Jimquisition: Solving the Sexism Situation

[bdcjacko]

I love how everyone is up in arms over someone who is being purposefully obtuse. I love this guy, and I'm fairly sure its SUPPOSED to get people up in arms

I don't see how that helps.

As I have said before Jim has no redeeming value. He beats dead horses, cussed way to much and goes out of his way to be a troll. Any point he has made is losted. But then again I use to think south park was cool because they tackled big issues with all the class of school in summer time. Btw, there is no school in summer time, so I am saying they nor Jim has any class.

 

[swood]

I think the funniest thing is the people that have never been in the video game industry or journalists are judging Jim Sterling as crap...etc...etc when he actually has been those things...Destructoid, Free lance writer for gamepro, gamefront and now escapist...

How are those that have no experience able to judge so harshly? and often with no reason? And why is it that a good 95% of the commentors have never even seen his work over at destructoid let alone the other jimquisition videos and seem to have enough grap in their little worlds to say they know the essence of what he's doing?

If the audience can't grasp what he is doing that is a problem. You can't have a show that is only made for insiders in the industry and journalist. What I seem to be getting from you is that everyone that has a problem with this show is just ignorant of the true genius behind it. That idea is so problematic though, an outsiders perspective can sometimes help to make a show better. Right now this show just doesn't work and don't have to have worked in the industry to know that.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

This guy was one of the main reasons I left D-Toid. The community he attracted with his articles brought on people worse than gamespot forum members. What's up with Dtoid's main writers being here? First Anthony Burch, now Sterling? Has Dtoid died or something?

 

[brazuca]

and now the devil advocates! ¬¬

EDIT: most games are rated Everyone and Teen, soooo games with sex (inuendo). Well are mature, don't like HBO or Showtime, well go see NBC.

 

[Mitjer]

That was a lot better than his first episode and it's nice that it went off in a different direction than coming off as a copy of a Rev Rant with bad humour and a lot of yelling.

 

[wall5970]

I find it amazing how this guy can talk for minutes on end without saying anything. Escapist, please stop paying this guy, this you guys above him. He's not funny, he doesn't make intelligent points, and he doesn't even say anything. He brings up the points without discussing them. That's twice now I haven't even been able to sit through his whole video.

Amen.

He didn't solve the movie "problem" last week. It was five minutes of "games aren't movies, so shut up!" This week was "there's sexism in games because men have cocks, so here's a half-assed solution to a symptom, but not a problem."

I really don't want to watch another video of him repeating the title of the video for 5 minutes then giving some half-assed commentary about it for 30 seconds without offering any solutions or even good points.

 

[ninetails593]

I was going into this expecting some preacher to whine about a joke for an hour, but I actually agree with what was said in this video. I was really surprised!

 

[swood]

I think the funniest thing is the people that have never been in the video game industry or journalists are judging Jim Sterling as crap...etc...etc when he actually has been those things...Destructoid, Free lance writer for gamepro, gamefront and now escapist...

How are those that have no experience able to judge so harshly? and often with no reason? And why is it that a good 95% of the commentors have never even seen his work over at destructoid let alone the other jimquisition videos and seem to have enough grap in their little worlds to say they know the essence of what he's doing?

I remember Penny Arcade made a similar argument to this concerning the Dickwolves debacle some months back (PM me if you're interested in my personal thoughts on the matter). If I am remembering correctly, it was Mike that told the critics they had no grounds to criticize this one comic since they hadn't ever raised their hackles at any other offensive material Mike and Jerry had posted in the past.

This video was the first thing by Jim I'd ever watched. It bothered me enough to comment and then do some digging when I later heard he had some significant standing in the video games industry. That digging led me to old Jimquisition videos, old articles, old tweets, and other old artifacts from Jim's past that have led to my criticism of his conduct. I don't have to be an experienced video game journalist to recognize sexism and privilege denial when I see it; that comes from education and life experience and a willingness to make critical assessments of the media I consume. It comes from being a member of the gaming community (even if it is just as a consumer at this point in time), but more importantly it comes from being a human being who is looking to better himself and the world he lives in.

Just because I haven't known about Jim and his sexism doesn't mean I don't know sexism when I see it. And seeing how progressive most of the programming here on the Escapist is e.g. the often cited Zero Punctuation, Extra Credits, and MovieBob, I don't think Jim really has a place on a website looking to promote gaming as a legitimate lifestyle for anyone and everyone. It just doesn't work.

I feel like I just keep quoting you lol but you make some great insights, especially about about the whole Dickwolves issue. This is the exact same thing. Sure someone in the community finds this par for the course, but show this to anyone outside of it who is even mildly familiar with feminist philosophy (or common decency) you won't get that reaction. Sometimes people outside the community can make valid points about a toxic idea pervasive in a work. Saying only those within our elite little club can judge us, doesn't allow for growth.
The problem with Jimquisition is it plays into every negative, juvenile, patriarchal attitude that gamers have been unfairly saddled with. I don't know how many times I've had to defend gamers in conversations I've had with my other feminist friends. This video does nothing for gaming, it doesn't push gaming forward, it doesn't make one rethink sexism in games. It plays directly into the idea that gamers are sexist and inherently patiarchial, which they are absolutely not. It really does a disservice to anyone that loves video games and wants to see the medium finally respected.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

I think the funniest thing is the people that have never been in the video game industry or journalists are judging Jim Sterling as crap...etc...etc when he actually has been those things...Destructoid, Free lance writer for gamepro, gamefront and now escapist...

