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Just last night I was comparing it to Game of Thrones. GoT had multiple kingdoms all vying for control, and something like 35 characters each with their own storyline and angle. Even though I never read the books, I had little trouble picking up who was who and what was going on.
Agreed. But I think there is a good reason for that.
G.R.R. Martin worked for years in Hollywood, writing television. I have read The Song of Ice and Fire. The way it is paced and plotted is VERY cinematic. The influence of episodic TV is very evident. Because of that, the series was much more easily adapted to TV.
Other novels don't have that luxury. I have enjoyed a lot of Stephen King's books, but there is a reason so many of them don't make great movies. 'SALEM'S LOT is one of the best vampire books ever written. It would be impossible to translate what makes it great onto the screen. Same with BAG OF BONES. Great ghost story, but most of the tension and conflict is psychological. You can't put that onscreen and maintain the tension.
Quote:
Originally Posted by noodlecat
With The Witcher, I have no idea who is who, what their angle is, or even the names of the different kingdoms. They were never really introduced (or maybe they were introduced but not in a way I could grasp). The characters show up and I guess you are supposed to just know who they are and what their angle is. It has the politics of the different factions/kingdoms, but I am too confused to get into it that aspect of it. Instead I just enjoy the main characters, their relationships and interactions, and the incredible sword fights, stunts, and CGI monsters.
Same here. I have no idea what kingdoms are where and who is running them and why or what they want. I don't understand how the magic works. I don't understand why everyone seems to be both hate and need the Witchers. And I freakin' hate the elves. There is nothing elvish about them. They are just humans with pointy ears.
Did the original books or video games have these problems? I don't know. Haven't read/played them.
Same here. I have no idea what kingdoms are where and who is running them and why or what they want. I don't understand how the magic works. I don't understand why everyone seems to be both hate and need the Witchers. And I freakin' hate the elves. There is nothing elvish about them. They are just humans with pointy ears.
Did the original books or video games have these problems? I don't know. Haven't read/played them.
No idea on the books, have them but not read them as of yet. The games there was no such issues, They were pretty straight forward. The country side was plugged with monsters, Witchers where hired to rid them of these problems.
Like you, I find the series some confusing.
Agreed. But I think there is a good reason for that.
G.R.R. Martin worked for years in Hollywood, writing television. I have read The Song of Ice and Fire. The way it is paced and plotted is VERY cinematic. The influence of episodic TV is very evident. Because of that, the series was much more easily adapted to TV.
Other novels don't have that luxury. I have enjoyed a lot of Stephen King's books, but there is a reason so many of them don't make great movies. 'SALEM'S LOT is one of the best vampire books ever written. It would be impossible to translate what makes it great onto the screen. Same with BAG OF BONES. Great ghost story, but most of the tension and conflict is psychological. You can't put that onscreen and maintain the tension.
I totally agree with you about Stephen King. I have read a lot of his books, but avoid the movies (other than "The Shining") because they don't come close to capturing everything about the story, the characters, etc. The mini-series have done him a little more justice because they have more time to expand the characters and the story. But even then, as you said, a lot of it is psychological, and doesn't translate to the screen.
That fight scene was a great example of how Netflix is capable of giving us what we envisioned a Geralt fight would look like.
Season One was good. Season Two went off the cliff when they destroyed one of the mainstays of the books, Geralt and Yennefer are the surrogate mother and father figures to Ciri. Netflix destroyed that bond and ruined the relationship. Yennefer never lost her powers, and Ciri was never possessed by monsters. If they really, really wanted Veneffer to lose her powers, for the drama. The Netflix writers could have found a way for her to regain her powers which did not break the central anchor of the stories, the unbreakable bond between the three main characters.
Tomek Baginski, executive producer on Netflix‘s The Witcher, has blamed the series’ simplified plot on American audiences’ inability to follow complex, nuanced storylines.
So it's our fault? We are too stupid to understand complex plots, cuz we are mindless Tiktok idiots with limited attentions spans.
Baginski took aim at social media sites such as TikTok. “When it comes to shows, the younger the public is, the logic of the plot is less significant,” he said.
The show has much nudity in it, it's not for preteen TikTokers.
75 million copies of the Witcher games were sold worldwide, and15 million people bought the Witcher books. There were literally millions of people who knew the Witcher story and lore, and we dearly wanted to see the story come alive on the TV screen. Baginski is a damn fool.
