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hashtag gamergate
Oct. 17th, 2014 11:32 amthe ironic part is, if not for the irrational hate directed towards Anita Sarkeesian, Brianna Wu, and Zoe Quinn, I would have never, ever, ever heard of them or what they do. Thanks, haters, for publicizing that which you hate.
The criticism I'm reading about Sarkeesian in particular reminds me of the mindset I encountered while writing anime reviews for Anime Jump: the mindset that not only is a negative review objectively 'wrong', but that a negative review is harmful to the industry as a whole, and that negative reviews Should Not Be Allowed. Period. That if I have an opinion that they don't share, then my opinion should be suppressed.
I had a discussion like this just the other day; that Sarkeesian should "shut up" and she "needs to keep quiet" and a lot of investment in the idea that one person can force another person's silence because weepy sad butthurt gamer sadness tears are the worst thing ever. And that's not how it works here in Free Speech World; she's free to say whatever she wants about video games, and you're free to listen or not listen.
Had an amazing discussion after the "Least Essential Anime" panel with someone who had a really hard time comprehending how I could dare to subjectively, arbitrarily dismiss a video game as "not essential". He had lots of reasons as to why someone concerned with video games may find them essential, and that's great - the thing is, I am not in the least bit concerned with video games, at all, and as such I don't feel his particular fave video game was at all essential to my health or well-being. The concept that Other People Do Not Share His Particular Likes And Dislikes, that His Particular Opinions Are Not Universal Truth, was a new one to him, but I believe I managed to drill it in there.
I don't believe these people set out to be speech-controlling fascists, not all of them; what I think is that they spend too much time alone, controlling little figures on a screen, hollering abuse at strangers through their headsets. The concept of discussion, or debate, or having to share the world with opinions not their own is literally blowing their minds. And that's probably a good thing. These are minds that need to get out of their comfort zone.
The criticism I'm reading about Sarkeesian in particular reminds me of the mindset I encountered while writing anime reviews for Anime Jump: the mindset that not only is a negative review objectively 'wrong', but that a negative review is harmful to the industry as a whole, and that negative reviews Should Not Be Allowed. Period. That if I have an opinion that they don't share, then my opinion should be suppressed.
I had a discussion like this just the other day; that Sarkeesian should "shut up" and she "needs to keep quiet" and a lot of investment in the idea that one person can force another person's silence because weepy sad butthurt gamer sadness tears are the worst thing ever. And that's not how it works here in Free Speech World; she's free to say whatever she wants about video games, and you're free to listen or not listen.
Had an amazing discussion after the "Least Essential Anime" panel with someone who had a really hard time comprehending how I could dare to subjectively, arbitrarily dismiss a video game as "not essential". He had lots of reasons as to why someone concerned with video games may find them essential, and that's great - the thing is, I am not in the least bit concerned with video games, at all, and as such I don't feel his particular fave video game was at all essential to my health or well-being. The concept that Other People Do Not Share His Particular Likes And Dislikes, that His Particular Opinions Are Not Universal Truth, was a new one to him, but I believe I managed to drill it in there.
I don't believe these people set out to be speech-controlling fascists, not all of them; what I think is that they spend too much time alone, controlling little figures on a screen, hollering abuse at strangers through their headsets. The concept of discussion, or debate, or having to share the world with opinions not their own is literally blowing their minds. And that's probably a good thing. These are minds that need to get out of their comfort zone.
