Not long ago, Netflix's The Witcher TV series
had its writer's room revealed via Instagram, courtesy of its showrunner, Lauren S. Hissrich. Most of the comments on the post were fairly positive but there were more than a fair share of negative remarks centered on the diversity of the assembled group [
as noted by Kotaku writer Gita Jackason]. Most of the comments focused on fears that the TV series would be adding minority and female characters to fit the current sociopolitical climate in Hollywood.
One comment read, "inb4 Geralt comes out as trans." Another individual asked, "[The] question is whether you would deviate from the books’ races and cultures to include minorities?"
These comments stem from the fact that of the 9 assembled writers, 5 were women and 2 were minorities.
Hissirch actually took the time to write back to a few of the commenters before ultimately deciding she had better things to do with her time.
"I will not deviate from the books’ races and cultures, which means I WILL include minorities," wrote Hissirch. She further went on to explain that her selection process for hiring precluded any personal desires to fill any quotas.
Hissirch explained that she hires blindly, without looking at any photos of the writers and just separates resumes based on the script ideas they propose. It was further explained that all the writers have read the original Witcher books but that there's already broad outlines of what themes she wants to tackle in each season.
To close out her replies, Hissirch wrote to one dissenter, "I’m okay with you living out your life, and me living out mine. Because mine involves writing my favorite tv show, and interacting with fans who—even if they have questions or concerns—don’t need to degrade or disparage others to express them. These are the people I want to win, and keep.”