These are the faces of very pissed off nerds on the Internet. Mostly from 4chan’s /v/, one of them being outspoken misogynist, Cameron Frodger, better known as @Instig8iveJourn. In a crazed internet crusade, a 31 year old straight white guy performed “computer hacking” to dig up my online dating profile in an attempt to discredit me the other night. I followed by telling 4chan to “bring it,” only to be amazingly dissapointed. How did it come to this? Well…

Not too long ago I put out a piece on Bioshock: Infinite that was somewhat sarcastic, heavy on wrestling references to Stone Cold Steve Austin, and overall one of the few pieces acknowledging how disgusting it was that a $100 million plus production could play fast and loose with the history of racism in America for the sake of giving a straight white male protagonist a reason to shoot a few hundred more nameless goons in a power fantasy that games journalism as a whole has taken to referring as a “milestone,” “true art,” and an overall success, apparently.

My biggest disappointment is nobody picked up on the Stone Cold references, but then again, we don’t live in a perfect world. What’s worse is nobody picked up the sarcasm on “the terrible case,” apparently.

One person, Ian Miles Cheong referred to my piece as “inflammatory.” He’s more than right, of course, picking on Kirk Hamilton’s writings as a poster child for games journalism’s advocating for the removal of violence from Infinite as utterly disgusting considering Columbia is a white people fantasy land built on the backs of racial minorities. For one of the few times in videogaming’s short history, there’s a legitimate reason to cause untold destruction, and sadly it’s just not good enough for white people.

However, like I said more than once, I don’t mean to pick on Hamilton specifically. I honestly give him the benefit of the doubt, and don’t really place the blame at his feet. I used his face to prove a point, if nobody picked up on the string of faces I used in my piece. A point about what is truly more inflammatory than one foul-mouthed jackass with a blog who has zero interest in working in the games journalism establishment and quite frankly, doesn’t give a damn.

What’s truly inflammatory in 2013 is Infinite as a collaborative work with millions upon millions of dollars and man-hours put into it, couldn’t bother, apparently, to hire a non-white writer to put some proper perspective into the use of racism to justify a white man’s murderous romp through a floating city in the sky. The use of the (mostly non-white) Vox Populi and (black) Daisy Fitzroy as an enemy for the (white) player character to mow down and brutally murder is utterly idiotic, unjustified, and completely insulting. Inflammatory.

Criticisms of my piece have compared the Vox to the French and Russian Revolutions, saying that it’s a historically accurate portrayal of revolution. Which is weird, because those revolutions consisted primarily of white people who weren’t slaves. Looking at black resistance to slavery in America, however, is a far different story. So if Ken Levine wanted to portray a historically accurate black resistance to white oppression, he sure as hell failed on that matter. That’s inflammatory.

A historically inspired Vox Populi would have featured a number of things that weren’t cartoonishly over the top portrayals painting them all out to be a Nat Turner-esque band of monsters, to put them on the same level as Comstock and Columbia’s very real racism. For example - the sabotage of production, an underground railroad of sorts, escape attempts from Columbia, theft, so on and so on. Plenty of material to work with. Instead, because video games are apparently written for those with the mental capacity of children, “the truth is in the middle” as a white man decides  just how racially oppressed minorities are allowed to revolt against their masters, and if they get out of line, a generic angry white guy will slice them apart and gun them down on the side, with the focus on his own personal sci-fi time travel romp. That’s inflammatory.

With regards to the Nat Turner rebellion of 1831, which has the closest historical similarity to the Vox Populi, that was about 70 enslaved and “free” black men, using a range of melee weapons, killed sixty white men, women, and children before the rebellion was put down by militia and military alike. In retaliation, 200 black men and women were killed by whites. So even then, Levine’s use of historical racism in Columbia is very far from the reality of the time. How inflammatory.

As far as I’m concerned, that’s what’s truly inflammatory about Infinite. White people get to be heroes and villains and fit along a wide spectrum of characters. The Vox and Fitzroy are ultimately just villains who “went too far” in standing up to oppressors and those who benefitted from the boot on their necks. Over and over and over again this has happened in videogames, and now with the very real history of racism in the mix, it’s the same old same old.

