Run Forrest Run

[Erttheking]

*snip*

I was going to say, I'm glad someone else feels this way.

Isn't this a good thing? Watching the video I don't see anything offensive about its depiction of mentally handicapped people. I can't think of any reason why a mentally handicapped person can't be the protagonist in what's supposed to be a fun little game.

The only thing that confuses me is why they even made it, the movie came out ages ago

I think the whole thins is that they decided to make a game out of the bit where a mentally handicapped kid gets bullied.

I dunno, it just feels iffy.

 

[Hagi]

I think the whole thins is that they decided to make a game out of the bit where a mentally handicapped kid gets bullied.

I dunno, it just feels iffy.

Put it this way, let's say it wasn't Forrest Gump. Instead it was a game about a nerd running, with a very short introduction about it being him running away from bullies.

And someone protested that, on the argument that depicting nerds is something that requires tastefulness, that it was controversial to depict a nerd in a silly, humorous context. That it compared showing a nerd in a game to be akin to showing great national tragedies that claimed countless lives.

Would you feel iffy about that game?
Would you feel iffy about the controversy surrounding it?

EDIT: If the nerd example doesn't work for you, feel free to substitute for a gay character, a female character or any other character who could be considered 'different'.

 

[Erttheking]

I think the whole thins is that they decided to make a game out of the bit where a mentally handicapped kid gets bullied.

I dunno, it just feels iffy.

Put it this way, let's say it wasn't Forrest Gump. Instead it was a game about a nerd running, with a very short introduction about it being him running away from bullies.

And someone protested that, on the argument that depicting nerds is something that requires tastefulness, that it was controversial to depict a nerd in a silly, humorous context. That it compared showing a nerd in a game to be akin to showing great national tragedies that claimed countless lives.

Would you feel iffy about that game?
Would you feel iffy about the controversy surrounding it?

EDIT: If the nerd example doesn't work for you, feel free to substitute for a gay character, a female character or any other character who could be considered 'different'.

Actually yeah, I would feel iffy about those kinds of games.

 

[Hagi]

Actually yeah, I would feel iffy about those kinds of games.

Why? It's just a character, who happens to be different from your usual protagonist, running away from bullies.

You really think being different warrants taking special care and exclusion to the realm of serious topics? That humor involving laughing about someone different, where the difference is not the subject of the joke, is iffy?

To me, that just seems incredibly dehumanizing.

 

[RaisingDead]

I too am a little confused about what is exactly controversial about this. I mean, I guess it's the implication that Forrest Gump is mentally handicapped and he happens to be running against the wrong side of traffic? But I don't think they were intentionally poking fun at his mental deficiency. Rather, I think it was just pure coincidence in terms of game design.

It's obviously a cash-in on the movie and the "Infinite Runner" genre of games, and that is all it is trying to be. Pointless, but nothing controversial.

 

[The Wooster]

Yeah...

I'm going to say it seems rather more insulting to complain about this than to make a game like this. I mean it's not like the game is making any point about Forrest Gump being mentally handicapped. It's just about him running.

But ow no! We can't have silly, cheaply made F2P games about mentally handicapped people! We can only show stuff like that in the most serious documentaries and motion pictures! Because being mentally handicapped is totally like 9/11 or Hotel Rwanda, a complete and utter devastating tragedy.

Saying this as someone who's spend half a year living with 13 mentally handicapped children and someone who's current job involves making software especially for mentally handicapped people. FUCK YOU.

Seriously, being mentally handicapped doesn't mean you're a fragile spoiled child incapable of humor. I haven't met a single mentally handicapped person who didn't greatly enjoy laughing, including about themselves. What I have met is no shortage of people who greatly disliked being treated as something to be kept at a safe distance, someone who couldn't be included because they're 'different'.

Spoiler: Here's a game about Usain Bolt running. If it's fine for Usain Bolt to be running it's fine for Forrest Gump to be running.

You want to know what really is tasteless? Comparing this game to 9/11 and Hotel Rwanda, that's disgusting.

If that's what you take away from this strip then it says far more about your attitudes than it does mine. As a side note, you're free to misinterpret our jokes all you want, but please stay civil on the forums.

 

[Erttheking]

Actually yeah, I would feel iffy about those kinds of games.

Why? It's just a character, who happens to be different from your usual protagonist, running away from bullies.

You really think being different warrants taking special care and exclusion to the realm of serious topics? That humor involving laughing about someone different, where the difference is not the subject of the joke, is iffy?

To me, that just seems incredibly dehumanizing.

Because it shows them being bullied when it has no need to do so. I mean it hardly ties into gameplay at all. Why bother?

Please point out the part where I said that. I don't think being different takes extra care, I just think that showing people who have to go through tons of crap and have to worried about being bullied in real life being bullied in a game where it's not connected to anything at all and is just there for the sake of being there is rather tasteless.

 

[Hagi]

If that's what you take away from this strip then it says far more about your attitudes than it does mine. As a side note, you're free to misinterpret our jokes all you want, but please stay civil on the forums.

Then please, do tell. What was your intention?

