You have likely read by now that some female gamers are quite upset over the Sony title Fat Princess. In the game players control a princess whom they must feed to make her fat enough that she can’t be caught. Yes, it is far from the Shakespeare of games. However, the notably crude game concept has offended some, and they’re being vocal about it.
Two different blogs run by female gamers have voiced their concern and upset over the game, but that isn’t the real issue here. You see, whether the game is in bad taste or not, the bigger issue exposed has been from the reaction both blog posts have received. In a move very reminiscent to the uproars over sexism toward Jade Raymond and racism in the Resident Evil 5 trailer, gamers have exposed quite a bit about their general attitudes.
Whether it be in the comments on the respective blogs or forum posts across the Internet, calls of the two female writers being “feminists a-holes” and “ugly” abound. Why? Why do gamers react this way to any criticism? Compare this to this past weekend’s minor dust storm over violence in The Dark Knight. Many parents complained that a film marketed at kids (and yes, and film with a line of toys at Wal-Mart is marketing to kids) was far too violent for most. In response, not too many film fans flew off the handle calling the parents “a-holes” or “ugly.” Instead, they accepted such criticism as a necessary evil for being accepted as mainstream culture.
Gamers, on the other hand, are much more likely to attack anyone who dares to criticize their hobby. It’s in this way that gamers continue to isolate themselves and their hobby. As games have gone more mainstream, thanks to casual titles and systems such as the Wii, gamers have gotten more venomous to those outsiders coming in. Flashback to twenty years ago and almost anyone was accepted to play a round of Super Mario Bros. Flashback thirty years ago and it was commonly accepted to have Pac-Man arcade cabinets in bars and other “mainstream” locations.
Now, however, gamers seem threatened that their little niche hobby is being taken from them. They complain not just about the Wii’s lack of games targeted at the hardcore (an understandable affront to many), but about it even bothering to market to moms, dads, and grandparents. When video games get taken seriously by others than just nerds (and therefore sometimes draw criticism), they don’t simply flinch, but violently shake–often spewing attacks on the person.
But criticism isn’t the death of games, but its beginning. Gamers still hold a grudge against Roger Ebert for saying games are not art, but until someone raises such an argument then there is simply no one even talking about it! Take this stink over Fat Princess. Agree or disagree, but the idea of self-described feminists taking an active role in video game criticism is a thing to welcome, not condemn. All other major art forms have had such schools of thought as feminist and queer theory applied to them–so why not games?
Because it might make for some uncomfortable moments for some. Some, who have secluded themselves almost entirely within a fantasy reality of elves and space marines, will have to open their eyes and see that other people (people not like them) exist and want in on the fun, too. That’s a scary proposition to many nerds who feel something special and unique is being taken from them. Note the backlash from some as anime and comic book lore (thanks to movies) have gone more mainstream. Still, it is something they will have to come to terms with as progress is rarely stopped once it begins its downhill roll.
Gamers often clamor for respect, but it won’t be earned this way. A knee jerk reaction to someone daring to raise concerns over a game will accomplish nothing in the minds of the mainstream public. Instead, it reinforces the stereotype of all games as nerdy losers who don’t know how to talk to women. These two women writing may be far off the mark or right on the bulls eye with their criticism, but it’s the male gamers who look off their rockers. Of course, thanks to this uproar these two women also have a lot more material to blog about when it comes to the misogyny of gamers.
Loading ...
By Sean C on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
I don’t think gamers are lashing back for the exact reasons you describe. I think gamers welcome criticism.
IMHO what you’ll find going on here is misunderstood accusations. To a kid that grew up in the 90s, the concepts of sexism and racism are pretty foreign. When someone like me sees the trailer for RE5, I don’t think there’s anything racist about it cause I have no experience with it. And worse I didn’t like being told I was racist for wanting to play it. Likewise with Fat Princess I didn’t even contemplate that a fun goofy looking game had overt sexist tones, and I still don’t see it. But it makes me angry that I must be sexist for liking it.
That is what is fueling the gamers backlash against this criticism. At its core, they aren’t defending their choice of media consumption, they’re defending the implications that they’re supposedly bigots.
