Episode 252 – GamerGate and Anime
It seems like everyone is talking about GamerGate right now, what side do you fall on? Well, we’re not passing judgment on either side of the argument but we’re going to look at why GamerGate is such a hot button issue and if the issues being debated in the video game community also transfer over to anime. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
November 16, 2014 @ 9:22 am
Good discussion. I think that both sides of GamerGate like to point to the extremists and claim that they are representative of their opposition, when in reality most gamers and most feminists are good people.
November 19, 2014 @ 8:58 am
If this was an impartial discussion of a hot topic, I’d hate to hear a biased one. Nonetheless, as a GamerGate supporter, I tire of hearing the repeated lies and claims of misogyny and the dismissive ‘if this were about journalism’ rhetoric hurled in my direction.
I came here to listen to chat about anime. Not to hear more false allegations laid at my feet for an effort to take companies like Ubisoft to task for fiascos like what just went down with Unity. You know what -really- spurred GamerGate? The fear that we, the consumer would demand more transparency from the symbiotic relationship between the major journalistic outlets and the corporations that both lie to the consumer. Why is misogyny the defense that keeps being leveled at us? Because it’s as easy to deal out, requires nothing more than accusation and is hard to disprove. It’s like calling someone a witch in Puritan New England. Several of the outlets involved in this, it should be noted, belong to Silverstring Media, which pushes for a pro-feminist injection of political posturing into every available outlet. It was becoming click bait after click bait of this. From accusing fabulous artist George Kamitari (Odinsphere, Muramasa, Dragon’s Crown) of being a terrible human being, to insisting that Caslevania promoted ‘rape fantasies on the same level as the game Rapelay’ for something as common as a scene where Dracula attacks a family to meet his bloodlust.
Gamers didn’t like being told they were women haters or contributing to ‘rape culture’ for the crime of playing something as absurd as Dragon’s Crown or as harmless as Bayonetta. And we damn sure didn’t appreciate it when these sites got together in secret mailing groups (which was all thankfully logged, then leaked publicly to their disdain) to coordinate hit pieces on our culture with the headlines, ‘Gamers are Dead’.
We are not misogynists. We are not terrorists. We are not ‘ISIS’, or any of the other horrible things we’ve been compared to by these people. We are consumers who are sick of being spoken down to by a small group of industry friends who violate every tenet of journalistic integrity they pretend to have. Who knowingly lie to use about their connections and contributions to development of indie titles. Who take bribes in the form of vacations, ‘work trips’ and more in exchange for positive coverage of bad, broken games.
We are a consumer revolt, and we aren’t going to be marginalized or treated like subhumans by an industry so corrupt that it has to proclaim us dead in an effort to silence us.
November 23, 2014 @ 6:11 pm
Wolfe, I apologize that this was what you heard from our discussion. I know you feel how you will feel about this issue – as most do – and it is neither right, nor wrong, and nothing we say can or should change it. I tried to express that in the whole point of our discussion was that whatever sexism and extremism that does exist is a very narrow margin and does not define the majority, as with most situations.
The truth is, as I see it, that this is not purely a situation of journalism. No matter how it started that’s not how this is ending. Rightfully or not, it has become an issue expanded upon that from the discussions in the media to how the people involved are handling the situation. I do not see threats made against the people discussing this issue as something separate, it is part of a problem. Does this problem lie with individual gamers? Does it lie with singular games? No. Just like we’ve always defended video games and anime when the media has tried to simplify things with such a broad stroke in the past we continue to defend games and the gaming culture. Someone is not violent or bad because they play a video game. Someone is not contributing to ‘Rape Culture’ by doing so, nor do I recall us saying so. But the fact that I wanted to make more than anything is that I believe we as a society MUST look at all parts, even that parts that are unpretty and uncomfortable. The only sadness I see is being unaware to the issues.
So, I stand by what I tried to say. That this is a complex issue that brings up a lot of things that as a culture gamers need to look at and think about. That, like many things in culture, people don’t think about it and they should.
We addressed one angle of many. I respect your opinions and the defense of something you love – that’s a wonderful thing. But, please don’t see us as a target for your anger on this topic. I’m very happy to call myself a gamer, an anime fan, a writer, a lover of music, and a multi-faceted human being with all my flaws and strengths and I’m always trying to look at that whole vision of myself with an honest and gently critical eye.