firstly why is netflix so insistent on marketing ciri as being older and more mature than she is in the novels, wherein shes 12 during all of whats currently happening in netflixs adaptation. she looks 18 and acts 18 which is taking away from her entire character and its so disheartening to see her be so hollowed out.
this was a prevalent issue in season one as well but netflix was at least making an effort to make her seem younger and act younger at times like
freya fully looks 12-14 here but
she looks 18 here. and its not like netflix would STRUGGLE to make her look younger since they pulled it off in the first season, its just that they actively want her to look and act older - which goes against the ENTIRE POINT OF HER CHARACTER.
ciri in the novels stands as a child character forced to endure horrific things and do horrific things to survive. and the most unsettling part of it all is that she retains all her childlike qualities. one of the most blatant examples of this is when ciri kills a man then whines about dropping her cotton candy.
a large part of her purpose as a character is to display the polarity of traumatized children. like. its simple psychology.
children who endure traumatizing things will display that trauma in behaviour, saying often uncomfortable and unsettling things or engaging in uncomfortable or unsettling behaviours. sometimes they ‘mature’ quicker but this isnt always the case and with ciris character it is imperative to the narrative that she act like a child because the story wants you to think of that everytime someone hurts her.
netflix stripping her character of this strips the story of the uncomfortable horrors lying underneath it. yes i think a lot of what happens to ciri is unnecessary and disgusting (and id remove those aspects of it if i could, especially from netflixs adaptation because i dont want to see any of that on screen) but the trauma of watching her grandmother die, of seeing cintra burn down, etc. are prime examples of ciris story that are highlighted by how young she is to be witnessing all that, and for netflix to take those scenes and scribble all over them with ciri having to say something deep and meaningful, or be detached from the situation because she’s more ‘mature’ or blah blah blah, takes away from reading about her playing a clapping game and then declare shes going to kill everyone whos ever hurt her.
i think sometimes stories about child characters who matured quickly and turned cold are necessary, but thats not what ciris story is about, and i hate that that’s what netflix is turning it into.
also, a note because i almost forgot but, like, we’re literally supposed to watch ciri lose those qualities. later on in tower of the swallow and lady of the lake, we’re supposed to see her become consumed by her grief and anger and loneliness. we’re supposed to watch the little girl we’ve spent the past 5 books reading about slowly slip away. and it’s supposed to unsettle us. netflix isn’t capturing that at all.
janainaart
theartofmadeline
baratheonpilled
ellievsbear
2087