By Justin on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
I don’t recall anyone implying that gamers were racists for viewing the Resident Evil 5 trailer and not picking up any supposed racism or cultural insensitivity.
The same with this new controversy. The game itself has been called into question. It’s an important distinction to make between the game and those playing the game. Many accused Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ of being anti-Semitic, but hardly anyone accused those of watching it of being bigots.
That’s why the way in which gamers respond is important, because that says far more about them than if they simply played the game.
By Sean C on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
And yet that’s the funny thing about the human psychology. If I call your favorite band ‘lame’, your natural instinct is to be offended. I haven’t called you lame, but you’re going to think I’ve implied it…the same process is at work here.
By Chris on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
On the one hand, this article seems to be speaking out about how gamers react to criticism, in the general case: from the reaction to Fat Princess, to Ebert’s anti games-as-art screed, and there’s a certain amount of mileage in discussing that.
For starters, I don’t take the point that angry defensive nerd-vitriol is something that’s endemic to gamers, rather it’s something that’s prevalent wherever you look on the internet. Whether the subject is games, movies or politics, you will find exactly the same kind of language thrown around in comment sections and forums. It depends completely on the individual sites and their policies as to whether those comments are screened and moderated out.
Now you’re entirely right that out of all of these, it’s accepted that gaming, despite the perennial best efforts of companies like Nintendo, is a less mainstream topic; very rarely do you see a gaming issue bruise the mainstream consciousness unless it focuses on some business issue (company A releasing a new console), or anger over content (as in the GTA games, or, to an extent, Fat Princess). I think it’s for this reason that online gaming communities don’t moderate their content as much as a political forum would, or IMDB, and so on. There isn’t the same level of commercial pressure to go ahead and do that yet.
I think this is part of the reason why gamers come off badly here: it’s significantly easier to come across a gaming site where you see this kind of content. To tar all (or the majority of) gamers with the same brush is a mistake, I think, and to assert that it’s gamers that have a particular problem is a misreading of the topology of internet discussion.
By Dave on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
What a lot of stereotyping and stupid psychologizing you do about gamers. This is probably why gamers get upset when people like you make blanket criticisms of games or gamers, using words like “nerds” and “fantasy reality”. You seem to think that gamers are this little group of weirdos dissociated from the real world, jealously protecting their turf.
But the fact is that gaming is very popular, the gaming industry produces more revenues than Hollywood, and gamers come in a variety of shapes, sizes and opinions. Why should some feminist blog be immune to criticism? Movies certainly generate a lot of controversy, why shouldn’t games? There is no controversy without differing opinions, which is all that happened here.
A couple of blogs posted stuff like “hey Sony, your kids game offends me because it seems to make fun of fat girls”. To which a bunch of people said “haha” or words to that effect.
As some people above have mentioned, some people were upset because they genuinely liked the game. Others thought the criticism was overblown. Still others found it hilarious. This is quite normal, because diverse people on the internet have diverse opinions.
Trying to portray the fat girls as “mainstream” and the gamers as “nerds” part of the “niche” industry of gaming, as you have done is totally disingenuous. The gaming industry is far bigger than you think. The internet has more people and more opinions than you think. When these female bloggers post their opinions on the internet, they can expect a diverse range of responses. It is only your opinion that makes them mainstream while anyone opposed to them is some sort of troglodyte gamer.
By PittyPat on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
I doubt anyone is really upset because they are a huge fan of this game. I think they’re more taken aback by the fact someone was so offended by a game with such a silly storyline. I’m not defending anyone who is a name caller but this game is just stupid, I would never buy it - and not because its offensive, but because it sounds like a flash game on Homestar Runner. In fact, let’s get upset by more silly games.
Holy dogshit. I just found this game, called Trogdor where you burn down houses and step on peasants. As a person whose family’s house was burned down by a dragon and whose father was walked upon by one, I am severely offended. Fuck those fucks who made that game, they are huge assholes who have no idea what its like to be a homeless peasant. What a bunch of insensitive pricks.
It’s just a fucking game, not a commentary on overeating. If anything the only thing it is guilty of is being patronizing of women in the same way the Mario always has to save the Princess Peach.