Game of Thrones' problem was that they ran out of source material, so their less talented writers tried to write their own material. The Witcher series had the source material, thru all the books, and the games. Netflix had almost 100 million Witcher fans already hooked on the story. All they had to do was give us what we wanted.
No idea on the books, have them but not read them as of yet. The games there was no such issues, They were pretty straight forward. The country side was plugged with monsters, Witchers where hired to rid them of these problems.
Like you, I find the series some confusing.
The series is confusing because they only used a basic outline, and just winged it depending on which actors showed up on set.
Baginski says behind-the-scenes events sometimes affected the plot, recalling a moment when script rewrites were necessary after an actor became ill.
“There are a lot of understandable reasons why controversial decisions are made, but the viewer does not have this context, so sometimes it hurts because something was better in the book,” Baginski said.
Baginski acknowledges that these on-the-fly changes can hurt. However, he goes on to explain that changes to the plot also arise as the crew considers The Witcher’s wide range of viewers. Specifically, Baginski has Americans in mind when choosing which elements of the story to simplify.
Besides, Baginski says American audiences are to blame for the simplification of the show’s plot. We simple minded TikTok and YouTube drones in America don't care about plots, we just want to see fluff and foolery. Plots are complicated, and our eyes usually glaze over after the average length of a TikTok video, and need distractions to regain our limited ability to focus.
This show is such a mess, and has been from the start. It’s a shame, because Henry was passionate about the role, as were the book/game fans who have come away mostly disappointed.
This show is such a mess, and has been from the start. It’s a shame, because Henry was passionate about the role, as were the book/game fans who have come away mostly disappointed.
Netflix had the actor who the author of the books said personified Geralt of Rivia.
Netflix had all the books, with a complete story.
Netflix had almost 100 million fans from all over the world, who were already sold on the lore and characters, and wanted to watch the show.
All Netflix needed to do was faithfully follow the books.
Netflix could even choose to deviate slightly from the books, by including any of the many hours of lore ad story from the computer game versions.
Netflix's writers, besides having everything the needed for a six season billion dollar blockbuster, didn't even make it past the first season before they decided to start burning things to the ground, be permanently poisoning the crucially important familial relationship between the three main characters.
This isn't the Witcher anymore, it's Princess Ciri and The Seven Magical Creatures.
Tomek Baginski, executive producer on Netflix‘s The Witcher, has blamed the series’ simplified plot on American audiences’ inability to follow complex, nuanced storylines.
So it's our fault? We are too stupid to understand complex plots, cuz we are mindless Tiktok idiots with limited attentions spans.
The writers / runners are to blame. The actors tried their best with the gawful and vulgar writing. But as in all things, the innocent will be blamed and the guilty will be promoted.
I understand that novels are one medium and TV/movies are another. When adapting a book to film, some changes are warranted. I get it, and when it is done well, real magic can happen.
But I don't understand the impulse of some filmmakers who want to put a popular book onscreen, and their first instinct is to change everything. If you dislike the source material so much, go make a different show.
Perhaps Baginski was quote out of context? I hope so. He seems to be confusing "complex" with "confusing." The two are not the same thing.
I understand that novels are one medium and TV/movies are another. When adapting a book to film, some changes are warranted. I get it, and when it is done well, real magic can happen.
But I don't understand the impulse of some filmmakers who want to put a popular book onscreen, and their first instinct is to change everything. If you dislike the source material so much, go make a different show.
Perhaps Baginski was quote out of context? I hope so. He seems to be confusing "complex" with "confusing." The two are not the same thing.
I think the people in charge of writing, producing and directing, have not read the books, have not played the Witcher computer games. Or if they did, they probably do not even like the books or games.
This explains why they deviated significantly away from the books; they do not know the source material. If they did, then they would NEVER have written episodes where Yennefer was trying to sacrifice Ciri's life. This would be akin to doing a Star Wars TV series and the writers decided to have Luke sacrifice the lives of Han or Lea to save his own skin.
Geralt and Yennefer are the surrogate parents to Ciri, they'd sooner die themselves, then let any harm come to her. The stupid writers would have known this, if they gave a crap about the source material.
When will these Hollywood types learn, DO NOT hire woke, agenda driven people who do not know, or like the source material, to adapt a huge fan favorite story for the TV or movie screen. And yet, these retards do this crap all the freaking time. Stop "re-imagining" popular established stories to fit your ideological agendas, whether it's fiction or non-fiction. Stop thinking you are a much better story teller than the person who created the source material which has 100 million followers.
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