the show says they think very highly of themselves and say things like we will steer these kings in the right direction showing they think they know best and are arogant and manipulating. And they are already "better"/more powerful than any ordinary human but even with all that they still CHOOSE to make themselves look better than everbody as well and it shows how ugly they are on the inside in a way
Yeah I didn't even notice but since it's the issue: they could've shown that being slim (and whatever else) is a burden that open-minded witches have to carry to appease the down-to-earth and "basic" kings. Not the worst burden, but one that annoys over time. That the "beauty" is their weapon and they use it but don't care about being themselves or not happy to reduce themselves to a Barbie. That would be in line with current trends, show the personalities of different groups and potentially explain the relationship between ruling class of witches/wizards and their pocket monarchs. More - they could have stressed that danger of king not falling for standard beauty is greater and needs more resources like psychological manipulation. The reasons for such difference were also not explained so we just have to assume it's because of different cultures or personal preferences of specific king. Which I would be okay with. Just feels like quantity of information is preferred over quality of its delivery. Feels like a race to finish the project while it could have been a great detail-oriented slow-paced new world building series which regardless of funding fans would beg to be continued or sold (to HBO). Anyway, it's your video that inspired such thoughts, thanks for showing the quotes from books:)
You dont owe anyone such explanation Letalis. The world is so soft in this day and age to the point it's more surprising if you didn't manage to hurt someones feelings just by stating your opinion. Netflix butchered the show, no two ways about it. It was to be expected coming from them seeing how every show is politicized and established stories are thrown out to push propaganda instead.
the best example of a good adaptation of a fantasy book is GOT, at least the first 5-6 seasons (considering the modern versions, as LOTR was made over 20 years ago, when everything was different). Because the differences in skin colors, body types, general characteristics made sense. Like the Starks were pale, because they were from the far north. The Lannister were blonde and so on. So it made sense, because you could tell them apart because of their location. People from other continent were brown or even black and that was ok because they were from a different place. Now every realm in The Witcher looks like downtown Los Angeles and you know this is forced and it doesn't make sense. But I could easily get over it if the script weren't so bad and if it didn't deviate so much from the source material, which was already great in its own way. What a lost opportunity to make a great and unique show based on a great story
I'm not watching the show anymore so I don't know much about how Margarita is being portrayed in terms of personality, but my problem with the casting and the general debate about body type comes down to doing a bit more of a close reading: To me, the sorceresses are relentlessly insecure and generally emotionally and mentally damaged. The physical beauty isn't meant to be that this is the one and only beauty standard by which all women should abide, but rather a subtle commentary on the emotional turmoil each of these sorceresses feels. They may not always talk about it and often overcompensate for it, and this choice in appearance gives insight. So when we see them cling to what might be considered a toxic idea of beauty, it tells us something about their mental and emotional state, as well as what their intentions might be if they're using this appearance to manipulate. To extend this to the Margarita casting, it's just kinda throwing a heavy woman in there and calling it a win for inclusivity without giving the choice a similar level of depth. I can see it working, but the writers have not done the heavy lifting to actually give the choice purpose. It's especially perplexing because all of the other sorceresses chose the thin appearance, so Margarita being heavy demands more thought. And we're still not even touching on race swapping the character, which doesn't make sense with setting of what is essentially Poland, but that's another discussion. Plus it just doesn't make sense with the time period. They don't have modern sensibilities and people in medieval Poland were likely not advocating for body positivity and inclusivity, so it's just really immersion breaking. It would be like if Geralt drove a Ford Mustang instead of riding a horse.
It's "diversity", yet actually the opposite of that. Because it's erasing the actual established diversity of the world and replacing everything with "present-day United States".
The fact that you got displeased comments on your review video has me baffled. I thought it was very fair and level headed. Thank you for your work and thoughtfulness to make a second video addressing the (in my opinion) unfounded criticism.
At a certain point, a show like this becomes a Tumblr quality fanfiction that some lunatic turned into a script... that's just how it sounds like from all the changes I've heard them making. Not even gonna comment on obvious ESG motivated casting choices. But stuff like Jaskier and Radovid romance has serious feel of someone in writing room never even touching the books, just seeing art of the two of them from the games, and thinking "Hmm... let's make them bang, it will be hot!" with all the ideas how to incorporate it into story being total afterthought, and not bothering to think of consequences it has for entirety of the plot...
the witcher books and games are dear to my heart because they where a big help for my mental health during thought personal times, espacially while the big sniffl was raging on ure loved ones and lives. I feel quite simeraly about most of the issues in the netflix adapdation you bring up, and it really helps my sanity to relate to someone how also feels pasionet about the great univere of the witcher! keep up the great work
I feel like what you were griping with on Netflix's Witcher was like how I was griping with Netflix's Series of Unfortunate Events. Yes, I know it's technically non-high fantasy and and based on a Children's book series but the same apply's there. I don't think allot of changes they did with those books helped the series. I think it only hurt the series with the changes they pulled. I'm not just talking about black Mr. Poe and Black Aunt Josephine (They got more annoying when color changed so, doesn't that make it racist?) for its not just that, it's how several characters are down-played and altered so 'I guess' the story than be more playful than the dark often cruel tone the books had going for them. Stuff like Count Olaf's minions and the man himself being less threatening, and while Patrick Harris can be 'rightfully' scarier than Jim Carrey, the fact that his minions are constantly all present everywhere he goes, them feeling more 'merry band of misfits' than 'agents of shadow' I just felt the fear and suspense factors were severely down-played. I know Netflix was going to do Bone and Wings of Fire (Also Narnia and Redwall but I just don't know anymore...) but I think their a little scared of adapting kids books that handle some pretty 'adult' themes. I mean Most people negatively reacted to Watership Down due to how dark it is and since Wings of Fire was many times darker it's no wonder they pulled the plug when it was deep into development! Honest, I hate mistreatment of books. Whether they be for kids or for adults! (Witcher Season3 was better than Wheel of Time S2 by the way. I can't stand that that basically became another Game of Thrones wannabee.)
The casting opinion is accurate. People don’t even want to acknowledge that this is supposed to be in medieval Europe. Wasn’t this set in a time of war and famine? It’s delusional to imagine some of the characters can look like this. It’s not body shaming, misogyny etc There was food scarcity and no processed food. People need to be a bit more realistic here.
The books are so detailed about the appearance of the sorceresses that you can't cast them wrong unless you actually want to. And Netflix wants to, and it shows. Margarita is just the last of a long list of mistakes (even Yennefer, although I actually like Anya, is not the perfect choice if we want to be completely accurate), and the fact that there are people that still defend these choices (even when you show them the exact words of the books, like you did with Margarita) Is something I'll never understand. Keep up the good work Letalis, some people just don't understand (or pretend not to) what "faithful to the source material" means
Oh good lord. I not only watch your videos for the information and entertainment, but because you are honest whether I agree with or or not. Still undecided if I will watch Season 3 or not.
Of course people were upset about the Margarita criticism lmao. NO ONE complaining about you being "too harsh" would imagine the actress just by reading the description of the books and that's the simple truth. Even ignoring the weight, who are you going to convince saying that's the most beautiful woman you/Ciri has ever seen? Let's stop the cope and accept the truth we all already know. No one has to be mean about it, and xLetails certainly wasn't, let's just keep it real.
I don't think anyone who regularly watches your videos thinks you were overly harsh. It sounds like people who are looking for something to complain about found your video and complained about it. You don't need to apologize for your opinion. Considering your basis for your criticism literally comes from how the characters are supposed to look based on the book.
Honestly I don't have any hopes for the show except for it to end soon. I liked yennefer a lot and they straight up butchered her in the show, Completly changed her background. The fact that they made some characters black for no reason (especially elves who iirc were described as pale skinned). The reason why I love the witcher is bcs it isnt trying to create a utopia and instead showcases how rough and dofficult the world is to live in (like a dark fantasy should). They try to make it look like a happy and pretty place to live in. Also racism was allways a big thing in the witcher universe.
The thing that baffles me is that the blueprint for adapting a Fantasy series of books into a show format has been in play since 2011 - Game of Thrones. Seasons 1-4 are very, very close to the books, with any adaptation being ADDITIONS to the source material, or smart shuffling of pieces (such as Arya being a Servant of Tywin at Harrenhal in the show, vs. Roose Bolton's mercs in the books) for more thematic resonance. Obviously, seasons 5+ have their own problems before becoming a pile of shit near the end, but I'm talking about 1-4 mainly. The thing about the Witcher show has just honestly been that their departures and changes DON'T MAKE SENSE, from any viewpoint I can think of. They don't seem to be calculated additions and shuffling, but pure subtractions for the most part. I just don't buy that anything that went down as it has in the Witcher show HAD to have gone as such, that it was this or nothing. Money has clearly not been an obstacle here, with the first 2 Seasons of the Witcher show reportedly costing far more than the first 2 seasons of Game of Thrones. The problems have to stem from shoddy decision making, or misguided efforts to make the show into something the Source material just was not. Adapting a book is HARD, I get this, but I don't think its unreasonable to expect the best when so much money is being laced into a project like this.
