“I’m Not Offended”: The State of Discussion and Contagious Ideas

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Edcrab

by Edcrab

Assassin-women in nun costumes, being killed.

No, not a B-movie, I’m describing the Hitman trailer which most everyone has seen and rolled their eyes at.

It didn’t “feel” Hitman. It was widely disparaged and derided, seen as laughable, sometimes seen as indicative of all that is wrong with gaming. I saw it as indicative of a marketing department that couldn’t feel Hitman on the feelingest day of their life with an electrified feeling machine, and I wondered whether that kind of violence against women in fetish wear is what the demographic longs for or whether it’s merely what they’re expected to long for according to the extensive research of ad agencies.

Tycho thought it was ridiculous too. But he also felt similarly about the response to it, and as is so often the case with this strange beast called the internet, it prompted a discussion in kind . In that link, author Foz Meadows reacts to Tycho’s news post:

[A]s I read it, I experienced this sort of terrible wrenching in the part of the brain that houses our idealised past, our youthful idols, and all the naive perfection and nostalgia we ascribed to them first at the time and then later in memory. It only lasted a moment, but it was profound, because it irrevocably signals the point at which Jerry Holkins transitioned from being “geeky figurehead I respect” to “stubborn, selectively insensitive ass on the internet” in my personal lexicon. Which isn’t to say that these are forever and always mutually exclusive positions; it was just disappointing as hell .

Personally? I think the author has a point. The kind of dismissive flippancy on Tycho’s post can be toxic. Perhaps even insidiously radioactive when demonstrated by a man who is basically a small god to certain circles of the internet. He decries the negative response to the trailer as indicative of blind reactionary anger, or the need to conform with peers, or the childish doing it because it’s the “in” thing. It therefore has the awful side-effect of delegitimising any genuine grievances with the subject matter, because obviously they , too, are just voices in an ignorant crowd.

In an earlier news post Tycho remarked on the furor over the Diablo 3 log-in difficulties, noting how a lot of commentators had been setting themselves above the debate, distancing themselves from having an opinion and implying a sort of detached, indifferent superiority. And it seemed strange to have that measured attitude in regards to a game, only to immediately reach for lofty dismissal soon afterwards.

This is a man whose words will inspire others. This is a man whose attitudes will be assimilated and normalized by readers who hang on to his every word. For those readers, Tycho is dictating the “in” thing. Which is a painful irony; he may fervently insist that he doesn’t do compulsory, but his readers don’t match those standards.

Because it’s the comments on the article that sadden me most. I’ve seen what happened there, and I’ve seen it before. Authorial intent aside, some of the fans take some strange messages away from these news posts.

By heading there (to the blog post) and derailing the conversation with false equivalencies, it confirms my greatest fear; that these attitudes are, in fact, contagious. Seeing them demonstrated by idols begets their spread; and if those fans already feel that way, harbouring the nagging suspicion that only they truly understand the matter and everyone else is a intransigent cry baby, then guess which way they’ll lean? It prompts fans to go on the defensive, bringing up all the good things Tycho has done as if that means he’s immune to criticism.

He’s not. He’s a man who has done a great deal for charity, and the furthering of the medium. A man who can turn a phrase like level 20 clerics turn undead.

He remains a man who has said these things, and in part these things make me uncomfortable because of his fame and influence and reputation as a good guy. It puts them in an established context of, hey, this guy is a gamer, and he says things we should listen to; in the past he’s demonstrated an awareness of homophobia and hypersexualisation in media, and decried them! That’s great, right?

A guy who, let’s be blunt, that Edcrab weirdo talks about a lot, I bet he has good opinions on everything, right??

And some of those comments, all too familiar in their tone, make me uneasy. To shrug one’s shoulders and say “well hey, games feature killing things, how is misogyny/etc. bad compared to that?” is about as helpful as pointing out that children are starving to death in response to talk of racism, or I don’t know, homophobia. Considering society’s differing portrayals of the two it doesn’t even serve as a good comparison in the first place.

It’s a pretty glaring fallacy to assume that the presence of a worse injustice, or atrocity, or whatever, is an immediate pass for a lesser infraction, but by extension I still see people dismiss a subject of debate out of hand simply because there are “worse things” to talk about.

That is absurd. It is the very definition of privilege to demand that people should be less sensitive, tell them that they should grow up, get a thicker skin, I’M not offended WHY ARE YOU, you should complain about real problems, to call them sex-negative because their standards differ, to say that hyper-sexualization is inherent to the attitudes of an entire country and therefore here to stay and unworthy of discussion…

In the same breath? I recognize that the presence of spurious complaints does not negate the presence of reasonable concerns, jostling for position amongst the rest.

