solidstatemind said:
Yes, '******' can be an offensive word. However, virtually any word can be made to offend someone. It seems to me that people are hell-bent on being hypersensitive and that it is completely wrong to try to try to eliminate any incident ever of using a word or an image that might offend someone. You'll spend the rest of your life trying to be 'politically correct' and to not hurt anyone else's feelings, and odds are, it will cripple your ability to communcate clearly and effectively for you to have to monitor yourself so closely.
This is not to say that continuous use (ergo abuse) of such a word should be tolerated, but as another poster pointed out, I don't recall Yahtzee using it before; therefore, I would argue that if you're really offended by this incident, you're either a) hypersensitive to the word (which is really not Yahtzee's problem), or b) not really a fan of ZP (again, really not Yahtzee's problem) since you are intimating that your enjoyment of the material as a whole is somehow ruined by that one, single word.
You know, if you really are offended, hey, that's your right. Feel free to react by not watching anymore. But considering the rather ironic fact that you made no mention of being offended by the racial slur, I think just maybe you are being a little oversensitive here and are not really concerned with politeness or proper behavior so much as not being offended yourself.
This is simple, for me personally. The blackface bit around 1:37 I did not go into because I saw it, noted it, and immediately filed it under satire in my mind. Maybe the humor wasn't to my taste, but it was satire nonetheless, and it still held some comedic value in its message, in my opinion. It felt like a "are you paying attention to my text" bit, where he was being "edgy" and ironic. I did not mention my thoughts about it before because I did not think about it; it wasn't in the same category for me, despite being potentially offensive to someone.
You are right. If you walk around worrying about who is going to be offended, or become one of those people who are offended by everything themselves you are going to be a real miserable person. But if you lie down and just let everything roll over you, whether or not it makes you comfortable, then what are you? I personally can't respect either person, or identify with being either person. In this case, I really like and respect Yahtzee's work, and it means a great deal to me, especially insofar as he has been given a carte blanche to say whatever he wants using whatever words and ideas he wants in his writing/animations. I want him to continue being as intelligent, funny, and shocking as he can, and challenge the gaming community to be as critical as it can.
Now I'll reiterate my thoughts about the other, in case I wasn't clear. I didn't feel the ironic edginess there, when he used the word '******'. I just felt like he was falling into language that didn't suit the intelligent being I have been compelled obsessively to watch since he came to the Escapist and before. Didn't match up. Wasn't worthy of him to use that word, that way. So I was disappointed. And I am going to agree with people who have said we don't have the right to use that word casually, because I don't feel it has been reclaimed. When someone says it in a game chat it's like listening to a 11 year old kid swear, emulating his or her older siblings by saying shocking, offensive words in a place where anonymity "protects" them. The meaning implied behind it does not feel synonymous with stupid or dumb even if someone has fooled themselves into thinking so, and they always get reported/immediately blocked by me. And its message holds too much hate still. Words hold power, and are harder than any stick or stone I've come across. And there are ways to reclaim an offensive word, or image, or idea, and I'm all for that. In this case, in my opinion, this wasn't one of them, and felt more like a brief moment of a shoddy bit of writing that stood out because quality the rest of the writing contradicted it. And that includes the blackface part. And yes, I will stand by that even if someone tries to say what a hypocrite I am, not being all or nothing about Every slur ever written or created. A slur is a complex thing, and reclaiming it to change its meaning is an even more complex thing.
And I apologize if I want to drive Yahtzee to be better, more intelligent, more crafty, and yes, more edgy in his writing than his readership, or than gamers can be in general. How many people out there who game are making what Yahtzee is making? But I'll speak up if I feel his quality is slipping, and yes if I am disappointed or offended by a way he used a word. Go ahead, sir, make your slurs, use as many bad words as you can find. But they damn well better be superior quality, heavily ironic, and with the full force of your powerful intellect that we have come to expect from you. And I am coming back, and I'll be watching you more than ever, to make sure you deliver. Because it is true that with using one word poorly you haven't fallen to mediocrity. Not yet anyways. I have hope for you, arrogant though that is.