In my opinion, I think your analysis is quite accurate. On some occasions they follow the description of the characters well and on others the opposite, especially with "Rita" who in the books describe her in a very particular way. Followers of beauty canons won't like it but hey, not even good actresses/actors are usually enough to justify these changes.
Dude, never back down, I love your content because you have your opinion, you don't fear to say it, but also you are explaining it very well and it is visible that you care about the universe and spent a lot of time to formulate your opinion, I respect that above anything else.
The margarita criticism is pretty valid anybody with good amount of brain cell could understand it, don't even bother with defending it for those type of Twitter folks.
I believe its pragmatic to not focus on the weight or sex changes of characters, as they’re very far below the rabbit hole of errors this show has done to the show and source material, Not to mention that the show runner tries to justify her work by calling fans racist snd sexist. So let’s look at the everything else, why is Geralt seemingly a minor character in his own show? Why does Ciri even like about Yenn? Why does she run away from the wild hunt and Geralt can hear her via force telepathy?
So I think there are a lot of things playing into this: 1. Most people watch your video on the show hoping that you’ll match their feeling regarding the show and seeking validation of their own opinion. That is very natural. 2. There are people who love the witcher regardless of the product they will get, sth similar happened to the Manga Berserk years ago. People want more of the medium they love, what they fail to realize is that we do not criticise the Witcher because we hate the witcher but because we demand a better product to consume and yes I would rather have no witcher series than a bad one but that is just my opinion. The problem still is that we demand more. 3. In the crtisicism we often mix up opinions. Some are focused on details that seem minute to some people and important to others. Sometimes criticism is mixed with political views which clouds judgement and this happens especially when a piece of media is doing controversial changes as the Witcher on Netflix has done. 4. An argument I could mention particularly in your case is you being potentially biased regarding the success of the series. Now I would never accuse you that you advertise the witcher to make money but it does make for content and the argument COULD be made for you wanting to be not to hard on a piece of media that has to do with your job, because more Witcher content generally speaking is in your interest. I think that hyperthetical conflict of interest makes you more susceptible to criticism. What is my personal opinion. I believe you are far far too generous. Given the material the directors are working with and the horrendous story structure and character assassinations I cannot NOT see this as one of the worst adaptations ever created. I didn’t feel good about it from what I knew of season 1 and since then it took a massive turn for the worse. Your statement regarding you knowing they would fail in Season 1 rings very true to me, but my wish would have been for every content creator to tell people NOT to watch the series as I do not want to keep a dead corpse of a show alive. I do not care for good visuals but good stories and characters, I believe that fans should demand the highest quality prodicts otherwise they will be receiving less quality with every release as the studios know that the name itself sells. I‘ve seen it in gaming and also in recent movies (e.g. Star Wars, Marvel). What people that defend the witcher (often saying „well I am having fun with the show“) do not understand is that nobody wants them to not enjoy the series. We want the authors to honor the original and give you a better show that you‘ll enjoy even more. So to me the series is indefensible and is kept alive only by its name. Take that away and I believe nobody would ever watch it and as a lover of media I have to say no matter my love for the Witcher, if that is the case your product and story sells then it has no real value and therefore no reason to exist to begin with. There are far better stories for people to watch and the Witcher by Netflix will be known as a failed experiment and disappointment similar to Rings of Power. I hope a director will try to pick it up and give it a go again in 10 years, before that well have to accept reality and defeat.
Forget inane criticism. Your totally honest opinion is utterly valid. I’ve never come into contact with anyone (you) who genuinely loves the source material as much. Sadly some people just have to complain.
I was in shock too when I saw Margarita. You are not harsh, not cruel, just honest. And you are right. People who we displeased by your comentary should read the books. Sapkowski himself wrote that sorceresses are all very attractive woman. If he didn't write it and explained it why they look like that then it wouldn't be a problem. But he did and they ignored it.
I know GoT didn't end how I expected and I found it funny that when they ran out of books the show started to not feel as thrilling. BUT while they followed the books, it was epic! It HAS been done before. When The Witcher by NF was announced I was so excited by this due to the precedence set by GoT and later gutted how it turned out.
I mean I thought it was acceptable too it was better than the 2end season , but perhaps it because expectations were so low , but the casting still sucks , also the dandelion and radivid thing ruined it for me , honestly the reason I am watching it is because I am too lazy to read the books 😁
Holy shit you read my mind on the old sorceress from Thronebreaker, I was literally about to mention it just as you did lol. Thronebreaker was such an amazing game by the way, wish we got a proper sequel to it instead of the roguelike crap that was Rogue Mage.
The show takes place in a medieval setting where food is scarce and people didn't have the technology to allow them to sit in front of a TV all day. Morbidly obese people would not exist in those settings. One of the main plot points of Witcher Blood Origin is that people were starving and they wanted to travel to other dimensions to get food and other supplies (i.e. food cannot be conjured up by sorcerers in the Witcher world, and the lack of food and essentials drives a lot of the politics).
Hopefully most of these critics are new to your channel because you've been very clear in the past about how unhappy you are with what they've done to the Witcher. Sometimes people want to see their exact sentiments mirrored in a review, and that's never going to happen. I haven't even watched the episodes yet because I'm as enthusiastic about it as taking a trip to the dentist.
I'm not watching season 3 for the same reasons I didn't continue watching Rings of Power or the Star Wars Episodes 8 & 9. Firstly I don't like it when film studios take existing characters and change them without an in universe explanation. That's just lazy. People in real life change all the time, just make it believable. Secondly I hate it, when they take a functioning franchise and completely change the story. If they want to tell a different story then why don't they invent their own world and franchise or at least do it with new characters. Thirdly I have generally no complaints with inclusiveness other than it is used as a scapegoat. "oh, you didn't like the movie? That's because you're a racist, fat phobic women hater. Not because the story was badly written or the characters were inconsistent"
I'm not even gonna lie The fact that margarita is being called fat or overweight or unhealthy is actually disgusting and deranged of this fandom . She's Literally just curvy. I think the fact that she's being called all these things is testament that we need more body type representation.
As a Pole I think I can safely say that what Netflix crated is not what we hoped for. As a movie its decent but they should change the name of the show from Witcher (because they go further and further away from the originall)... I would propose Wiedmolol (without bul). And now Im off to watch polish Witcher series - maybe you could do review of that? @xLetalis?
I personally don’t care about the casting of the sorceresses as far as their race or body type or whatever, I think the least reductive criticism should be about the story/writing and execution of that on screen. Focusing too much on actors bodies just fuels the writers room to write off valid criticisms of the story and direction they take with the show as baseless yap from misogynistic tools online. I don’t think you’re that at all, your comment was pretty mild compared to what I’ve seen. Yet unfortunately as soon as anyone makes a statement about these women’s bodies they can write off any further criticisms no matter how valid.
Honestly the thing with the sorceresses is disappointing, but not because I think the actresses aren’t beautiful (they very much are). The sorceresses in the Witcher booked are taught from girlhood that if they want to be taken seriously in life they need to change themselves to fit into this window of beauty standards or their magical talents are a waste. I never once while reading the books that was supposed to be a positive, or that it was condoning narrow beauty standards. Geralt himself thinks they are cold and cynical (I think those were the words used?) from how they used to be treated from before their transformations. The pressure to magically alter themselves to be pretty so that men will listen to them at court had consequences on these women’s actions, personalities, and relationships, and it was a shared experience for all of them. I thought they might lean into it and address that more than the books did after Yennefer’s arc in season one and her mixed feelings about Aretuza, but I don’t think they will now.
I’ve been watching your videos on the Witcher since deep diving into the game a couple of years ago and I always really enjoyed your takes on the story. While the show has been a bit of a letdown I personally don’t hate it and like seeing a fresh take on it. That being said I do agree with you that they probably should have just made new characters in the show rather than changing basically every side character in the books/games. Don’t let people get you into a negative mindset just because they don’t like something. Speak your truth, that’s what I liked about your takes from the beginning.
I actually quite liked season 3 so far, though admittedly that’s in comparison to the other seasons, season 2 especially. I just get a little giddy every time I recognize a reference, as I’ve played Witcher 2 and 3 and I’m reading the books now. The Radovid bit WAS disappointing that they adjusted him to be older for a romance arc, though I kinda hope the romance is a scheme that shows how calculating Radovid is. I haven’t met Rita in the books, but after seeing her in Witcher 3 and hearing how they talk about her, I was not ready for that slap or really just the general attitude. Was that in the books?
Let's not kid ourselves, the casting for this show is, by and large, shite. I look forward to observing the train wreck that season 4 will inevitably bring.
