Black Arthur: Netflix’s “Cursed,” or A Defense of Diverse Casting

Much of the negative response to Cursed — an audacious and original take on the Arthurian legends — stems from those who find its representation of dark-skinned heroes and supernatural “fays” “ahistorical” or unfaithful to the sources. Cursed indeed departs sharply from the medieval fiction genre, which tends to evoke an all-white pre-modern Europe through fantasy, as in Game of Thrones, or historical narrative, as in The Tudors or The White Queen.