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[Crouton]

and another @ 8:25.

[A²]

Have we reached the point were we can disagree with Anita Sarkeesan and not be called a fedora-wearing MRA misogynist yet? Because Anita is still doing poorly, and that's not even counting the fact that she may not even be playing the games, but ripping LPs off youtube.

[Beat Bandit]

This video's highlights:


"'one recent study' 'found' only '4%' of 'modern' titles are 'exclusively' designed around a 'female' in a 'leading' 'role'." Just about covers her normal levels of research.

Spelunky having multiple options for damsels doesn't count because one of them is a dog and that just degrades women worse somehow, doesn't matter that there are also female PCs. Also is apparently reinforcing the negative gender role that women are often lost in caves.

When she reveals Eversion's incredibly deep and gender biased plot. And after that when she reveals that it's both sexist for having a princess damsel and for... having a female character who ends up being neither a princess nor damsel. With that hilarious punchline ending and all.

"Old games were the most sexist! Games never stopped being sexist! Modern games are the mostest sexistiest! New indie games are reintroducing sexism since I guess it wasn't there for a while because sexism didn't exist while Buffy was still on the air or something!"

Braid is the best game ever because you're not the hero saving the damsel. I mean, she is still being saved by a literal knight in shining armor, but it's not you so it doesn't count.

The only way to avoid sexism is if you control multiple characters all of which are genderless. Not games like Mass Effect and Saint's Row where you can play either sex and the story / writing works as well for either choice. Or even fucking Trine, the exact same idea except with humans instead of blocks / block-shaped creatures. Remember, safe sex never works, only abstinence.

[Smiler]

It's hard to tell what's funnier; the fact that she is scouring boring ass longplays for proof of misogyny with very little research otherwise, or that dorks on the internet hate her so much that they will scour the same boring ass longplays to prove that she used them.

[R^2]

Man whoever made Eversion must be some sort of insufferable misogynist pig.

[R^2]

Also: dude, spoilers.

[Mongrel]

You know, you can rationalize outrage about ANYTHING if you try hard enough.

But then, I think this really would be a "who gives a flying fuck" situation, if only this wasn't giving actual misogynists ammunition for bullshit outrage of their own.

[Mongrel]

One way this could have turned out better would have been to do it as an traditional cohesive long-form documentary instead of clips. I mean, maybe you could break it down into two or three chapters, but not the little peicemeal affair she's got going now.

The biggest improvement that would add is the opportunity to celebrate positives for long stretches of time without it dominating a chapter. Most of these videos seem to be overwhelmingly negative in tone even when she's making concessions, and honestly, who the hell likes that? No movement promoting social change ever succeeded when it was comprised of dry nagging. Watching these videoes almost feels like I'm attending a modern-day Temperance meeting.

A long form could have also allowed her to tell this in story form, documenting change over time (or non-change, where appropriate) from the more-or-less gender-neutral early games, to the rise of the original tropes sources, to modern responses, parodies, and the increase of games with female protagonists and how they're treated.

That would have actually been interesting!

It would have also been easier to hire respected video editors or experts for a long-form project. 

[A²]

It's hard to tell what's funnier; the fact that she is scouring boring ass longplays for proof of misogyny with very little research otherwise, or that dorks on the internet hate her so much that they will scour the same boring ass longplays to prove that she used them.

Apparently it started with her now-removed Bayonetta video, where she got so much wrong she pulled it when called on it, so it's not like this is a random LET'S ANALYZE EVERYTHING AND THEN WATCH EVERY VIDEO ON THE INTERNET.

As the link says, the Shadows of the Damned thing was a "dead giveaway" because of how the guns work visually in that game. I imagine someone noticed it or something odd, and then it domino'd from there.

[Mongrel]

How do you fuck up making fun of something as comical as Bayonetta?

[Büge]

ZARA, YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM.

[Beat Bandit]

How do you fuck up making fun of something as comical as Bayonetta?

You don't fuck up making fun of it, you get literally every plot point you bring up wrong.

The only part of that video I remember (having never played Bayonetta) is that she regularly mentions Bayonetta's 'daughter' when referring to flashback scenes of B-dawg as a child.

