Kickstarter Video Project Attracts Misogynist Horde

[Angryman101]

She has an opinion she wants to share, she's asking for money to help get it out there and get research material, and that's also fine. People do that. She's gotten her contribution and then some, so there will be even more episodes then there would have been originally, so yay for those of us who wanted this. ZeFrank also asked for money recently, and got a whole lot of it for something very similar. Very very very few people threw a fit over that. Making documentaries/web videos, drawing, painting, making music, it's all art and it's all work. It's not that much of a stretch to expect that people should get paid for their work and materials if they are good enough. Go up to a famous artist and ask him to draw you a picture for free, and then tell him he should do it because he loves it. He'll laugh in your face. On the whole, she didn't ask for all that much considering the quality of work she does, (if it had been for a professional outlet she would have been paid more than that). The fact that she got many times over what she asked for is a testament to the issue at hand.

She now has over fifty thousand dollars to do some research on wikipedia and other free websites. She now has fifty THOUSAND dollars to do some dumb fucking web series that has been done COUNTLESS times before, for FREE.
I don't give enough of a shit about this to watch the series because 1. feminism makes my eyes voluntarily roll and 2. why the fuck do people care THIS MUCH about video games, but that fact fills me with disgust.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

So, is it just safe to say that we're all losers in this?

Because both sides seem to be acting irrationally.

 

[johnnnny guitar]

okay At first while I was reading this I was like why are people getting so upset I mean I dislike feminists most of the time but this is insane.
Then I clicked the video, these were the first words that came out of my mouth "OH NO IT'S YOU" seriously I can not stand her I've seen some of her other videos and she is everything that is wrong with modern feminism.

 

[General Vagueness]

you could've shortened this article to: This is the video 4chan picked to raid today
("raid" isn't really the right word, it fits more for an entire site, but that's what they say in the threads)

 

[Khazoth]

She now has fifty THOUSAND dollars

...Ow, my soul. I seriously think I felt a blood vessel pop when I read that. I think she has every right to do this web series but.. Exactly what is she going to spend that money on?

you could've shortened this article to: This is the video 4chan picked to raid today
("raid" isn't really the right word, it fits more for an entire site, but that's what they say in the threads)

Sexism gets more views

 

[Furrama]

She has an opinion she wants to share, she's asking for money to help get it out there and get research material, and that's also fine. People do that. She's gotten her contribution and then some, so there will be even more episodes then there would have been originally, so yay for those of us who wanted this. ZeFrank also asked for money recently, and got a whole lot of it for something very similar. Very very very few people threw a fit over that. Making documentaries/web videos, drawing, painting, making music, it's all art and it's all work. It's not that much of a stretch to expect that people should get paid for their work and materials if they are good enough. Go up to a famous artist and ask him to draw you a picture for free, and then tell him he should do it because he loves it. He'll laugh in your face. On the whole, she didn't ask for all that much considering the quality of work she does, (if it had been for a professional outlet she would have been paid more than that). The fact that she got many times over what she asked for is a testament to the issue at hand.

She now has over fifty thousand dollars to do some research on wikipedia and other free websites. She now has fifty THOUSAND dollars to do some dumb fucking web series that has been done COUNTLESS times before, for FREE.
I don't give enough of a shit about this to watch the series because 1. feminism makes my eyes voluntarily roll and 2. why the fuck do people care THIS MUCH about video games, but that fact fills me with disgust.

She asked for 6,000. She's putting it up for everyone to watch for free. I can easily see where 6,000 dollars would go in the production she described. Games, platforms she might not have, big heavy books and other sources that don't run cheap, lights, upkeep on the camera, software, lots of things. Plus the hours of work one would put into the the thing. That much for what she wants to do makes sense with market standards.

People... people gave her more than that. A sign of solidarity perhaps, but they gave it to her. Don't be mad at her for getting far more than she asked for. That's like getting mad at a street performer for getting a few extra $50 dollars put in his hat by some kindly strangers who liked his work.

And it's not 50,000 anymore. It's 70,893. And growing by the hundreds every other refresh.

As far as your stance on feminism, I'm sorry you feel that way. True feminism strives for equality for both men and women, and I'm sorry that you don't want that. As far as why people care so much about video games? I dunno, why are you commenting on a gaming website?

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Edit: Kay guys, no-one else can bring anything new the table in telling me what the video does wrong. For the love of all the gods, stop quoting me, I simply don't care any more, you aren't adding anything.

