So today there's been something of an explosion over on Twitter with the revelation that someone at the Minecon event in Las Vegas 'dropped the F-bomb' in front of some kids, much to the dismay of Minecraft creator/demi-god, Markus Alexej Persson, aka Notch. Apparently, the culprits were in fact the Yogscast with their opening skit being the offending article(can't confirm this). This is an interesting case as in the past I've questioned the sensibilities of the Youtube gaming community, in terms of censorship, and thought I'd ask The Escapist community how they feel.
By sensibilities I'm referring to the casual sexism, disablism, homophobia, crude language etc. Personally, I have no problems with cursing. I would say that I swear fairy often and I find it strange that people would be offended. Fuck is a great word for enunciating views both critically and for comedic effect. The issue of swearing in front of children is a bit of tough one. My nine year old brother loves the Yogscast, he watches it for their gameplay and humour, most of which clearly goes over his head. They regularly make suggestive references (case point: masturbation with Notch) which he clearly does not understand. All of his friends also watch the Yogscast which means they are privy to language and information I wasn't until much later on life. He does, however, understand that to repeat this language is wrong. Is Notch overreacting?
As for the sexism, disablism and homophobia, that nonsense makes me cringe. Even revered Youtubers such as Seananners(who I love by the way) make silly throwaway comments about 'acting gay' or 'no homo
'. The same thing goes for the overuse of the word 'retarded' as an insult. Chat about 'banging chicks' is fairly normal too. So many kids watch these videos and assume these attitudes are acceptable. I'm sure the people in the community who are female, disabled or gay don't enjoy it. Female presenters, such as Tara Long on Destructoid, are open to regular abuse from viewers/trolls, purely because they are female. The irrelevant comments they receive quite often project pure hatred.
We need to remember that playground politics do after all originate in the playground.
So, what do you think? Are these problems that need to be addressed? Do you think they are acceptable? Are they even there?
Edit: Several people have alluded to the similar case in the UK where, comedian Ricky Gervais attempted to "claim back the word mong". An eloquent retort came from fellow comedian Richard Herring here: http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/?id=3276
Also, in the end, Ricky Gervais apologised for his mini-campaign after speaking to the mother of a child with down's syndrome. Interesting in his case was the fact that he claimed 'mong' no was no longer associated with disability, yet continuously posted pictures of himself doing the 'mong-face'.
Edit 2: Hmmm, some people seem to be getting the wrong end of the stick. This post was meant to open debate using Notch vs. Yogscast as a lead (hence the further link to a relevant topic). At the time of posting I'd only seen Notch's tweets saying "I'm very sorry about the behavior of the people we won't work with any more. Celebrity or not, you don't f-bomb kids" and "Yes, Yogscast." There was no intention to mislead or wind people up. Most people understand what I meant. I didn't know the full story and, seeing as Yogscast still haven't made a statement, it'd be silly to link to Notch's side without hearing them out. Anyway, as I said, this story was just a lead into my other questions. I'm not a journalist, I was just curious to see what people think. There's no conspiracy on my part. However, once Yogscast have made a statement I'll add a link (If someone else wants to post or mail me a link it'd be good).
How a statement like this "I'm sure the people in the community who are female, disabled or gay don't enjoy it" can be taken has been an eyeopener too. Ooft. Psychoanalysts abound
Edit 3: Here's a link to Yogscast's defence statement and video: http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/mnau9 http://youtu.be/HddMANh3Xis
Here's what Notch said, I think... http://i.imgur.com/v4TrW.png (Ta Psycho-Toaster!)
So it all seems to be a misunderstanding. What a surprise...
By sensibilities I'm referring to the casual sexism, disablism, homophobia, crude language etc. Personally, I have no problems with cursing. I would say that I swear fairy often and I find it strange that people would be offended. Fuck is a great word for enunciating views both critically and for comedic effect. The issue of swearing in front of children is a bit of tough one. My nine year old brother loves the Yogscast, he watches it for their gameplay and humour, most of which clearly goes over his head. They regularly make suggestive references (case point: masturbation with Notch) which he clearly does not understand. All of his friends also watch the Yogscast which means they are privy to language and information I wasn't until much later on life. He does, however, understand that to repeat this language is wrong. Is Notch overreacting?
As for the sexism, disablism and homophobia, that nonsense makes me cringe. Even revered Youtubers such as Seananners(who I love by the way) make silly throwaway comments about 'acting gay' or 'no homo
'. The same thing goes for the overuse of the word 'retarded' as an insult. Chat about 'banging chicks' is fairly normal too. So many kids watch these videos and assume these attitudes are acceptable. I'm sure the people in the community who are female, disabled or gay don't enjoy it. Female presenters, such as Tara Long on Destructoid, are open to regular abuse from viewers/trolls, purely because they are female. The irrelevant comments they receive quite often project pure hatred. We need to remember that playground politics do after all originate in the playground.
So, what do you think? Are these problems that need to be addressed? Do you think they are acceptable? Are they even there?
Edit: Several people have alluded to the similar case in the UK where, comedian Ricky Gervais attempted to "claim back the word mong". An eloquent retort came from fellow comedian Richard Herring here: http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/?id=3276
Also, in the end, Ricky Gervais apologised for his mini-campaign after speaking to the mother of a child with down's syndrome. Interesting in his case was the fact that he claimed 'mong' no was no longer associated with disability, yet continuously posted pictures of himself doing the 'mong-face'.
Edit 2: Hmmm, some people seem to be getting the wrong end of the stick. This post was meant to open debate using Notch vs. Yogscast as a lead (hence the further link to a relevant topic). At the time of posting I'd only seen Notch's tweets saying "I'm very sorry about the behavior of the people we won't work with any more. Celebrity or not, you don't f-bomb kids" and "Yes, Yogscast." There was no intention to mislead or wind people up. Most people understand what I meant. I didn't know the full story and, seeing as Yogscast still haven't made a statement, it'd be silly to link to Notch's side without hearing them out. Anyway, as I said, this story was just a lead into my other questions. I'm not a journalist, I was just curious to see what people think. There's no conspiracy on my part. However, once Yogscast have made a statement I'll add a link (If someone else wants to post or mail me a link it'd be good).
How a statement like this "I'm sure the people in the community who are female, disabled or gay don't enjoy it" can be taken has been an eyeopener too. Ooft. Psychoanalysts abound
Edit 3: Here's a link to Yogscast's defence statement and video: http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/mnau9 http://youtu.be/HddMANh3Xis
Here's what Notch said, I think... http://i.imgur.com/v4TrW.png (Ta Psycho-Toaster!)
So it all seems to be a misunderstanding. What a surprise...
