Whoever said that a picture is worth a thousand words clearly hasn’t been looking at the artwork of #GamerGate — unless by “a thousand words” you mean the word “poop” repeated a thousand times.
Nonetheless, to honor the hard work of GamerGate’s unsung graphic heroes, and on the off chance that I might not be fully grasping the subtle meanings of these aesthetically impaired visionaries, I would like to present to you all today a series of [] incomprehensible GamerGate Cartoons, which I have collected from 8chan and Twitter and various other places I don’t even remember.
CONTENT WARNING: Cartoon violence, misogyny, raging anti-Semitism, really bad drawing.
1) Zoe Quinn Vomits Vivian James
In this lovely comic, #GamerGate nemesis Zoe Quinn projectile vomits #GamerGate’s imaginary girlfriend Vivian James after being punched in the stomach by 4Chan’s vidya board. But #GamerGate isn’t about Zoe Quinn, we don’t even know who she is, right guys?
2) Damsel in Dis Dress
In this cartoon, #GamerGate nemesis #2, Anita Sarkeesian, responds to gentle criticism from Mr. 4chan vidya board by putting on a very peculiar outfit and crying for help. But #GamerGate isn’t about Anita Sarkeesian, that is, Anita WHO?
3) Fickle Female
In this exquisitely drawn miniature masterpiece, a fickle female demands that games be made to suit her, but then refuses to buy these games since she, as a female, does not actually play games. But #GamerGate isn’t about defining games as a male thing, where would you even get that idea, wow, I think you’re the real misogynist here.
4) Anita Refund!
In this somewhat perplexing entry, Anita Sarkeesian — rendered as a crude stereotype of an evil avaricious Jew — warns her followers about evil video games, then happily walks off with a giant bag of cash as “logic” and … a Nazi? attack them. The video game characters stand by innocently. But #GamerGate isn’t anti-Semitic, I mean, that’s just a caricature of Anita, she’s not Jewish, you must be the anti-Semite for even thinking that was anti-Semitic.
5) Weapons of Mass Distraction
In this cartoon, a little easier to understand, an evil Jewish puppetmaster distracts 4Channers — represented by the old Nazi dude — with Vivian James. While Mr. 4Chan gives generously to the Vivian James video game project, Zoe Quinn and the other real enemies are ignored. But #GamerGate isn’t anti… oh, ok, I guess this cartoon is pretty massively anti-Semitic. But it’s, er, for the lulz. The lelz? Top kek?
6) Muh Shekels Muh Diversity
What the hell, did I wander onto Stormfront or something? In this cartoon, Vivian James beats up a Jewish Reddit alien for betraying the cause of vidya games. I don’t know why she has the face of George Costanza.
Ok, I’ve got to be able to find a cartoon that’s not filled with vicious bigotry, right? I mean, #GamerGate is about ethics in journalism, right? Ah, I’ve got it:
7) Games Media, Take My Hand!
In this one, #GamerGate just wants to keep gaming media from drowning, but snobby gaming media considers this help to be harassment? Apparently threats and doxxing and boycotts and slander are just #GamerGate’s way of helping? Huh. I’m thinking this cartoon is nearly as offensive, in its way, and the ones preceding it.
But I have to admit that the draftsmanship is excellent.
8) Vivian Just Wants to Play Video Games Send Emails
In this cartoon, evil ghosts, representing who the fuck knows what, try to distract Vivian James from her appointed task: sending emails to advertisers. Vivian shakes them off and KEEPS SENDING EMAILS.
I’m kind of worried about Vivian. She doesn’t seem to have much joy in her life. Her friend Gilda, with the hat, at least seems to enjoy her job delivering mail.
Hey! Don’t malign the good name of the surrealists by associating them with these jokers.
Although there is a certain air of dada to them. The cut and paste images, the word salad captions…
I just don’t get the raging anti-Semitism. Anita isn’t Jewish for God’s sake. The GGers and 4channers have created a bizarro world that has nothing to do with reality. It’s their own version of history. It’s like they blame Jews for everything bad that ever happens. Anita somehow looks Jewish to them so they just assume she is to make her a scapegoat.