Enlighten me as to the similarities of being mentally handicapped, terrorist attacks and ethnic cleansings. And my attitudes for raising an objection to any comparison being drawn between those three?

 

[Hagi]

Because it shows them being bullied when it has no need to do so. I mean it hardly ties into gameplay at all. Why bother?

Because that's the movie? I mean you've watched Forrest Gump right? That's the part where they say Run Forrest, Run. Which is what the game is about...

 

[lord canti]

So why is this controversial? I mean I would understand if the other two games existed, but an infinite runner Forrest Gump games seem more along the lines of just plain stupid, not offensive.

 

[Ticklefist]

If that's what you take away from this strip then it says far more about your attitudes than it does mine. As a side note, you're free to misinterpret our jokes all you want, but please stay civil on the forums.

I think your comparisons made your intentions pretty clear. If you've got some high road to take here, by all means take it. Don't keep us in suspense.

 

[The Wooster]

If that's what you take away from this strip then it says far more about your attitudes than it does mine. As a side note, you're free to misinterpret our jokes all you want, but please stay civil on the forums.

Then please, do tell. What was your intention?

Enlighten me as to the similarities of being mentally handicapped, terrorist attacks and ethnic cleansings.

HOLY LOADED QUESTION THAT ISN'T HALF AS CLEVER AS YOU THINK IT IS, BATMAN. The strip has nothing to do with Forest's mental handicap. It's about the tonal disparity and complete barrel-scrapiness of taking a well-regarded - some might say "classic" - film and making it into a cheap, Temple Run knockoff. I've got no issues with the idea of a Forest Gump game. Hell, I think Telltale could do a great job of it. I'm more concerned with the TYPE of game it's being made into. That's why the two punchlines are both obvious parodies of popular mobile games prone to being ripped off.

 

[Ticklefist]

If that's what you take away from this strip then it says far more about your attitudes than it does mine. As a side note, you're free to misinterpret our jokes all you want, but please stay civil on the forums.

Then please, do tell. What was your intention?

Enlighten me as to the similarities of being mentally handicapped, terrorist attacks and ethnic cleansings.

HOLY LOADED QUESTION THAT ISN'T HALF AS CLEVER AS YOU THINK IT IS, BATMAN. The strip has nothing to do with Forest's mental handicap. It's about the tonal disparity and complete barrel-scrapiness of taking a well-regarded - some might say "classic" - film and making it into a cheap, Temple Run knockoff. I've got no issues with the idea of a Forest Gump game. Hell, I think Telltale could do a great job of it. I'm more concerned with the TYPE of game it's being made into. That's why the two punchlines are both obvious parodies of popular mobile games prone to being ripped off.

Well that wasn't communicated effectively at all. What I read is that making games about handicapped people is insensitive. As insensitive as making games about terrorism and genocide.

If that's still wrong then, look, we're your fans. Your audience. You can either tell us that we read it wrong or you can be a pro and write it better next time.

 

[The Wooster]

Also, sweet merciful Jesus, the Escapist forums are the only place on earth where 9/11 jokes are fine but disliking a cheap cash in on Forest Gump makes you worse than Hitler.

 

[Hagi]

If that's what you take away from this strip then it says far more about your attitudes than it does mine. As a side note, you're free to misinterpret our jokes all you want, but please stay civil on the forums.

Then please, do tell. What was your intention?

Enlighten me as to the similarities of being mentally handicapped, terrorist attacks and ethnic cleansings.

HOLY LOADED QUESTION THAT ISN'T HALF AS CLEVER AS YOU THINK IT IS, BATMAN. The strip has nothing to do with Forest's mental handicap. It's about the tonal disparity and complete barrel-scrapiness of taking a well-regarded - some might say "classic" - film and making it into a cheap, Temple Run knockoff. I've got no issues with the idea of a Forest Gump game. Hell, I think Telltale could do a great job of it. I'm more concerned with the TYPE of game it's being made into. That's why the two punchlines are both obvious parodies of popular mobile games prone to being ripped off.

Which is what I'm indeed taking issue with.

That mental handicaps are something that could apparently only be depicted in the type of games telltale makes, highly respected and serious games. That it's something wholly different that requires us to take very, very careful care so as not to be insensitive.

Because that just reinforces the existing stigma that mentally handicapped people can't be included because the things we're doing aren't the TYPE of things mentally handicapped people should be included in. That they're a separate category of people that need separate activities, separate games, separate lives.

And that's not a good thing. That's something that's making a lot of people very unhappy. People who'd much rather be included, in the sensitive as well as the insensitive, rather than be excluded yet again as they've so often been.

Here's my point and my issue with your comic. That the clear message is that there's a certain TYPE of game that is suitable to mentally handicapped people and others aren't. That depicting mental handicaps is something that requires an esteemed developed like telltale games and that it's certainly not something that we can put into cheap, money-grabbing F2P games.

And to reinforce that sentiment in, what I consider an extremely cheap comic, makes me angry yeah. For which I apologize, but it's a subject that I feel rather involved with and I feel that, even if unintentional, this comic merely serves to reinforce harmful stigmas that exist.