Love your stuff and I'm glad you tell us how you honestly feel. I stopped watching the series after episode 2 in season 2. I thought maybe about going back but after the announcement of Henry's departure, i didn't see the point.
Modern writers, mostly, don't have the required talent to write, create, and develop an original and well-thought out character. Its easier to co-opt an existing character and change everything, or close to everything, about them.
To simplify what @xLetalis says about magarita, imagine if Netflix were given the Game of Thrones series, would anyone accept Khaleesi's role to be played by Lizzo (for example) instead of Emilia clarke? xP
I stopped watching after I saw the S.hit meeting between Gerald and Ciri. How can you replace the scene in the book with something devoid of emotion? "He broke off, seeing a small, very slim, mousy-haired creature walking slowly behind the boys. The little girl looked at him and he saw the huge eyes as green as spring grass, shining like two little stars. He saw the girl suddenly start, run… He heard her shrill, piercing cry. ‘Geralt!’ The Witcher turned away from his horse with a swift, agile movement and ran to meet her. Yurga stared open-mouthed. He had never thought a man could move so quickly. They came together in the centre of the farmyard. The mousy-haired girl in a grey dress. And the white-haired Witcher with a sword on his back, all dressed in black leather, gleaming with silver. The Witcher bounding softly, the girl trotting, the Witcher on his knees, the girl’s thin hands around his neck, the mousy hair on his shoulders. Goldencheeks shrieked softly. Yurga hugged his rosy-cheeked wife when she cried out softly, pulling her towards him without a word, and gathered up and hugged both boys. ‘Geralt!’ the little girl repeated, clinging to the Witcher’s chest. ‘You found me! I knew you would! I always knew! I knew you’d find me!’ ‘Ciri,’ said the Witcher. Yurga could not see his face hidden among the mousy hair. He saw hands in black gloves squeezing the girl’s back and shoulders. ‘You found me! Oh, Geralt! I was waiting all the time! For so very long… We’ll be together now, won’t we? Now we’ll be together, won’t we? Say it, Geralt! Forever! Say it!’ ‘Forever, Ciri.’ ‘It’s like they said! Geralt! It’s like they said! Am I your destiny? Say it! Am I your destiny?’ Yurga saw the Witcher’s eyes. And was very astonished. He heard his wife’s soft weeping, felt the trembling of her shoulders. He looked at the Witcher and waited, tensed, for his answer. He knew he would not understand it, but he waited for it. And heard it. ‘You’re more than that, Ciri. Much more.’ "
We all have our own opinions on the TV show. I love the tv show even tho might not 100% correct on lore from game or books. But keep the good works showing your own reviews tho.
The change of Margarita's body type is lore-breaking. It is said in the books that the "attractiveness" of all sorceresses is a symbol of their status. "Unlike priestesses, who were reluctant to accept unattractive or disabled girls, sorceresses accepted any girl with a talent for magic. And should the girl succeed in completing her studies, magic was implemented to fix [imperfections]. A sorceress became attractive as her status required. As a result they were seemingly beautiful women, with evil and cynical look in their eyes - the look of an ugly girl". This is but a paraphrase of the original, but the sense is clear. Margarita can't be fat. To make matters worse, becoming fat in medieval times was not an easy feat. And it is coming from a fat, old woman who loves the Witcher and hates Netflix for their foolish and/or vile shenanigans.
The weird thing is, that precise habit of using magic for beautification is a major part of Yennefer's story for the show. She sacrifices her ability to have children to look beautiful, and has issues with that choice. It's actually a great plot point, if not often executed well *stares at season 2*. So they're fully aware of it, but making casting choices for other reasons.
Another thing is that Fringila seemingly becomes even chubier while she's in a prison...
Some of the best most honest comments are coming from women. Thank you for telling it how it is.
Getting fat in medieval times was difficult so adjusting body to fat could show "look at me I'm rich!"
Well I doubt that the conjuction of Spheres and witchers existed during the Medieval times but then what do we really know about that time period. My issue with your argument is that you link skinniness to attractiveness, a social Standard for beauty, whereas in many cultures of the world, skinny women were undesired. A woman can still be overweight and sexy. Paloma Elsesser, kate Wesley and Iskra to name a few plus size models who also look sexy
After you pointed out your problem with Margarita and Keira (which I share), my first thought was Oh you gonna be called a fatphobe or something for sure. But sorceresses were called shallow, vain and superficial, they should look the part, not someone who couldn't care less about their looks. Sabrina Glevissig was spot on, she should have been the baseline for all other sorceresses there.
I actually think that you are one of very few RUclipsrs who is capable of thinking critical but also quite objective about things without simply hating it to the ground, although the show literally hurts you as much as many of us. I really appreciate your videos und think highly of your thoughts and opinions.
Letalis is one of the nicest and objectively Witcher RUclipsrs. People need to leave this man be.
yes he's such a nice and very cute person with a heart he doesn't wanna hurt anybodyyyyy😐
Hating stuff to the ground and freaking it is the only thing people click on. I disliked Rings of Power, The Witcher, new Star Wars and other weird stuff but there are waaaaay too many big youtubers who make these long ass rage videos, nonstop complaining about how the wOkE destroy their childhood franchises or something. See Quartering or Shadiversity, it's always about politics and stuff that triggers people lol
Yeah it's nice. But it's not like people didn't know it will be a dumpster fire when they leaked the s1 costumes (crotch armor) and script bits.
@@bighatastrea yeah they overdo it but make no mistake, political motivations are the exact reason these shows suck. All the casts, all the writers, the directors and the industry at large have political views and very often they can't help but implement that into their products. It's understandable, but at the same time if you're making a sequel to something or adding to something that exists you can't put your own view to the forefront.
Peter Jackson: ''We made a promise to ourselves at the beginning of the process that we weren't going to put any of our own politics,
our own messages or our own themes into these movies.''
I wish Netflix would have mirrored this, but no, they just had to insert their modern politics.
exactly, they changed the original skin color of margarita, made her obese, and also made jaskier gay in only 5 episodes
@@f0ggen929 I don't care about the skin colour and Jaskier is bisexual, which IMO doesn't contradict the character. But the obese I don't understand. There are enough beautiful young women they could have cast. Nothing against body-positivity as a concept, but Sorcesses are supposed to be very beautiful, and show-Margerita does simply not fit that description. No offence to the actress.
Impossible concept for the wokies to grasp
@@countluke2334 I think it actually does contradict the character, it was shown in the books and games that he is a ladies man who jumps from one to another. I believe it was never mentioned that he also likes men
@f0ggen929 if he jumps from one women to another it's not a far stretch that he'll also jump from one person to another. That's what I meant. It's way less of a problem than an unattractive sorcerress.
Ok the video ended up being not as brief as I thought but still :)
I agree with ur takes tbh the season isn’t that bad but still has many many errors like ones mentioned ❤
Bro we just like your voice. Could listen to you talk all day.
i think you should not pander to those people, you cant make them happy anyways. any sane person will see that your critique is quite mild, almost too mild for a show that could have been great and was pretty disappointing for every witcher fan out there...
Something interesting I’ve noticed recently (as I’ve started working in the film industry) is that studios and companies are obsessed with IP. They will eat up anything that already exists, be it a game, an older movie/show, or a book. Production companies almost always green light the project if it’s attached to an existing IP, regardless of the scripts content or relation to the actual franchise. During the first season of the Witcher, I gave the screenwriters a pass since it’s incredibly hard to change mediums from a book series to screen, and still enjoyed the season apart from Geralt not meeting Ciri in Brokilon. Season 2 was an absolute mess, and deviates so incredibly far from the books. While the books themselves are far from perfect (and could honestly be improved in some parts) they should still be respected and the show should stick with the main story. The issue with IP obsession within the film industry is that it truly is seen as a chance to make money, not a faithful adaptation, so 99% of the time studio execs will green light something without a care to how relevant it is to the source material.
Writers can obviously influence and affect the story for the worse as well, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of viewers have no clue how much power the studios have over the people they pay. If they want something done a different way, they will force it to be done on screen. I can’t count the amount of crappy random storylines or changes in an otherwise faithful adaptation because a producer felt the need to do so. Corporate greed is ruining these franchises simply because they know there is a guaranteed audience who will watch, even if they end up hating the end product.
The sorceress thing is a problem because the show made this whole thing about them making a sacrifice specifically to become powerful and match the beauty standards set, original aside, they did that on the show. So it's a huge issue when there is no consistency with that and so many of the mages look just like every other character but with flamboyant outfits. It's the same issue with racial casting, if you're going to add in more races, that is fine, but you need to pick a region and make that race tied to that region so there is consistency, the world has so much xenophobia and strong cultural divides as main plot points so you can't just have everyone be different races and have no one acknowledge it because it runs in opposition, those 2 things do not make sense together. You can't just have some overweight sorceresses and some that look like stereotypical models because it makes the core idea they chose to set up make no sense anymore. "But everyone is beautiful" does not work when the show opened with Yennefer being "ugly" because of her disability and trading her womb to look "beautiful". She set the tone for what the show was deeming to be the idealized beauty. If they weren't going to follow it, they should have changed it, they changed Yennefer's, and most of their backgrounds anyway so if they didn't want them all to look like models they didn't have to make that the focus of Yennefer's background and explanation of the sorceresses from the start of the show. I haven't read the books, but I was expecting a certain look as well solely because of the way they chose to portray it on the show itself.
