Calanthe's not a good guy
Feb. 13th, 2020 08:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kutsuwamushiCalanthe is an interesting character, I agree - probably one of the more nuanced ones in the new Witcher show. But I'm kind of creeped out by all the fangirling of her on Tumblr, because...
... Calanthe is a violently genocidal racist who relishes in killing the indigenous-coded elves. She says as much. She's also badass and a thumb in the eye of the patriarchy, so I understand the appeal. But it's still weird to me that people focus on that and ignore this other incredibly dark part of her character.
It seems kind of, I dunno, reminiscent of something? Something that has a name...
I have a friend who was watching the show, but a little more slowly than me, and she was like, "I LOVE CALANTHE." And I was like ... "you might want to wait a bit until you decide you love her."
I do think the show itself contributes to this because it is mostly sympathetic to Calanthe. It doesn't demonize her at all. Instead, it shows us her power, her nobility, her grit ... and then it complicates things by showing us her darkness. I really like her as a character but I'm not going to post a bunch of moodboards about how wonderful the LIONESS OF CINTRA is.
... Calanthe is a violently genocidal racist who relishes in killing the indigenous-coded elves. She says as much. She's also badass and a thumb in the eye of the patriarchy, so I understand the appeal. But it's still weird to me that people focus on that and ignore this other incredibly dark part of her character.
It seems kind of, I dunno, reminiscent of something? Something that has a name...
I have a friend who was watching the show, but a little more slowly than me, and she was like, "I LOVE CALANTHE." And I was like ... "you might want to wait a bit until you decide you love her."
I do think the show itself contributes to this because it is mostly sympathetic to Calanthe. It doesn't demonize her at all. Instead, it shows us her power, her nobility, her grit ... and then it complicates things by showing us her darkness. I really like her as a character but I'm not going to post a bunch of moodboards about how wonderful the LIONESS OF CINTRA is.
