The Witcher S3 - Tumblr Posts
I'm going to say this incredibly bluntly, but The Witcher (finally) providing canon confirmation and representation of Jaskier's bisexuality is nothing but a blatant grab for ratings and views and positive engagement in a piss-poor attempt to revive itself.
Jaskier deserves better. Joey Batey, who's thrown his entire being into this role, deserves better. The fans deserve better.
From the moment the show was announced they've been skirting the topic, flirting with it whenever it suits them and outright ignoring it when they can't think of anything smart and vague to say. Baiting fans by coyly saying they couldn't possibly confirm he is, but they can't deny he is either.
Using it as a counter to try and stop their public image and longevity disintegrating is just... So fucking disappointing. Its been done before by other shows, both with queer characters and with other concepts, but again.
Joey and Jaskier deserved more. Jaskier being acknowledged as bisexual should've been its own moment. It should've been for the character, not for the profit.
FYI you can enjoy Jaskier being canonically bisexual while also acknowledging that its being used as a hosepipe on a gasoline fire. Jaskier being bisexual is not the bad thing. How and why its now being included is.
If you are going to post praise or support for Jaskier's confirmed sexuality, please do not dedicate it to The Witcher or the showrunners and writers. Dedicate it to Joey. Joey is the one who fought from day one for the show to honor Jaskier's sexuality. Joey is the one who spent weeks arguing with the writers and show runners to make the scenes accurate, engaging, respectful and honest. Joey is the one who said if you're going to use this as a lifeline, you're at least going to do it right.
Light correction:
Henry Cavill was never actually fired from the show. He voluntary chose to break his contract and instigated the decision.
The common misconception that he was fired is lingering misinformation from the DeuxMoi smear campaign against him (which was proven to be fake and which DeuxMoi had to put out a statement rescinding).
Lauren Hissrich has already stated that Henry was never fired and chose to give up the role, which is about the only honest thing that's actually come out of her mouth since the news broke.
(Its also incredibly unlikely that a very prolific actor in the lead role of a popular TV show with hopes to make 7 seasons would be fired just for refusing to do an intimate sex scene. Henry is not the only male lead actor to recently request a drop or eradication of sex scenes (Penn Badgely as another prolific mention) and it would be a huge financial burden and overall risk to take that course of action, especially in today's climate where the controversy surrounding Hollywood and its film industry is at an all-time high.)
Don't get me wrong, I adore Henry and what has transpired behind the scenes for him is absolutely disgusting (and I will defend him against it to the death), but he wasn't fired, and this isn't about Henry.
If you are going to post praise or support for Jaskier's confirmed sexuality, please do not dedicate it to The Witcher or the showrunners and writers. Dedicate it to Joey. Joey is the one who fought from day one for the show to honor Jaskier's sexuality. Joey is the one who spent weeks arguing with the writers and show runners to make the scenes accurate, engaging, respectful and honest. Joey is the one who said if you're going to use this as a lifeline, you're at least going to do it right.
Just a reminder that:
Joey Batey has actively combated scenes, information, plots, details and lore being cut from the show by including it in his songs.
Joey Batey has been the lead songwriter and composer for all of Jaskier's music since the start of the show. That's three whole seasons worth of music so far. That's six years of writing and producing music.
Joey Batey has embodied Jaskier as bisexual since day one, and actively admitted to having to write over 7,000 words across multiple emails (excluding phone calls and in-person meetings) to fight against the choices the writers and runners were proposing for the 'reveal' scene(s) and future scenes.
Joey was one of the first people during the video interviews to praise Henry after the DeuxMoi smear campaign and has displayed nothing but respectful support for him amidst the chaos. He also did his best to imply that Henry hadn't been fired, despite the active rumors otherwise and the blanket ban on addressing actual details.
Joey filmed the Rience torture scene for over twelve consecutive hours despite being in pain and feeling nauseated and experiencing significant mental distress and being in freezing cold temperatures, outside, in the middle of winter.
Has, without fail, always supported his female co-stars and had nothing but good things to say about them. Has never sexualised them once or behaved inappropriately, and always ensures they get equal press coverage when doing group or duo events.
Read the books, played the games and asked Henry to help him prepare for and portray Jaskier as an accurate representation of Dandelion and Dandelion's personality and characteristics despite the show's shoddy writing.
I'm not telling you not to boycott the show or to not support the cast. Henry has also made no official statement about being forced to end his contract. So, again, you are portraying misinformation. I advise you don't take me talking about Joey as a personal dismissal of Henry. This discussion is about Joey and the recognition he rightfully deserves for his involvement in the show and his actions, separate from Henry Cavill.
However.
On June 28th we still have no official statement from Henry Cavill or his representatives.
All I'm saying is not to spread misinformation, and to not make a post about Joey about Henry (and false statements.)
Henry has also never claimed or stated he was sexually harassed on set of The Witcher. What you're presumably referring to is that he refused to perform a scheduled sex scene in the script as a joint decision made with Anya, based on their perception of the plot and the scene's intentions. They mutually declared the scene was unfit for the characters, and changed it to a non-sexual moment of intimacy and reunion.
Source for the above paragraph.
(What Henry has spoken out against in the past, however, is being sexualised and objectified. A good example of this is Amy Adams during the Superman and Justice League movies, who even let her daughter grope him as a toddler.
Henry has also spoken out and said that he has a growing dislike for shirtless scenes because they often require him to dehydrate for days and undertake actions that are dangerous to his health, such as excessive working out while dehydrating and avoiding eating. Hugh Jackman has also brought this up and challenged Hollywood's perception on male body standards in the film industry.)
Just for information's sake, here's another article detailing Henry's public statements about his grievances with the show. Again, absolutely nothing about sexual assault on the set or from the producers.
Also for information's sake, a pretty good discussion video on the subject.
Anya specifically said; "He's chosen that this is the end and to move on."
Lauren specifically said: "It was a mutual agreement that he wanted to move on."
Joey specifically said: "Life changes, he had things come up."
Henry Cavill was not fired. He made the active decision to leave. That's not publicist propaganda or saving face. The ship was sinking and burning and he took a running jump off it. He swam like he had a Great White grazing his ankles. Usain Bolt couldn't catch this man running away from their bullshit.
But.
This post is about how Joey, exclusively, is responsible for preventing what happened to Henry and Geralt happening to him and Jaskier.
Joey, who has considerably less money, influence, backing and leverage than Henry did. Who doesn't have Henry around to back up his complaints. Who is still currently locked into a contract and wholeheartedly wants what is best for Jaskier.
Who is also currently facing atrocious homophobia across all social media platforms.
That is the focus of this post. That is what we should be paying attention to when we talk about Joey. Joey Batey deserves recognition and support for what he has done, is doing, and will have to do for as long as he's employed by The Witcher.
If you are going to post praise or support for Jaskier's confirmed sexuality, please do not dedicate it to The Witcher or the showrunners and writers. Dedicate it to Joey. Joey is the one who fought from day one for the show to honor Jaskier's sexuality. Joey is the one who spent weeks arguing with the writers and show runners to make the scenes accurate, engaging, respectful and honest. Joey is the one who said if you're going to use this as a lifeline, you're at least going to do it right.
jfc s3 of the witcher sucks balls wow. its genuinely surprising how soulless and nothing that was. also the costumes and hair/makeup were TERRIBLE