 

[Ickorus]

Forrest Gump is not a movie about a tragedy so why is it being compared to them?

Controversy? It's a tasteful classic movie about a man overcoming multiple handicaps to lead an amazing life which happens to cross paths with many important moments in history.

Not sure whats controversial about seeing a guy who's different. We don't have to stick people with mental challenges in closets to avoid offending people.

That being said the game is about 10 years late and it looks horrible and uninspired.

As the father of an autistic child I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm actually offended by the people that have a problem with this.

Do you really think that a 2D running game is going to use Forrest Gump with tact and tasteful adaptation? Just like, you know, Flappy Bird is going to be the appropriate clone for the tragedy of 9/11 or a side-scroller would DEFINITELY show the genocide of Rwanda without being completely disposable? Please, hold your joses. This isn't about trying to hide autism, it's about a game that has nothing to do with the movie about a man who has to overcome it. They are LITERALLY playing the controversy card.

They're really not, it's a shitty mobile game based on a movie to join the pile of shitty mobile games based on movies that already exist.

I can get people being unhappy about it being a cash grab based on an classic movie but think of it this way:

There is an entire generation that haven't seen this movie, putting a little game on their phones may well encourage them to see it and that's a damned good thing in my books.

 

[The Wooster]

If that's what you take away from this strip then it says far more about your attitudes than it does mine. As a side note, you're free to misinterpret our jokes all you want, but please stay civil on the forums.

Then please, do tell. What was your intention?

Enlighten me as to the similarities of being mentally handicapped, terrorist attacks and ethnic cleansings.

HOLY LOADED QUESTION THAT ISN'T HALF AS CLEVER AS YOU THINK IT IS, BATMAN. The strip has nothing to do with Forest's mental handicap. It's about the tonal disparity and complete barrel-scrapiness of taking a well-regarded - some might say "classic" - film and making it into a cheap, Temple Run knockoff. I've got no issues with the idea of a Forest Gump game. Hell, I think Telltale could do a great job of it. I'm more concerned with the TYPE of game it's being made into. That's why the two punchlines are both obvious parodies of popular mobile games prone to being ripped off.

Which is what I'm indeed taking issue with.

That mental handicaps are something that could apparently only be depicted in the type of games telltale makes, highly respected and serious games. That it's something wholly different that requires us to take very, very careful care so as not to be insensitive.

You literally could not be projecting any harder. The strip is about respect for movie source material. It has nothing to do with Forest's mental capabilities.

The great irony, of course, is you're accusing me of arguing against mentally diverse lead characters in Critical Miss, a comic known mostly for its mentally diverse lead character.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Forrest deserves a better game, that's for sure. It's relatively harmless as far as cash in games go but it sure picked one, small aspect of the source material and just rolled with that.

 

[Hagi]

You literally could not be projecting any harder. The strip is about respect for movie source material. It has nothing to do with Forest's mental capabilities.

The great irony, of course, is you're accusing me of arguing against mentally diverse lead characters in Critical Miss, a comic known mostly for its mentally diverse lead character.

I've got lots of black friends but... ?

And what disrespect to the source material? It's a game about a movie character that's well known for his running doing exactly that. It's just a cheap game about an extremely popular cultural phenomenon, like there have been hundreds of cheap games before it and will be hundreds of cheap games after it. Personally I'm happy for this game that may hopefully introduce a few new people to what's undoubtedly an amazing movie.

But sure, if you say that's all it is then I'll take your word for it and I'll apologize again for my angry reaction, that was unwarranted. All the same I don't think it's wrong to be aware how this comic comes across, not as a commentary on respect for your source material but as a comparison of a mental handicap as a subject sharing the same gravity as terrorist attacks and ethnic cleansing.

Maybe next time compare it to actual movies? Might get your point across a lot better, say Ripley in a bikini running away from an Alien plastered with sponsor logos...

 

[katsabas]

You literally could not be projecting any harder. The strip is about respect for movie source material. It has nothing to do with Forest's mental capabilities.

The great irony, of course, is you're accusing me of arguing against mentally diverse lead characters in Critical Miss, a comic known mostly for its mentally diverse lead character.

I've got lots of black friends but... ?

And what disrespect to the source material? It's a game about a movie character that's well known for his running doing exactly that. It's just a cheap game about an extremely popular cultural phenomenon, like there have been hundreds of cheap games before it and will be hundreds of cheap games after it. Personally I'm happy for this game that may hopefully introduce a few new people to what's undoubtedly an amazing movie.

The fact that there have been a hundred thousand cash-ins of this kind doesn't make this a correct policy. Any developer that knows he is dealing with a movie that has a big fanbase, addresses mental disabilities with respect and is considered a classic by the majority of people is OBLIGATED to show at least a hint of humbleness.

This game respects neither the movie, nor its' subject, nor its' audience.

I cannot have a nice time with this sort of stuff. I mean, Jenny hopping in every 2 seconds with a smile on her face while most of us know what her character goes through in the movie is something despicably low. Plus, if you think the film's central theme is running, then you missed the point of it completely.