Three? Four? Until people went all nuts over that other lady I didn't know she was still doing them; I thought I'd seen them all. I certainly think her earlier ones were better than the current stuff but regardless of varying watchability they all make valid points as far as I've seen.
Poll: How many of Anita Sarkeesian's videos have you actually watched? (be honest!)
- Thread starter elwood612
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Two, and I felt like I couldn't really make it through either of them. Not for lack of agreeing with the premise (I have some quibbles from time to time though), but because of the incredibly dry presentation. A little self-deprecating humour or even a hint of emotional investment in the products she's critiquing would go a long way to making them more appealing.
"More than 5 minutes of one or more episodes."
In this case, just one episode. I watched one of them for a few minutes, but I turned it off because of how boring it was. She doesn't seem to have any charisma whatsoever, just kind of stares at you blankly and talks as if reading off a script. Not really something I want to sit down and watch half an hour of.
That's where my experience and opinion of the woman begins and ends.
In this case, just one episode. I watched one of them for a few minutes, but I turned it off because of how boring it was. She doesn't seem to have any charisma whatsoever, just kind of stares at you blankly and talks as if reading off a script. Not really something I want to sit down and watch half an hour of.
That's where my experience and opinion of the woman begins and ends.
So far Ive watched all of her tropes videos, she raises some interesting points and gives me some different ways to look at different aspects in gaming, that said i dont agree with some of her points.
I tend to agree with the OP that they seem like an intro to video game criticism and really do seem more aimed at people not really that familiar with games and have only a passing understanding of feminist theory rather than self identified gamers which is why i believe some of the points seem obvious to gamers.
some people seem to of taken the attitude that if they threw enough abuse at her for her critique of video games that she would just go away and they would win and then things would go back to how they usually are, but its blown up in their face and and helped bring into the light for a wide audience, a lot of whom aren't even gamers the rampant issues gaming culture has.
even if i completely disagreed with her videos on every single point I do believe it is a good thing that people are finally starting to deal with things that are an issue for a lot of people
I tend to agree with the OP that they seem like an intro to video game criticism and really do seem more aimed at people not really that familiar with games and have only a passing understanding of feminist theory rather than self identified gamers which is why i believe some of the points seem obvious to gamers.
some people seem to of taken the attitude that if they threw enough abuse at her for her critique of video games that she would just go away and they would win and then things would go back to how they usually are, but its blown up in their face and and helped bring into the light for a wide audience, a lot of whom aren't even gamers the rampant issues gaming culture has.
even if i completely disagreed with her videos on every single point I do believe it is a good thing that people are finally starting to deal with things that are an issue for a lot of people
Three of the long ones.
The videos I watched either stated historical things in games in the most boring and sometimes abstract way possible, or they were factually incorrect/outright lies.
I have time, so if anyone wants to recommend a certain video that does present good and well-argued points, I would appreciate a link. It would beat going through all of her videos.
The videos I watched either stated historical things in games in the most boring and sometimes abstract way possible, or they were factually incorrect/outright lies.
I have time, so if anyone wants to recommend a certain video that does present good and well-argued points, I would appreciate a link. It would beat going through all of her videos.
How many of Anita Sarkeesian's videos have I watched?
All of the Tropes VS Women ones.
Twice.
She's a horrible speaker, with a droning monotonous voice that has a tendency to feel a little like she's reading from an autocue.
But she's not wrong.
People bring up "tired old argument we've heard before" and yes, we have. But the general public (those the TvW videos are AIMED at btw) don't see it. And as we've seen from a great many developers, even those MAKING games can miss these issues.
The videos are clearly aimed at the woman's experience and perspective, and as such only reference the treatment and representation of women in games. The men trying desperately to point out the inequities in games about the treatment of men are only minimising the very REAL experiences of many women when they play games. That's just selfish. Childish even.
Do I think she's 100% right? Nope. Do I think she cherry picks? Absolutely. But the cherry picking is for a reason. It has a method based in the viewpoint she's trying to get across. Someone brought up that debates often want you to address the other side. Yes, they do. But this isn't a debate. This is an informative presentation that is designed to point out to those not immersed in the gaming world about the issues women face in it. About the very real problem of a huge industry, that has more money than Hollywood, but is still deeply, DEEPLY entrenched in backwards, stereotypical views about both men AND women, and her videos are simply pointing this out, while STILL showing a great respect for the medium as a whole.
I would go so far as to say if you can't agree that there are problems in your chosen form of entertainment, you don't respect it and you don't respect yourself. You're just allowing yourself to be pandered to.
In the end, this isn't the attack on men some people like to claim it is. It's an attack on storytelling, and the use of tired, boring and regressive tropes and ideas that are prevalent ACROSS THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY instead of making a proper effort to tell a genuinely compelling story. And she has never once, to my knowledege, said that these tropes are worthless, just that their worth is given too much importance today.
And she's right.
All of the Tropes VS Women ones.
Twice.
She's a horrible speaker, with a droning monotonous voice that has a tendency to feel a little like she's reading from an autocue.
But she's not wrong.
People bring up "tired old argument we've heard before" and yes, we have. But the general public (those the TvW videos are AIMED at btw) don't see it. And as we've seen from a great many developers, even those MAKING games can miss these issues.
The videos are clearly aimed at the woman's experience and perspective, and as such only reference the treatment and representation of women in games. The men trying desperately to point out the inequities in games about the treatment of men are only minimising the very REAL experiences of many women when they play games. That's just selfish. Childish even.