I linked the thoughts of people of color with regards to the use of racism in Bioshock: Infinite. I had to remove my links to one person because they had received an onslaught of racial abuse on their blog, primarily from Redditors. Weird, because according to the majority of people not happy with my writings on Infinite, we live in a pretty equal, non-racist society. Wait, that perspective is mostly held by straight white dudes, so why would that be true? Huh. Weird. Inflammatory, even.

I came under a lot of flak from primarily /v/ and Reddit, who’s main demographics are white males, let’s be honest. These males took on a wide spectrum of criticism, from the aforementioned comparisons to Russian and French Revolutions, to attempting to “doxx” me, to trying to argue me 6-on-one, either utterly missing the point, trying to divert the conversation into completely unrelated topics, from my profession to FEMEN, to reverting to all sorts of insults and slurs. What was worse is they kept arguing within the logic of the universe, acting in a death-of-the-author sort of mentality that couldn’t realize that Levine and his (mainly white) company chose to portray a woman of color and her band of oppressed masses in this way.

That’s pretty damn inflammatory. I put in several hours trying to sit down and explain, as clearly as possible, what I had written and Infinite’s problems.

I had to quit after someone, a white male, declared that suggesting Levine and Irrational hire a black, or at least non-white writer to help provide some perspective to the use of very real racism in the fantasy city of Columbia was racist. Yes, seeking the perspective of people who actually deal with racism in their daily lives is on the same level as hundreds of years of slavery and oppression. If you’re that fucking dumb to think that, or you’re willing to associate and share perspective with people that idiotic, then there simply isn’t any getting through to you at that point. That includes you too, Cameron. 

I like Ian, but if he wants to call me inflammatory for calling out the games journalism establishment for throwing themselves behind yet another white man murder power fantasy that horribly crosses the line with it’s use of historical racism and imagining a series of events to make oppressed masses and their leader, a black woman, as bad and evil as the very real racism of Comstock and Columbia for the sake of giving the white male protagonist more goons to effortlessly mow down with his magical spells and shooty guns, well, shit. 

Inflammatory is pretty generous considering how Infinite and it’s critical response have utterly overshadowed and shut out any criticism of white people using and profitting from very real racism as a window dressing in their white-centric power murder fantasy in the sky. Instead, it’s “true art.”

“True art” would have been using the setting of Columbia to look back about how the historical atrocities of the past have continued to have a hold on race relations in modern-day America. How white girls wear the sacred religious items of massacred and oppressed minorities their ancestors nearly wiped out, for the sake of fashion and/or entertainment. How statistically across the board, people of color earn far less than white men. Gentrification. Racial profiling. Cultural appropriation. Gerrymandering. I could go on all day.

Instead we got Shakespeare quotes and some white guy jerking himself over time travel and “the truth is in the middle” pseudo-philosophy. For a hundred million dollars. Weird, since Michaelangelo only got about $300k (3000 ducats converted to USD) to do the Sistine Chapel, and that’s undisputed “true art.”

To think, people tell me to write sober. 

dantedieshard:

…Charlie Sheen!

No, seriously, here’s the down-low.

In 1991, Sheen saw a film called Flowers of Flesh and Blood, a very well-made Japanese gore flick. Sheen thought it was a real snuff film and called the police. While it’s easy to dismiss this incident of a coked-up madman, it’s pretty relevant to the reddit controversy.

See, we have tons of feminists talking about boards like r/beatingwomen and r/killingwomen. They make it sound like some sort of underground snuff scene, where actual illegal content is accessible.

Except the part, where, well, it’s not. The photos of violence against women are as staged and fake as the rape videos. The acting on the “snuff films” are so bad that I’m still confused as to how someone could say it’s legit. Ditto with the choking and the necrophilia. It’s porn, but really, really fake porn.

A lot of the other ones are barely populated. In a sense, the actual “illegal content” does not actually exist, and we’re getting a ton of angry feminists who only see an imaginary threat. They’re as falsely alarmed as Charlie Sheen was.

So take it from me: The threat is not real. There are only two recorded snuff films in existence, and neither can be found on those subreddits. The people responsible for those tapes are arrested. The tapes are still readily, legally available, though.

