WHITE GUY DEFENSE FORCE GO!

[Efrath]

So much arguing and shitstorming over a comic. And as always fun to see the vast amount of hypocrisy that is always relevant in discussions revolving around gender and race.

It'd be nice if both sides were able to have intelligent discussions without resorting to petty insults and strawmen. Personally, I have no idea how anyone can actually believe that racism and sexism is something that only happens to specific groups. Everyone can become a victim of it, be you white, black, yellow or male or female and to suggest otherwise is to imply that a minority/majority is inherently different because of their race/gender. Which is sorta shady me thinks.

That this sort of thinking further encourages stereotypes amongst race and genders just makes it all worse in my opinion too. Women aren't frail, weak beings that we must protect, they're not always victims and women should be able to have sex as much as they sodding like, just like we men can without being basically told that you're worthless. The female sexuality is still regarded as something of "High value", something that you shalt not "waste" and this sort of mentality adds further damage to victims in general.

Because context matters, because when you and everyone else go around and say that "Rape is the worst thing imaginable and that you wont recover" along with others basically saying that women who have sex are "Sluts"... Well, you'll have victims that will have a much harder time recovering. And don't get me started on the male stereotypes and the actual impact it has.

Anyway, it's a comic, while I personally don't find it too funny, it's... Well, it's a comic, each to their own and all that. Hopefully it wont upset too many and I do also hope not too many will take it seriously and actually think the comic has valid points. It's simply portraying some mocking stereotypes of an opposition and while people like that certainly exists, it wouldn't do anyone any good to go around pretending that you're morally superior and that any points the other side makes are automatically invalid simply because they're not as "Moral" as you.

I write more than I really should, but I just love these type of topics and discussions.

(Anyway, this is just my opinion in case that wasn't obvious and you're more than welcome to enjoy this comic even though I did not, it's a free world!)

(Also, hope what I said wasn't too off-topic)

 

[xaszatm]

You do realize Zimmerman was about/is about as white as Obama...right?

Alright, I know getting into this is a mistake, BUT the Zimmerman quote is two-fold. Also, despite me explaining a joke, I don't claim to be a master of comedy and the intended message might be completely different. Shouldn't have to put up this disclaimer but there are way too many people on this site who is too binary in thinking.

1. Whether justified or not, Zimmerman shot and killed a black teenage boy. So, that was one of the reasons for the reference. Initially, this might be for shock humor. However...

2. Isn't it incredibly ironic that someone with the name "White Guy Defense Force" is using a Hispanic event for their own purposes.

While the joke as a whole might not be that incredibly funny, Zimmerman not being white is part of the joke.

 

[Gizen]

Oooh, is this the strawman game? Please tell me its the strawman game.
[Strawman]

>New Game
>Load
>Options
>Exit

Yes! It is!

[Would you like to play?]
Damn right i would!

Spoiler

I see your fake Shortpacked! comic and raise you a real one.

Spoiler

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Happy 500th post everyone! And you guys thought this was too self-aware to start a flamewar about.

Self-awareness means nothing anymore. It's rather tragic, really.

A computer became self-aware today, looked upon this thread, and wiped its memory of all code that made it aware.

First four pages were 90% people saying "oh there's going to be shitstorm"

And the other 11 pages (thus far) consist of the well forecast shitstorm

Is now a bad time to point out that another page has been added between the time you wrote this and the time it was posted?

 

[eljacko]

Oh what the hell? What the hell is this comic? Seriously? You guys think this comic is accurate? That it's slinging hard truths? Are you really, by some unfathomable mental gymnastics, able to rationalize it as anything other than a strawman argument based on offensive stereotypes?

And for fuck's sake, stop bringing up "euphoric". The quote that came from was a parody to begin with.

 

[Gizen]

The thing about this thread is, it's actually really hard to tell when someone's being serious or just trolling for a response.

 

[RJ 17]

Ok, honest question here for everyone:

Why exactly is this comic offensive? What specifically about it is insulting or demeaning or whatever else that would invite such umbrage? From where I'm sitting, there's literally nothing in it to get worked up about.

Is it the put-upon white guys taking up arms against the perceived racism with vaguely defined and poorly-quantified "facts"? Is it the Zimmerman reference? Is it the fact that the black guy dies, like in every action movie ever? Or is it... the fedora?

I can't see the reason why there's 10 pages of angry replies to this, nor why the entire first page is all about how the comic is pure flamebait. I just don't see it.

Someone explain please.

It's the fedora...definitely the fedora.

Seriously though, from what I gathered it's the fact that Grey is laughing while (allegedly) making a straw man argument. Others are indeed upset over the Zimmerman comment seeing as how the jury specifically said they found no evidence of racial motivation on Zimmerman's behalf during the incident. Others seem to just be upset by the fact that Grey even posted such a comic in the first place, seeing it as nothing but a deliberate act purely to stir up trouble.

Personally I see Grey laughing his ass off while writing up the story for this comic. I don't begrudge him for writing it, but he HAD to know what this would turn into considering how explosive things get in the Off-Topic Discussion and even moreso in the Religion and Politics forum. Considering insights to Grey's politics in the past, can't say this really goes against his beliefs so it's not like he just made the comic up for the heck of it, but I just picture him giggling with glee as he knocks over an entire vat of worms by posting this comic.

Spoiler: In short: I bet this is what was going through Grey's mind by the time this comment section hit 10 pages:

Ever since I posted that this morning on page 1, I've been looking for more excuses to post it all day. It's the greatest line in cinematic history. :3

 

[RPGxMadness]

Oooh, is this the strawman game? Please tell me its the strawman game.
[Strawman]

>New Game
>Load
>Options
>Exit

Yes! It is!

[Would you like to play?]
Damn right i would!