By Justin on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
Again, here in these comments I read comments like “the fat girls.” Who is that in reference to? The two women bloggers? Women in general who might be upset by this game? The game characters itself? This is the kind of language that doesn’t help the case of gamers. And no one has described these two women as the “mainstream,” but instead that as an art form goes mainstream it will start drawing criticism–often from fringe groups, actually.
Video games may indeed be a revenue giant, but to assume that they hold the same position in modern culture as film, music, or literature is disingenuous at best. They are still viewed by many, if not the majority, as a niche in media, mostly thought to be occupied by kids. The same way comic books and anime are. Doesn’t mean it is fair, but it is the perception.
The issue to me is that some within the gaming community cannot attack the argument without attacking the messenger. Disagreeing about the offensive nature of Fat Princess is everyone’s right, just as it is with anything. When you start attacking the messenger is when you lose the moral high ground, and also the maturity high ground.
By Dave on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
I used the words “fat girls” to refer to the blogger. Apparently, she is not offended but you are, Justin. She signs off her blog with “The Fat Princess of Shakes Manor salutes you” and a picture of herself giving the finger to Sony. As she mentions in her followup, she is in fact proud of being fat, feminist, and homosexual; those are not pejoratives to her. A 2 minute scan of her web site will provide an adequate snapshot of her views.
If the blog had been more of a reasoned critique than a rant, possibly you would have less cause to complain. But no, the blogger proudly presents herself as a fat homosexual woman, giving the finger to Sony. To quote her directly: “Anyway, congrats on your awesome new game, Sony. I’m positively thrilled to see such unyielding dedication to creating a new generation of fat-hating, heteronormative assholes.”
Heteronormative? Where the heck does that figure in? It’s a kid’s game about rescuing a cartoon princess, for god’s sake. Does every game have to include a homosexual theme not to be considered “heteronormative”? I didn’t get the “fat-hating” part either. I saw nothing fat hating in the game, and I doubt most players did either.
This girl obviously has issues. People responded to the actual content of her post, not some hypothetical academic argument over the portrayal of obesity and sexuality in games in general. But you seem to think that it’s okay for her to call Sony or the people who enjoyed the game “fat-hating heteronormative assholes”, while gamers who refer to her as “the fat girl” are wrong. A fact that she proudly proclaims. With a picture as evidence to back up her point. This is not fair.
As for how “many” or the “majority” in media view video games, those are relative terms with no statistics to back them up. I don’t know the real numbers any more than you do, but I am amused by your contention that video games are a niche market and/or that gamers are a niche community. This perception is about 15 years out of date. If you spend some time with Google, it might break many gamer stereotypes for you, including the one that they are a nice community.
By Dave on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
heh, noticed a typo in the last line: “that they are a nice community”. Should have read “that they are a niche community”.
We are, indeed, a nice community, but our niche covers the whole globe.
By Justin on Jul 24, 2008 | Reply
Dave, unfortunately you originally used the term “girls,” or in other words you referred to more than one “fat girl.” And I don’t think you quite got the author’s sarcastic sign off of her post. But that’s delving into semantics and not really the point.
The bigger point being–why are you so angry? If she is a nobody and not in the mainstream, then why care what she has to say? You’re now mad at me because, well, not sure since I didn’t even really defend her point, but instead said the reaction from many gamers was pathetic. In that case, it doesn’t really matter how the author feels about a word like “fat” when those using it are flinging it about as an insult.
It’s funny that you’re mad at her and me, but I have seen little anger towards the gaming community for their reaction. This is, of course, similar to how the community reacts to any such criticism, and was the point of the original editorial.
As for gaming not being a “niche” in popular culture and thought, I’m afraid we just have different views (there’s no need for me to Google anything, I am writing on gaming web site). It has changed a lot in the last 15 years, but it still has a long way to go before it reaches the levels of other popular media. This is fairly obvious to most anyone. But you are right, it is moving in that direction.
Gamers, and more precisely the gaming community, have got to be willing to start accepting some criticism. This idea that everything is personal is an odd construct of the Internet age. There are plenty of films I despise, but hold no ill will towards those who like them. Likewise, there are plenty of films I enjoy that others detest, and yet I don’t take it personally. In fact, there are probably films I enjoy that some would label me as a fat-hating, heteronormative asshole for. It doesn’t really effect me until they get in my face personally and say it, and even then it’s more funny than anything.