Wow. Talk about one sided journalism. For a rational view of why people are against this For a reason why people are against this who aren't misogynistic pricks, that isn't just picking youtube comments, which are vile on every subject under the sun, and calling it news, here [Edit:while it makes some valid points, take it with a grain of salt, as ForeverPandering is opinionated and does enjoy bitching and making fun of people. But still, he gives some valid non-misogynist points against the project, though his ""Females have ample and adequate representation in video games" bit is BS, ignore that]:

I'm not here to really talk about what you said, rather on the video you posted. If you haven't realized yet, that video is completely inaccurate on most of the information it gives out. Take the very beginning for example, where he mentions that this is a bad idea for a documentary and he would be right if it was not for one major factor, this is not a documentary. This is a critique of popular culture. While documentaries need to focus on both sides of the coin, critique does not. Critique is all about finding fault and problems within a scenario. Yahtzee is a critic, MovieBob writes critiques, Micheal Moore is a critic. The History Channel however, mostly does documentaries.

He also talks about how the main consumers of video games are 15-25 year old males. They're aren't. The average consumer is in their 30s, has been playing on and off since 1990 and there are more adult female gamers over the age of 18 then there are teenage male gamers 17 or younger. (Source:http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp). The idea of Gamers being mostly male has been becoming less and less true as years have passed, but I don't really think t

Lastly, I don't believe I have ever heard of an anti-femenist reason given for Madison Paige and I've never even heard of a pro or anti complaint for the other 3 and due to the fact that I got work in about 45 minutes, I can't really spend a lot of time researching it. So for the sake of arguments, I'm just gonna focus on Madison from Heavy Rain.

Now, from what I'm beginning to see here from the few sources that have come up, the majority of the complaints against Madison are not about the character. Rather, they are for the scenarios she is forced into, namely sexual assault, at least 2 of these cases if I remember correctly, 3 if you count the DLC and a possible 4th if you wish to count her dream sequence where she is attacked while wearing nothing but a tank top and panties. I would not call the whole "Almost every action sequence she is in is used to show off her body or to place her in a scenario where she could be sexually assaulted" as an "asinine reason."
(Source:http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=1691 and http://honestcake.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/assault-is-not-sexy-zoo-today/)

 

[Kahunaburger]

So, is it just safe to say that we're all losers in this?

Because both sides seem to be acting irrationally.

I dunno, this is what the conversation looks like from my end.

A: Hey, world, here is my documentary kickstarter.
B: Sweet, have some money.
C: How dare you analyze things I like! [sexism]
A: Cool, I funded the doc. Thanks, kickstarters!
C: [sexism] [antisemitism] [threats]
A: Whoa, not cool with the harassment, guys.
B: Well, this certainly proves we need more discussion of sexism in games - here's even more money!
A: Thanks, kickstarters!

Repeat the last few steps as necessary.

 

[Khazoth]

So, is it just safe to say that we're all losers in this?

Because both sides seem to be acting irrationally.

I dunno, this is what the conversation looks like from my end.
A: Hey, world, here is my documentary kickstarter.
B: Sweet, have some money.
C: How dare you analyze things I like! [sexism]
A: Cool, I funded the doc. Thanks, kickstarters!
C: [sexism] [antisemitism] [threats]
A: Whoa, not cool with the harassment, guys.
B: Well, this certainly proves we need more discussion of sexism in games - here's even more money!
A: Thanks, kickstarters!

Repeat the last few steps as necessary.

If this qualifies as her 'losing' I really wanna lose like her all the way to the casinos in vegas.

 

[Angryman101]

*sigh*

Then show me the webseries that defines and explains all the tropes she wants to cover in her series with examples of both offenders as well as games which avoid those topics at all. Also, they better include the origin of the trope.

Also, your last question is fucking stupid. Why do people care about anything that is not needed for survival? People care about video games because they are actually a big part of our society, they are an artistic as an educational medium which suffers from the same problems other media suffer. Maybe even more because people like you tend to excuse everything with "it's just a game for boys so they are allowed to depict women in those tropes".

Go onto 'tvtropes.com' and read the pages about female characters. You will get literally everything you need to know. And nobody who wrote those was paid. Then google 'female representation in video games', look of the video section, and take your pick. Everything there will have the same points she is raising.
I think anybody who passively consumes entertainment without contributing themselves before becoming passionate about it is trash. They are what is wrong with society, not 'female misrepresentation.' It makes me sick.