And that works both ways!

By citing your possibly-apocryphal experience of witnessing a strawman parroting half-truths and ignorance, you demonstrate only that that particular incident involved a faulty argument. That you totally know of this one feminist, right, who insisted that all men had to be shot has no bearing at all on the discussion at hand. To sincerely analyze another opinion does not necessitate having to take that ridiculous counter-example seriously.

You will not have to “ban” X or Y or Z if you “open the floodgates” and start listening to concerns. If it’s no big deal, quit complaining, don’t be angry, then maybe you should quit complaining/being angry about it.

…see how empty and petulant that sounds? With it, I am saying nothing. Absolutely nothing. “I don’t want you to talk about this any more, I am instructing you to be quiet and keep your opinion to yourself because your blog is not somewhere that I want to see your opinions”.

And no, that is not equivalent to someone providing unsolicited opinions by yelling at you on the street, or at home, or in a safe space. By all means, if this article appears in your inbox, feel free to tell the sender that the subject matter makes you uncomfortable and you’d rather not discuss it. Or tell them to fuck right off. That’s your right. But it’s not your right to do the reverse, thrusting your FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OPINION, YOU CAN’T TOUCH THIS, wherever you can fit it in gleeful disregard for how it impacts someone else’s. It is not your right to silence others or to tell them not to be offended. It simply isn’t.

You can admit, freely, that you’re personally unsure what the controversy is about. But you do not necessarily have access to the same metrics and experiences others use to judge media. You have not lived every life and you cannot know what is insensitive to all sensitivities. In the same way that you can expect a level of expertise in critical analysis from a professional, yes, I think it’s a reasonable assumption that someone with experience living the life of a [blank] might well know more about being a [blank] than you or I, and that it might be worth listening to their input.

And I freely admit: I don’t know why that is controversial, or worthy of silencing.

This entry was posted in Critical Conversation and tagged Child's Play , Diablo 3 , Dickwolves , , , Freedom of Speech , , , Penny Arcade , , Shattersnipe , . Bookmark the permalink .
  • Vincent Further

    I wasnt sure what exactly made me feel weird about what Tycho said, but I think this helps explain it better than I couldve. Like I sort of feel that it’d help to give an opinion and explore it instead of being so casual about something which is def an issue in the community..

    I feel awkward about it cos I was definitely one of those shrug and ignore it sort of people, but when faced with the guy blaming a woman for being raped in that one kotaku article I think it’s undeniable that theres something up with the way some gamers think, and it needs talked about and addressed. Instead half of us carp on about this wierd sort of idea of people running about wanting to be offended, and yeah, youre right, that doesnt help the people with real concerns.

    • Ryan Morning

      Here I am being contrarian (I’m glad you liked the article!) but Tycho absolutely DID weigh in on the issue, it was just that the news post as a whole unnecessarily focused on some feverish subset of the community desperate for scandalisation, and I felt that damaged more moderate causes.

      Although, granted, Tycho’s insistence that people should be helping to alter culture rang a bit hollow to me; it felt like it was putting the onus on detractors to change the culture by making art of their own, instead of challenging extant harmful attitudes and behaviours. To which I say… surely having a discussion, and commenting on the issue, counts as making an effort to change culture? Which brings us back to the parts of the community who read that message, and somehow took it into their heads that what is required is systematic belittlement and smearing of any opposing viewpoints.

      Ultimately? It’s right to say that something needs to be done, but sometimes, especially if you have the ears of thousands and thousands, that something can be more than stating that others can set about fixing it. Because I’m left wondering whether the problems with “gamer culture” lie with the games themselves, we the players, or some mixture of the two.

      • Vincent Further

        I generally hold that culture is always down to the people and everything else is just.. an artifact of that

        But yeah saying to make art of your own as a response to commenting on whats already there is kinda empty.

      • Steven Sukkau

        That’s the big question: who’s responsibility is it to “fix” gamer culture. Dennis Scimeca on Twitter suggested the problem lies within human nature, which is a tough thing to fix and often leads to cynicism. But to some extent he is absolutely right. Yet, Jerry Holkins of PA suggests that the medium of video games and gamer culture is a melting pot of ideas and statements meant to explore these nagging questions; the purpose of art. And by putting constraints on what artists can and can’t do defeats the very purpose of art.

