The Ableist Problem with Yennefer: a “The Witcher” review.
Have you been watching The Witcher? I’m almost to the end of the first season I’ve realised two things:
Firstly, it is a good show. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. It has great actors in it who give the show some serious acting chomps (is that even a thing?). It has humour, amazing costumes, and a fairly diverse cast.
Secondly, it’s inherently ableist and I’m struggling to get past that. Specifically the character of Yennefer and her transformation from “ugly” and “weak” disabled to “beautiful” and “powerful” able-bodied sorceress.
Yennefer’s transformation has left me with an underlying sense of yuckiness and disappointment. Every time I see Yennefer, I can’t help but see the disability transformation trope playing out like a nightmare before my eyes.
I wonder if it is the same for other disabled people who are yet again being told that they are not enough as they are to live a full, happy, and thriving life.
But more on this in a moment…
The Witcher is a new show from Netflix that is based on The Witcher series of novels and short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. And we can’t forget the video game history of the story… in fact that was the way that I became introduced to The Witcher, watching my…
