Interviews and News Articles

[SinisterDeath]

4 minutes ago, TheDreadReader said:

There have already been some rumblings about this from some fans.   It can be a dynamic known as colorism.

I can say "I told ya so", that this was going to be a criticism. ? 

Wait till they learn about Perrin...

[DaddyFinn]

2 minutes ago, TheDreadReader said:

 

There have already been some rumblings about this from some fans.   It can be a dynamic known as colorism.

 

Just look at the difference in skin tone between the actors playing Nyneave, Eqwene, Siuan, and Perrin.  (All "Good" guys.)  And, Padan Fain and Valda.  (Both "Bad" guys.)

 

Getting representation right can be a challenge and there will be missteps here and there.

 

 

Honestly all of this stuff is hard for me to grasp since that feels so American to me. I guess it would be fine if there's also some bad guys with lighter skin?

[TheDreadReader]

1 minute ago, DaddyFinn said:

Honestly all of this stuff is hard for me to grasp since that feels so American to me. I guess it would be fine if there's also some bad guys with lighter skin?

 

I suspect that it wouldn't be as much as an issue if there isn't an apparent pattern.   Once a pattern gets spotted, it can be hard to shake off the criticism.    

 

It also isn't just an American thing.  You can find aspects in some Asian cultures as well.

 

[SinisterDeath]

13 minutes ago, DaddyFinn said:

Honestly all of this stuff is hard for me to grasp since that feels so American to me. I guess it would be fine if there's also some bad guys with lighter skin?

Maybe? Maybe not.
If people are reacting negatively towards Valda, once stuff happens with Perrin, they'll probably react negatively to that to. (It also makes me cringe how they almost made him a bear brother. Optically that would have been soo much worse.)

Imagine if Idris Elba played Valda. Idris plays AWESOME villains, yet that casting criticism would remain.

Personally, I try not to imagine that I know a director/writers/actors personal bias's or thoughts/reasons for why they make the choices they do, unless they have a history of making those choices. 

[king of nowhere]

i remember somebody used to complain that colors were too bright and everyone should have been wearing black to show that this is serious adult material. is there some review about that? ?

[TheDreadReader]

9 minutes ago, SinisterDeath said:

Maybe? Maybe not.
If people are reacting negatively towards Valda, once stuff happens with Perrin, they'll probably react negatively to that to. (It also makes me cringe how they almost made him a bear brother. Optically that would have been soo much worse.)

Imagine if Idris Elba played Valda. Idris plays AWESOME villains, yet that casting criticism would remain.

 

True.  Villains can be really meaty roles for actors.   They offer opportunities for actors to really make their mark.

 

 

9 minutes ago, SinisterDeath said:

Personally, I try not to imagine that I know a director/writers/actors personal bias's or thoughts/reasons for why they make the choices they do, unless they have a history of making those choices. 

 

At the moment, there is a limited sample size too.   There are a lot of roles that they still have to cast.  

   

 

 

[themann1086]

As of this post, S1 has a nice 69% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 13 reviews). The critics have seen the first 6 episodes whereas I've only seen 2. And episodes 7 and 8 continue to be shrouded in mystery...

[Arthellion]

5 minutes ago, themann1086 said:

As of this post, S1 has a nice 69% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 13 reviews). The critics have seen the first 6 episodes whereas I've only seen 2. And episodes 7 and 8 continue to be shrouded in mystery...

 

Nice.

 

?

[swollymammoth]

1 hour ago, TheDreadReader said:

Getting representation right can be a challenge and there will be missteps here and there.

Lol I would argue that it's so difficult that it shouldn't even be a consideration in the first place. There are infinite intersecting dimensions across which proper representation can be judged. Once you nail the race stuff, then you've got the gender stuff (which is always expanding) then you've got sexuality independent of gender, then you've got attractiveness, relative obesity, disabilities, age, handedness, hair length (Google "long hair privilege" for a laugh) yada yada yada. It never ends. 

 

As you said, there'll always be missteps, but no one seems able to just acknowledge that reality. Instead, they get mad when a fictional world does not reflect back an image of intersectional utopia which they hold as a platonic ideal. 

 

The only answer is to treat characters as people, not as stand-ins for their "groups." 

[SinisterDeath]

15 minutes ago, swollymammoth said:

Lol I would argue that it's so difficult that it shouldn't even be a consideration in the first place. There are infinite intersecting dimensions across which proper representation can be judged. Once you nail the race stuff, then you've got the gender stuff (which is always expanding) then you've got sexuality independent of gender, then you've got attractiveness, relative obesity, disabilities, age, handedness, hair length (Google "long hair privilege" for a laugh) yada yada yada. It never ends. 

 

As you said, there'll always be missteps, but no one seems able to just acknowledge that reality. Instead, they get mad when a fictional world does not reflect back an image of intersectional utopia which they hold as a platonic ideal. 

 

The only answer is to treat characters as people, not as stand-ins for their "groups." 

As is always the case, you can never appease everyone. Some will attribute malice intent where there wasn't any. 

I honestly believe Rafe is trying his best, and that's something everyone should do. Try our best to make incremental changes to better ourselves as a whole. 

