Poll: How many of Anita Sarkeesian's videos have you actually watched? (be honest!)

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I like being informed when I opine about stuff and I enjoy seeing uninformed people decrying stuff they don't get or misunderstand so I've watched everything. I was hoping she'd do the "fighter fucktoy" by now since I'm an avid fighter fan player so I think I'll find it funny the most when she starts picking apart the Dead or Alive girls or maybe Ivy from SC.


I don't get people who'd get mad by any of it. It's just w/e, it's sometimes so out of touch that it's genuinely entertaining.

 

[Story]

I've seen the first two of her Tropes vs. Women series and one of her earlier videos (the about the advertizing of Bayonetta).
I didn't find many of her points to be very enlightening since I'm in a Women's College and I learn about this stuff every other semester. Once she talks about games as systems of interaction and how these change how we view women tropes, I'll be interested enough to pick them up again.

For the record, I really didn't like the Bayonetta video. That was...pretty awful.

Just out of curiosity, what did you find bad about the Bayonetta video?

Well, might have been a bit of an exaggeration. But I honestly feel that the Bayonetta character was created, even carefully designed for the titialtion of the viewer and that the games themselves are almost a satire off of that fact. As was that advertising, even if it was pretty tasteless. Now I did agree with her points about sexual abuse in public train stations, so her points certainly did have some merit.

 

[Ticklefist]

Zero. I'd have never even heard of her if it weren't for all the whiny threads people post about her on this site.

 

[Summerstorm]

I think i watched the first three.

Wasn't for me. Didn't fit my taste and had no real information or content. Neither was it entertaining for me. So i haven't watched since.

 

[kaizen2468]

None. It's not that I don't think women in games should be represented better but more than I don't think she is doing the industry any service.

 

[4173]

Zero. I tried a couple times but the presentation is very dry, and when I fast-forwarded the videos they just seemed to be lists.

 

[barbzilla]

Well, I only played Neon, so I can't say one way or the other for the original, however the game was not Retconned for that particular reason.

Except what you're saying is false, so yes, it was retconned.

To top that off there were many other instances of misused videos.

I'm sure most or all of them are similarly rationalised by people less concerned with reality than with complaining about Anita. Hell, I already gave counter examples in the thread of just that sort of thing. My experience is that people are either reciting without watching the videos or lying.

And I'm sorry, but if you can't back up your claims, they're not worth claiming. They're not really worth anything.

Honestly I don't think you read my post entirely.

I did. I addressed the relevant point. I'm just skeptical when you have to resort to claims that Marian "demolished" the final boss. I've heard it all before. I've watched Thundert00l's videos and listened to people saying "lol, she totally punched him once after he was defeated and helpless! That's empowerment, women! Y U NO EMPOWERED?" but you have to ignore, well, everything about that encounter to make it count. It's the equivalent of a chihuahua peeing on a bully after he got knocked down. The video doesn't disprove her claim or harm her point.

So why make the claim? I could understand it if maybe there was a hidden mode where you played as Marian an got to beat the boss, but what she displayed wasn't out of touch with what she said.

If I said "I have nothing against gamers, but they're all a bunch of sweaty, sexist man-children who can't get laid," would you believe the former part of the sentence? I doubt you would. You would probably think I had something against gamers.

"I have no problem with X, but" is basically the "I'm not a racist, but" argument.

*sigh*

1: I didn't say it wasn't changed, I said it wasn't changed for that purpose. Had it been changed because of Anita's video, it wouldn't have been used in her video....

2: Dismissing me isn't countering any particular points I made, nor did I read your other thread. As for backing up my claims, why do I need to. I was only giving an opinion of her videos, and I don't have any particular need to defend my opinion, as I don't think my opinion precludes you from having your opinion. In fact it is you who seems to be dismissing my opinion as unfactual.

3: I didn't watch thunderhoof's video past the 2 minute mark as it was very condescending, nor did I say that her punching the boss made her a fleshed out character. What I did mean was that the game showed her capable of defending herself given the opportunity. As I said before though, I didn't play the original game, so I can't comment about that.

4: Where did I call her a sweaty, sexist man-child? All I said was that I didn't like the way she presented her video clips. I said that she has valid points, but that she didn't use the most effective videos to make her points.

I honestly can't take you seriously after this last post of yours. At no point did I say her videos where objectively bad, in fact my major complaints were opinion based. I didn't like the videos she used to make her point, and I didn't find myself engaged with her videos. I get that you didn't like my first example, and that is fine, but is that any reason to dismiss my opinion?

 

[N3squ1ck]

I think I watched most of her videos, being it about video games or not.

I am somewhat torn between agreeing and horribly disagreeing with her. You see, I agree with most of her assertions, that women and minorities are underrepresented in most media (since I am not blind I can notice that for myself), but I just can't get myself to accept her victim complex. Everybody gets trolled, and she got it really bad, but everytime she needs some momentum behind her projects, she just waves the wand and presents some new threats, some more, some less believable.