Very well said, the internal inconsistencies of this "show" are not stressed enough. Another example is that the first episode was very close interpretation of to the original story "Lesser evil," and it was the hook, at least for me.
But then there was almost nothing that was similar to the books. There was really no reason for that , because first episode was well done and it showcased how well written these stories are.
I don't know if writers hate the source material or not, but looking from what they are writing they definitely does not understand not only this world but also good fantasy.
Also we know from the books the sorceress use their beauty as a weapon. There were many times sorceress seduced a man for information or other reasons. Like for example Fringilla Vigo who seduced geralt to make him stay in Toussaint throughout the winter.
One the "stick to one race for a region"-part: From the lore of the world it is in my oppinion actually pretty easy to say that it is heavly mixed from the phenotypes. Humans came from another world, maybe even the Nordlings came direct thru a portal when thier ships landed 500 years ago. Off course if you want to be realistic, unless the more "extreme" phenotypes are from isolated regions(you can say the near extermination of many monsters in the last 150 Years made it only recently easier to travel) then almost everybody should be of heavyly mixed origin, but good look finding enoug actors who represent that. Also seems to me, thats not the goal of the creators.
@@Quasimodo-mq8tw The problem is that the show has extreme xenophobia and bigotry over comparatively minor differences but then things like race and orientation, no one bats an eye so it makes no sense. And especially so since they wrote a lot of the races to try and make some point about real world bigotry instead of actually showing that in a consistent way when the show actually has different races and orientations on top of very clear regional divides. They're trying to play both sides, like all this bigotry exists to the point that even the main cast engages in it like Jaskier has been incredibly racist, but then they also act like no one cares, everyone is accepted as who they are. Same issue with the mages, a huge part of the sacrifice for power thing was them making themselves look like the idealized beauty standards so them not looking like young supermodels goes against the narrative they chose to present. That sacrifice does not make sense or hold weight in a world where all bodies are beautiful, you have to pick what you're trying to convey and what the issues in the world actually are and make them consistent or it all falls flat.
Also from a world building perspective, having certain races have racial and cultural ties to certain areas makes the casting also aid in world building, you can't tell where anyone is from or really get any info visually from characters without them telling you because there is no consistency in either racial features, wardrobe, hair styling, none of it. Again with the mages too, if you see effectively a runway model in a crazy gown that should immediately scream that they are a mage but if no one told you a character like Fringilla was a mage, she would not stick out from the rest to let you even think that for example. And that's not calling her ugly either, but they effectively made Yennefer the blueprint with her introduction so many of the mages that do not match her aesthetic do not read as mages.
These are some excellent points.
and here I was actually thinking xLetalis is way more polite than I can ever be about the show and casting lmfao
7:16 “A seemingly small change, like making Radovid older, has a diminishing effect on the entire Redanian plot…the issue isn’t [the new content] it’s the fact that it comes at the expense of something.”
I think you perfectly summed up the issue of changes from source material here. The content of the change may vary, and may be inoffensive (as in the writing quality/content way), but knowing that there existing great content in the source material that the show creators purposely ignored which has led to the adaptation being poor quality is the real issue.
I also appreciate that you a genuine in expressing your actual opinions. I call myself a “Salt Mine”, but I always appreciate the honesty and balance.
Ngl, it may be mostly inconsequential story wise, but seeing Radovid as an adult at this point in the story and sleeping with a traditionally womanising bard, who's at least in his 30's by now, just screams creepy hollywood agenda to me.
The show is beyond the point of no return. There is no way of making things right without retconning everything and starting from scratch. Lauren Hissrich and her team should be fired for their incompetence.
I laughed when you called Rita, and Keira plump. Lol
I like your brutal honesty. Cause I agree with your take.
It´s because they ate Sile
@@08Jonnyreblmfao 😂
I agree too. Its so ridiculous how they choose the scorceresses. It starts with fringilla- shock! Now Rita and Keira -shock, shock. I'm also totally against the masses of black people in the series. Witcher doesn't play in America but in eastern europe.The producers did everything to destroy the Witcher.
I really wanted to see keira metz similar to the game version lol
Not to forget Triss Merigold.🙄
Never apologize for having an opinion my friend. The world would be rather boring if we all shared the same point of view.
Please never stop selling Ciri. It was funny the first time and is still funny after all those years.
NOOO!!!
YESSSSS@@jonbaxter2254
The show is so terrible it isn't even worth discussing.
Ain't that the reason Henry is jumping ship?
@@Nimster87 ye
Couldn't have said it better myself.
@@brandonmunson9781 Well let's hope his 40K project is good!
the show was meh from the start even season 1 was average season 2 was $hit and season 3 is pathetic
Thank you for going into the trouble of finding all the quotes and doing all the research. You truly are the voice of the thoughts a lot of us have in our heads.
More like the voice of reason *wink wink*
I loved your videos before, but I enjoy them even more now after a few of your critiques. It is so refreshing to hear someone talk about something in such a fair and based way even though they are so emotional and enthusiastic about the topic itself. Your manner to find your own opinion based on critcal takes, finding supporting sources and quotes to put them in perspective as well as countering questioning arguments in open minded thoughts feels like you founded a new scientific discipline. And I am totally up to enroll :D
you are my favorite witcher-related channel, in my opinion your takes and reviews on most things are highly objective and without any type of prejudice, idc what others think just stating my experience from the past 3-4 or so (i believe i started watching you in the swtor days). never disappointed me, keep doing your thing man
Dude you can't win them all
I feel you about being "lenient", whatever that means in this case. My anger towards this show was back in S1, where just like you, the biggest issue was the lack of Sword of Destiny and on top of that I had higher hopes. It's been 4 years since then, I'm not angry anymore and I know really well what this show is and what it isn't. Still being angry and up in arms about it after three seasons and Blood Origin seems silly to me. You know what you're getting into watching it, don't have high hopes.
We have that magic of transformation which is "plastic surgery" (of course you will need a skilled mage which is doctor in order to perform it successfully). Almost everyone wanna be matched with beauty standard because that's how you gain attention. (Rep ,Skill and Wealth can help you too but beauty is far easier method for attention)
The point was, especially with sorceresses, that they purposefully manipulated their looks with magic for their jobs - an idea that has interesting parallels with influencers. When you do the diversity dance and make them less "perfect," this plot point is lost.
They're not plump, they're fat. Fat and unhealthy, there's no beauty standard for unhealthiness period. All Netflix is trying to do is diversity cast for the sake of it. I haven't even watched season 3 and from the small portions I've seen here and there, it's worse than season 2, there''s no reason
Ironically, it's not even actual diversity. The original story is diverse. It has peoples influenced from all over medieval Europe, be that Polish or other areas of Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Celtic, and so on. What the show is doing is taking an existing world and turning it into the present-day United States... one country, at a specific (and wholly out of place) period in time. That's the OPPOSITE of diversity.
If anything, these sorts of people actually hate real diversity, and can't stand the thought that people from other places in the world don't share their specific world view. It's xenophobia masquerading as diversity.
They trying to get them esg investment money
Dude right? If people prefer girls with “more meat on their bones” I get it. I really do. But Margarita is literally clinically obese and you can see that from shape alone. It is NEVER healthy to be clinically obese. I used to be the same way until I lost over 115 lbs by just following CICO and upping protein intake. For the most part, you are what you eat.
@@CMiY0 I was 378 7 years ago till I actually had a heart attack at 27.... 27!!!!! That was when I said enough is enough and throughout 4 years I lost almost 200 pds. I'm 195 as of right now, still 10 pds above my perfect weight, but by the end of this year I should be there
@@fluffyness2990 nice man! Congratulations on your journey. And I feel like a lot of people who have struggled with weight issues are the ones speaking out on how it’s not the right way to be lol. It’s usually the small stuff people don’t automatically think about. For ex, walking for prolonged distances would hurt my feet and I would wonder how people can just do it. Now I’m much more energetic and can walk hours on end with no complaints at all. Now im a cool 6’ - 165 and have zero issues with a lot of my old problems.
