Yesterday The Wife introduced a new lead character for the third installment in the series, the third book is called Naledi His Love.
The internet went wild after the pictures of Naledi were exposed to the public. As you all know by now, the character of Naledi will be played by Gaisang Keaikitse Noge.
The news of her casting has been met with a lot of backlash from the fans. Loyal fans of the books have come out guns blazing to call out this particular casting because they say it doesn’t represent the Naledi described in the books.
In the book, Naledi is described as a big-boned woman. She is a beautiful, fuller-figured beauty.
In the first chapter of His Love, Naledi had to meet with a cop at a fast-food restaurant. She mentions that she had to order herself a salad because she gets embarrassed by the looks she receives when eating in public, exceptionally if she orders fast food. She says she feels judged because of her weight.
This is the root of all the problems with the new Naledi. The public feels that The series is cheating them from a great storyline that encompasses the very core of this third book.
Naledi’s insecurities about her weight play a crucial role in the book, but more than anything, it’s the way Qhawe sees her that makes everything interesting.
Qhawe falls in love with her just as she is a big woman.
Viewers are devastated because they feel Gaisang doesn’t represent the Naledi described in the book, which the author of the books described as a size 40 to 42 and thick. The author said she wanted to bring women’s body politics into the picture and conversation.
Viewers feel like the series backed away from showing thick women in a positive light like the author originally meant to.
The most important thing about this storyline is how Qhawe sees Naledi. He finds her irresistible, and he goes after her as a plus-sized woman.
Fans shared pictures of women they feel should have been cast for the role, and they don’t look anything like Noge.
One social media user shared a picture of Siyasanga Papu as one of their choices for this role. Siyasanga plays the role of Pretty in Gomora, you see? She doesn’t look anything like Gaisang.
Anele Mdoda also chimed in on this topic. She wrote, “Jokes aside. It would have been nice to cast a size 42 dark actress for the role of Naledi in The Wife. I won’t go into a thesis, but when we speak of the success of THE WIFE, we attribute it to representation and authenticity, and this was a good time to be led by that.”
Fans feel like the series is cheating them out of the original characters written in the books.
However, the debate is that, in the books, Qhawe and Naledi also get into explicit scenes, and viewers feel like those scenes would not be dignified with a bigger lady.
Many have been complaining about the adaptations saying the production company has wholly disrespected the vision of the book writer, Dudu Busani Dube, who is also a plus-sized woman by the way, and who has said herself that these books are based on some of her life experiences,