There are times when not opening one’s mouth is the right call. Times when silence is golden. Occasionally simply not speaking your mind is better than word-vomiting all over the internet.

For instance, let me introduce you to Tomek Baginski, a producer on the Netflix fantasy drama, The Witcher. Baginski should perhaps follow the advice of Maurice Switzer, who sagely wrote: “It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.”

Speaking with Polish news site Wyborcza (as translated by fan-site Redanian Intelligence) Baginski gave many reasons for changes to The Witcher show from the books and short stories, including production chaos and unforeseen issues like actors falling ill—understandable reasons—before saying this:

When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers, with different experiences, from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are Americans, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary. It’s painful for us, and for me too, but the higher level of nuance and complexity will have a smaller range, it won’t reach people. Sometimes it may go too far, but we have to make these decisions and accept them.

Do you hear that, fellow Americans? The “higher level of nuance and complexity” in the books is simply going to be lost on us. We were so confused by the books that we didn’t turn them into best sellers in the United States. Our poor, empty heads were so rattled by the complexities of CDPR’s games, that we didn’t turn the game franchise into one of the most lucrative and well-regarded RPGs in history. The poor creators of The Witcher were quite literally forced to dumb down the show because so many Americans were going to watch it and clearly—clearly!—that requires changes from the books that make no sense and are confusing for totally different reasons.

But not just Americans. No, changes to The Witcher that almost certainly drove away its star, Henry Cavill, and have seen the most egregious dip in viewership for its Season 3, Volume 2 episodes also lays at the feet of young people and TikTok. Behold this insane exchange between the interviewer and Baginksi:

Baginski: The audience changes, it’s not like… It all changes. I see the [quickening] of the processes Jacek Dukaj wrote about in his book After the Script. We resign from cause-and-effect chains, from linear narration. This book-like narration. When it comes to shows, the younger the public is, the logic of the plot is less significant.

Interviewer: What is significant, then?

Baginski: Just emotions. Just pure emotions. A bare emotional mix. Those people grew up on TikTok and YouTube, they jump from video to video.

Interviewer: You’re talking to such a person.

Baginski: Okay, so it’s time to be serious. Dear children, what you do to yourself makes you less resilient for longer content, for long and complicated chains of cause and effect.

Could a person be more condescending than this? The interviewer just told him that he was the demographic Baginski was describing and he has the audacity to come back with a “Dear children” response!?

I have a hard time blaming the writers when I see a producer make these comments. I’m certain that a great deal of the actual problems this show has are passed down from those in charge, with writers forced to make changes they otherwise wouldn’t make. Certainly there are writing problems as well, but this makes it obvious that the dumbing down of The Witcher was intentional and motivated by ludicrous business reasons (aka make more money) and bizarre logic.

If Americans and young people can’t handle complex television, why are shows like Game Of Thrones so popular? Why does Succession win so many awards? Why was House of the Dragon a hit? Americans enjoyed The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and plenty other smart shows. And young people—those addled by TikTok and Instagram—seem to enjoy many of these shows, too. They are not driven purely by emotion. I have two teenage children who enjoy shows like Severance and Barry, shows with complicated characters and narrative.

This is one of the most insulting interviews I’ve ever had the misfortune to read. Netflix should keep a tighter leash on its spokespeople. Better yet, hire creatives who don’t have disdain for their audiences and the source material they’re seeking to adapt. It isn’t that hard.