labingi

Interesting take. On Claudia, I agree that she’s not the same character. The problem with adapting her for TV is that child actors grow up, REALLY fast, to the point where there are obvious differences from one year to the next. It’s impossible to cast a never-aging child for a series expected to last several seasons. (The producers initially wanted to shoot all of Claudia’s arc in one season, but the network made them change it.) Their only option was to cast a fully-grown adult who could pass as a teen and change her origin story. So yes, she’s a different character, but I still find her story compelling.

On Louis… I’m not a fan of book!Louis, and I love everything about this new version. And I strongly disagree that casting a Black actor is “taking the easy way out.” All the show’s commentary on race and power structures hinge on the fact that the protagonist is Black. Without putting his struggles at the centre of the story, it would just be a bunch of white folks and minor characters pontificating on race relations - in other words, irrelevant to the story being told. It might not be the same story, but I like it a lot better.