This is the maturity the gaming community needs. They also need to learn to accept that people will criticize them as they move into the mainstream. Those people are not necessarily the mainstream, either. That’s life.
By Dave on Jul 25, 2008 | Reply
There’s nothing unfortunate about it, I used the term “fat girls” in the plural quite deliberately. And not just “originally”. I repeated it in my second post as well, again in the plural. AND, I specified that it referred to the blogger, and presumably other fat girls like her, whose opinions she represents.
But I did not invent the term as a derogatory reference to her, nor was I the first to use it. She used it herself, first to indicate the party subject to this malign conspiracy on part of Sony: “… everyone knows that fat girls are unlovable human garbage”, and then again to indicate her own membership in this persecuted group: “The Fat Princess of Shakes Manor salutes you”.
My own words were much milder than hers. To quote her more fully, she said ” … since everyone knows that fat girls are unlovable human garbage at whom any sensible bloke would sooner hurl invective than cast a longing glance”. I loosely translated this as “hey Sony, your kids game offends me because it seems to make fun of fat girls”.
I doubt that very many people would say that I misrepresented her, or used language any harsher than her own.
Unless, of course, you think that she deserves a special exemption, being a fat girl herself.
You use the words “The Big Fat Problem” as part of the title to this post, which some might consider provocative and insulting in a post that berates gamers for being insensitive to these fat girls.
Personally, I don’t think it’s insulting at all. I don’t think one can have any productive exchange if one has to choose language such that no nuance may offend another. It’s specially hard to do when the other party clearly doesn’t give a shit about civilized discourse anyway. As an example, here’s what she said: “I’m positively thrilled to see such unyielding dedication to creating a new generation of fat-hating, heteronormative assholes. It’s not often I have the opportunity to congratulate a cutting-edge tech company on such splendiferous retrofuck jackholery.”
You seem to think that the internet will ignore her language, her words, her tone, her insults — and somehow respond politely with an enlightened, civilized discussion on the depiction of obesity, feminism or sexuality in video games. I am sorry, but I think you will have to live with this disappointment. Don’t blame gamers specifically for it. Just about any other group, from astronauts to zoologists, would respond in exactly the same way.
By Chris on Jul 25, 2008 | Reply
Your last paragraph is entirely my point - that is the nature of unmoderated conversation on the web FOR ANY TOPIC, it is NOT something that is unique to gaming, although the editorial implies that it is.
The only difference is that where something like music or astronomy is a more mainstream pursuit, there is more of an expectation among those groups that the “bad stuff” needs to be moderated out so as not to offend. 90% of gaming’s community is played out over the web, there is no great body of people coming onto the web from outside to learn about gaming and to shock, so gaming sites (on the whole) tend not to moderate. The result is you see that kind of behaviour a lot more on the big gaming sites. But take any topic, and walk a little off the beaten track and you will see exactly the same behaviour played out in those communities’ websites too. It is NOTHING to do with a pervailing gamer attitude.
The fact that nobody has contested this point but have instead rushed to pick out the few examples of perjorative language in the replies and hold them up saying “See! I told you!” speaks more about the attitudes of the editorial - that for whatever reason there is a desire to paint gamers in a bad light rather than hold intelligent discourse on the matter.
By Symond Swan on Jul 25, 2008 | Reply
I wasn’t going to read the article just yet but I did a little skimming and I found this: >When video games get taken seriously by others than just nerds (and therefore sometimes draw criticism), they don’t simply flinch, but violently shake–often spewing attacks on the person. Now I wont have to lose my time.
By Julius on Jul 26, 2008 | Reply
The reaction to the criticisms was and is strong because the criticisms are ignorant. Even this blogger’s commentary is ignorant. In the game, you don’t force-feed the princess. You rescue her from an evil captor who is force-feeding her. In that respect, it’s actually a fat-positive twist on the classical damsel-in-distress storyline (the protagonist loves and wants to rescue the princess, even though she’s fat) but the so-called feminist bloggers are looking for an excuse, any excuse, to take offense and stir up shit. They are dumb, ignorant and hateful, and so are you for standing up for them.