How are those that have no experience able to judge so harshly? and often with no reason? And why is it that a good 95% of the commentors have never even seen his work over at destructoid let alone the other jimquisition videos and seem to have enough grap in their little worlds to say they know the essence of what he's doing?

I've seen his other stuff. He writes things specifically to piss people off to get veiws. Look at most of his reveiws on Dtoid for example. Sterling has literally trolled his own comment sections every time. He's the only guy on Dtoid to generate such a polarizing fanbase on the site. It's between the fans of him who think that what he writes is him going against the trends, and the people who dislike him for not bringing up any actual validity to most of his reveiws and writings.

 

[Mace Tulio]

What can I say other than, I like his message, but not his presentation.

 

[Prof.Beany]

Definitely not AS bad as the last one, but still not presented in a way that I can actually take away points in which to make a decisive opinion on an argument, which is really what these kind of shows are meant to do.

Its all the LOUDness of his presentation that makes it just an annoyance to listen to.

 

[NaramSuen]

Well... at least you aren't standing in front of a white background this time. Maybe for your next video you could develop an idea that cannot be summarized in a single sentence. Just a thought. Great theme song though.

 

[alandavidson]

A different, perhaps more radical, solution:

How 'bout we objectify no one, and only place men or women in revealing clothing when it is tangential to exploring their character and/or fits their cultural/geographical background. You know, as in good storytelling that is inclusive and realistic at the same time.

Agreed.

 

[mikespoff]

snip

snip

... If this is the extent of his capabilities, I'm more than qualified to work for this site. I want to watch people who are better at arguing than I am. Because there's nothing in this video that I wouldn't have thought to say myself. And nothing that particularly made me laugh ...

I think that's actually a pretty good metric.

Take MovieBob, for instance. I enjoy a good movie every now and then, whereas he lives and breathes the damn things. So I'm interested to hear what MovieBob, as a person saturated in the medium, thinks about a particular film. I may not agree with it, but it will probably be an interesting perspective.

But with this Jimquisition video... why would I want to listen to someone who's more boring and monotonous than my own internal monologue??

 

[Nieroshai]

point by point analysis as I watch once more:

1. So far you sound less like a yelling douche this time.
2. Little help there, women like either 1. manly men, or 2. androgynous men. Those are all over the place in games, so women aren't the only ones objectified. However, the Japanese sadly cater to that more than we do.
3. Men in chainmail bikinis? I smell a He-Man video game!
4. The art really makes me cringe, but if it works for some...
5. You sounded like a critic instead of an anal dick with a mic. Improvement, sir!
6. Some are saying this is an old issue. As long as an issue is unresolved, it isn't over by definition. So no deductions for untimeliness.

Verdict: I could start liking this show if future episodes are refinements on this format.

 

[mikespoff]

I think the funniest thing is the people that have never been in the video game industry or journalists are judging Jim Sterling as crap...etc...etc when he actually has been those things...Destructoid, Free lance writer for gamepro, gamefront and now escapist...

How are those that have no experience able to judge so harshly? and often with no reason? And why is it that a good 95% of the commentors have never even seen his work over at destructoid let alone the other jimquisition videos and seem to have enough grap in their little worlds to say they know the essence of what he's doing?

So, if I'm reading this right, we should go easy on him because he's done a lot of other allegedly decent work?

Put simply, I don't care about his other work. As a reader of The Escapist, I care about whether his work for this site is any good. And it isn't: he's had two segments and I thought both of them were pretty awful.

If anything, all that other allegedly decent material that he's done should have given him enough practice to make something worth watching for his Escapist segments. It hasn't.

 

[DanDeFool]

I like Jim, every since I found Dtoid.

He does need to lose those glasses, though.


Still think he should stick to issues like this, though.


That PLAYING IT WRONG one showcased a lot of bullshit in the game reviewing process.

This.

If Jim were presenting us stuff like this on The Escapist, I think people would be taking to him a lot better. Most of the gripes I've been hearing about Jimquisition (and most of my personal gripes) are about his addressing topics that have already been covered thoroughly on The Escapist.

I think Jimquisition could do pretty well, if he gets us some topics we haven't heard about already. If he had opened with something like 'Playing it Wrong', he'd be in good shape.

Also, I kind of like the glasses myself, but I think he needs to do something different with his hair. He should have it carefully slicked back, with a pomade or something, instead of just having those messy bangs. They make him look sloppy, when it seems like he's going for the clean-cut look.

EDIT: I admit, I got a good laugh when Jim started talking about his "solution" to the sexism problem. Definitely better than Ep 1. Keep trying Jim; you're about halfway to being a decent competitor with The Escapists' other game commentators.

 

[Yopaz]

So the show sucks, but people will click cuz the picture is of boobs. Stay classy Escapist.

It might be briefly connected to the fact that he's only had 2 shows, where one was advertised so much you had to check it out, and this time around I at least wanted to see if the second episode was better. It was, but still he didn't come up with anything new or interesting.

I kinda feel like he's trying to stir up some mess by picking subjects that already stied up some noise and make it noisier by saying how stupid it is. The only problem is that he's too late for someone to actually care. It's like if I started making videos where I rant to the protesters of the release of the birth control pill when that was released decades ago. Also his videos are boring. If the next one doesn't improve I wont check in for a 4th time.

 

[Plurralbles]

He hides his point behind pretentious asshattery so much I have a hard time agreeing...

 

[duchaked]

initially I wanted to say "just go away..." but the very end bit was pretty funny

of course it's funny cuz even I've said that to people before concerning sexism and/or equality...