SCHMALFELDT’S SATYRICON: Jumping Feet First Into #GamerGate

For a second there, I thought I wrecked my computer monitor. I had just seen this tweet from someone calling itself “Maximillian Jenius.”

Being a sentient human being, I first thought this was a slap at the late Andrew Breitbart’s self-destructing media empire. So, I clicked the link and sprayed an entire mouthful of delicious coffee through my nose onto my expensive iMac computer monitor.

It was an article about “sloppy and ideologically-driven journalism that does harm to real people,” WRITTEN BY SOMEONE AT BREITBART.COM!!!

(I’m going to be smelling French Vanilla creamer all day. I just know it.)

The story is written by Milo Yiannopoulos, who — since he works for the crumbling Breitbart empire — is undoubtedly neither “sloppy” or “ideology-driven.”

Ben Kuchera, opinion editor at games website Polygon, publicised lurid sexual allegations about the chief executive of Stardock, a 20-year video games industry veteran, in an apparent attempt to do professional damage to someone he perceived to have right-wing politics, two industry sources have told Breitbart London. 

Well, that’s a bit on the sloppy side, saying you’ve been told something by two industry sources, not naming them. And they’re only attacking right-wing writers? Would Andy’s Gift to the World of Journalism be publishing the story if LEFT wing writers were being attacked?

This question must wait until the coffee cup is refilled and the computer screen is cleaned.

There.

What is the source of this volcanic torrent of discontent? Is it the left-wing media again, complaining about the right-wing media and it’s control over the moderate, middle-of-the-road-media?

Nothing that simple.

This is the greatest crisis facing America’s estimated eleventy billion dateless virgins who hunker in their parents basements instead of looking for jobs, a thin layer of grease and sweat forming a glistening sheen over their pale grey skin that would dry and crack in direct sunlight.

Forget your #ISIS (or #ISIL, if you prefer). Forget your #alQaeda.

This… is #GAMERGATE!

I will try to keep it simple although, as a story, it is anything but.

Some woman somewhere apparently created a videogame. No big thing. But it drew wider attention due to harassment that indie game developer Zoe Quinn received after an ex-boyfriend posted allegations on his blog in August 2014 about her personal life that led others to accuse her of professional impropriety to obtain positive media coverage for her game. (In other words, she was accused of manipulating important industry “joysticks” to get favorable press for her game.) Those subsequent allegations were shown to be false, but there’s nothing sexually-frustrated gamer boys like better than a good flame war to make them feel more important and less impotent.

According to the Wikipedia entry on the subject, this has turned into a battle between progressive gamers (who, if the hardcore gamers are to believed, are men with vaginas) and the aforementioned hardcore gamers who have responded to the criticism of mysogynistic, harassing imagery in games by ramping up the mysogynistic, harassing imagery in their games.

This shift has prompted opposition from traditional “hardcore” gamers who view games purely as a form of entertainment. This opposition, however, has often been expressed in the form of personal harassment of female figures in the industry rather than constructive cultural conversations. The harassment campaign against Quinn was of such ferocity as to attract significant mainstream media attention which focused on the sexist, misogynistic and trolling elements of the gamer community. Allegations of impropriety in gaming media have prompted policy changes at several outlets, and commentators generally agree that systemic problems in the gaming media need to be discussed; however, the harassment and misogyny associated with GamerGate is seen as having poisoned the well.

One gamer, who I assume to be on the pro-misogyny side of the issue, tweeted this image.

I can sorta see the point… but then I revert to my 14-year-old self and realize that nobody is waxing his bishop to the image of Spider Man laying waste to villains.

I think that’s what women are talking about when they suggest that gamers and comic book artists tone down the masturbation bait in their imagery. Would not Spider Woman (if that’s who that is in that ungodly uncomfortable and ligament-damaging position) be any less lethal if she were standing in an outfit that did not look like it was spray-painted on her body? Do we really need to see every detail of her hip bones… including the coccyx? Spider Man is clearly whuppin’ up on some evil doers. Spider Woman’s posture reminds me of my last visit to my doctor. You can almost imagine him, standing behind her, putting on the glove and lubing up a finger or two. Or three.

And where are the chubby female superheroes? Or the small-chested ones?  Does Supergirl (who, oddly enough, never evolved into Superwoman like Superboy did into Superman) wear a Super Bra under that Super Costume, or are her Super Hoo-Hoos invulnerable to Super Sag as she ages?

From DC Comics

Well, of course, the great minds at Breitbart.com see this as just another example of LIBERALS trying to force THEIR world view on the poor, downtrodden sexists who LIKE rubbing one out to graphic, nearly-pornographic images in their comics and video games.

In Milo’s story, and maybe I’m missing it, I don’t see anything that indicates that Kuchera said anything one way or another about the political leanings of Brad Wardell, founder and CEO of Stardock, which makes video games, PC utilities and other software products.

Oh, wait…

Regular readers will be struck by the irony of Kuchera’s responsibility for this mess: Kuchera was seen in private emails leaked to Breitbart London last week demanding that The Escapist, a rival website, take down forum posts that discussed sexual allegations about Zoe Quinn, a developer whose colourful private life has been the subject of widespread reporting in recent weeks.

Her “colorful private life?” What does Milo mean by that? She’s a painter? She likes crayons? Or is he referring to the allegations that were shown to be false?

Time: “Despite the fact the journalist in question did not ‘review’ the game and wasn’t found to have allocated it any particular special treatment…”; Washington Post: “The site investigated the alleged ethics breach and concluded there had been no wrongdoing.”; Forbes: “….the initial concerns were quickly proven to be all smoke and no fire…

Odd how Milo doesn’t get around to mentioning that these allegations were proven false.

“I received an email from someone who described my house in sufficient detail to concern me and promised to kill me, rape my wife and sodomize my son,” Wardell told Breitbart on Monday. “My Wikipedia page was defaced with people putting up that my sons were ‘gay.’ People today still refer to the allegations in themselves as proof.

“Every time we’re working with a new business partner who does due diligence, this issue comes back up – this happens 2 or 3 times per month – because a Kotaku article about the torrid drama still shows up on the front page of Google results on me.”

OH NOES! This poor, put-upon, self-admitted rude, vulgar, sexist person has been GOOGLE BOMBED by people who hate him.

Gee. I wonder what THAT must be like…

I guess it’s only worth reporting when it happens to conservatives.

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