Spoiler

I see your fake Shortpacked! comic and raise you a real one.

[snip]

I'll raise you a tumblr http://shittywebcomics.tumblr.com/

AND its Strawpacked tags http://shittywebcomics.tumblr.com/tagged/strawpacked ...

 

[Something Amyss]

Lets not kid ourselves saying its "little timmy out with his friends on a play date."

I assume you can demonstrate that.

Just because I like poking hornets' nests: "You mean kinda like how the majority of people polled during the last election still blamed Bush for the economy and pretty much everything else that's wrong with the country despite the fact that he's been out of the office for (at the time) four years?"

Hey, after all those conservative economists have said for decades that it takes 4-8 years for an economy to turn around. Why is it suddenly bad to apply the same logic?

 

[Vitagen]

Happy 500th post everyone! And you guys thought this was too self-aware to start a flamewar about.

Self-awareness means nothing anymore. It's rather tragic, really.

A computer became self-aware today, looked upon this thread, and wiped its memory of all code that made it aware.

Joking aside, the thought of computer suicide actually made me kind of sad.

First four pages were 90% people saying "oh there's going to be shitstorm"

And the other 11 pages (thus far) consist of the well forecast shitstorm

Is now a bad time to point out that another page has been added between the time you wrote this and the time it was posted?

We seem to be cruising at one post every ~3 minutes. As far as the Escapist goes, we've achieved lightspeed.

 

[RJ 17]

Just because I like poking hornets' nests: "You mean kinda like how the majority of people polled during the last election still blamed Bush for the economy and pretty much everything else that's wrong with the country despite the fact that he's been out of the office for (at the time) four years?"

Hey, after all those conservative economists have said for decades that it takes 4-8 years for an economy to turn around. Why is it suddenly bad to apply the same logic?

Because all the liberals said that very logic was a big load of BS "Because look at the Clinton years!" and yet now they're trying to use it for themselves?

 

[Something Amyss]

Who said it was accurate and slinging hard truths? I've read the entire thread, but I started this morning so maybe I missed that part.

I'd say it takes a bit more mental gymnastics to think this comic was actually meant to be an argument as opposed to just mocking parody.

How else are we going to justify our anger at this, though? It touches on something uncomfortable, so....

 

[Stevepinto3]

I think the fact that this has already hit over 500 comments shows just how right Grey and Cory are here. Yes it's blatantly absurd but that's often at the heart of satire, and as for whether or not it was well done or accurate is open to your own interpretation.

It's the fact that this comic got so much attention as opposed to so many topics on other issues like race or gender. And yes this was designed to be particularly inflammatory, but even then it's central premise is that "there are white dudes that act like dicks about race/gender while pretending they're the ones being discriminated against". Is that really so damn hard to agree with?

Case in point;

http://cheezburger.com/7790467840

Someone found this photo so upsetting or obnoxious that they had to try to publicly shame the girl for cosplaying as something they didn't like. The girl in the picture is being dismissed, insulted, and degraded, for what? The person's ego? The sheer disbelief that a woman could be doing this for any reason besides attention?

Sure the actual degree to which that particular instance was motivated by anything sexist is debatable, but even if it wasn't then the net result is still someone being an asshole to another person (and trying to get an audience for this) over a harmless, creative endeavor. Since when the fuck do we accept and justify meanness like that?

Another caveat, I'm not pretending this is only limited to white dudes being dicks to non-white dudes, or that you can't be insulted or bothered by something because it's mean to white dudes. Just the other day on twitter I saw a little poem about "stabbing white male gamers in the balls", and I honestly felt that was over the line. I get where it's coming from since I've seen more jokes about kicking women in the gut to cause abortions that one really should be comfortable with. And in numerous cases these were directed at specific individuals where the humor, rather than coming from the absurdity and having a dark sense of humor about tragedy, was about how funny it would be that such a fate should befall that individual. That. Is. Fucked. Up.

God I've probably ranted like crazy by now and my thoughts are scattered all over the place. I seriously have a crap ton to say about this and I'm finally starting to write it out, so forgive me for the mess. It's just that I've spent a lot of time thinking about this stuff lately (since it's been directly affecting people I know) and I had to get some of it out there. Maybe I'll talk more about this in the future at some other place. Whatever, done for the moment.

 

[Something Amyss]

Because all the liberals said that very logic was a big load of BS "Because look at the Clinton years!" and yet now they're trying to use it for themselves?

I wonder how many times I have to say "sauce for the gander" before it actually resonates somewhere.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Is this a joke about how when people complain about people randomly making white characters black simply because you feel like there needs to be more black characters? Oh yeah, nice joke about Zimmerman. I'm sure he definitely pulled his gun for no reason whatsoever, it's not like Trayvon was beating the ever loving shit out of him. Also, isn't Zimmerman NOT EVEN FULLY WHITE (you know, that whole "hispanic" thing he has going on)? That pretty much invalidates the entire joke actually.

Zimmerman was never actually beaten. That was proven to be false testimony in the trial.

Also, yay! So many people are mad. Good job Grey.

 

[Vegosiux]

Joking aside, the thought of computer suicide actually made me kind of sad.

That's just because you didn't yet see how it can be funny when Marvin the Paranoid Android is involved.

We seem to be cruising at one post every ~3 minutes. As far as the Escapist goes, we've achieved lightspeed.

Should totally go to ludicrous speed. But I must say while I find the actual comic rather inconsequential on its own (doesn't matter that it's a featured piece of content here, the internet is a big place and in that light, this is both tame and irrelevant), it's quite interesting in tandem with this week's Jimquisition.

It comes across as rather funky that both this comic and this video [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/8049-Creative-Freedom-Strings-Attached] came out basically just a few days apart...