No, really, that's what I want to talk about. As so many of us sit back and just watch in befuddled horror as this all unfolds before us, the question I see on everyone's lips is "Why?" Why the hell are people doing this? What do they want? What's their endgame? I see a lot of people say "sexism" or "misogyny," and these are decent enough shorthand for how these things are allowed to continue, but those aren't really explanation of what motivates the harassers into the blind fury they seem to be displaying.
So what drives these people? I don't think it's anger or prejudice or a fear of change. Instead, I think it's a fear of the unknown.
"Unknown? What the hell's there not to know?"
Let's face it, video games need to change. That's a big part of what Tropes vs. Women has been about. They're mired in regressive ways of thinking, outdated ways of telling stories and they're killing themselves by alienating so many possible players by sticking to stupid traditions. Every critique I see of gender, race or whatever in video games focuses on the fact that games need to change...but not always how they need to change.
So this is where I admit I haven't actually watched Tropes vs. Women yet. I mean...what can I say? It's Feminism 101. I see the summary when each episode comes out and I'm like "Yep, already made aware of that one years ago." So, I can't actually comment on that show specifically, but I can comment on a lot of the criticism of representation I do see on Twitter and Gamasutra and wherever people are belching out opinions. A lot of the things I see fall into the category of "raising awareness" and "signal boosting." Basically, making sure as many people are aware of a bad thing as possible. Often these things are presented without much comment, other than the person confirming "Yes, this is fucked up. Look at it." Now, while I think it's very important that stuff like this be made public and absolutely feel we need to talk about it...I honestly don't think this signal-boosting model is very effective at inspiring change.
I call it "Drop-the-Mic Criticism." You point at a problem, say "This is a problem," drop the mic and walk away.
If you follow me on Twitter, you'll notice that every time I critique something, it's always through the lens of how that thing could be improved. "This character would be better if they expanded her backstory," "Having more female protagonists would increase the range of stories that could be told," etc etc. This is deliberate, because I want to stress to people that I'm trying to make the thing better for everyone. I always focus on the ways that better representation improves the experience for everyone that plays games and makes video games better than they are today. I do this to head-off the vitrolic response that criticizing games and game storytelling usually generates.
"Okay, hang on. You're saying that people need to be able to suggest improvements before they can criticize something?"
No, I don't think criticism is something that needs to be "formalized." The rantiest, most profanity-laden YouTube comment might still have a decent point to it. It's just...not making its point effectively, and is more likely to provoke a knee-jerk negative response than inspire the change the poster is looking for. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to make a point, but it's important to consider how effective your tactics really are vs. the people you're ostensibly trying to convince.
My main point here is that drop-the-mic criticism is terrifying if you're a person who happened to like the thing being criticized as it is. It's terrifying because it makes it 100% clear change needs to happen, but 0% clear what that change will be or what that thing you like will look like when that change is over. Progress is always a two-step process of identifying problems and then solving them, but when all you do is identify problems, you give the subconscious impression that you don't care what the solution is.
Lemme put it this way: A lot of people accuse feminist critics of video games of calling for "censorship." This is ridiculous. No one wants censorship. No one wants games to be pulled from the shelves. Censorship is the absolute worst-case solution to the issue of sexism in games...but it is a solution. And if you, as the critic, give the indication that you don't care what the solution is so long as the problem goes away, a non-zero number of people are going to leap to the worst-case scenario, be it out of anxiety, a lack of creativity or both.
I hate to do call-outs, but if you want an egregious example...I get really frustrated by Fuck No Video Games. It's basically an entire feed of drop-the-mic tweets, just stamping a big red "X" on every problematic bit of every video game (and fanbase thereof) out there. I get the point and I get the value of it, but this is a really ineffective model of criticism. No matter who you are, reading through that feed is just a frustrating experience. It doesn't inspire you to want change or improve the space. It just makes you want it to fucking stop! But like...you can't do anything, because it's not suggesting any solutions. It's just showing you problems with things you likely have little to no control over. Spend any amount of time binging on that feed and you won't be able to see any solutions beyond setting the entire planet on fire and starting again...and that's not very useful for anybody.
"Look, not everyone's a storyteller or a game designer. You can't expect everyone to be able to imagine solutions to these problems."
