It upset a blogger who felt it was callously making fun of rape victims. Penny Arcade responded by poking fun, which is how they respond to most things, and the Internet branded them rape apologists.
Things went downhill from there, death threats were made against people on both sides of the argument.
It upset a blogger who felt it was callously making fun of rape victims. Penny Arcade responded by poking fun, which is how they respond to most things, and the Internet branded them rape apologists.
Things went downhill from there, death threats were made against people on both sides of the argument.
IMO the original complaint about the comic was unwarranted; the comic clearly depicts rape as a bad thing, and while it probably is offensive to some people, you could say that about a lot of PA strips.
OTOH I don't think Tycho and Gabe understood the complaints, which weren't a knee-jerk "What if people see this and become rapists?!" but were part of a more general ongoing controversy about sexism within gaming culture and how (so the argument goes) rape is trivialized, creating a culture in which rape victims might worry that their accusations won't be taken seriously. With that in mind, their response was perhaps more provocative than it was intended to be. They later sold some "dickwolf" t-shirts, which was a bad move IMO because under the circumstances it came off as "fuck you if you've been raped/are worried about being raped", which I'm certain wasn't their intent.
Either way, things got blown way out of proportion.
I like the art and it's often amusing. I read it less than I used to because a lot of the jokes don't really make sense if you don't keep up with gaming news, which I haven't lately. Still one of the better webcomics, IMO.
It upset a blogger who felt it was callously making fun of rape victims. Penny Arcade responded by poking fun, which is how they respond to most things, and the Internet branded them rape apologists.
Things went downhill from there, death threats were made against people on both sides of the argument.
It seems to me and many others that this was less a case of perception as a callous joke at the expense of rape victims, and more of another opportunity to act outraged on the stage that is the internet. The latter here is further justified by how long this shit dragged out, which was months.
Then you have two disparate entities clashing here: PA along with the general public at large, and the SJ community (with that Shakesville blogger, Melissa, leading the charge. It should be noted that she's the one who had the meltdown over PS3's Fat Princess game as well.) Melissa and her ilk, over the past several years, built up this pseudo-sociological movement where they defined what is known as "rape culture" and how our current western society exemplifies the "values of a rape culture." Much like any good charismatic doomsday cult, woe betide anyone who does not buy into the claptrap that they spew out because if you do, you are branded a rape apologist -- which means you actively and/or passively endorse rape -- even if you've never even contemplated delivering violence on anyone for any reason. The only salvation from this dreaded title is to throw out your good judgment and acquiesce to a gospel that is nothing more than a pile of angry blog posts and comments.
So it comes as no surprise that these bloggers were simply astounded when PA and the the public at large didn't comply with the bullshit they were pushing on people. Then they pulled out the big guns with the whole "rape apologist" epithet and that didn't make a dent, either. All PA did was jab at them right back and then left the matter entirely. The other side is still pretty angry over it to this day.
Well, it is, in theory, possible to contribute to a problem without actively condoning it, isn't it? I think it is fair to say that there is quite a lot of sexism in gamer culture and honestly, I really don't like the way the word "rape" gets used like a general purpose cuss word/insult in some circles.
Maybe I'm being a little too charitable here, but I think Melissa really does believe what she's saying, and doesn't just act outraged for the hell of it.
^ Well, fans of the comic, but where it spread to external communities (e.g. TVT) it was a lot easier to sympathize with the PA guys and their fans, because their arguments didn't assume a full familiarity with the coded language and associated arguments of feminism, the social justice blogger movement and Shakesville in particular.
I really don't like the way the word "rape" gets used like a general purpose cuss word/insult in some circles.
IA. I think that the whole rape culture thing is way more complicated than an "it is or it isn't" type argument.
On the strip itself, I didn't see anything making fun of rape victims itself. Then again, I find enjoyment in black comedy and have often coped with shitty thing that have happened through making jokes.
The PA strip is not even close, in my opinion, to being as bad as the Daniel Tosh incident.
I really don't like the way the word "rape" gets used like a general purpose cuss word/insult in some circles.
IA. I think that the whole rape culture thing is way more complicated than an "it is or it isn't" type argument.
On the strip itself, I didn't see anything making fun of rape victims itself. Then again, I find enjoyment in black comedy and have often coped with shitty thing that have happened through making jokes.
The PA strip is not even close, in my opinion, to being as bad as the Daniel Tosh incident.
Well, it is, in theory, possible to contribute to a problem without actively condoning it, isn't it? I think it is fair to say that there is quite a lot of sexism in gamer culture and honestly, I really don't like the way the word "rape" gets used like a general purpose cuss word/insult in some circles.
Maybe I'm being a little too charitable here, but I think Melissa really does believe what she's saying, and doesn't just act outraged for the hell of it.
^ Well, fans of the comic, but where it spread to external communities (e.g. TVT) it was a lot easier to sympathize with the PA guys and their fans, because their arguments didn't assume a full familiarity with the coded language and associated arguments of feminism, the social justice blogger movement and Shakesville in particular.
