You’re kinda only looking at it from one angle here. He’s repeatedly said “this is why I am an asshole” but I don’t recall him promising that he’ll never be an asshole again. It’s not exactly like saying “welp, I just won’t call people homos anymore!” Or are you suggesting that overcoming a lifetime of psychological conditioning is easy? I’ll assume not.
When he’s done shit that has been actually troublesome, he’s learned from it each time. It’s not like he’s been specifically beating on one minority group over and over, he’s had separate incidents with separate minority groups. To suggest that he should have learned from the Dickwolves controversy all the intricacies of the trans community is unrealistic. Hell, if you asked the average person on the street to explain the difference between gender, sex and sexual identity, I doubt they’d respond any different. He was corrected on the issue, understood it, but can’t move past it while people continue dogpiling on.
Ultimately, I think a little empathy is needed here. He’s a straight, white male who hasn’t had much, if any, exposure to the sort of thought that would be required to realise why what he is saying and doing is problematic (it’s not like progressive thinking is particularly commonplace outside very progressive circles of society). Expecting people to know shit, then being SUPER MAD when they don’t is a dick move. Societal change doesn’t take place overnight, so maybe crucifying people who make mistakes because they don’t know any better isn’t the best idea. Especially when those people make huge donations to charities supporting women and children, have personally donated large sums to trans-positive organisations AND have the potential to influence the views of others and encourage them to take similar actions. (Note: What I just said doesn’t exculpate Krahulik, but it should at least be considered before he’s internet-lynched some more)
EDIT: FFS I didn’t want to create a new thread or whatever. This comment system is infuriating.
I’ve been super frustrated with Krahulik for a few years now to the point where I stopped reading PA quite awhile go (before “dickwolves” -_-). I read the letter in question and while I won’t (and can’t on a number of categories) give him a pass, I am … mildly optimistic that we’re going to see some improvement there.
It is good that you created a new topic because the original one was closed.
I have stopped caring about anything Penny Arcade does, or anyone associated with it, for years. I am actually kind of done with “gamer” culture in general. As much as I love videogames (since the early 80s, and I have an original copy of Electronic Games mag #1 to prove it), I have concluded the culture around videogames will always be infantile and at best pretentious. It is a dead end road.
I noticed something that bothered me in Mike Krahulik’s post.
I shut almost everyone out and decided that anyone who attacked me was an “enemy” and I began to attack back. I got very good at insulting people. Kids would come at me with some bullshit about my teeth or how goofy I looked and I would retaliate with insults I had custom built for them while lying awake at night and each one was a precision strike to their insecurities. This kid was short, that one had a hard time reading, this other one’s parents were getting a divorce. By 7th grade I could make someone hit me with a couple words.
They weren’t fights so much as they were beatings but I still ended up in the vice principal’s office. Eventually they started to realize I was instigating the abuse. They couldn’t understand why I didn’t just keep my mouth shut. Why I had to egg these kids on. “Why can’t you just ignore them and keep walking when they say something to you?” I can’t count how many counselors told me “they are just words, they can’t hurt you.” but words can hurt and as a scrawny kid who couldn’t fight I learned the right words can hurt much more and much longer than a fist.
I don’t think he was the bully in the situation he describes. Someone would provoke him, he’d insult them, they’d beat his ass. He wasn’t entirely blameless, but he was the victim. I agree with what he’s intending to do and hope he accomplishes it, but I suspect people will continue to find offense. Justified or not.
I think The Gameological Society(here for stuff from earlier in the year) was the sole gaming site for me this year. Very high quality writing, great commentariat, disgusting snacks and evil cats. What more could you want from a gaming review site?
