The Witcher’s diverse cast is criticized in China
China has had trouble embracing a diverse cast in the past, after viewers slammed the new live-action remake of The Little Mermaid



The Witcher franchise has a large following in China, largely because of CD Projekt Red’s famous video games, adapted from the stories of Polish novelist Andrzej Sapkowski. The new Netflix show based on the series has had a decent reception in the country. But others are struggling to see past the skin color of some characters.
“US show Witcher has inevitably gone overboard with political correctness,” a popular Chinese online commentary read.
The Witcher series is inspired by Slavic folklore, and many of the characters in the game are white. The Netflix series, released just ahead of Christmas, features actors of different ethnicities.
Three major characters, for instance, are all portrayed as white in the games: Yennefer of Vengerberg, Triss Merigold and Fringilla Vigo. In the Netflix series, all three are played by non-white actors.

Fringilla in the show versus Fringilla in the game. (Picture: CD Projekt Red/Netflix)

It’s not just the characters that don’t match their gaming counterparts that are drawing complaints. Dara, an elf invented for the series, is played by black actor Wilson Radjou-Pujalte.
“Not that it is unacceptable to plug in a bunch of black actors. But at least it has to make sense… In the universe of The Witcher, there are no black elves,” a Chinese commentator wrote.
https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-socia...iticized-china