I split this off from a post mostly about our MUSH, but some of the discussion of the facts from the books remain in that post.
I have said this before, but I’ll make the point again before going on to the meat of the post. I am a purist when it comes to seeing these books translated to another medium. If it was possible (and yes, I know it isn’t), I wouldn’t want a single change. Actually, that is my opinion for other books too, but these books are obviously special to me. I didn’t like the changes in Lord of the Rings either, but I don’t run a site devoted to those books. I don’t discuss those books every day. Its very, very hard for me to just shrug my shoulders and forget about anything that relates to ASoIaF because it is a constant presence in my life.
The most recent casting quibbles that I voiced concerned the role of Jeyne, to be played by Oona Chaplin. Now, it seems clear that she is, in some fashion, the show’s version of Jeyne Westerling. People have been assuming that my issue is with the race of the actress, which isn’t true as such. Still, lets start at that end, because that assumption has led to people saying that Jeyne Westerling isn’t even white in the books.
(As an aside, I don’t like using real-world race terminology for a fantasy world unless we take them purely as descriptions of skin colour. Ultimately, its just the appearance that matters to me. You could cast the whole Stark family as Hispanic if you found a bunch of Hispanic actors and actresses that could pass for the Starks as described in the books.)
Now, back to the topic of Jeyne.
Jeyne Westerling has a grand-mother from an unspecified location in the East (most likely somewhere in the Free Cities, that is where Westerosi traders go, by and large). Said grand-mother is described as “short, squat and warty, with greenish jowls”, though she is also said to have been beautiful in her youth. Nothing is said about her skin tone, hair, etc. Jeyne herself is chestnut-haired, brown-eyed and either slim-hipped or with good child-bearing hips, depending on if you believe Catelyn or Jaime. There is thus nothing to indicate that either Jeyne’s grand-mother or Jeyne herself have a skin-colour that sets them apart from the rest of Westeros. Indeed, none of the Westerlings or the Spicers have their skin-colour remarked upon and skin-tones that differ from the Westerosi norm are noted in the books. Furthermore, of those we have met from the Free Cities, the impression is that several of the Free Cities have a “white” appearance. Lyseni certainly do and the Volantene nobility have preserved a pale-skinned Valyrian look. Illyrio’s skin colour is never remarked upon, which again tends to mean that its not different from the norm as Westerosi characters see it.
The only Free Cities we know for sure have inhabitants with darker skin is Myr and Braavos (though there it is likely to be quite a mix considering the unique history).
Jeyne may be of foreign ancestry, but it is highly unlikely that her looks separate her out from the Westerosi nobility in general. This is where I will stress, once again, that I have no issue with Oona Chaplin playing Jeyne. I have an issue with the fact that it appears Jeyne has been given a more foreign backstory, possibly as a way to explain why she looks somewhat different from the rest of the Westerosi nobles. I wish they had skipped that. I don’t know that the change in backstory has anything to do with the actress cast, but if it does, its disappointing because its totally unnecessary.
The two castings where I have a real problem with the actors chosen are the castings of Xaro Xhoan Daxos and Salladhor Saan.
Xaro, in the books, is a “pale, lean” fellow, bald and with a big nose. He’s one of the “Milk Men” of Qarth. His casting for the show not only means that the character is likely to be pretty profoundly changed—and here I am talking about his size; I just can’t see him playing Xaro as Xaro is written and Xaro won’t be the physical contrast to Drogo that he was in the books—but it also means that they need to make setting and story changes. Either they disregard the appearance of the “Milk Men” or they change Xaro’s story so he’s not one of them. I dislike both options. Others will feel its minor and doesn’t matter, but I disagree. That’s all there is to it.
Salladhor Saan, in the books, is a Lyseni. Its not entirely clear in the first book, but by the last book it has been made very plain indeed, that the Lyseni are well-known for being blonde and blue-eyed. It appears to be a fascination with the Valyrian look, which seems to be bred for among the Lyseni pleasure slaves, and this does become an important part of certain mysteries in the books. Again, the casting of a black actor as Salladhor Saan leaves the show with two options; ignore the very cohesive Lyseni appearance or change the character’s backstory. Again, I have issues with both options.
Obviously, there are many, many actors on the show that do not fit the characters as described in the books very well. I don’t like the casting of Lysa in terms of her appearance, as I feel that her weight was a big part of the character. She has let herself go, lost the beauty of her youth and its all part of her mental instability. I don’t like the casting of Margaery, as I feel that it will be hard to make the actress look quite as young and innocent as she should, which I do feel is an integral part of Margaery. She’s not supposed to appear to be a clever player of the game. But my “breaking point” for a casting tends to come when the casting choice means not only likely changes to how the character will be played but also a change of either character backstory or setting details. I will also say that I am being harsher in my criticism of season two choices because I feel as if there will be so very many changes from the books in this season that the camel’s back is not doing well. Many of these changes are necessary to keep the plot manageable for a tv show, but that is why I wish they had avoided additional changes on top of that.
If someone still wants to call me racist, be my guest, but I know you’re making a baseless accusation and that is what matters to me. I am purely looking at this from the point of view of wanting to see the books changed as little as possible. My hope was always that the team behind the show would have the same priorities. With the first season, it felt as if they did. With the second season, I am becoming very unsure of this, and if some of these changes are due to complaints against the first season, then I feel very disappointed. I wouldn’t mind seeing less “sexposition” that isn’t from the books, but I don’t think that the criticism of the show being too white needed to be addressed in this fashion (if that is indeed what they are doing). I honestly see no difference between complaining that Game of Thrones is too white and complaining that a movie about Viking-age Scandinavia is too white. Both of them draw from a pre-existing source and when it comes to adapting the material I don’t place history above the world-building for a book.