Quote Originally Posted by Murk View Post
I'm not surprised by controversy either, but I think the casting is fine.

I agree that all the Randland countries should have a visually distinctive touch, but skin colour is not the only way to be visually distinctive. I'd say it isn't even the easiest way to be visually distinctive. Wheel of Time is filled with weird mustacheless beards, silly hats, strange tattoos, braids or pony tails, colourfull or dull dresses and many other visual cultural marks that can be pasted onto any actor independent of skin colour.
If all Two River folk have braids and embroidered shirts (while no other people does), they will be absolutely visually distinct, an obvious separate ethnicity, and it's easy to make Rand a clear outsider.
Rand wouldn't be a clear outsider in that case, because he'd have his hair in braids and be wearing an embroidered shirt. What you're describing is culture, not race. Rand came to Two Rivers as a baby, and him having grown up there and been immersed in the culture of this rural farming village is kind of critical to the plot.

I agree with the earlier comment that just him being a red-head would be enough to make him visually distinct. It's been a long time since I read the books, but the two things I remember them harping on was Rand's red hair and grey eyes. Give him red hair and grey eyes, draw attention to them as being atypical for a Two Rivers boy, and leave it at that. It's simple, it's effective, and you can easily make sure nobody other than the Aiel have red hair while still keeping plenty of diversity in the cast.