 

[Khazoth]

She asked for 6,000. She's putting it up for everyone to watch for free. I can easily see where 6,000 dollars would go in the production she described. Games, platforms she might not have, big heavy books and other sources that don't run cheap, lights, upkeep on the camera, software, lots of things. Plus the hours of work one would put into the the thing. That much for what she wants to do makes sense with market standards.

Soooo... She wanted 6,000 dollars to buy video games and platforms...

Books that she doesn't need for this type of research.

Mysterious 'Other Sources' which I now deem to be the Necronomicon.

Lights for her house, which seemed extremely adequate in the video example.

Upkeep on a camera that seemed to be doing just fine.

Software she seemed to already have.

And mysterious 'lots of things' which I now deem to be a blood pact with the dark one Cthulhu.

... Nah she totally couldn't do the video she wanted to do with the current resources she has made countless other videos with.

 

[Angryman101]

She asked for 6,000. She's putting it up for everyone to watch for free. I can easily see where 6,000 dollars would go in the production she described. Games, platforms she might not have, big heavy books and other sources that don't run cheap, lights, upkeep on the camera, software, lots of things. Plus the hours of work one would put into the the thing. That much for what she wants to do makes sense with market standards.

People... people gave her more than that. A sign of solidarity perhaps, but they gave it to her. Don't be mad at her for getting far more than she asked for. That's like getting mad at a street performer for getting a few extra $50 dollars put in his hat by some kindly strangers who liked his work.

And it's not 50,000 anymore. It's 70,893. And growing by the hundreds every other refresh.

As far as your stance on feminism, I'm sorry you feel that way. True feminism strives for equality for both men and women, and I'm sorry that you don't want that. As far as why people care so much about video games? I dunno, why are you commenting on a gaming website?

What makes me bilious is that she shouldn't be asking for shit. As I said, she's doing what hundreds of people have done before her. She's not going to add anything new to the discussion. Everyone is aware of the issue.
She is, however, getting $70k for producing mediocre material on a saturated subject. I have no doubt that she's getting even more money now because people are like 'misogynists! well now i'm giving her MORE money because fuck those dirty men! this'll show them.' She doesn't deserve that money, and this whole thing is a clusterfuck of self righteous feminists and dumb people on youtube.
Don't care to argue about feminism. As for your question, it's because I enjoy occasionally playing video games, and sometimes discussing thematic qualities and how they reflect on society. I don't care enough to get mad at the subject matter of the videos themselves, nor am I passionate about video games. I'd much rather be, I dunno, leatherworking or working on some other practical skills than just passively consuming entertainment.

 

[Alterego-X]

That guy is weird, he seems to be angry solely about people misusing the term "documentary" for these shows.

I mean, I'm familiar with the bronycon example, it's pretty obvious that most bronies are only funding it to get an enjoyable movie with John De Lancie, Lauren Faust, and Tara Strong talking about ponies. Yeah, there is also some talk about presenting the fandom to outsiders, but it's kinda obvious even in the fandom that this is just marketing-talk.

I guess same applies to the Tropes vs. Women show. It will obviously air to an audience that is already interested in it's theme, just like anything else, but is it circlejerking for it? You could call it that, but than anything that's appealing to a minority is circlejerking.

I mean, all the Internet shows like the Game Overthinker, the Jimquisition, Extra Credits, include deep talking about gaming and sociology, and how to make games more artistically acceptable, to a niche of gamers who care about that already cares about that issue.

The only difference is that they don't vall themselves "documentaries", but that seems to be more of a Kickstarter category thing, where you can choose only between "animation" "narrative" or "documentary".

Arguing about how they are technically not unbiased enough to be called real documentaries, sounds like nitpicking.

 

[Kahunaburger]

She is, however, getting $70k for producing mediocre material on a saturated subject.

There's an easy solution: don't donate to the kickstarter. No real point in whining about what other people think is a worthwhile thing to spend their money on. After all,

 

[Angryman101]

You talked about a webseries, not a website.

How about you do the work because you made the claim. I want a web series (best in video form) to work through the list she posted on her kickstarter page.

Also, nice to see that you know what points she'll raise. Can I have your crystal ball for my finals of this semester?

Cool, I'll make a webseries of myself reading off of tvtropes. Can I have my 70 thousand dollars now?
I know because there is NOTHING new you can add to the discussion of sexual representation in vidya. You can recycle old viewpoints and material and give it a shiny new veneer, but it's all been done to death. These people are paying for that shiny new finish and to spite the dumbasses horsing around on youtube, as stated in my previous comment.