The Witcher Netflix Show Will Be "Very Adult", We're Told

The Witcher Netflix show is comin’ closer and closer every day, and every day I find my excitement and energy for this property grow increasingly thin. It’s not that I love the Witcher as a franchise any less – I barely liked it to begin with – it’s more that I have a whole lot less trust in Netflix than I used to, and the more I learn about the show, the less… I don’t know, compelling it sounds? Maybe not for the actual content of what we learn, but how it’s being presented.

For example. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich recently gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly, where she describes the show thusly:
 

“It’s a very adult show. I will add it was important to me that any violence or sex drives the story and is not there just for shock value. I think audiences are really savvy and know when we’re doing stuff to just shock them versus do stuff that really drives the story.”

On one hand, that’s a kind of defensive claim, considering that there’s still this perception around fantasy being for kids. On the other, they were asked pretty point-blank if they were going for a “PG-13 vibe”, so that’s probably more the fault of the interviewer themselves.

She also made it clear that this is not going to be about the video games, which is another reason I’m less excited than ever before:
 

"We’re not adapting the videogames, it’s a straight adaptation of the books. Which is great as the videogames are also an adaptation of the books. They went one direction, we actually get to go another. We’re kind of holding close to our chest what we’re doing in the first season."

It makes sense they would do that, of course, considering the original author is way more involved in this than he ever was with the video games. But it still strikes me as a little annoying: especially since this wouldn’t even be happening without the work of CD Projekt Red.

We all know it, just say it.