Jimquisition: Solving the Sexism Situation

Marble Dragon

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Well, that was interesting. There's quite a bit I could say about it, and most of it I'm not going to. Suffice it to say that this guy has totally missed the point of anyone speaking against sexism in games. But okay, that's cool. Whatever, I can dig it this once.

I'll be perfectly honest - Jim acts like a total dick in this show. And that's not a problem, in and of itself. There are plenty of dicks on the internet making great stuff. But they manage to play on that point, and turn that into a persona for their show, whether they're really like that or not. Yahtzee is a perfect example of this. He manages to make his own qualities - cynicism, hatred ect. - things that make the show more enjoyable. I get the feeling Jim was going for the same angle, and so far he's failing.

He isn't accessible. He stands behind a podium, in a giant coat, with dark glasses. I've seen a lot of comments about how he looks like a preacher. Well, the way he speaks, he is one. In case you hadn't noticed, Jim, being preached at is not something the majority of people (especially gamers) find entertaining or amusing. I'm not going to pretend to be a funny person - I'm not. But I understand what makes me laugh. And the most funny thing about this episode was the fact that Jim looked like he was conducting a symphony the whole time. A symphony of bored, angry gamers.

As far as the speech itself goes - either get yourself a good writer, or learn to write effectively to communicate a message. For example, you talk about objectifying women in the terms of "fucking genetics" and then just leave it at that. So do you think objectifying women is okay? Tie up the issue to avoid misconception. Then there was the 'punchline' which lasted about half the episode, give or take, and was only partially funny when it first rolled around. And then, showing an adamant disregard for research into a subject, you missed covering about 90% of the argument against sexism in games. Well done. Your journalism cred is at the level of around Fox News.

I'm not for the cancellation of this show. I give shows three chances to make me laugh or think, and if they fail all of those, I stop watching. Who cares if it's there, right? But I think if Jim wants to keep a good-sized audience with the 'games journalist' image, he's got to grow up. A lot.
 

camazotz

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Jul 23, 2009
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Okay that was pretty amusing....guess I'll reserve judgement for now. "Objectify everyone!" that's actually not a half-bad solution to the matter of objectification of women in games....when the men are just as badly objectified, then everyone can feel equally violated. Hmmmmm.
 

SelectivelyEvil13

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Jul 28, 2010
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I dunno, maybe, especially given his last point regarding Devil May Cry, men and women "objectify" differently. Some pecs and a six pack aren't really that uncommon for ripped, male game characters. Large cleavages/breasts seem to be a bit more taboo just in general society. A man looking at a woman's chest versus a woman looking at a man's are treated completely differently for general acceptance in many cases. When it comes to parity for sexual display, Devil May Cry 4 is an example that I am familiar with enough to say that Nero may not prance around trying to sexualize everything he does, while (random half-naked chick) is hyper-sexual about killing demons, for cripes sake. So there is also that to consider.

Personally, I think that some sexuality is fine, sure, but overall it shouldn't even be the primary focus for most video games, anyways. If you want to get turned on, no matter one's gender, there is always the internet. Jim's solution is comical, but by no means a feasible one. Would it be appropriate to have Nero make constant phallic references to his sword to equal out with the random half-naked lady that air-humps demons to vapor, when the later wasn't even really fitting to begin with? Sex might sell, but I think it "sells out" more because it is most often geared towards one gender (usually men), adds little to no content, meaning or complexity to the actual game, and is pretty out of place (jiggle physics getting a bit too much attention for a sword-fighting death duel, for instance).

But no matter, I'm still going to get Duke Nukem Forever. :D
 

Sabinfrost

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Mar 2, 2011
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Because Jim knows what women want... I think they'd much rather be in full plate if the guy is in full plate. Why... because things are swinging swords trying to kill you, it makes sense.

Mortal Kombat has Liu Kang half naked, that hasn't stopped the complains about the female characters.

I agree, sex does sell, people do need to stop getting so up in arms over things like the Duke which have a humorous spin, but not every experience needs to be sexualised. Sex is part of the Duke, sex shouldn't be part of every save the world fantasy story.
 

