Portal 2 Controversy?

[Singularly Datarific]

GLaDOS doesn't understand people, so the best thing she can come up with is juvenile bullying. Not even effective bullying, either. She's trying her hardest to hurt you, but she is a robot, and cannot figure out how.
It's her own determination and cluelessness that makes this a joke, not the adoption.
She even detracts her statement later, defending Chell when Wheatley tries the same futile insults ,"Oh, come on, just LOOK at her. She's NOT fat. And what's wrong with being adopted, anyways?"

Listen- I grew up with two adopted brothers, and it makes no shred of a difference, not one bit of it seems like a reason to make fun of someone. You still grow up in a family that loves you. Even better, in fact. Adoptive parents make the CHOICE to take and love you, biological parents are stuck with you either way, so I'd even say that being adopted speaks better for you than just being born.

 

[Marik2]

The guy is overreacting, and being an idiot.
[/thread]

LOL pretty much this.

I love it when parents get upset over things when their children dont even feel offended by it.

 

[JET1971]

if the dad is going to make that big of a deal over something that small then we might as well feel sorry for the turrets in the game.

Actualy... in both games I kinda felt sorry for the turrets.

OT: I agree with you on it was the dad looking for persobnal glory at the little girlse expense.

 

[theultimateend]

Spoiler: This doesn't even make sense.

Um...in the story Glados admits she was not right for picking on Chell about being adopted (which Chell wasn't anyways), and Later she harasses Wheatley for being a tool and being mean about it explaining that having people who love you is what's important or something quazi touching like that.

He just wants money and is trying to do what that Florida Thompson guy always did.

 

[evilstonermonkey]

EDIT 3: BUT, I must say kudos to the father for paying attention to what his children play.

You know, that was pretty much my first thought when I read the article. Shame the guy is overreacting to something so stupid.

 

[gbemery]

I think the dad's overreacting but where is everyone getting the idea that the kid knew it was a joke and wasn't bothered by it? They say she is "sticking to her guns" that she didn't hear it. Which can either me she didn't like it but is brushing it off, was hurt by it and holding it in, or yes that she doesn't care. Or maybe she is being honest and didn't hear it because she wasn't paying attention.

In all I don't think it is a big deal if you draw a line at that then you'll need to censor a lot of implied and obvious insults in games. I am also curious as to what the reaction of this forum would be if it had been a jab at gays, lesbians or transgenders? Would most of the results still be "Oh he is just over reacting." Or would it be more "I can't believe it how insensitive."?

 

[Gindil]

To the people who say it's only a joke: a lot of insensitive things are said and meant as a joke. It doesn't stop them from being insensitive. Not to mention that a joke's insensitivity depends on how it is received by the audience, rather than the person saying the joke. Remember when Gottfried said all those "jokes" on Twitter after the tsunami on Japan? He said it as a joke; I don't remember a lot of people defending that.

With that said, it's a bit much on the dad's part. In context, it was meant to be something that WAS insensitive, said to hurt the main character's feelings. Because the player, in the context, is simply an active observer who has no ties with the main character in question, we only see it as something funny, and that's how anyone should be taking it as.

It almost feels like the dad's projecting his own worries onto the lines, because he's so worried that his daughter's going to turn out resenting her adopted state. It's kinda heartwarming in an odd way.

Ok...

Work with me here though...

Before that "fatty, fat, fat" part, GlaDos was saying the same things subtly.
Not to mention how you started the game with "Serious Brain damage".

I doubt she made a big deal out of it. Even though I know he cares, it's kinda dumb to sit here and get so worked up over these lines and the daughter seems to understand what's going on.

 

[EBHughsThe1st]

They need context. Copious amounts of context, sure, but still context.
People are waaay to over-sensetive in this day in age. My face is sore from all the face-palming I do when a game makes a joke or incorporates a race other than white people or uses violence in a manner that creates these kinds of reactions.