This is the most pathetic and worst fucking post in defense of Reddit I have ever seen. I mean holy shit, “it’s all fake, guys!” Really? With no proof, but some dude with a desperate need for a haircut says so, so that means all those eeeevil feminists should just shut up! Uh huh. This totally makes sense. 

enki1990:

How to Shut Down Reddit’s CreepShots Once and for All: Name Names

What you are doing is wrong “Samantha”. Here’s the thing: these unsavory “gentlemen” from Reddit are being slaves to their lizard brains. The problem I have is that you and your group are reacting with those same lizard brains and on top of THAT, you’re claiming moral superiority to justify being shittier to people who are already acting shitty.

All this “war” between you/Jezebel and Reddit is going to accomplish is page views and $$$ for Gawker media because you choose acting on emotion over intellect. Allow me to attempt to put a stop to this nonsense… or maybe accelerate it until it goes supernova:

I have already begun the process of seeding CreepSquad and the other subreddits with dummy accounts, adding new accounts over time, so you don’t learn to ignore accounts created at a specific time. Since the information you post betrays your search method, I know exactly how to leave the trail of breadcrumbs for you to find.

What is going to happen is you are going to take the bait, and post the information of people I’ve selected for you to find. Completely innocent people. This all public information of course. When you have posted the information from one of my bait accounts, I will email a link to that person’s employer as well as their girlfriend/spouse/etc. if applicable. I will make no implications, simply let your work speak for itself.

I imagine some of these people could lose their jobs. Some of these people may have their relationships ruined. Some of these people probably have children. A potentially hazardous situation to be in during these uncertain times. I will inform you when this happens with a greeting and simple tally.

I will also be advising Redditors to do the same in due time, after you’ve had enough time to read this post and make your decision on whether on not you’ll continue playing the naive pawn for Gawker Media.

Yes I know, my methods are no better than yours, but I never claimed to be on the side of angels, have I?

So, I have given you power and I have given you choice. I can’t wait to see what you choose to do with it. Let the games begin!

E

Welcome to the world’s most pathetic and idiotic tumblr post, written by America’s greatest manchild. 

(Source: predditors)

I’d like to talk today about boners. Boners and society, boners and sex, and the odd, odd fascination with Reddit’s sudden defense and martyrdom of a self-admitted pedophile. 

/r/Creepshots was a Reddit community centered around taking photos of women in public without their permission and posting them online to share in a sexual context, for masturbatory purposes. Violentacrez was a moderator of this, /r/jailbait, and other communities. He’s an out and out pedophile, and an awful human being. 

However, what Creepshots and Violentacrez represented was the concept of women, regardless of age or sexual preference or consent or anything beyond their physical appearance and the crime of being out in public, existing solely for sexual gratification. For masturbation material. For the idea of sex as consumption, of sexual release as something more important than anything else in the world.

I don’t know how this happened, how this awful idea came into the world, that sex wasn’t a mutual, consentual act between two (or more!) people - but it needs to stop, and it needs to end now, not later. The harm it’s caused, the damage it’s done, and the righteous indignation of boners above all is a pathetic excuse to take a stand against victims of sexual assault. 

I would ask you, men of the Internet, to do better. To self-actualize and criticize your ideals of how and what sex is, and how your need for dopamine and endorphin release somehow trump any and all decency, right to privacy, or human rights. I mean, look at nerd culture, look at the blatant consumerism, the need to have things now, how we’re tapped in to our smartphones, our laptops, our wi-fi everywhere - we have this need for everything, now, and without barriers.

I strongly feel this has come to infiltrate our ideals of sex, as well. With creepshots, with the photobucket hacking of a woman who’s only crime was posting a photo with Gabe Newell, with the community cheering said behavior on, it’s become a newfound fascination with undressing women, either mentally or digitally, without their consent. Consuming their bodies for sexual gratification. 

Is this the level of pathetic we’ve fallen to? Why has sexual gratification become such a one-sided, boner trumps all ideal? Greed, selfishness, orgasm at any cost? This is awful, and it’s unacceptable, and I wonder, do they, they being Reddit, know this? Violating bodily autonomy in such a way? The shared experience of sexual violation? 

Of course, these are all rhetorical questions, because there’s no legitimate  or acceptable answer that would make these behaviors redeemable or acceptable. They’re more the ramblings of a sad man, ashamed of his gender for their actions, trying to get to the root of an issue and end these behaviors. Possibly a pointless endeavor in the dark hole of the internet, but still an important one to embark upon.