And I don't like that she subscribes to that whole "Videogames show something and through the interactions, the players learn that thing"-stuff. The same thing Jack Thompson believed in. There simply isn't enough proof for that to exist.

And because of all that, and her relatively dry presentation, I haven't watched the last TvW although I plan to once I get home to my college city again.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

I started one and watched it about halfway. Then I was sortof like "meh". I'd heard it all before, agreed up to a point but she wasn't giving any new input so whatever.

Therefore I'm also rather impartial to all these whinefests about her.

 

[kasperbbs]

Zero. Preaching about feminism is one of those things that i do not want to watch on my spare time and from what i hear it's not even a good show and everybody seems to hate her, but still people insist on flooding escapist with posts about her. The way i see it she is Justin Bieber of gaming.

 

[Avalanche91]

I have not watched any of her videos. I also feel inclined to point out that I am not critiquing her for anything, because as stated: I haven't seen her videos.

I'm essentially the completely neutral guy from Futurama.

I doubt she deserved the harrasment though.

If you don't survive this thread, should I tell your wife...Hello?

Joke's on you: I don't have a wife.
This is where I would post the image of the forever alone guy..... IF I HAD ONE!

That being said, roughly 30% apparantly hasn't seen her videos. If even half the people didn't watch it and don't believe she deserves the hate, than there are more people with that standpoint than people who've watched her whole series. Math is fun.

 

[cleric of the order]

I've mostly watched clips out of her shows from rebuttals and other sources because i can't put more then a minute into her videos.
They make me ill most of the time and i find it often disingenuous, (both to comment on her videos as a person who hasn't watched much and her perspective as a non gamer with direct political ties)
I've felt for some time now she is the next Jack Thomson, yet another demagogue abusing video games as an art form to gain notoriety and support. All of her videos, (up into a point and from what i have gleaned from on of my more politically active friends) is that it doesn't leave people in hope but rather layers on direct monotonous gripes against a medium she herself doesn't enjoy. mind you i am not anywhere in the audience for her videos, i prefer the academic and artistic examination of less politically driven speakers but it does make me exponentially livid that this tripe has garnered her an award. there are much better people, female or male that ave made videos around the subject of video games at large such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJihi5rB_Ek&list=UU2CsoZoHmPHv7q8Vea6IliQ and the more academic https://www.youtube.com/user/ExtraCreditz.
I love videogames and I love art, what i cannot however stand is the use and censor ship of things trough an ideological or moral basis and that is what the large hand of this is. and i know that the AAA's produce should often not be refered to as anything less then produce but that remains the problem. Along with this and the Zeo quinn, phenomenon (something that sees itself as spared with antia now a days) are a large scale example of something rotten in our community. As it stands, i have and will always be more angry at the censor ship of the scandal anything else and that sickens me.while this is not the time and place to argue about the Zoe Quinn rigamarole, i will close off the subject by saying the actions of the media say a lot about our community. Worse then that to me was a expert taken from the most resent critical Intel about the realistic display of women, because as it stands i would rather see people being displayed realistically even if it is in a negative light. The idea that (and perhaps this is simple reactionary rhetoric) that you can object to such portrayals because they are negative is beyond me. I accept it would be a weird world where women can only be that, but it is good to remember that for every rape victim, prostitute or murder victim (for gender should have no place in crime), there is a rapist, pimp and murderer, and those people will be infinity worse. but that is beyond my station.
MY station as a gamer and a human being is as follows I can just hope that at once we can just play video-games we enjoy, with a cast of interesting Characters that exist because they are interesting not because they are a demographic. I hope i will not have to see video games become captain planet and Shepard a message it doesn't believe in for the sake of people that do not care for it. and i really hope the industry will become more willing to explore less Homogenized realms.. and beyond good and evil finally gets the sequel it deserves. I hope this is something we all crave and that this politically driven nonsense could be wiped away for and artistically driven perspective, headed by the indie devs I've been funneling cash too. perhaps some day we can live, in a greater part of the world where mechanics and narrative take center stage and where the villain of the day has long died.

 

[Something Amyss]

1: I didn't say it wasn't changed, I said it wasn't changed for that purpose. Had it been changed because of Anita's video, it wouldn't have been used in her video....

But unless the game was changed, you have no argument. What happened in the game isn't what you described.

2: Dismissing me isn't countering any particular points I made, nor did I read your other thread.

That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. If your points are things you won't back up, then I don't really need to pay attention to them. Answering the question of

As for backing up my claims, why do I need to.

That's why. If you wish to claim things for the consideration of others, as you have since done (at the point you complain about you dismissing your points, you're no longer just delivering your opinion), you should be able to do something other than just make unverifiable or false claims.