Such a bias and uneducated report on the game. The message was sincere, but they were really kind of stupid here.

 

[Xman490]

You know what? It just goes to show, people with brain damage are the real heroes, in the end. Aren't they at the end of the day? Brave.

 

[BrEnNo1023]

At least his daughter understands that it's a joke...

But that matters nothing to those 'news' reporters who are clearly sacrificing the truth by editing out the comments and taking them out of context for the sake of an entertaining story...

Those ignorant news reporters pissed me the hell off. I love it near the end when they think Sony is just dodging the blame when they said that the news team had to contact Valve.

I wouldn't be surprised if those 'reporters' had no idea how the video game industry works. They probably think all games are made by Sony, Microsoft and nintendo personally and that publishers and developers are just scapegoats to those console manufacturers. Ignorance and hate in the hands of people with loud voices and a desperate need to earn as much money from this story as possible.

I was waiting for something like this to happen. Trust the typical sensitive hyper-paranoid middle-class stereotype parent to go to a third-rate tabloid news group, all while heaping all their suppressed guilt and insecurity on their child who just wants to play a freaking harmless video game with her family. I bet he's getting paid for it too. Pathetic.

 

[PhiMed]

okay i know i shouldn't comment twice on the one post but WTF! seriously, i know none of us take such new articles seriously as videogames are quite a modern thing and apparently these reporters just can't comprehend the new artistic exploration they bring, but they're getting it all wrong! the game is has not been brought up as "educational" that's just plain wrong! so with that huge slice of credibility snatched away from that broadcast, let's move on: "kid's game"? it's not a kids game, it's got quite an adult sense of dark humour, just because it's rated E doesn't make it aimed at kids! next: the insults are directed at the fictional protagonist! yes i'm aware the protagonist is mute and in first person, but my point still stands.
the father doesn't know how to explain it to his daughter? i'll take a swing at it, ahem. "the big eyeball machine is just being mean, he's wrong, don't listen to him"
GAZE MORTALS AT MY INCOMPREHENSABLE POWER TO EXPLAIN THE UNEXPLAINABLE!!

There are a lot of portions of Toy Story 3 that are pretty dark. I guess that wasn't made for kids, either.

It's not a kids game per se, but it is a game for kids. Valve sought and received an E rating. If they didn't want kids to play it, they wouldn't have sought an E rating. There's nothing in the game that would be inappropriate for a 10 year-old.

Telling parents they shouldn't let a kid play an age-appropriate game because it has dark humor pretty much shits all over the rating structure, which is one of the only things holding back the angry hordes right now. That type of acvice encourages parents to restrict their children to the little white piece of poo Nintendo is currently producing for all their child's gaming needs.

You're right that he should explain that GLaDOS is bad, and therefore says mean things, like a bad person. But I got the impression that his daughter didn't need a lot of explanation. He did. Maybe we shouldn't prevent kids from playing. Maybe we should keep idiots from observing.

BTW, I'd like to address the father in this story for a moment. Crying? On camera? Over this? Jesus Christ, man. Get a grip. If it's not something to be ashamed about, maybe you should stop teaching her that it's something of which she should be ashamed. You're in the south. Act like a man.

 

[PhiMed]

the father doesn't know how to explain it to his daughter? i'll take a swing at it, ahem. "the big eyeball machine is being is just being mean, he's wrong, don't listen to him"
GAZE MORTALS AT MY INCOMPREHENSABLE POWER TO EXPLAIN THE UNEXPLAINABLE!!

That has to be the most funniest thing... of all time. You Deserve a medal.
Also
We Kill people in games.
OH NO! Whats worse? KILLING PEOPLE <---- HINT HINT!
Or A few Snide Remarks against a Mute Lady from a Voltorb?
no. Sorry The dad just wants to look like a hero. LOOK AT ME IN NOT RACIST BECAUSE I ADOPTED A ASIAN BABY!