Well, maybe you don't need to imagine!
Another thing I take care to do consistently on my Twitter feed is consistently praise good examples of representation in video games. For my part, I will sing the praises of Saints Row 3 and 4 forever. They don't get everything right, but those games have some of the most level-headed and progressive handling of race, gender and sexuality I've ever seen in a video game and I encourage everyone reading this to play both of them if they haven't so far. And the best part? Saints Row 3 and 4 kick...ass! They're incredible video games. They're a go-to example of how a truly feminist game can appeal to absolutely everyone.
And has the games media given those games their due for their incredibly deft writing and handling of character?
...
...
"...That's the game with the dickbats, right?"
Sigh. Anyone mind if I have a little tangent, here?
TANGENT
So when Nintendo showed Splatoon at E3, feminist-type-people like me got absolutely hype. Here was shooter with a focus on the female cast! And the squidgirls were (immediate fanart notwithstanding) totally awesome-looking and non-sexualized. Talk about something different and new! What a bold direction for Nintendo. This could easily signal a shift in the industry, if a major player like Nintendo is able to make a move like this as though it were nothing. Game changer!
Then, after E3, this little infographic surfaced...
Look, if you only ever promote bad examples of things, that means people only ever see bad examples of things, and that means they can only ever imitate or draw from bad examples of things because creativity is a myth and everyone just remixes stuff they've already seen in new ways whether they're conscious of it or not. I would argue that it is infinitely more useful to promote good examples of things than to condemn bad versions of things. Good versions give people a roadmap. They tell the world what it is you want to see more of. You don't need to imagine it! It's right there!
I could get into a tangent-tangent about why ~2,300 people decided it was a better use of their time to all independently confirm some dude was being dumb than to bring something progressive to light, but I think that truly does deserve its own post so I'm going to wrap up the tangent here.
END TANGENT
So this has been long and rambly, but I hope I'm getting my point across. The reason the pending changes coming to the game-space are so terrifying to many gamers is that there's a real lack of clarity as to what that future will look like. The focus of the conversation hasn't been about how this future will be better for everyone, and lead to more kick-ass games like Saints Row 3 that everyone can enjoy and get something out of. Even if there is no call for censorship (and there isn't), when the call is for "(fill in the blank)," I find it hard to blame people for filling in the worst-case scenario.
So I hope this gives people a new way of thinking about this controversy.
"Yeah, great going, jackass."
Huh?
"You spent this entire post criticizing the VICTIMS in this conflict. You're blaming THEM for arguing incorrectly or not talking about sunshine and rainbows or whatever. Don't you have anything to say to the AGGRESSORS? Y'know, the people sending the death threats and the harassing messages?"
Um, yes. All of the above, actually. Everything I've said is actually directed more at them than anyone else.
"...Go on."
Look, I said above that I don't think criticism is something that should be formalized, and I mean it. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to argue something, and just because a mode of criticism is less effective doesn't make the points its raising any less important or valid. What Anna Sarkeesian is going, what Fuck No Video Games is doing and what drop-the-mic feminist gaming advocates all over the world are doing is not the problem and it never was. It's good and important work, and acknowledging these problems is a vital step towards making games better.
What I'm saying is that I understand why this...vile response happens, and why this kind of criticism stirs up such visceral feelings of fear and anger in some people. Yes there are ways to mitigate it, (and as someone with an aversion to conflict, I chose to walk that path as closely as possible,) but in the end I think it falls on the people who experience those feelings to come to grips with them. It's not always easy to understand why your emotions drive you to do the things you do. If it was, we'd have no need for psychology as a science. I don't think most dudes who get viscerally upset whenever a new Tropes vs. Women makes the news actually understand where that gut-punch is coming from. That's why all the arguments surrounding it devolve into goalpost-moving and silencing techniques. People don't know why they're mad, just that they're mad, and fuck you for saying they shouldn't be!
I hope that, no matter who you are or where you fall on these issues, I've said something that makes you think. I'm just one person, and I don't claim to be an expert on any of this. What I want more than anything is for there to be an honest discussion, without malice or hesitation, where we show our true feelings and realize we ultimately all want the same thing, which is more awesome video games.
