’The Witcher’ Showrunner Apologizes To ‘Those Who I’ve Hurt’ After Her ‘Twitter Peace Accord’ Goes Off the Rails
The Witcher Season 2 became a new hot addition to the Netflix series. But over the past week, The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich found herself in a rousing discussion with a disgruntled fan on Twitter. The back and forth conversation led to fans responding to the showrunner. They claim she allowed a “gatekeeper” fan to criticize The Witcher’s female characters.
Hissrich’s debacle with the fan online opened the door to a bigger discussion of inclusion, feminity, sexism, and bigotry on and off-screen.
‘The Witcher’ showrunner responded to a fans critique over season 2’s push for female lead characters
Where did the controversial discussion between Hissrich and a fan begin? On Jan.8, Hissrich responded to a fan’s comment on Twitter. TheQuartering posted his thoughts on The Witcher Season 2. He focuses on its misuse of Geralt concerning the female characters like Ciri and Yennefer.
“Henry Cavill has been totally wasted on The Witcher. Geralt continues to play second or third fiddle on his own show because well…Netflix. The writers are so obsessed to force the strong independent wahmen who don’t need no man they ignore why most of us wanted to watch,” said TheQuartering.
Hissrich responded with a comedic tone. She had no plans to insight an ongoing discussion that would go off the rails. “Actually, I’m the strong independent woman you’re looking to blame for your sadness,” responded Hissrich. But The Witcher showrunner never expected to face both sides of the criticism coin from fans.
Lauren S. Hissrich tried to diffuse fans’ responses to her Twitter interaction
After her initial response to de-troll the fan on Twitter over The Witcher’s female characters, fans had a different response. According to BleedingCool, fans were divided between supporting Hissirch and criticizing her. Some fans felt the showrunner was correct in facing the type of inappropriate online behavior from a fan claiming the show was pushing a “militant feminist agenda.”
But some fans felt The Witcher’s Hissrich gave the fan an unwarranted spotlight. BleedingCool explains, “others see Hissrich’s efforts as doing nothing more than giving another gatekeeper and their hateful speech a bigger spotlight and a larger microphone.”
Hissrich returned to Twitter to insight a meaningful conversation to try and understand TheQuartering. But fans felt it only added fuel to the fire. Some believed it disvalued Hissrich’s ambitions to make the series inclusive in different forms. The showrunners efforts then pushed the fan to make a response video to her question of if he bullied women.
The Witcher showrunner’s effort to make an amicable “Twitter Peace Accord” was unsuccessful. Hissrich later issued an apology on Twitter to fans who felt hurt over her words. The fandom is divided between fans who welcome Hissrich’s willingness to change the narrative to be more inclusive and fans who want the action-packed Geralt story they cherish.
How is Showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich changing the narrative in Netflix’s ‘The Witcher?’
One aspect of the original book series that Hissrich fell in love with was the representation of female characters. In an interview with 1883 Magazine, she explained characters like Yennefer, Ciri, Fringilla, and Francesca are not perfect. They go through turbulent events, fear, and darkness that shape them.
In The Witcher, fans see a strong Ciri who learns to fend for herself after losing her family and Cintra. Fans also see Yennefer taking power into her own hands. The Witcher Season 2, as Hissrich explains, fleshed out the impact and power the female characters have alongside Geralt’s story.
The showrunner felt the female characters’ stories have the same impact and maybe even greater than just one witcher character. For The Witcher Season 3, Hissrich teases she wants to explore the sexuality of these characters and characters like Philippa.