Do Reporters Find it Fun to do this? hey look a 40y old man is crying about a video game. THATS GREAT AIRTIME LETS GET EVERYONE TO SEE HOW STUPID WE ARE!

Father should have the girl taken away from them. if the dad is going to make that big of a deal over something that small then we might as well feel sorry for the turrets in the game.

i'm just pissed off that they keeping playing the "it's meant to be an educational videogame" card, when it's not! just because you're required to think to get through the game doesn't make it educational! these idiot reporters who's every word just shows how little they know about game culture and how unqualified their opinions are

Well, to be fair, anyone who paid attention would catch them admitting they lied at the end. They said, "Again, we did say it was educational, and that's because you have to sort of figure a way to get out of every single room." In other words, "It's not marketed as educational. We just made that shit up."

 

[Bags159]

Taking things out of context is fun. I mean seriously, they left out the part where GLADOS asks, "what's wrong with being adopted".

I love the reporters;

"Passing the blame on to somebody else"
"mmhmm"

Of course Sony is going to pass the blame; they didn't make the fucking game.

Kudos to the dad for actually being active in what his kids do / play / watch. Unkudos for taking this to the news.

 

[Trogdor1138]

Let me guess, an American father.....*reads article*.......yep.

They'll sue over anything they're not smart enough to laugh at.

While I don't like to generalize about where people come from and how they act... I sadly have to agree with you on this >_> It always seems to be the same certain country of people that take issue with ridiculous things like this... I'll stop talking before somebody gets offended, like an adopted kid.

 

[kortin]

Geez, people can't stop proving my theory correct. Pretty soon it won't be a theory. It'll be a fact.

 

[themattd1000]

Isn't it odd that it was at that part that he found offensive? I mean earlier in the game Glados fakes a phone call to Chell's parents and says "the birth parents you are trying to reach do not love you." In comparison to Wheatley's "Fatty, fatty, no parents" which should he have overreacted to?

 

[KarlMonster]

For those of you that remember Half-Life: Opposing Force.

A handful of years ago some nutjob got himself quoted in an online news article, claiming that the game glamorized the killing of doctors (think abortion clinics). Now, you know as well as I do that there were very few medical doctors in the game, they didn't perform any abortions, and their deaths were portrayed as "bad". (Yes, there's a bad joke in there about retro-active abortion, whatever.) It certainly doesn't take an in-game Ph.D. to see that someone had an agenda to dangle his cause in front of the media.

In this case, adoption? Really? Some people have a thin skin. Some people with thin skins are too high-strung, or just needlessly alarmist. And some of those people live in small towns with crappy newspapers and poorly paid journalists that shrug and say... "Well, we did need something to pad out page 9..."

 

[AssassinJoe]

I can understand where the dad is coming from. He's feels that the comments made by Glados in the game could have a negative affect on his adopted daughter. Now before we all go and say he's an idiot for thinking this, *looks at previous comments* (oops, too late) please consider that this is always a possibility. As much as we hate to admit it, comments like this can have a negative affect on kids.

I think he may have overeacted a little in this case because his daughter doesn't care about it, but I think we should try to understand his side opinion before dismissing it.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Someone needs to explain to this idiot what 'narrative' means.

 

[GaryH]

I love the implication that it should have been labelled "E for Everyone (except for Orphans)", like he's really suggesting that someone analyse every single variable in order to compile a list of people that may be slightly offended by a games content.

I don't know about you, but I remember enough about being 10 to know that I wasn't an idiot. This guy is clearly annoyed because the game brought up a topic of conversation that he isn't ready for, and made the assumption that his daughter isn't ready for it either. I think he's quite clearly wrong about that and that she just wants him to shut up so that she can get back to her game.

Children are smart. We do not need to patronise them by pretending that they need us to protect them from a humourous insult made by a video game robot.

I still can't believe that I just watched a news broadcast about a man who was offended because a video game called his daughter "fatty fatty no parents"...