The Decameron

DEI cast in 14th Century Italy. This is beyond ridiculous.

Stick with the Pasolini film instead.

Was that trailer meant to be funny?

Well R1, it is a series VERY LOOSELY based on some stories from the Decameron. In fact, it has next to nothing to do with the book itself. Thus, since it is a complete work of fiction independent from any real historic events or documents, should we really care?

I am finding the series to be a bit odd and in many regards, rather clichéd (lesbians live a torrid, not-so-secret romance that everyone accepts without any problems, there's a not exactly closeted gay man, the rich are all mean and their entire personalities revolve around being snooty and rude, poor people are all intelligent and humble and kind, etc), but it's OK. Not particularly deep or funny, but enjoyable enough when you don't have anything better to watch.

Skip this. Pasolini's version is a masterpiece.

Streaming on Amazon.

R1, thought I am not familiar with the plot or characters in The Decameron , I do know it is set squarely within the time period that people from the Asia and Africa were driving the Muslim expansion into Eastern and Southern Europe. It was understood, at the time, that dark-skinned foreigners were mingling with the native Europeans if Shakespeare is any guide and wasn’t also indulging in DEI casting.

Pasolini's version is masturbation-worthy as well.

Not quite accurate r7.

I'm not r1, but I doubt many South Asians were Florentine nobles in 14th Century Tuscany, r7.

The Ottomans were in Southeast Europe in the 14th Century but not in Italy. Furthermore, they were a conqueror class and were not blended into everyday society.

The DEI casting in historical pieces is so stupid. Is the world going to come to an end if there's an all-white cast?

R12, I don’t think so, but perhaps it would because it seems that having a heterogeneous cast elicits a certain eschatological reaction for some.

It doesn’t bother me one way or the other, I’ve always found that works of fiction of any sort require at least some suspension of belief so I keep an open mind.

It’s probably a great thing for the series publicity wise. Let’s face it, no cinematic creation based on The Decameron is going to top the ratings and people talking at it, good or bad, gets it in front of more potential viewers without a dime spent in publicity.

We're watching this at the moment. The main gay character Panfilo is rather deliciously cute, and the messenger he ends up fucking even more so. Its fun and a bit better than Bridgerton, the DEI casting requires less of a stretch to believe than this, as R7 points out the characters in this could possibly have looked like this in Southern Italy whereas the ones in Bridgerton just couldnt.

The animation with all the rats in the credits at the start is amazing, probably one of the best I've seen, its quite something and very pertinent to the time this is set in, being the height of the Black Plague