It would be a masive scandal for sorcereces to be overweight in a world where people are close to starving.
no just NO!
if someone (Netflix or anyone) wants to appeal to other preferences than the ones in the source material then they are welcome to CREATE their own IPs without needing to change the source material of already existing IPs
if they don't do this then it's on them for being unable to create interesting IPs
but fans of already existing IPs shouldn't get their experiences tarnished and harmed in any way because of this
Never stop making these vids and giving your honest opinion! People will always have something negative to say about good work
6 days?! im unsubbing!! seriously thought i appreciate the transparency, taking both sides of the coin, addressing the extremes, and being such a key voice in how a majority of us feel.
From little I have seen out of 3rd season, I liked Yarpen Zigrin's lines, portraial of The Professor and Codringer&Fenn. I can't think of much more than that.
I love your videos 😃
Btw they butchered Dandelion by making him romance Radovid 😭😭😭
It was straight up ridiculous and so uncalled and necessary. You know a show is down bad when they start listening to fetishizing fangirls.
@@Okkotsu86275 Yet it was not surprising. Of course a show that race swaps characters, makes canonically thin characters fat, has feminist speeches for no reason, etc is gonna make at least one of the characters gay and Dandelion was the perfect target. Haven't seen the season though, don't know if they approached it extra poorly, but overall, not unexpected.
@Evija3000 Yeah, I shouldn't be surprised or disappointed by what Netflix is doing, but I am. I wish someone who actually respected the franchise had the rights, also wish the show was animated.
Dandelion was a typical lady's man, he was only ever interested in women, he did not like men and did not experiment with men, why is it so hard?! I don't understand this twisted bs, where everyone has to be bi, it kills the character, and basically a game where you can romance anyone is also bad, because characters who like only men or only women adds to their personality, it's better storywise. What they did with Dandelion is blasphemy. Well, good it's only an American show that will quickly be forgotten, it already received a massive backlash. In fact everything woke is lately getting a massive backlash. And why would any woman who's sorceress who can manipulate their appearance make themselves fat?! Ffs, this show doesn't make any sense, at all!
Take your fat/colorswapping etc. ideology back to America... oh, how good it'd be, an adaptation made before 2016, before all this woke nonsense. Before the trash that is Hollyweird and Disney since at least 2018 - since that time I haven't watched a single movie, because nothing's worth watching.
TV show killed the book star.
@@Evija3000 S1 being the best one, the out-of-place feminist speeches by Yennefer and others was jarring - nothing hints that their motivation is with men yet they say that they do have a problem with man's world. So out of place, poorly integrated and by S2 it was gone. Not sure about 3rd season as I haven't watched it.
On the topic of “beauty standards” - The Witcher world isn’t the size of the globe, the beauty standard is going to be consistent amongst nobility. So wouldn’t all the sorceresses be aiming to either appear as thin or plump as the standard dictates. Basically, I’m saying, choose a standard and have all the sorceresses aiming for that, not a “oh some choose to be this way for their feelings”
People tend to forget that at one point in time things were much different than how they are now. Back when the witcher novels were written, back in the early 90's (I believe Sapkowshi wrote the very first novel in 1994) the "ideal" standards of what made a woman "sexy" was the stereotypical supermodel "look" extremely thin; small waist, thin legs, thin arms, small but firm butt and big boobs. Oh, and caucasian of course. Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss, and so on and so forth. Naturally this "standard" of what made women sexy was set forth by pig-minded cis/straight male standards and expectations of what women should and must look like if they wanted to be deemed incredibly sexy. This obviously lead to eating disorders, body dysmorphia complexes, light skinned black/brown women being deemed more beautiful than darker skinned women, etc, etc. Luckily we find ourselves within a current time where all of that (the past expectations of what made a woman sexy) is considered to be disgusting and most importantly, there is now an awareness of how f*cked up it was (how harmful and damaging those "standards" were). Who frickin cares what size a person is, who effin cares what color their skin is, or if their nose is "too big" for the character they're meant to be playing/portraying. When will we as a whole (as the human race) simply start seeing one another for the one thing WE ALL have in common, a soul. We are all people, we all look the same from the inside. Can we finally come to the point where we see an actor act and the very first thing we bother to judge them on is the way they are actually ACTING as that character apposed to what dress size she is, or the color of his skin, or how their facial features aren't "to par" for the character they're supposed to be depicting. I personally think Rochelle Rose made a stunningly beautiful Margarita and I'm sure she will do an amazing job portraying (acting, since that's her job lol) as Margarita.
you got complaints? i found your opinion level-headed and honest. i.e. a proper critique, i liked it. :D
From the context it's clear it came from the Fat Liberation Front. Anyone can be targeted by them, for any reason, at any time. It doesn't need to make any sense.
The reason why I didn’t watch much of Witcher season 2 is because there was hardly any witcher
Your opinion is of most importance because you were the face of Witcher 3 for the longest time and i agree with most of it as a book reader especially.
I shared your vid about this show and my friends say your review is the nicest compared to the tired and clickbait-y screamers and rageful YTubers out there and they genuinely like your opinion about the show. keep on doing what you're doing!
thank you
There's too much representation, diversity and Goddamn Identity Politics... it didn't feel like I was watching a big budget fantasy TV show, it felt like I was watching a LARP game played by some nerds.
Excuse me? People seriously got offended?! I'm a fat woman and I absolutely detest the casting, it's so damn annoying when the shows like witcher netflix will crap all over the source and try to be politically correct instead of actually adapting the witcher and when people don't like it, the crazy defenders will pull out a "fat shaming" or "racist" card. Those who made the ridiculous complains you mentioned should rethink their life choices.
They ruined the show, misunderstood every single plot point and destroyed pretty much all the characters. There's no saving it and I noped out after season 1 to not watch one of my favourite sagas corpse being paraded around.
The witch hunters might've had a bit of a problem finding a stake for the Netflix version of Margarita
You are so very right about Margarita...
I spent some time on Tumblr due to writing fanfiction and it was always this 'Yeah, being dark skinned and overweight perfectly fits Margarita'... but to me, it always seemed... strange to think that way.
I personally see Margarita especially as kind of... fitting a beauty ideal. And since it is an ideal, all the other sorceresses (or at least SOME OF THEM) around her would need to at least TRY to fit that too, especially in such a 'small' geographic and cultural unit as the Northern Kingdoms. Another hint for Margarita to not be as depicted as in the Netflix series is Ciris POV where she describes Rita as incredibly beautiful by comparing her to Yennefer with Yen being the height of beauty to little Ciri and Rita being even more beautiful.
If people don't like how sorceresses are portrayed in the books regarding their appearance... fair point, their opinion... but the sorceresses are not meant to be 'nice characters' at all... or inclusive... or role models.'
They are MEANT to be vain, to be arrogant, to be egoistic... and most of them are to certain degrees, more or less, depending on the character itself and the context we see them in. And despite having some individuality, I would say they know the advantages of being seen as beautiful by the people and would do everything they can to fit that image, especially since their over earthly beauty is an important tool.
There are exceptions, like Nilfgaardian sorceresses, where mages have a different standing in society. Not only Isabel aep Muir Moss but also seen in the books with Assire var Anahid, who is described at her first 'meeting' with Philippa, Margarita, Triss, and Keira, I think, as... not the most beautiful woman, to put it mildly. And even she later washes and curls her hair and fixes her chewed fingernails (if I remember correctly).
So... to me, the sorceresses in general are too... diverse regarding their appearance. But as I said, that's a very personal opinion.
What I really didn't like regarding Margarita, what I see as even the bigger problem with her character than her looks and especially weight, is, against, what you said in the video, that her character did indeed undergo specific changes. And, in my opinion, not for the better... and funnily enough, this actually is the same problem I have with the entire season, the relationship between Ciri and Yen and especially the dear friend letters.
I think the Netflix writers saw something in the books, didn't read or understand the context and then put it into the series.
This is why the Dear Friend letter(s), makes Yen seem (in my opinion) like a teenager who had an argument with her boyfriend over whether the milk he bought is fat reduced or not, that escalated into a full-blown fight and her leaving him messages on the fridge instead of talking.
The dear friend letter in the books, on the other hand, is the epitome of passive-aggressive writing on Yennefer's part. Especially the meaning of this 'dear friend' she so pointedly uses gets lost in the series because we never get the information that she only addresses him like this because he DARED to do it in the letter he sent her.
And while I'm happy that they DID include stuff like that because it reminds me of the books and characters I loved, it's even more painful to see it being butchered due to the writers... I don't know... negligence?
Same with Rita... there is this one scene with her, where she stops Ciri in Gors Velen... Ciri reacts as everyone would react, she tries to get away, and then Margarita punches her out of the blue.
And knowing the books it makes sense. We have this background, that adepts escaped from Loxia, that Tissaia and Rita were looking for them (that Rita actually IS the headmistress of Aretuza and Tissaia has nothing to do with it, which isn't really addressed in the series at all, which should have been in my opinion because we have this fixation on Tissaia and how important Aretuza is to her... while I personally have no idea by now, what her actual role in Aretuza is at that point) and being alerted by Ciris use of magic.
