It wasn’t that long ago that this whole mess started due to an appearance by Cooper Lawrence on Fox News. In the clip that has made its rounds on the Internet, Ms. Lawrence complains about the sexuality in game such as Mass Effect, and yes, does apparently get her facts wrong on what exactly does appear in the game. And then, came the backlash.
Kotaku reported on a mass surge in negative postings about Lawrence’s newest book on Amazon
It seems likely that Amazon at some point may put a “hold” on reviews for Lawrence’s books as Wikipedia has often done with articles of intense debate and editing. For gamers’ sake, they should hope that they do. Why? Because once again gamers have gone and stuck their foot in it. In response to criticism of the inappropriateness of a game for children, gamers have responded by showing the behavior of children and flinging personal insults at Lawrence, and vandalizing anything they can find about her. This is the ironic equivalent of protesting war by blowing something up. In the end, Lawrence and other critics look justified, while gamers look to be as socially inept as ever. One step forward, and two steps back.
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By Ari on Jun 10, 2008 | Reply
The above-mentioned author got what was coming to her…and then some. Despite the fact that she later realized her mistake and publicly apologized, I doubt that the incensed gamers have forgiven her…or will any time soon.
I’m a gamer, I’ve played Mass Effect, I’ve seen the “controversial” scene, I watched the Fox News coverage of the scene, and I don’t hold Cooper Lawrence’s comments against her (not anymore, at least). She was given the chance to promote her book on the air, and she took it. Big surprise. The issue was that she didn’t get her facts straight on the game, and simply went along with the (uninformed) public opinion that Mass Effect had ‘gratuitous interactive frontal nudity’ - all false. She made the mistake of thinking that the game promoted women as sex objects, whereas in fact the player can choose to play a tough-as-nails woman as the main character. But the author wasn’t responsible for the completely overblown news segment.
It was the ‘Faux’ Network that blew things out of proportion here. I’m surprised gamers haven’t lashed out at them instead - or perhaps they have by now. They might find lambasting the author to be a release for their frustrations, but it’s not helping their case.