  • Steven Sukkau

    What’s baffling to me is that some of the outrage to the trailer stems from “gamers should be better than this” mentality. It’s like the medium of video games is so narrow that one game somehow reflects all the tastes and characteristics of every gamer. If a film like “Nude Nuns with Guns” came out, as a fan of movies, should I be upset that such trash reflects poorly on all movie buffs? Certainly not! So what’s the difference between being a fan of film and being a fan of video games?

    • Ryan Morning

      Maybe it’s less to do with the medium and more to do the medium’s fanbase, so to speak. Which is a nebulous determination at best but perhaps they’re not the most solid comparisons to make in the first place, as I can’t say I’ve ever had a stranger repeatedly threatening to rape my corpse while I sat in the cinema; that’s a joy unique to multiplayer titles with voicecomm. But hey, with the magic of anonymity that probably happens all the time in movie forums too.

      Is something like the Hitman trailer representative of what gamers want? Damned if I know. One projects its baggage onto the other. It was a wake up call to me when I barely reacted to the trailer— desensitisation, perhaps? — yet found a debate raging in the morning. Everyone must have finally hit saturation point when faced with something that was practically a self-parody.

      What was absolutely indefensible were the number of commentators eager to silence and mock any reactions that didn’t match their own. I mean, that’s my anathema.

      • Steven Sukkau

        Yes, I would have to agree, while the video game culture and fan base is impossible to define, there do seem to be some stand-out traits, like the verbal diarrhea in online games. But its important to remember that if you treat people like animals, they will become animals. A game like Journey correctly guides players into meaningful and edifying interactions. Likewise, the Hitman trailer could be guiding viewers into harmful and destructive attitudes. Yet, doesn’t matter what we watch, we’re always accountable for our actions. No judge will let accused rapist/murderer go free because a trailer made them do it.
        If you believe video games are art, you have to ingest the hitman trailer appropriately by asking, “what is this artwork saying?” “why have the artists behind this trailer gone out of their way to upset me?”

  • http://twitter.com/TricksyRaccoon Meg

    We’ve all been talking about how the gaming community is, sadly, perhaps sexist. But it’s not really limited to gaming commuinity. This is a cultural disease that goes much further. The marketing and objectification of a fetishized female body that often has violence enacted against it. It happens everywhere and it isn’t commented upon. It happens in governmental institutions through policy making.

    I think it’s extremely important that we’re beginning to notice the sexism in this specific community now as the female gamer’s voice is becoming louder. Women like myself, who were born in the 80s and have been playing video games all of their lives, are speaking out. But so are the men and never let anyone tell you that men can’t be feminists. Feminism, like patriarchy, effects both genders.

    I think we all have our privileges and biases and they cause us to have a blindspot for certain things. Tycho seems to be no different. The first thing, when a community erupts into outrage over an issue, is not to say “You shouldn’t be offended” but, rather, “why are they offended?”

    • Steven Sukkau

      Excellent points Meg!
      Asking questions always leads to more dialogue and more understanding, instead of “stop being offended.”
      I wonder, as a female gamer, are you encouraged that more male gamers are becoming aware of sexism in games?

  • Slothboy

    The real problem I have with “debates” like this is that it goes this way:
    1. somebody is offended by something
    2. somebody else isn’t
    3. the offended person declares that the unoffended party is an evil racist/misogynist/bigot/etc.

    Why is that ok? Why is it if someone is offended then we need to do whatever we can to make them feel better? Why is there no consideration for the fact that the offended party might be wrong? Or if not wrong, perhaps misguided?

    Here’s a tip. If someone disagrees with you and you revert to name calling, then you are the one who has an indefensible argument. It doesn’t matter what the topic is. The first guy to throw a punch lost the battle of wits. Period.

    We all need to remember that just because we have a strong opinion about something, it does not mean that ours is the CORRECT opinion. If we really want topics like violence and misogyny in entertainment to receive real, lasting, constructive attention then we need to recognize that there will be disagreement. Not everyone is going to have the same line in the sand that triggers indignation. It is far better to try and explore, through reasoned discussion, why some people have different feelings about topics. THAT is how we affect lasting change and understanding.

    Personally? I think trying to make this trailer about “rape” is the wrong tact and speaks of inflammatory chest beating. For me the problem I have with what I saw in this thing was just too much graphic violence against humans. I feel like the equipment between the legs of the involved parties was a secondary issue. The whole thing made me uncomfortable and I think I would have been nearly as uncomfortable if the assassins were all men.