In the series... there is no conclave to be planned, therefore no adepts who could have escaped through Loxia, therefore no reason for Rita to BE in Gors Velen and terrorize young girls by punching them without warning.
Same for the bathhouse scene... where Ciri is degraded to a mere cupbearer, while in the books, she is included in this entire 'Spa day' experience Yennefer and Rita (and Tissaia... who is mainly arranging chalices on a table) have. She's not humiliated or treated like a servant, but rather... like a girl, yes, but Rita is actually friendly to her and the entire scene seems inclusive regarding Ciri. She's treated like being... not one of them, but on the way to becoming one of them and therefore with a bit of respect.
Maybe the only reason why I am that invested in this is, that Rita was amongst my favorite characters in the books. But I always saw her, regarding their character, as more... friendly, more bubbly, far more positive. While what I have seen of Rita in the series actually fits Ciri's verdict in the side room of the bathhouse, when she argues with Yen.
I personally think that Netflix focuses on the casting and as soon as they have someone who 'fits the agenda' call it a day... Rita being overweight and dark-skinned SEEMS to be enough for them, she doesn't need to be anything else.
When I read about the casting for Rita I was... a bit concerned. Now, after watching the show, I personally see the casting and looks (a woman who has nothing in common with the description of Rita according to the book AND gel nails) as the smallest problem regarding her. And tbh... I think that's pretty sad.
Oh no, people are upset? What they gonna do? Eat their heart out and become even more fat? 😢
7:36 As long as that new character isn't a man. Altering Dandelion's sexuality from the books IS a problem. Nobody should be afraid to criticize it. It is a problem on its own and should never have been done. But it goes deeper than that. Of all the male characters they could have turned gay, they went for the guy who is flamboyant, dresses in bright, fancy colors, styles his hair and is a poet and a musician. Also he abhors violence and is scared of blood and other viscera. In other words, Netflix reinforced the negative stereotype that these traits in men are commonly and often almost exclusively associated with homosexuality. A harmful stereotype that is specifically common in countries where the Witcher books have the greatest popularity - across Central and Eastern Europe. So Netflix, for all their progressiveness, literally went "ah, we have a straight-as-an-arrow character that exhibits behavior commonly associated with stereotypes about homosexual men - let's make him gay!" Like, really?
I was one of the people who (more or less) criticized your take in the previous video, but it was more like a disagreement than a real criticism, and I certainly was not disappointed by what you said. It felt to me like you were trying to put the show in its best light rather than concentrating on the negatives --- the way I put, if I recall, was that you were trying to be too "diplomatic". But again, it wasn't so much a criticism of you, as a mild disagreement, and I simply took what you said as your opinion, which is perfectly fine by me.
I wasn't showing displeasure at you, rather at the show, and I had to vent it somewhere, so writing a comment on your video seemed just the right place to express how I felt. I still enjoyed that (and this) video. You keep making them, and I'll keep watching them. Thank you for your work: it's very enjoyable.
You're really spot-on with the argument that, if there were facts establishing being overweight as a desirable trait (as it is or has been in various times and places in the real world, to various extents - there's a difference between being chubby and actually large), then Margarita's casting would make sense, but there's none, quite the contrary. The books clearly show how sorceresses (and sorcerers too, though we see more of that in Seasons of Storm - for instance there's a comment about one of them being bald and it's an extraordinary sight) ultimately all look like Photoshopped variations of the same beauty canons (aside from hair color they're all the same, right?) as a matter of personal status and membership to their caste (and implicitly argue that this practice isn't right)...
So if Margarita is overweight and kinda setting a standard as Aretuza headmistress, then why would Yen, who went through so much to fix her body, have stayed as slim as she is? And bravo for bringing up Isbel, this is again an example of CDPR being better than Netflix at their own things. Writing efforts matter, who would have thought?
It's kinda hilarious that you have to explain to some ppl why casting a fat person as a mage who were supposed to be prettiest woman in this universe is a problem. World is going in the wrong direction. Great video as always my friend!
Do not concern yourself too much with these issues, friend. Whenever someone touches on subjects such as race/gender portrayal in today's entertainment industry, there are gonna be issues and backlash, no matter how you approach it or what your opinion is (especially if Netflix is involved, as they clearly don't give a crap about these people and are just monetizing their aggressiveness and their vulnerability).
I think no one questions just how dedicated you are to this franchise, and everyone knows you're not one of those political, noisy channels that complaint about everything that smells faintly like "inclusiveness". You're a Witcher fan, and your opinion is sincere. I support your content now and always just going by that fact alone
Your reviews always seems faithful to the source material and especially the games, while even those have flaws you point out.
And... anyway, in life you can never please everyone and some people just want to nitpick or feel upset about something.
I think that is best way to put the issues (or why people feel particular ways to those issues with the show) I have seen on a video. Anyway, I got distracted my the Witcher 2 cinematic toward the end.
i have never read the books so most of my knowledge is from the show but i like the idea of the sorcerers and sorceresses magically transforming themselves to be beautiful because from what the show says they think very highly of themselves and say things like we will steer these kings in the right direction showing they think they know best and are arogant and manipulating. And they are already "better"/more powerful than any ordinary human but even with all that they still CHOOSE to make themselves look better than everbody as well and it shows how ugly they are on the inside in a way
Yeah I didn't even notice but since it's the issue: they could've shown that being slim (and whatever else) is a burden that open-minded witches have to carry to appease the down-to-earth and "basic" kings. Not the worst burden, but one that annoys over time. That the "beauty" is their weapon and they use it but don't care about being themselves or not happy to reduce themselves to a Barbie. That would be in line with current trends, show the personalities of different groups and potentially explain the relationship between ruling class of witches/wizards and their pocket monarchs. More - they could have stressed that danger of king not falling for standard beauty is greater and needs more resources like psychological manipulation.
The reasons for such difference were also not explained so we just have to assume it's because of different cultures or personal preferences of specific king. Which I would be okay with.
Just feels like quantity of information is preferred over quality of its delivery. Feels like a race to finish the project while it could have been a great detail-oriented slow-paced new world building series which regardless of funding fans would beg to be continued or sold (to HBO).
Anyway, it's your video that inspired such thoughts, thanks for showing the quotes from books:)
You dont owe anyone such explanation Letalis. The world is so soft in this day and age to the point it's more surprising if you didn't manage to hurt someones feelings just by stating your opinion. Netflix butchered the show, no two ways about it. It was to be expected coming from them seeing how every show is politicized and established stories are thrown out to push propaganda instead.
the best example of a good adaptation of a fantasy book is GOT, at least the first 5-6 seasons (considering the modern versions, as LOTR was made over 20 years ago, when everything was different). Because the differences in skin colors, body types, general characteristics made sense. Like the Starks were pale, because they were from the far north. The Lannister were blonde and so on. So it made sense, because you could tell them apart because of their location. People from other continent were brown or even black and that was ok because they were from a different place. Now every realm in The Witcher looks like downtown Los Angeles and you know this is forced and it doesn't make sense. But I could easily get over it if the script weren't so bad and if it didn't deviate so much from the source material, which was already great in its own way. What a lost opportunity to make a great and unique show based on a great story
I'm not watching the show anymore so I don't know much about how Margarita is being portrayed in terms of personality, but my problem with the casting and the general debate about body type comes down to doing a bit more of a close reading:
To me, the sorceresses are relentlessly insecure and generally emotionally and mentally damaged. The physical beauty isn't meant to be that this is the one and only beauty standard by which all women should abide, but rather a subtle commentary on the emotional turmoil each of these sorceresses feels. They may not always talk about it and often overcompensate for it, and this choice in appearance gives insight. So when we see them cling to what might be considered a toxic idea of beauty, it tells us something about their mental and emotional state, as well as what their intentions might be if they're using this appearance to manipulate.
To extend this to the Margarita casting, it's just kinda throwing a heavy woman in there and calling it a win for inclusivity without giving the choice a similar level of depth. I can see it working, but the writers have not done the heavy lifting to actually give the choice purpose. It's especially perplexing because all of the other sorceresses chose the thin appearance, so Margarita being heavy demands more thought. And we're still not even touching on race swapping the character, which doesn't make sense with setting of what is essentially Poland, but that's another discussion.
Plus it just doesn't make sense with the time period. They don't have modern sensibilities and people in medieval Poland were likely not advocating for body positivity and inclusivity, so it's just really immersion breaking. It would be like if Geralt drove a Ford Mustang instead of riding a horse.
It's "diversity", yet actually the opposite of that. Because it's erasing the actual established diversity of the world and replacing everything with "present-day United States".
The fact that you got displeased comments on your review video has me baffled. I thought it was very fair and level headed. Thank you for your work and thoughtfulness to make a second video addressing the (in my opinion) unfounded criticism.