All I can really say is that our society needs to take a critical look at how it fails to prioritize consent when it comes to sexuality, and that the physical act of flesh upon flesh, or shared sexual gratification, is something that should be treated in an entirely different manner than pirating the latest hit film or videogame release, that a woman, regardless of how she’s dressed, is not for one’s own masturbatory material without proper consent. 

Reddit’s defense of /r/Creepshots and Violentacrez is a display not of their solidarity with “free speech,” but instead a sign that boners, and what enables them, regardless of the cost, are what are most important to nerds these days, and it’s shameful and pathetic. 

semebay:

“As some of you may know, a prominent member of Reddit’s community, Violentacrez, deleted his account recently. This was as a result of a ‘journalist’ seeking out his personal information and threatening to publish it, which would have a significant impact on his life. You can read more about it here As moderators, we feel that this type of behavior is completely intolerable. We volunteer our time on Reddit to make it a better place for the users, and should not be harassed and threatened for that. We should all be afraid of the threat of having our personal information investigated and spread around the internet if someone disagrees with you. Reddit prides itself on having a subreddit for everything, and no matter how much anyone may disapprove of what another user subscribes to, that is never a reason to threaten them. As a result, the moderators of /r/politics have chosen to disallow links from the Gawker network until action is taken to correct this serious lack of ethics and integrity. We thank you for your understanding.”

— Reddit’s r/politics moderators ban Gakwer links for “serious lack of ethics and integrity.” (via alexjamesfitz)

Welcome to the world’s most pathetic, idiotic, horseshit “defense” of reprehensible human beings. Most especially Reddit celebrity violentacrez, proud defender of such websites like “/r/beatingwomen,” who’s self-admitted crimes against humanity are worthy of far harsher crimes than being “threatened” by Gawker. 

The damage people like violentacrez has done to other people’s lives, without consequence, and being defended by Reddit and it’s members are inexcusable, and to come to his aid truly shows that Reddit and it’s community, and those who defend it would rather come to the aid of sexual assaulters and abusers than victims. It’s really telling that people come to the aid of those who would stand against victims of sexual assault and women who’s only crime was posting a photo of them with Gabe Newell. 

There are plenty of good, legitimate reasons to threaten people if need be. You can be threatened with having your license taken away if you drink and drive. You can be threatened with violence if you’re caught committing a crime. Reddit has now become  4Chan, but more pathetic with it’s self-righteous demeanor, it’s rallying cry of sticking up to those “evil feminists,” and now you have rallied behind a martyr - that martyr being a man who has committed awful, horrid sex crimes, and proudly admitted it to Reddit’s community. 

By “taking a stand” and banning all Gawker links, in a pathetic show of solidarity, Reddit’s community has shown they side with rapists, and sexual assaulters instead of honest, good people, some of them victims of sexual assault, some of them innocent of any real wrong doing, innocent of anything at all. 

Congratulations, Reddit. You done fucked yourselves this time. 

(Source: reddit.com, via magicbayleaf)

semebay:

Predditors was a tumblr set up by some woman named Samantha to list personal identifying information about redditors who posted on a sub called /r/creepshots. Thank what you want about the subreddit, the personal information was uncalled for and dangerous, and because Samantha decided to witchhunt those people, one of them was hunted down and attacked last night and had to go to the hospital.

Please, please contact tumblr (support@tumblr.com) if you see another tumblr blog that releases personal info (dox) on redditors out of spite. Feel free to contact me to do it for you (then I can pass the information on to the proper parties at reddit.com).

Thanks.

If you did a little research and critical thinking you’d discover that this supposed “attack” is hardly true. “Out of spite,” are you fucking serious? Being a creep taking and posting unsolicited photos of women in public in a sexually unwanted context is a “think what you want,” but identifying these people and outing them for their crimes is somehow “out of spite?”

Instead of realizing that this might even be a handy resource for people to protect themselves from these sort of creeps, the same creeps that dug up and hacked child pornography of a woman who’s sole crime was to post a photo of her with Gabe Newell to /r/gaming, you want these supposedly poor and oppressed people, who make up ludicrous stories of them being “witchhunted,” and that predditors was somehow “dangerous.”

You know what’s dangerous? Reddit, and spineless fucking people like you who defend it’s worst offenders. 

(Source: magicbayleaf)