Dice Warwick

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Nov 29, 2010
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if you want both guys and girls in chain-mail bekinies check this out

(http://www.drowtales.com/~relichunters/archive2/20100413c04p006.jpg)
 

Simriel

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Dec 22, 2008
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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
 

mr_rubino

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loodmoney said:
perpetualburn said:
If it were anyone else, I would say it isn't defensible, obviously. But knowing Jim, and seeing how exaggerated that quote is, there's no way in hell I think he's serious. Anywhere else, such a comment would be called satire. Do I think that article was funny or "satirical"? No. But do I think it was sexist? No.

I don't like Jim and agree with the majority for the most part. I just don't think he's sexist and I believe throwing around the word is a disservice to everyone. Agree to disagree, I suppose.
"[T]hrowing around the word is a disservice to everyone"? Really? How is he not sexist? Someone much smarter than I will have to explain this, because as far as I can tell, Sterling is quite possibly the most mysogynistic arsehole in the gaming world.

And if this is satire, can you tell me what his point is? I am genuinely curious.
That much like latter-day South Park, 12 year olds will lap anything up and call it smart parody, having been weaned on the Seltzerberg definition for most of their lives?

Simriel said:
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
Again: The fact that he is trolling with all the wit and charm of a syphilitic ox in a consignment pavilion is crystal clear. You are not enlightened for seeing this.
Hey Escapist. The least you can do is revert the Code of Conduct now that Lisa has been replaced by, as someone said last week, a large, vibrating beetle.
 

loodmoney

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Simriel said:
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
We get that. It is entirely obvious. But like all trolling, it detracts from actual discussion about games. And considering that much of the appeal of The Escapist is just this discussion, I want to know what the plan with Sterling is, except, perhaps, to drive people away? Or maybe to replace them with fans of Jim Sterling. Either way, it is not very clever.

If The Escapist is paying this guy: what the hell? You are, quite literally, feeding the troll.
 

Draconalis

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Sep 11, 2008
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No stumbling on himself like the previous week, better visuals to break up the "watching a fat man scream" stream, and less over all cussing making the words have a little more impact when they do come in.

I wouldn't say it's gotten to the point were I enjoyed watching it... but it was certainly better than his last work.

Seems he actually listened to the responses.
 

WilliamRLBaker

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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?
 

Ben Hussong

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WilliamRLBaker said:
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?
so only people in his industry are allowed to criticize him? * the rest of my post only applies if that is your meaning* BS, anyone can judge a statement based on its logical consistence, or tone, which is what we are doing, it's tone and substance people have issues with. Being in the games journalism industry doesn't suddenly mean you can just go " YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND" when people call you out for flaws or bias in your statements.
 

loodmoney

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Ben Hussong said:
WilliamRLBaker said:
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?
so only people in his industry are allowed to criticize him? * the rest of my post only applies if that is your meaning* BS, anyone can judge a statement based on its logical consistence, or tone, which is what we are doing, it's tone and substance people have issues with. Being in the games journalism industry doesn't suddenly mean you can just go " YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND" when people call you out for flaws or bias in your statements.
Exactly. Furthermore, unlike his "You're playing the game wrong" rant, which was halfway decent, his videos so far have not drawn on his experience in the industry. Games=/=movies is an observation anyone could make.
WilliamRLBaker said:
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 there is any amount of context that makes this video justifiable, please share.
 

Mxrz

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The world needs more quasi-new age intellectual types making things complicated.

Money > Games > Guys > Tits. Let's all follow the fuckin' logic train. In other news, the sky is still blue (except in LA.)
 

jrplette

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WilliamRLBaker said:
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.
 

Windcaler

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Well I said I would give it a second chance and I did. Again he makes some valid points but I just dont find him entertaining. I think he would work best as a column but not a video series. I dont think his style works for it as its not entertaining and not informative.

So I wont be catching future Jimquisitions
 

gamer_parent

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Jul 7, 2010
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this is a solid "meh" for me. I didn't find it all that funny, and frankly, I found what he said to be utter hogwash. As a pisstake, it's just not that clever. As a real opinion, it's moronic. And it can't seem to decide on which side it wants to be on.