At a certain point, a show like this becomes a Tumblr quality fanfiction that some lunatic turned into a script... that's just how it sounds like from all the changes I've heard them making. Not even gonna comment on obvious ESG motivated casting choices. But stuff like Jaskier and Radovid romance has serious feel of someone in writing room never even touching the books, just seeing art of the two of them from the games, and thinking "Hmm... let's make them bang, it will be hot!" with all the ideas how to incorporate it into story being total afterthought, and not bothering to think of consequences it has for entirety of the plot...
the witcher books and games are dear to my heart because they where a big help for my mental health during thought personal times, espacially while the big sniffl was raging on ure loved ones and lives. I feel quite simeraly about most of the issues in the netflix adapdation you bring up, and it really helps my sanity to relate to someone how also feels pasionet about the great univere of the witcher! keep up the great work
I feel like what you were griping with on Netflix's Witcher was like how I was griping with Netflix's Series of Unfortunate Events. Yes, I know it's technically non-high fantasy and
and based on a Children's book series but the same apply's there. I don't think allot of changes they did with those books helped the series. I think it only hurt the series with the
changes they pulled. I'm not just talking about black Mr. Poe and Black Aunt Josephine (They got more annoying when color changed so, doesn't that make it racist?) for its not just
that, it's how several characters are down-played and altered so 'I guess' the story than be more playful than the dark often cruel tone the books had going for them. Stuff like Count
Olaf's minions and the man himself being less threatening, and while Patrick Harris can be 'rightfully' scarier than Jim Carrey, the fact that his minions are constantly all present
everywhere he goes, them feeling more 'merry band of misfits' than 'agents of shadow' I just felt the fear and suspense factors were severely down-played.
I know Netflix was going to do Bone and Wings of Fire (Also Narnia and Redwall but I just don't know anymore...) but I think their a little scared of adapting kids books that handle
some pretty 'adult' themes. I mean Most people negatively reacted to Watership Down due to how dark it is and since Wings of Fire was many times darker it's no wonder they pulled
the plug when it was deep into development! Honest, I hate mistreatment of books. Whether they be for kids or for adults!
(Witcher Season3 was better than Wheel of Time S2 by the way. I can't stand that that basically became another Game of Thrones wannabee.)
The casting opinion is accurate. People don’t even want to acknowledge that this is supposed to be in medieval Europe. Wasn’t this set in a time of war and famine? It’s delusional to imagine some of the characters can look like this. It’s not body shaming, misogyny etc There was food scarcity and no processed food. People need to be a bit more realistic here.
The books are so detailed about the appearance of the sorceresses that you can't cast them wrong unless you actually want to. And Netflix wants to, and it shows. Margarita is just the last of a long list of mistakes (even Yennefer, although I actually like Anya, is not the perfect choice if we want to be completely accurate), and the fact that there are people that still defend these choices (even when you show them the exact words of the books, like you did with Margarita) Is something I'll never understand. Keep up the good work Letalis, some people just don't understand (or pretend not to) what "faithful to the source material" means
Oh good lord. I not only watch your videos for the information and entertainment, but because you are honest whether I agree with or or not.
Still undecided if I will watch Season 3 or not.
Of course people were upset about the Margarita criticism lmao. NO ONE complaining about you being "too harsh" would imagine the actress just by reading the description of the books and that's the simple truth. Even ignoring the weight, who are you going to convince saying that's the most beautiful woman you/Ciri has ever seen? Let's stop the cope and accept the truth we all already know. No one has to be mean about it, and xLetails certainly wasn't, let's just keep it real.
I don't think anyone who regularly watches your videos thinks you were overly harsh. It sounds like people who are looking for something to complain about found your video and complained about it. You don't need to apologize for your opinion. Considering your basis for your criticism literally comes from how the characters are supposed to look based on the book.
Honestly I don't have any hopes for the show except for it to end soon. I liked yennefer a lot and they straight up butchered her in the show, Completly changed her background. The fact that they made some characters black for no reason (especially elves who iirc were described as pale skinned). The reason why I love the witcher is bcs it isnt trying to create a utopia and instead showcases how rough and dofficult the world is to live in (like a dark fantasy should). They try to make it look like a happy and pretty place to live in. Also racism was allways a big thing in the witcher universe.
The thing that baffles me is that the blueprint for adapting a Fantasy series of books into a show format has been in play since 2011 - Game of Thrones. Seasons 1-4 are very, very close to the books, with any adaptation being ADDITIONS to the source material, or smart shuffling of pieces (such as Arya being a Servant of Tywin at Harrenhal in the show, vs. Roose Bolton's mercs in the books) for more thematic resonance. Obviously, seasons 5+ have their own problems before becoming a pile of shit near the end, but I'm talking about 1-4 mainly.
The thing about the Witcher show has just honestly been that their departures and changes DON'T MAKE SENSE, from any viewpoint I can think of. They don't seem to be calculated additions and shuffling, but pure subtractions for the most part.
I just don't buy that anything that went down as it has in the Witcher show HAD to have gone as such, that it was this or nothing. Money has clearly not been an obstacle here, with the first 2 Seasons of the Witcher show reportedly costing far more than the first 2 seasons of Game of Thrones. The problems have to stem from shoddy decision making, or misguided efforts to make the show into something the Source material just was not. Adapting a book is HARD, I get this, but I don't think its unreasonable to expect the best when so much money is being laced into a project like this.
Here i was, thinking the displeased viewers were the ones like me who thought you were to lenient on these cultural terrorists.
I agree. Netflix really violated the real Keira Metz
In my opinion, I think your analysis is quite accurate. On some occasions they follow the description of the characters well and on others the opposite, especially with "Rita" who in the books describe her in a very particular way. Followers of beauty canons won't like it but hey, not even good actresses/actors are usually enough to justify these changes.
Dude, never back down, I love your content because you have your opinion, you don't fear to say it, but also you are explaining it very well and it is visible that you care about the universe and spent a lot of time to formulate your opinion, I respect that above anything else.
margarita rly gave up her ovaries to look like that 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀
The margarita criticism is pretty valid anybody with good amount of brain cell could understand it, don't even bother with defending it for those type of Twitter folks.
I believe its pragmatic to not focus on the weight or sex changes of characters, as they’re very far below the rabbit hole of errors this show has done to the show and source material, Not to mention that the show runner tries to justify her work by calling fans racist snd sexist. So let’s look at the everything else, why is Geralt seemingly a minor character in his own show? Why does Ciri even like about Yenn? Why does she run away from the wild hunt and Geralt can hear her via force telepathy?
xLetalis, did you see the trailer for part 2?
I saw the thing that played after the last episode of Part 1, is that it? Think I mentioned it briefly in the review
So I think there are a lot of things playing into this:
1. Most people watch your video on the show hoping that you’ll match their feeling regarding the show and seeking validation of their own opinion. That is very natural.
2. There are people who love the witcher regardless of the product they will get, sth similar happened to the Manga Berserk years ago. People want more of the medium they love, what they fail to realize is that we do not criticise the Witcher because we hate the witcher but because we demand a better product to consume and yes I would rather have no witcher series than a bad one but that is just my opinion. The problem still is that we demand more.
3. In the crtisicism we often mix up opinions. Some are focused on details that seem minute to some people and important to others. Sometimes criticism is mixed with political views which clouds judgement and this happens especially when a piece of media is doing controversial changes as the Witcher on Netflix has done.
4. An argument I could mention particularly in your case is you being potentially biased regarding the success of the series.
Now I would never accuse you that you advertise the witcher to make money but it does make for content and the argument COULD be made for you wanting to be not to hard on a piece of media that has to do with your job, because more Witcher content generally speaking is in your interest.
I think that hyperthetical conflict of interest makes you more susceptible to criticism.
What is my personal opinion. I believe you are far far too generous. Given the material the directors are working with and the horrendous story structure and character assassinations I cannot NOT see this as one of the worst adaptations ever created.
I didn’t feel good about it from what I knew of season 1 and since then it took a massive turn for the worse. Your statement regarding you knowing they would fail in Season 1 rings very true to me, but my wish would have been for every content creator to tell people NOT to watch the series as I do not want to keep a dead corpse of a show alive.
I do not care for good visuals but good stories and characters, I believe that fans should demand the highest quality prodicts otherwise they will be receiving less quality with every release as the studios know that the name itself sells.
I‘ve seen it in gaming and also in recent movies (e.g. Star Wars, Marvel).
What people that defend the witcher (often saying „well I am having fun with the show“) do not understand is that nobody wants them to not enjoy the series. We want the authors to honor the original and give you a better show that you‘ll enjoy even more.
So to me the series is indefensible and is kept alive only by its name. Take that away and I believe nobody would ever watch it and as a lover of media I have to say no matter my love for the Witcher, if that is the case your product and story sells then it has no real value and therefore no reason to exist to begin with.
There are far better stories for people to watch and the Witcher by Netflix will be known as a failed experiment and disappointment similar to Rings of Power. I hope a director will try to pick it up and give it a go again in 10 years, before that well have to accept reality and defeat.