    The images that stuck with me were necks snapping and blood flying and noses being crushed. I can’t honestly bring to mind an accurate recall of the outfits the women were wearing, but I can clearly picture that nose getting smashed. It’s gross and I didn’t care for it, but I think people are afraid they will have too weak a statement if they just say “that was too violent” so they have to say “this promotes rape” in order to be heard. Again, I think that misrepresents the true issue here and getting cursey and name-cally because a public figure doesn’t see it the same way as you doesn’t help anything.

    • Vincent Further

      Looks like you missed no. 4, where a gamer immediately calls a woman a bitch in a conversation about misogyny

      The problem with trying to be all measured and careful is that sometimes, all that’s needed is total condemnation. like the people harrasing the female frequency kickstarter, or the rape apologists on that one kotaku article… seriously with that going on in the community, we dont need “what if the offended person is wrong??” we need the people in the majority to look at themselves really, really carefully. And thats us, the average gamers

      Saying that anyone who brings up rape culture must be beating their chest to be inflammatory says to me that you forget that rape culture doesnt have to be about literal rape, its about attitudes that promote or normalize rape. violence against women in daft costumes can totally be argued to be showcasing problematic attitudes

      • Slothboy

        I didn’t say “anyone who brings up rape culture must be beating their chest to be inflammatory.” I said that in this case, it appears to be a leap that we have made. Rather than generalizing my statement in an attempt to make it appear less valid, all you had to do was say “Rape culture doesnt have to be about literal rape, its about attitudes that promote or normalize rape. violence against women in daft costumes can totally be argued to be showcasing problematic attitudes” That is a statement that enables you to make your argument in a clear, non-antagonistic way. But thanks for making my point for me.

        Yes, SOME violence against women promotes rape culture, but not ALL violence against women. Many unfortunate examples of the human race have engaged in violence against women with no thought towards forcibly engaging them in sexual intercourse of any kind. I think there is absolutely a valid area for discussion in this case of whether or not what we are seeing is supportive of rape culture. This is where the offended parties might be reading too much into what they are seeing. That’s my point. They refuse to entertain the possibility that maybe they are reading too much into it. But again, if anybody mentions that they don’t necessarily agree with the viewpoint of the offended parties they just get shouted down in an attempt to discount their positions.

        Your hypothetical #4 is also directly in support of the overall statement I’m trying to make. People are so busy being offended and shouting at each other that there is no opportunity for real discourse. I would also never count kotaku articles or comments, youtube comments, or anything on reddit or 4chan as actual examples of people trying to have intelligent conversation. Which is why I posted here.

        I don’t want this to be about me defending tycho because I don’t know that I should or that he would even want me to, but the thing is, he didn’t call anyone a bitch. He didn’t say “rape is awesome”. His point is that he didn’t see rape in this case. He did not feel aroused by the things that were happening and he appeared to be surprised at the type of response the trailer was creating. So I don’t think it is a situation where your “total condemnation” is warranted. Now, if someone disagreed with him and he told them to fuck off, then maybe. But all he did was attempt to articulate his thoughts on the issue, and unfortunately some people who think that the video represents rape took his position to the ultimate extreme and began name calling. That is where the conversation breaks down. When folks start putting words in people’s mouths and extrapolating their statements beyond what they have intended.

        I still maintain that I see no rape in the video. I see an abhorrent level of violence. If you want to talk about violence against women I’d even entertain that conversation. But the hitman in the trailer completely ignored the gender and sexuality of his opponents. He “just” brutally murdered them. I feel like what the trailer did was show that this guy completely ignores the smoke screen of sexuality that the women used to try and gain an advantage in the battle. I think that is the opposite of rape. He viewed them simply as targets and treated them the same way he would any target. Brutal, nauseating murder.

        When we only get upset about the violence because it involves attractive women, that to me is the epitome of a double standard. Let’s just agree to get upset about the violence first on it’s own merit, without projecting motivations onto the producers of the trailer. We don’t need to do that to argue that what we saw in the trailer was stomach turning. That’s why I feel like trying to add rape to the argument actually weakens the position because it is a logical leap that we really don’t need to make in order to talk about what is wrong with the level of violence in entertainment.

        • Vincent Further

          Uh you realise that this article is pretty much entirely agreeing with you then? The whole thing is about examining arguments on their own merit instead of falling on an opinion and drowning it out just because its unfamiliar or makes you uncomfortable, which absolutely does happen (dismissing kotaku and youtube as not being representative of a community is way too easy a way out.. we should look at culture as a whole not just snip out the nasty bits)

          And we have to remember that we represent a majority, like a majority of gamers dont seem to have any problem with the community as a whole, and that skews power dynamics when it comes to minority opinions trying to find a voice and talk about what they see as big issues.