[A²]

Having played Bayonetta almost religiously (It is seriously fun as shit in the vein of Devil May Cry), she keeps calling Bayonetta a single mother, she gets the plot wrong wholesale, she says Bayonetta is forced to strip (She's not, she only removes her clothes for Wicked Weave attacks, it's the visual indicator you're performing them; even then, she's still basically in a swimsuit.), and generally getting the impression one would get if they looked at the box cover for it and based their entire observations off that, instead of actually, you know, playing the game:

Not-Actually-Spoilers: Bayonetta is not a single mother, nor a single anything. She's never forced to strip, at all. She is pretty much a combination of the ideal female powerful protagonist and a hypersexualized parody of the idea of male wankbait protagonist. The entire thing is played as a huge comical parody, ripe for mocking, while at the same time mocking actually bad shit. It's just a very fun game. (The guy who made it also made and came up with Devil May Cry, so this is not exactly a big surprise)

Bayonetta is entirely in control, the entire time, and is the exact opposite of what Sarkeesan wanted her to be for her point. But her head is so far up her own fucking ass, I'm surprised she doesn't decapitate herself whenever she clenches.

[Ted Belmont]

This video's highlights:

Spelunky having multiple options for damsels doesn't count because one of them is a dog and that just degrades women worse somehow, doesn't matter that there are also female PCs. Also is apparently reinforcing the negative gender role that women are often lost in caves.

Not what she's saying.

When she reveals Eversion's incredibly deep and gender biased plot. And after that when she reveals that it's both sexist for having a princess damsel and for... having a female character who ends up being neither a princess nor damsel. With that hilarious punchline ending and all.

I'll leave that one for Zara to reply to, since he's the one who made the game.

"Old games were the most sexist! Games never stopped being sexist! Modern games are the mostest sexistiest! New indie games are reintroducing sexism since I guess it wasn't there for a while because sexism didn't exist while Buffy was still on the air or something!"

Not what she's saying.

Braid is the best game ever because you're not the hero saving the damsel. I mean, she is still being saved by a literal knight in shining armor, but it's not you so it doesn't count.

Not what she's saying.

The only way to avoid sexism is if you control multiple characters all of which are genderless. Not games like Mass Effect and Saint's Row where you can play either sex and the story / writing works as well for either choice. Or even fucking Trine, the exact same idea except with humans instead of blocks / block-shaped creatures. Remember, safe sex never works, only abstinence.

Wait for it...

Not what she's saying, nor is it a thing she has ever said, in any of these videos.

[Ted Belmont]

Have we reached the point were we can disagree with Anita Sarkeesan and not be called a fedora-wearing MRA misogynist yet? Because Anita is still doing poorly, and that's not even counting the fact that she may not even be playing the games, but ripping LPs off youtube.

While I do think proper credit is important, and if she is using then without permission or credit, that's bad, I think it's a bit silly to criticize her for not playing the games personally. As far as I know, that's not something she ever said she would do, and it's frankly kind of ridiculous to expect one person to play that many games herself in order to make YouTube videos about them.

[Ted Belmont]

That being said, I do look forward to WeedlordBonerHitler666's no doubt painstakingly researched and sourced response video.

[TA]

Have we reached the point were we can disagree with Anita Sarkeesan and not be called a fedora-wearing MRA misogynist yet? Because Anita is still doing poorly, and that's not even counting the fact that she may not even be playing the games, but ripping LPs off youtube.

While I do think proper credit is important, and if she is using then without permission or credit, that's bad, I think it's a bit silly to criticize her for not playing the games personally. As far as I know, that's not something she ever said she would do, and it's frankly kind of ridiculous to expect one person to play that many games herself in order to make YouTube videos about them.

Really?  Because I thought she received a hundred and fifty thousand dollars to do exactly that.  In fact ...

Creating these videos take a lot of time and money to produce. I will be researching and playing hundreds of titles from across the gaming industry (including some truly awful games that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone!). Your support will go towards production costs, equipment, games and downloadable content.

[Joxam]

Technically even in the link you just quoted it says she'll be researching AND playing hundreds of games, not exclusively playing them. Just saying. This entire series is at a weird place for me. I WANT it to be worth talking about, but I don't feel like it is, after all has been said and done.

[A²]

I think it's a bit silly to criticize her for not playing the games personally.

I think it's entirely reasonable to criticize her for not playing the games, at all, that she is supposed to be speaking from a well-researched position.

In so many words, if she can't even bother to play them, why the fuck should anyone trust what she has to say about them, especially since she's supposed to be speaking from a position of trying to educate? As has been demonstrated multiple times, by not playing them, she's getting a lot of shit wrong.

I'm in the same boat as Joxam. I want to be able to have an honest, mature, in depth discussion on women's places in video games, and how it could be better. Anita is so far removed from anyone who should be close to that position. She has a specific idea what she wants to say, and says it, independent of sanity, reality, or the laws of physics.

[Mongrel]

I don't think it's at all unreasonable for her to not play ALL of the games.

She should however be playing at least SOME of them. Especially important ones, or ones she references frequently.

Right now, she's creating doubts as to whether or not she's played ANY of them.