2:47 there is a video on youtube of Ai depicting how witcher characters would look like as described in the books i recommend it
Forget inane criticism. Your totally honest opinion is utterly valid. I’ve never come into contact with anyone (you) who genuinely loves the source material as much. Sadly some people just have to complain.
I was in shock too when I saw Margarita. You are not harsh, not cruel, just honest. And you are right. People who we displeased by your comentary should read the books. Sapkowski himself wrote that sorceresses are all very attractive woman. If he didn't write it and explained it why they look like that then it wouldn't be a problem. But he did and they ignored it.
I know GoT didn't end how I expected and I found it funny that when they ran out of books the show started to not feel as thrilling. BUT while they followed the books, it was epic! It HAS been done before. When The Witcher by NF was announced I was so excited by this due to the precedence set by GoT and later gutted how it turned out.
We had in polish language saying that something sucked like a Wiedźmin movie. Now netflix took it to completly next level. :)
I mean I thought it was acceptable too it was better than the 2end season , but perhaps it because expectations were so low , but the casting still sucks , also the dandelion and radivid thing ruined it for me , honestly the reason I am watching it is because I am too lazy to read the books 😁
Most of what you said about the show is absolutely correct, no need to apologize for your opinion
This is unrelated kinda? But what is the background videos that you have used throughout the video? Like the one near the end on the ship.
Dandelion’s what with who?? Oh man, their butchering of the lore is making it even harder for me to start up season 3 😅
Holy shit you read my mind on the old sorceress from Thronebreaker, I was literally about to mention it just as you did lol. Thronebreaker was such an amazing game by the way, wish we got a proper sequel to it instead of the roguelike crap that was Rogue Mage.
The show takes place in a medieval setting where food is scarce and people didn't have the technology to allow them to sit in front of a TV all day. Morbidly obese people would not exist in those settings. One of the main plot points of Witcher Blood Origin is that people were starving and they wanted to travel to other dimensions to get food and other supplies (i.e. food cannot be conjured up by sorcerers in the Witcher world, and the lack of food and essentials drives a lot of the politics).
Hopefully most of these critics are new to your channel because you've been very clear in the past about how unhappy you are with what they've done to the Witcher. Sometimes people want to see their exact sentiments mirrored in a review, and that's never going to happen. I haven't even watched the episodes yet because I'm as enthusiastic about it as taking a trip to the dentist.
I'm not watching season 3 for the same reasons I didn't continue watching Rings of Power or the Star Wars Episodes 8 & 9.
Firstly I don't like it when film studios take existing characters and change them without an in universe explanation. That's just lazy. People in real life change all the time, just make it believable.
Secondly I hate it, when they take a functioning franchise and completely change the story. If they want to tell a different story then why don't they invent their own world and franchise or at least do it with new characters.
Thirdly I have generally no complaints with inclusiveness other than it is used as a scapegoat. "oh, you didn't like the movie? That's because you're a racist, fat phobic women hater. Not because the story was badly written or the characters were inconsistent"
I'm not even gonna lie
The fact that margarita is being called fat or overweight or unhealthy is actually disgusting and deranged of this fandom .
She's Literally just curvy.
I think the fact that she's being called all these things is testament that we need more body type representation.
Yeah good luck running outta money
As a Pole I think I can safely say that what Netflix crated is not what we hoped for. As a movie its decent but they should change the name of the show from Witcher (because they go further and further away from the originall)... I would propose Wiedmolol (without bul).
And now Im off to watch polish Witcher series - maybe you could do review of that? @xLetalis?
I personally don’t care about the casting of the sorceresses as far as their race or body type or whatever, I think the least reductive criticism should be about the story/writing and execution of that on screen.
Focusing too much on actors bodies just fuels the writers room to write off valid criticisms of the story and direction they take with the show as baseless yap from misogynistic tools online. I don’t think you’re that at all, your comment was pretty mild compared to what I’ve seen. Yet unfortunately as soon as anyone makes a statement about these women’s bodies they can write off any further criticisms no matter how valid.
Honestly the thing with the sorceresses is disappointing, but not because I think the actresses aren’t beautiful (they very much are). The sorceresses in the Witcher booked are taught from girlhood that if they want to be taken seriously in life they need to change themselves to fit into this window of beauty standards or their magical talents are a waste. I never once while reading the books that was supposed to be a positive, or that it was condoning narrow beauty standards. Geralt himself thinks they are cold and cynical (I think those were the words used?) from how they used to be treated from before their transformations. The pressure to magically alter themselves to be pretty so that men will listen to them at court had consequences on these women’s actions, personalities, and relationships, and it was a shared experience for all of them. I thought they might lean into it and address that more than the books did after Yennefer’s arc in season one and her mixed feelings about Aretuza, but I don’t think they will now.
I’ve been watching your videos on the Witcher since deep diving into the game a couple of years ago and I always really enjoyed your takes on the story. While the show has been a bit of a letdown I personally don’t hate it and like seeing a fresh take on it. That being said I do agree with you that they probably should have just made new characters in the show rather than changing basically every side character in the books/games. Don’t let people get you into a negative mindset just because they don’t like something. Speak your truth, that’s what I liked about your takes from the beginning.
This is what happens when one try to have a mature conversation on the internet. Most people chase shadows so that they can fight against.
I actually quite liked season 3 so far, though admittedly that’s in comparison to the other seasons, season 2 especially. I just get a little giddy every time I recognize a reference, as I’ve played Witcher 2 and 3 and I’m reading the books now. The Radovid bit WAS disappointing that they adjusted him to be older for a romance arc, though I kinda hope the romance is a scheme that shows how calculating Radovid is. I haven’t met Rita in the books, but after seeing her in Witcher 3 and hearing how they talk about her, I was not ready for that slap or really just the general attitude. Was that in the books?
Let's not kid ourselves, the casting for this show is, by and large, shite. I look forward to observing the train wreck that season 4 will inevitably bring.
Love your stuff and I'm glad you tell us how you honestly feel. I stopped watching the series after episode 2 in season 2. I thought maybe about going back but after the announcement of Henry's departure, i didn't see the point.
Still like your videos. Having only played Witcher 3 I find it hard not to expected the characters to look like they do in the game.
Modern writers, mostly, don't have the required talent to write, create, and develop an original and well-thought out character.
Its easier to co-opt an existing character and change everything, or close to everything, about them.
To simplify what @xLetalis says about magarita, imagine if Netflix were given the Game of Thrones series, would anyone accept Khaleesi's role to be played by Lizzo (for example) instead of Emilia clarke? xP
I still love your content and I agree with most of your opinions on the show. The only thing I could ask for is more videos!
Those complaints sound more like them not knowing what a different opinion is and expecting to hear exactly what they think themselves
I stopped watching after I saw the S.hit meeting between Gerald and Ciri. How can you replace the scene in the book with something devoid of emotion?
"He broke off, seeing a small, very slim, mousy-haired creature walking
slowly behind the boys. The little girl looked at him and he saw the huge
eyes as green as spring grass, shining like two little stars. He saw the girl
suddenly start, run… He heard her shrill, piercing cry.
‘Geralt!’
The Witcher turned away from his horse with a swift, agile movement
and ran to meet her. Yurga stared open-mouthed. He had never thought a
man could move so quickly.
They came together in the centre of the farmyard. The mousy-haired girl
in a grey dress. And the white-haired Witcher with a sword on his back, all
dressed in black leather, gleaming with silver. The Witcher bounding softly,
the girl trotting, the Witcher on his knees, the girl’s thin hands around his
neck, the mousy hair on his shoulders. Goldencheeks shrieked softly. Yurga
hugged his rosy-cheeked wife when she cried out softly, pulling her towards
him without a word, and gathered up and hugged both boys.
‘Geralt!’ the little girl repeated, clinging to the Witcher’s chest. ‘You
found me! I knew you would! I always knew! I knew you’d find me!’
‘Ciri,’ said the Witcher.
Yurga could not see his face hidden among the mousy hair. He saw
hands in black gloves squeezing the girl’s back and shoulders.
‘You found me! Oh, Geralt! I was waiting all the time! For so very
long… We’ll be together now, won’t we? Now we’ll be together, won’t we?
Say it, Geralt! Forever! Say it!’
‘Forever, Ciri.’
‘It’s like they said! Geralt! It’s like they said! Am I your destiny? Say it!
Am I your destiny?’
Yurga saw the Witcher’s eyes. And was very astonished. He heard his
wife’s soft weeping, felt the trembling of her shoulders. He looked at the
Witcher and waited, tensed, for his answer. He knew he would not
understand it, but he waited for it. And heard it.
‘You’re more than that, Ciri. Much more.’ "
We all have our own opinions on the TV show. I love the tv show even tho might not 100% correct on lore from game or books.
But keep the good works showing your own reviews tho.