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From: Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net>
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Subject: Dungeons & Dragons Has To Solve Its Controversial Drow Problem Before A Legend Of Drizzt TV Show Can Be Made
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2024 13:25:56 -0500
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Dungeons & Dragons has to confront its drow problem so it can finally reward 
the adventuring parties loyal to The Legend of Drizzt books with an 
adaptation, which has been overdue since 1988. Dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden was 
introduced in 1988 in R.A. Salvatore's The Crystal Shard, the first book in 
The Icewind Dale Trilogy. Drizzt is the center of a lot of D&D gameplay and 
is also important to many who have never played a D&D game in their lives. 
Adapting Drizzt for the screen may be D&D's biggest commercial opportunity, 
but a drow controversy stands in its way.

Salvatore's books frequently appear on The New York Times bestseller lists 
and have sold upwards of 30,000,000 copies. The powerful drow ranger Drizzt 
Do'Urden is a dark fantasy institution in his own right beyond D&D, and a 
movie or TV adaptation may be the awareness spike that D&D needs to finally 
break the mainstream in a meaningful way. Vox Machina is slaying dragons and 
competition on Amazon Prime Video's The Legend of Vox Machina, but D&D won't 
unlock the next level with all these skeletons in its closet. D&D must tackle 
its problematic drow before it can adapt Drizzt.

Dungeons & Dragons Has To Address Its Drow Controversy Once & For All
Dungeons & Dragons Has A Drow Problem

A live-action Legend of Drizzt adaptation would entail confronting the nature 
of drow and the color of their skin, which have been divisive in Dungeons & 
Dragons since 2020. However, the politically dubious nature of the drow 
started being discussed in the fandom long before 2020. Based on Norse 
folklore, drow were invented by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax and first 
introduced in 1977's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual as an evil, 
black-skinned race. Needless to say, D&D had to rethink that. In a 2020 blog 
post they have since removed, Hasbro finally addressed the mounting 
controversy over its drow problem:

	Throughout the... history of D&D ... drow... have been characterized 
	as monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully 
	reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to 
	be denigrated. That's... not right... Despite our conscious efforts 
	to the contrary, we have allowed some of those old descriptions to 
	reappear in the game... If we make mistakes, our priority is to make 
	things right... We present... drow in a new light in two of our most 
	recent books... In those books... drow are just as morally and 
	culturally complex as other peoples. We will continue that approach 
	in future books...

A Drizzt Do'Urden TV adaptation would draw attention to this and could create 
more problems for D&D than sales. Cancel culture looms large. D&D publisher 
Wizards of the Coast LLC - bought by Hasbro in 1997 - didn't just make drow 
less evil, it also retreated from presenting drow as a race. D&D began using 
the word "species" instead of "race" for all its peoples to closer align with 
their real-world parallels and avoid uncomfortable comparisons. This is 
another skeleton that a Drizzt adaptation could free from the closet. But the 
flesh hasn't even rotted off the bones of the drow skin color scandal.

D&D hasn't yet tackled drow nature or skin color as openly as it should have, 
but it can do so through a Legend of Drizzt adaptation with a wry sense of 
humor. The Drizzt books are dark fantasy and an adaptation would wear gothic 
styling well. But D&D tried dark and gritty in its first three movies, which 
didn't have the depth to pull it off. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 
and The Legend of Vox Machina prove satirical fantasy as D&D's style. Satire 
would allow a Drizzt adaptation to make fun of itself and expunge its dark 
past.

	D&D can't hide its skeletons in a closet anymore.

D&D gradually shifted its depiction of drow skin color from black to purple 
and gray but never issued a clear, enduring declaration of what it actually 
is. A Legend of Drizzt TV show - which would probably work better than a 
movie - should make drow varying shades of purple to avoid the complications 
of real-world parallels. Or, it can fully embrace its ebony-skinned drow and 
use a majority black or PoC cast, a la Black Panther, as a statement against 
whitewashing. Either way, it can make meta jokes with strong in-universe 
logic that allude to the checkered past of the drow's appearance.

The Legend of Drizzt intended an anti-racist message, and an adaptation's 
script, in the hands of smart writers, would be strengthened by D&D's dark 
past, not weakened by it. Smart writers could tease out the liberating story 
that there is to tell here. Whether its drow are purple or black, a Drizzt 
adaptation has to stand against racism loudly. D&D can't hide its skeletons 
in a closet anymore. If it wants to be an ally, it must own up to its 
mistakes and compensate. In an awakening world, D&D may not reach its full 
potential unless it takes this vital step.

Toril is a wide world, and it holds space for stories just as liberating as 
the drow are problematic. Despite its dark past, D&D has become a beloved 
space for many uniting through a shared interest, becoming whoever they 
choose to be. D&D's drow problem notwithstanding, R.A. Salvatore's story is 
about someone facing racial prejudice and trying to break free from it. Honor 
Among Thieves was going to include Drizzt but backed out due to its drow 
controversy, and he became Xenk instead. This was a mistake. A bold 
showrunner would make this the empowerment story that D&D needs.

D&D's 2020 overhaul included changes to D&D 5e that allowed more flexible 
Player Characters and the introduction of good drow cultures like the 
Aevendrow and Lorendrow, but this was a faltering start to correcting its 
errors. R.A. Salvatore addressed his part in the drow problem by adding 
Aevendrow to The Legend of Drizzt in Starlight Enclave in 2021, confirming 
that "if the drow are being portrayed as evil, that’s a trope that has to go 
away" (Polygon). But the 5e changes didn't nip D&D's systemic racial 
stereotyping in the bud, they just allowed players to make exceptions to the 
rule.

	A truly self-aware Drizzt adaptation would demonstrate that all 
	drow are complex from the start.

Meanwhile, Aevendrow and Lorendrow diluted the logic of former stories 
somewhat. D&D could have amplified its complex drow goddess Eilistraee in 
some other way, but this would have been difficult without huge retcons. 
Aevendrow and Eilistraee are both vital in The Legend of Drizzt and must be 
included in any adaptation along with Drizzt and his Artemis rivalry and the 
Companions of the Hall. But a truly self-aware Drizzt adaptation would 
demonstrate that all drow are complex from the start. With sensitive writing, 
a goth-tinged aesthetic, and a heart of gold, this adaptation could be just 
what Dungeons & Dragons needs.

--
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