It is very possible to contribute to a problem in such a manner, but to say PA is guilty of this is very far-fetched. They simply made a tasteless joke which is a sizable part of their brand of humor, and in this regard they're not exactly uncommon.
As for Melissa, I discount whatever she has to say -- among many things, she's one of the "size-positive" crusaders that actively solicits the idea that obesity (even of the morbid variety) is perfectly healthy and all these doctors with their PhDs and even the common knowledge from hundreds of years is all wrong. I find this sort of thing distressing and offensive because it's putting out a lie that if believed (as many have) can put someone's life at risk. I agree with you that she truly believes all this garbage she posts up -- what I'm afraid of is she's getting other people to do the same thing.
of course i have heard of Big Bear, and the various thangs he has done
that album cover at least bears some relation to his sobriquet, Big Bear, bears all over the cover, alright
when i think 'Deep Shit' i dont exactly think of cats in sunglasses, though perhaps it's good that he didn't choose an album cover with a literal image of his name on it
There is a deep tradition in rap music (Southern especially) of making absolutely balls-out fuckdiculous album covers to bookend a CD that contains songs about grindin', honeys, and purple drank.
Remember back in the 50s when they'd record like Elvis singing YOU AIN'T NOTHIN BUT A HOUND DOG and then they'd turn the record over and reverse it and it was all NYERP NYERP NYERP NYERP NYERP and people were all like, "That is actually the voice of Satan coming from that song."
It is very possible to contribute to a problem in such a manner, but to say PA is guilty of this is very far-fetched. They simply made a tasteless joke which is a sizable part of their brand of humor, and in this regard they're not exactly uncommon.
and if you ain't hard like the boulevard, erase your boards
Vast Aire, ladies and gentlemen. not with all the artistic license in the world does that bear any semblance to "meter"
He goes "schwing" at the end of "swords", which is only slightly better, really.
Vast Aire is an....interesting rapper. Even on Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein (widely considered among the best rap albums of the past 20 years, and it is pretty damn good) he, at one point, rhymes "figure" (as in, "to figure") with "figure" (father figure). His partner in Cannibal Ox and associate since, Vordul Mega, is similar.
here's the song that line is from. It's a pretty good song regardless, though.
Comments
Things went downhill from there, death threats were made against people on both sides of the argument.
IMO the original complaint about the comic was unwarranted; the comic clearly depicts rape as a bad thing, and while it probably is offensive to some people, you could say that about a lot of PA strips.
OTOH I don't think Tycho and Gabe understood the complaints, which weren't a knee-jerk "What if people see this and become rapists?!" but were part of a more general ongoing controversy about sexism within gaming culture and how (so the argument goes) rape is trivialized, creating a culture in which rape victims might worry that their accusations won't be taken seriously. With that in mind, their response was perhaps more provocative than it was intended to be. They later sold some "dickwolf" t-shirts, which was a bad move IMO because under the circumstances it came off as "fuck you if you've been raped/are worried about being raped", which I'm certain wasn't their intent.
Either way, things got blown way out of proportion.
Maybe I'm being a little too charitable here, but I think Melissa really does believe what she's saying, and doesn't just act outraged for the hell of it.
^ Well, fans of the comic, but where it spread to external communities (e.g. TVT) it was a lot easier to sympathize with the PA guys and their fans, because their arguments didn't assume a full familiarity with the coded language and associated arguments of feminism, the social justice blogger movement and Shakesville in particular.
On the strip itself, I didn't see anything making fun of rape victims itself. Then again, I find enjoyment in black comedy and have often coped with shitty thing that have happened through making jokes.
The PA strip is not even close, in my opinion, to being as bad as the Daniel Tosh incident.
Don't answer, it's a trap! :p
(The Buffalo Bills)
Agreed.
This better be a real album. It looks amazing (I'm not even being facetious, a lot of awesome Southern rap albums have stupid-as-hell covers).
You've clearly never heard of Big Bear.
Not hip-hop tho
of course i have heard of Big Bear, and the various thangs he has done
that album cover at least bears some relation to his sobriquet, Big Bear, bears all over the cover, alright
when i think 'Deep Shit' i dont exactly think of cats in sunglasses, though perhaps it's good that he didn't choose an album cover with a literal image of his name on it
Not sure if want.
Vast Aire, ladies and gentlemen.
He goes "schwing" at the end of "swords", which is only slightly better, really.
Vast Aire is an....interesting rapper. Even on Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein (widely considered among the best rap albums of the past 20 years, and it is pretty damn good) he, at one point, rhymes "figure" (as in, "to figure") with "figure" (father figure). His partner in Cannibal Ox and associate since, Vordul Mega, is similar.
here's the song that line is from. It's a pretty good song regardless, though.
Distilled?
Well this is fairly far from mainstream, so I dunno if you'd like it or not.
huh, Thirstin Howl did a track with Eminem before the latter was famous.
Not normally a fan of horrorcore but this is alright, also "speechless like when Arrested Development broke up", pfft.