Do I think she's 100% right? Nope. Do I think she cherry picks? Absolutely. But the cherry picking is for a reason. It has a method based in the viewpoint she's trying to get across. Someone brought up that debates often want you to address the other side. Yes, they do. But this isn't a debate. This is an informative presentation that is designed to point out to those not immersed in the gaming world about the issues women face in it. About the very real problem of a huge industry, that has more money than Hollywood, but is still deeply, DEEPLY entrenched in backwards, stereotypical views about both men AND women, and her videos are simply pointing this out, while STILL showing a great respect for the medium as a whole.
I would go so far as to say if you can't agree that there are problems in your chosen form of entertainment, you don't respect it and you don't respect yourself. You're just allowing yourself to be pandered to.
In the end, this isn't the attack on men some people like to claim it is. It's an attack on storytelling, and the use of tired, boring and regressive tropes and ideas that are prevalent ACROSS THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY instead of making a proper effort to tell a genuinely compelling story. And she has never once, to my knowledege, said that these tropes are worthless, just that their worth is given too much importance today.
And she's right.
I watched the whole series so far, since I wanted to know what all the huff was about.
And yes, she takes things out of context and puts her personal spin on stuff by filtering it through a nice set of terms like "heterosexual male viewers", which are utter bullshit once you think about it.
The use of this lingo struck me as particularly annoying in the Women as Background-Deco-Video. What? Homosexual women or bisexual males and women don't exist? Is the feminine form really just asethetically pleasing to horny teenagers?
And yes, she takes things out of context and puts her personal spin on stuff by filtering it through a nice set of terms like "heterosexual male viewers", which are utter bullshit once you think about it.
The use of this lingo struck me as particularly annoying in the Women as Background-Deco-Video. What? Homosexual women or bisexual males and women don't exist? Is the feminine form really just asethetically pleasing to horny teenagers?
I both agreed & disagreed with her, & therefor was neutral & had no strong opinions. So I stopped watching.
I'm a pretty gender neutral woman who hates super feminine women & super masculine men, all my friends are tomboys, queens, & gamer guys who don't give a s**t about peer pressure & societal norms. I've never personally been discriminated against for being female, I believe in equal opportunity sexual objectification in entertainment, which is fantasy & should be kept separate from reality, & I swing both ways. Since I can't take sides, I just ignore the topic entirely.
I'm a pretty gender neutral woman who hates super feminine women & super masculine men, all my friends are tomboys, queens, & gamer guys who don't give a s**t about peer pressure & societal norms. I've never personally been discriminated against for being female, I believe in equal opportunity sexual objectification in entertainment, which is fantasy & should be kept separate from reality, & I swing both ways. Since I can't take sides, I just ignore the topic entirely.
It's my pet theory that the entire hubbub is not really about the topic (gender-representation, feminism, etc.) itself, but her presentation of it, which is littered with demagogy and misinformation. People speaking out against those then prompt a knee-jerk reaction from the idiot corner of the social justice crowd that proceeds to switch the discussion over to gender-politics, which then prompts a counter-reaction from the more unsavory participants of the original discussion, which the other side takes as validation of their point, and then the entire thing will slowly devolve into a mud-slinging contest while the original topic remains mostly unaddressed (which is not helped by Miss Sarkeesians track record of dismissing any kind of criticism thrown her way, no matter its nature), which means that since the problems still exist, someone will start a new thread about them at some point where the entire thing will start all over again.BloatedGuppy said:
In short, I blame most of the situation surrounding her to her numerous defenders who were kicked into hyperactivity by the trolls attacking her and spoil even legitimate discussions as much as the trolls they want to dissuade.
At this point it's just incredibly annoying and I got to the point where I refuse to even try to get into actual arguments there because the entire thing is just 100% pointless.
The very first one and the last two completly. The others I jumped trough.
My reaction vary from "Yeah. She has point there. That should change" to "Ah. Na. I disagree on that because..."
Yeah. Sometimes she seems to be a bit exaggerating and take some examples a bit too much out of context. But in general i agree with her. And in some examples I also agree. e.g. the creepy sexualisation of female corpses(!)/Death of females in some games.
So I really don't see any evil plot to destory all games. Honestly: I think listening to her woud lead to much better written games and/or charakters.
My reaction vary from "Yeah. She has point there. That should change" to "Ah. Na. I disagree on that because..."
Yeah. Sometimes she seems to be a bit exaggerating and take some examples a bit too much out of context. But in general i agree with her. And in some examples I also agree. e.g. the creepy sexualisation of female corpses(!)/Death of females in some games.
So I really don't see any evil plot to destory all games. Honestly: I think listening to her woud lead to much better written games and/or charakters.
I've watched several, and I can tell you her research is essentially worthless.
She's trying to make valid points about real issues, but she's completely and totally useless at it.
She gets just enough info about a character or a game to totally fail to grasp what it's actually about, what the context is, or what characters are portrayed how relative to it.
It's almost like she's fucking it up so bad to troll.
Basically she's just making a whole lot of noise a annoying people, and then other much more competent people come along and make worthwhile and accurate versions of her rambling nonsense and THEY are the ones who actually identify and address the actual problems at hand.
She's trying to make valid points about real issues, but she's completely and totally useless at it.
She gets just enough info about a character or a game to totally fail to grasp what it's actually about, what the context is, or what characters are portrayed how relative to it.
It's almost like she's fucking it up so bad to troll.
Basically she's just making a whole lot of noise a annoying people, and then other much more competent people come along and make worthwhile and accurate versions of her rambling nonsense and THEY are the ones who actually identify and address the actual problems at hand.
Confession time: I've watched every bit of material she's ever uploaded to YouTube, including the Bayonetta video that she removed, and I've noted down the key points and quotations of most of her videos in a word file for future reference.
What can I say, I like to go into a discussion prepared.
What can I say, I like to go into a discussion prepared.