Adoptive Parents Call Portal 2 Jokes Offensive to Orphans

Scott Bullock

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Adoptive Parents Call Portal 2 Jokes Offensive to Orphans

A North Carolina family is upset over jokes that they think "poke fun" at their adopted child.

Neal Stapel and his 10-year-old adopted daughter were happily solving puzzles and screwing with physics in Portal 2 when it happened. Out of the blue, the sentient computers in the game began belittling the protagonist for being fat, stupid, and adopted. Stapel told his local news channel, WBTV [http://www.wbtv.com/story/14662694/tonight-at-5-video-game-taunts-adopted-children], that this was "literally the worst thing I could have probably heard."

Stapel said that while he and his wife had never hidden from his Chinese daughter Zoey the fact that she was adopted, it had never come up, and they were waiting for her to be ready to talk about it. Having the subject aired out in the open by a videogame was jarring, to say the least. "It throws the question, the most ultimate question that that child is ever gonna have for you and it just throws it right in your living room," he said. "It says it's rated 'E' for everybody and I'm thinking maybe it's rated 'E' for everybody except for orphans."

The actual joke that upset the family was a moment in the game when a character tells the protagonist, "Alright, fatty. Adopted fatty. Fatty, fatty no parents." Taken out of context, the joke could seem offensive to both the obese and the parentally-challenged, but against the backdrop of an insane and childish robot actively trying to make the main character feel bad, you would think that some of the sting would be taken out of the remark. Especially when the character who slung the insult says seconds later that there really isn't anything wrong with being adopted.

Stapel is aware that it isn't really going to rile up most people who play the game, saying "If you're not an adoptive parent it's probably not that big a deal to you." He also said that he and his daughter actually really liked the game and will continue playing it, making sure to avoid the part they take offense to.

WBTV claims to have attempted to contact Valve for a statement, but the company has not yet said anything on the matter.

Source: Kotaku [http://www.wbtv.com/story/14662694/tonight-at-5-video-game-taunts-adopted-children]

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Lukeje

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Feb 6, 2008
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God forbid he ever sends his child to school if taunting like that is likely to affect her...
 

Pipotchi

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I'm an adopted child watch now as I build an enormous mountain out of this molehill. this is taken completely out of context and this man should be ashamed.

Plus newsflash mate if your white your wife is white and your daughter is Chinese? Yeah she knows shes adopted shes ten, not an idiot.
 

Player Two

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Dec 20, 2010
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I cannot believe this. Can you actually make humour - proper humour - that does not, somewhere, offend somebody? And why is it that one family, and one orphan, are upset over a few lines of dialogue in a freaking video game? What on earth is going to happen if he sends her to school?

Oh, so I guess Pokemon is 'E' for everybody except people who think that putting animals in cages is cruel. And Minecraft is 'E' for everybody except people who are easily reminded of the suicide bomber that killed their friend/relative/etc. Mario Kart is 'E' for everybody except people who became paraplegics in go-karting accidents.

Come to think of this, how did it even make the news?
 

jackpipsam

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I remember that quote, I also remember that a second later it got a replay "and... is there anything wrong with that?"
 

Space Spoons

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Controversy for the sake of controversy. Guy probably just wanted his fifteen minutes of fame and saw this as a way to get it. World keeps on spinning, happens every time a big-name game drops.

Also, let me just say, I probably wouldn't let my 10-year-old child play Portal or Portal 2. The games aren't violently to the degree of other games out there, sure, but they deal with some pretty scary stuff. I know if I'd played Portal when I was ten, I would have had claustrophobic nightmares about murderous computers and elevators that drop into fire-pits for weeks.
 

Eri

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Feb 21, 2009
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They should probably build a bridge and get the fuck over it. That's what they should probably do.
 

z3rostr1fe

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Scott Bullock said:
WBTV claims to have attempted to contact Valve for a statement, but the company has not yet said anything on the matter.
What is to say about the matter? I mean, Wheatly was clearly trying to be insulting, but fails to do so. As GLaDOS says it, "What is exactly wrong with being adopted?", said during the time Wheatly was a "Trying-Hard GLaDOS". Sure it was supposed to insult Chell, but the aim was to discourage her from solving the tests, which fails to do so.

