I need opinions on something bc I do have my own but I wanna hear other people out especially poc, some people have a problem with Babou being casted as Ser Bennis bc of how bad and unsanitary the character is etc. and they don't like that they gave that role to a poc, what do y'all think??
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In my opinion and I could definitely be missing something so please educate me, but I think poc should be able to play any kind of roles from good to bad to morally gray to weird just anything, I understand what people mean, but I also don't think that should be something restricting them from playing all kinds of roles that they want to. But again maybe there is something more that I am missing and if so please let me know right away
HBO casts Babou Ceesay as Ser Bennis in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 2, sparking debate as the character differs from George R.R. M
*spoilers for season two of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms*
I've seen several posts about people concerned that Ser Bennis of the Brown Shield was race swapped with a Black actor, Babou Ceesay. I'm going to wait until I see how they do it before complaining. Bennis, as he is in the short story, is a smelly, unkempt hedge knight that formerly served with Ser Arlan that Dunk and Egg join working for Ser Eustace Osgrey.
Yes, having the only Black character being the gross, unwashed one would be... uncomfortable. I don't think the fact that he smells is that important to the character though? I would just leave that all out, if I were doing it.
Like he mainly serves as foil for Dunk in how they approach their jobs. Bennis thinks they should just not tell Ser Eustace what happened to the river (it was damned up), while Dunk feels honor-bound to tell the truth. But this brings the threat of war. The novella never deals with the fact that Ser Bennis also wanted to avert war, just went about it in a "lazier" way?
Plus it makes sense that Dunk signs up to work with another Hedge Knight who he knew through Ser Arlan, but Dunk thinks that Bennis has grown craven in the years since Ser Arlan knew him. I'd love to have some flashbacks to the first time Dunk met Bennis, to show better how the world may have corrupted him. (Mostly I want more Ser Arlan?)
IDK. Bennis is the first Hedge Knight besides Ser Arlan and Dunk that we meant in the series, and "The Mystery Knight" has like five more (possibly too many), so I would start the comparison of types of Hedge Knights here with Bennis.
I do think there is a way to do it where he's more interesting than in the novella, like Maekar and Lyonel were in this season. But I will wait...
And at least they are not just race-swapping characters that are slaves? [I was VERY annoyed that the two most prominent Black characters in GoT were Missandei and Grey Worm. Not that those two actors weren't good, but were simply characters from different countries. Daario, Varys, and Melisandre are also from different countries, why did they only pick the characters that were slaves?] So at least Ser Bennis is a knight of the realm....?
IDK. Maybe I am too full of hope after this first season.
What are your thoughts on the following D&E characters: Maekar, Daeron the Drunk, Ser Bennis, Ser Osgrey, Glendon Ball, and Uthor Underleaf?
Maekar: really can’t say until we see him as King, which we know so little about. Stannis Targaryen, so far.
Daeron the Drunk: a favorite of mine. Poor sweet sad man, hug me and spill your wine on me and mumble an apology and hug me again.
Ser Bennis: Y’know, Bronn minus the charm.
Ser Osgrey: A thematically very important character, kinda like Septon Meribald in that GRRM comes close to dropping the veil and speaking directly about how he feels about war.
Glendon Ball: another favorite. Breaks my fucking heart, this kid.