3: I didn't watch thunderhoof's video past the 2 minute mark as it was very condescending, nor did I say that her punching the boss made her a fleshed out character. What I did mean was that the game showed her capable of defending herself given the opportunity. As I said before though, I didn't play the original game, so I can't comment about that.

She didn't show herself capable of it. She showed herself capable of hitting a man when he's down.

4: Where did I call her a sweaty, sexist man-child?

Where did I say you said it? Oh, right, I didn't.

 

[barbzilla]

1: I didn't say it wasn't changed, I said it wasn't changed for that purpose. Had it been changed because of Anita's video, it wouldn't have been used in her video....

But unless the game was changed, you have no argument. What happened in the game isn't what you described.

2: Dismissing me isn't countering any particular points I made, nor did I read your other thread.

That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. If your points are things you won't back up, then I don't really need to pay attention to them. Answering the question of

As for backing up my claims, why do I need to.

That's why. If you wish to claim things for the consideration of others, as you have since done (at the point you complain about you dismissing your points, you're no longer just delivering your opinion), you should be able to do something other than just make unverifiable or false claims.

3: I didn't watch thunderhoof's video past the 2 minute mark as it was very condescending, nor did I say that her punching the boss made her a fleshed out character. What I did mean was that the game showed her capable of defending herself given the opportunity. As I said before though, I didn't play the original game, so I can't comment about that.

She didn't show herself capable of it. She showed herself capable of hitting a man when he's down.

4: Where did I call her a sweaty, sexist man-child?

Where did I say you said it? Oh, right, I didn't.

I'm sorry, but I'm just done arguing with you. I really have no need to validate my opinions to you. My objective here was to respond to the OP's question about how many videos I watched, and then give my reasoning why. I never made any assertions as to what is and isn't fact, only my opinion. If you really want to continue arguing with someone, that is fine, it just won't be me.

 

[Guy_of_wonder]

I have watched none of her videos. The threats she has received are undeserved and just wrong.
Why can't gamers be mad about other people like Glenn Beck or Jack Thompson. The biggest threat Sarkeesian poses is misinforming people.

 

[Sea Sponge]

None, zip, zero, zilch, nada and not a single one.

I didn't know who she was until the whole "rawr die *****" crap started up and, to be perfectly honest, I still have no idea who she is.

I know her name and that is it. I know nothing about her except some people want her dead and quite frankly I don't want to know anything about her.

 

[elwood612]

Thank you all for your responses, I very much appreciate it. The number of people who've watched entire episodes of hers is higher than I expected (though maybe that's just the old Escapist crowd pulling through).

If I could quickly indulge in a small side-story: my girlfriend and I recently went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. If you haven't seen it, by the way, you probably should. It's a great example of what can be done when a movie has a truly amazing script, some of the best actors in the business, and a few hundred million dollars. Anyway, we both loved the movie, but as we were going home, the girlfriend pointed out that it was very much a sausage fest. I agreed, and introduced her to the Bechdel Test and all that. I said, however, that Dawn was actually a heck of a lot better in that regard than films like Transformers.

She said words to the effect of "yeah, I know that, but with Transformers, it's what you expect. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was a genuinely good film, it's a shame that lazy storytelling tropes get in the way."

What I'm trying to say is that someone (Anita) doesn't go to the trouble of raising $160,000 and devoting years of her life to a project for which she will be vilified and scorned, if that person doesn't really care about the medium. I don't see her videos as being "anti-video game" in ANY way. It's clear that she has a genuine appreciation for (at least some of) the games she plays, she just wishes writers and developpers would quit being so lazy.

And this gets to the heart of why I posted this in the first place. There seems to be a consensus out there (and by out there I mean the internet) that criticism of video games, feminist criticism especially, seeks to damage gaming. But criticism in general is what elevates an artistic medium: films only started to be considered as art by the general population once film criticism took off in the 60s. Likewise, this past decade (or so) has seen the slow acceptance of video games as an art form. Granted, there's still a ways to go, but videos like TvWiG are a PART of this effort, not detrimental to it.

Thus, it is amazing to me that people can still feel threatened by Anita, despite the fact they haven't seen a single one of her videos. Then again, the poll results have already proved me slightly wrong in that regard, so maybe I just don't have a clue.

Sincerely,
Someone Who Plays Games But Doesn't Consider Himself A Gamer And Would Very Much Like To Understand What The Fuck Is Going On In The Gaming World So The Escapist Can Go Back To Normal Ok Thanks

 

[Ironbat92]

None, I honestly could careless about her.

 

[K12]

None, because I agree with the general message and want any excuse to not feel like I have to defend to content of her videos when I defend the general point that Games don't do a great job of presenting interesting female characters.

I also don't want to get sidetracked by her content if I make a comment about how wrong it is for her opponents to treat her like a modern day Ms. Hitler. and try to defend or dismiss the rape threats and harassment.

 

[McMarbles]

All of them. They're not that much time out of my day, and I honestly can't understand the sheer level of offense people take at them.