 

Moving on, 

 

39 minutes ago, Arthellion said:

Nice.

?

You beat me to it!

[TheMountain]

Are you only allowed to cast villains as white males? I don't get this criticism when there is clearly such a strong commitment to diversity in the show, even far above that of the source material, which was already quite progressive..

[SinisterDeath]

Just now, TheMountain said:

Are you only allowed to cast villains as white males? I don't get this criticism when there is clearly such a strong commitment to diversity in the show, even far above that of the source material, which was already quite progressive..

Negative. As I said.

40 minutes ago, SinisterDeath said:

you can never appease everyone.

Moving on...

[TheMountain]

@SinisterDeath, it was more venting at the reviewer for not considering the rest of Rafe's clear devotion to diversity, not pointed at you.

 

As you said, moving on...

Edited November 16, 2021 by TheMountain

[CaddySedai]

Can we just say he did the best on his audition for the part and its got nothing to do with skin color and move on?

 

He is awesome. One of MY favorite characters at this point. And I generally hate whitecloaks.

 

Does anyone miss the days where the argument was just “Why does evil always have a British accent?” 

 

I miss those days…how young and carefree we all were…

 

Also…which “circles” are already grumbling about this?

 

Cuz I’d like to know where they are, to avoid them. They seem like killjoys.

Edited November 16, 2021 by CaddySedai

[TheMountain]

40 minutes ago, CaddySedai said:

Also…which “circles” are already grumbling about this?

 

Cuz I’d like to know where they are, to avoid them. They seem like killjoys.

Do these circles constitute thirteen persons by any chance?

Edited November 17, 2021 by TheMountain

[Katherine]

Paiden Fain looks bad ass and I will never ever ever ever ever be able to picture him any other way. I’ve only seen the still pictures and I cannot imagine a more perfect-looking actor for that role.  
When casting was first announced he was my fav. 

 

That is all I have to add to this conversation. 

[CaddySedai]

3 minutes ago, TheMountain said:

Does these circles constitute thirteen persons by any chance?

 

Seems like people missed an opportunity in my countdown thread for day 13 ?

[CaddySedai]

2 minutes ago, Katherine said:

Paiden Fain looks bad ass and I will never ever ever ever ever be able to picture him any other way. I’ve only seen the still pictures and I cannot imagine a more perfect-looking actor for that role.  
When casting was first announced he was my fav. 

 

That is all I have to add to this conversation. 

 

He is, its perfectly played as well.  And while he got very little screentime in 1 and 2…. I cannot WAIT for the role to expand in later episodes.

[notpropaganda73]

https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/the-wheel-of-time-season-1/

 

I tend to trust Empire reviews and three stars from them is pretty solid in my book. 

 

 

[Tim]

6 hours ago, Mnemosyne said:

This was always my biggest concern with any WoT TV/film adaptation. Ironically I find myself hoping they've cut enough to make it feel less rushed.

 

Haha yep this has always been my position - I expect we're in a minority around here though!

[Tim]

8 minutes ago, notpropaganda73 said:

https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/the-wheel-of-time-season-1/

 

I tend to trust Empire reviews and three stars from them is pretty solid in my book. 

 

 

 

LOL at "a load of trollocs"

[Tim]

I quite like this review - the writer is clearly a book fan but also clear-eyed enough to approach her assessment with the main question being "does/will this work as TV" rather than "does this match what I imagined in my head" - plus is pretty positive:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-16/amazon-wheel-of-time-review-a-fantasy-series-that-s-magic

[themann1086]

1 hour ago, Tim said:

I quite like this review - the writer is clearly a book fan but also clear-eyed enough to approach her assessment with the main question being "does/will this work as TV" rather than "does this match what I imagined in my head" - plus is pretty positive:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-16/amazon-wheel-of-time-review-a-fantasy-series-that-s-magic

This bit made me chortle:

 

Quote

How they haven’t instituted a mandatory swimming requirement at Hellpit Elementary School by now, I’ll never know.

 

[AusLeviathan]

9 hours ago, Mnemosyne said:

This was always my biggest concern with any WoT TV/film adaptation. Ironically I find myself hoping they've cut enough to make it feel less rushed.

I suspect the issue will be more around the added Logain subplot designed to keep Moiraine in focus causing pacing issues by forcing them to speed run the first part of the book in order to fit it in.

 

One critic put it well when they pointed out this is the equivalent of adapting Philosopher's Stone and giving Dumbledore the focus for a large stretch.

 

There's a reason that RJ didn't give Moiraine much POV in the first book and that's because by doing so he was able to trickle out the plot and build the world slowly without dumping everything on us at once.

 

Since Moiraine is the focus for much of season 1 though we're in a position where this information must come out faster so that we can understand what Moiraine is doing and that will certainly result in some rushed exposition and likely some confusion among people who haven't read the books.

[CaddySedai]

I still think it was fine. Though events happened fast they never felt misplaced. 

 

I actually would have felt TRAPPED in the Two rivers if every line and moment was verbatim placed into the show. It works amazing as a book - as a show it would be a slog. but thats me