Media... They air anything that they can take out of context.

EDIT:
Eri said:
They should probably build a bridge and get the fuck over it. That's what they should probably do.
A Light Bridge perhaps? :p
 

Reishadowen

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Yeah, that kid is gonna get eaten alive in high-school. I mean seriously, if you can't put up with a VIDEO GAME insulting you on a very broad level, how are you going to deal with people?
 

captain underpants

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kman123 said:
THAT'S the worst he could have heard?
Yeah...I'm pretty sure humanity could think of some more pretty heinous things to say.
No, it's the worst they could have 'probably' heard. Literally. :)
 

Thaluikhain

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Hmmm...it would appear that his complaint wasn't that it was offensive, rather that it was too offensive for a game rated "E". That's fair enough, I guess, and not the same as simply chanting "think of the children".
 

Evilsanta

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Atleast he doesn't go all sue happy over it.

But this is just so damn silly. And I must just say this.

Parents, Children are sometimes more mature or smarter then you think. I could take it when I was 10 that the man I had thought was my real father wasn't. I did shed some tear but I also said that it was Ok and that I regarded him as my real father anyways.

Not all children becomes emotionally scarred for life if they here that they are adopted.
 

brunothepig

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Scott Bullock said:
The actual joke that upset the family was a moment in the game when a character tells the protagonist, "Alright, fatty. Adopted fatty. Fatty, fatty no parents." Taken out of context, the joke could seem offensive to both the obese and the parentally-challenged, but against the backdrop of an insane and childish robot actively trying to make the main character feel bad, you would think that some of the sting would be taken out of the remark. Especially when the character who slung the insult says seconds later that there really isn't anything wrong with being adopted.
To be fair, they then say "for the record, you are adopted and that's terrible".
It's just GLaDOS trying to confuse Wheatley and all that. Also just to poke fun at him.
But as I said on the earlier thread, there will always be someone who is offended by comedy.
"I'm outraged, I'm gonna write a shit letter to a bad newspaper." - Tim Minchin
I feel like those two have a lot of experience dealing with this.
 

SomEngangVar

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Sep 23, 2009
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"Knock, knock. Who's there? Almond. Almond who? Almond the mood for love. I'm so sorry if I've hurt any almonds with that joke.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Cashew. God bless you. I hope I haven't hurt any cashew's feels with that insensitive remark.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Peanut. If any of you thought I said "Penis", I apologize.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Howard. Howard you like to open the door. Sorry, if I've offended anyone named Howard.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Who. Who who. What are you an owl? I hope I haven't hurt any owls with that insensitive comment.

Knock, knock. Who's there? You. You who. You who to you too. So sorry for that insensitive tweet.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Boo. Boo who. Why are you crying? Terribly sorry if that joke hurt you.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange you enjoying these knock, knock jokes. I didn't mean to insult any oranges.

Knock, knock. Who's there. Owl. Owl be seeing you. Terribly, terribly, terribly sorry."

- Gilbert Gottfried

Popped into mind.
 

ChillShark

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Oct 13, 2010
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Man, people will do anything to get on tv these days! I like the fact that they state the child is Chinese. That must mean that the adoptive-parents are caucasian......"Daddy, why do my eyes squint all the time but yours only do it in bright light?" "Your mother is a whore my child. that's why." (Rather not tell her she's adopted)

I snickered at "parentally-challenged".
 

Fetzenfisch

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i do so hope that parentally challenged is a joke, if that really is a word where you are from, i hope the world really is going to end this saturday.
I am not capable of respecting anyone using the word offensive anymore.
the words "adopted" and "no parents" are not offending orphans, they just describe the situation. Fatty is a little mean though. But still its a joke in a portal game. If you take that seriously you should be imprisoned for your own safety, such people ownly hurt themselves if we let them roam free in a world full of sharp things, edges and dangerous outdoors