I feel like there's some post hoc fallacy going on here.
Observation #1: Most major fantasy shows today are trying to make a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Observation #2: Most major fantasy shows today are kind of crap.
Fallacy: Commitment to DEI causes a show to be crap.
In fact, #2 is much more likely to be Sturgeon's Law in action. Ninety percent of everything is crap. And if a show is generally poorly done, then its attempts to support DEI will be likewise poorly done -- ham-handed, superficial, and preachy. But that isn't the fault of DEI.
Take for example the handling of race between "Rings of Power" and "House of the Dragon." In both cases, the source material featured an overwhelmingly white cast, and the showrunners wanted to fix that. In "Rings of Power," they added a bunch of non-canonical characters and then picked a handful of them to cast nonwhite actors, with no consideration for things like "Does this person look somewhat similar to their blood relatives?" In "House of the Dragon," they picked one of the major, canonically white families--House Velaryon--and made them dark-skinned*.
HotD integrated their DEI push into the fictional world, making changes to canon where necessary. RoP did not. That isn't because one show was more "politically correct" than the other, it's because one show put more thought into it.
*They really should have done the same with House Targaryen, it would make perfect sense for Valyrians to be dark-skinned given Valyria's location, but I guess they felt constrained to match Daenerys and Viserys in "Game of Thrones."
Observation #1: Most major fantasy shows today are trying to make a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Observation #2: Most major fantasy shows today are kind of crap.
Fallacy: Commitment to DEI causes a show to be crap.
In fact, #2 is much more likely to be Sturgeon's Law in action. Ninety percent of everything is crap. And if a show is generally poorly done, then its attempts to support DEI will be likewise poorly done -- ham-handed, superficial, and preachy. But that isn't the fault of DEI.
Take for example the handling of race between "Rings of Power" and "House of the Dragon." In both cases, the source material featured an overwhelmingly white cast, and the showrunners wanted to fix that. In "Rings of Power," they added a bunch of non-canonical characters and then picked a handful of them to cast nonwhite actors, with no consideration for things like "Does this person look somewhat similar to their blood relatives?" In "House of the Dragon," they picked one of the major, canonically white families--House Velaryon--and made them dark-skinned*.
HotD integrated their DEI push into the fictional world, making changes to canon where necessary. RoP did not. That isn't because one show was more "politically correct" than the other, it's because one show put more thought into it.
*They really should have done the same with House Targaryen, it would make perfect sense for Valyrians to be dark-skinned given Valyria's location, but I guess they felt constrained to match Daenerys and Viserys in "Game of Thrones."
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