Is there anything about far right politics that isn’t revolting?
Regarding George Costanza, what’s with Neo Nazis being pathetic Walter Mitty types. I swear, because practically all the 4channers and GGers are just like that.
Wow. Their mothers must be proud.
That once they stamped out all the liberals and foreigners and minorities and “deviants”, they’d turn on each other as the new evil outsiders to be destroyed?
So… Zoe Quinn ate Vivian James? And then the #GGer is saving her by punching Vivian out of Zoe’s stomach? I’m guessing that’s what’s going on there, but if they wanted to go that route, they should have used a more recognizable trope. Big Bad Wolf, Huntsman, and poor Red’s grandma comes to mind…
And I’m pretty sure the entire reason these people are like this is because their mothers assume that they can do no wrong, no matter how bad their behavior gets. It’s like that doting mother who cries about how good a boy her son is even as he’s dragged into a police car for murder. She just can’t see him as anything other than the sweet little toddler she failed to raise.
And I’m resigning myself to the realization that I’m never going to “get” Vivian James. I’ve spent some time trying to figure out what statement #GG is trying to make with Vivian James and I just can’t wrap my silly little head around it. Is it that women like her exist and for some reason don’t come out as a REAL spokesperson for #GG? Is it that that this is what they WISH women who played games were like, complacent and without discernable personality? Is she the future of women in gaming they’re aiming for? Is there in-fighting about what this little cartoon girl MEANS?? I can’t figure this out!
Does someone want to help me scoop my brains off the floor and pour them back in my skull?
Can we please not blame the mothers – WOMEN – for how these arseholes turned out?
@sorceressensorcelled:
Honestly, the meme would be more accurate if /v/ punches Quinn, then when she turns around and says “Hey, what the fuck was that for?” /v/ pukes up Vivian and hides behind her.
Seconding pallygirl.
Also, Vivian James is supposed to be them. Female, because diversity; socially maladjusted, because gamers; rude, because armpit of the internet; ultimately harmless and unfairly set upon moe, because propaganda.
And then Zoe Quinn regenerates from a single cell, STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE YOU FOOLS.
…in case you haven’t watched Dragonball Z (I was a child shaddup), there’s a part where the evil android Cell adsorbs the pretty blonde, blue eyed (also kind of evil) Android 18. Krillin (the short bald guy) punches him SQUARE in the gut, causing him to throw up 18 cause that’s totally how the digestion of a highly advanced artificial being that absorbs people through his tail works. Even though Krillin has lacked the strength to do damage to any of show’s major villains since the beginning.
@pallygirl: Sorry for offending, there’s obviously no excuse for why they act the way they do, and I shouldn’t be implying that their moms were implicit.
@kirbywarp: That WOULD make more sense, but I’m more and more sure that nothing involving Vivian James is ever going to make even a little bit of sense
There has also been a lot of (misplaced, as far as I can tell) anti-Semitism directed at Quinn. Some people found out she descended from some Dutch patrician family (who actually were Protestant, not Jewish) and decided she was a “Dutch Jewish vampire”.
Many of these /pol/ derived GGers seem to start from the anti-Semitic premise that the world is controlled by an international Jewish conspiracy and decide that everybody who becomes their main target is one of them.
Wait, so they create their own “girl” to represent that… women support them. And then they paste a male face on their woman-game-warrior creation? Are they finally admitting that there’s a MAN INSIDE OF VIVIAN JAMES?
I need a shower now.
With scalding hot water and that industrial soap they give you on building sites with grit in it!
Sn0rkmaiden – very good point. I now feel much better about my drawing skills or lack thereof. It’s an ill wind that blows no good.
@sorceressensorcelled: thanks, mothers have always been the go-to group for blaming about children’s behaviour at least since psychoanalysis was invented.
What’s happening with their Tumblr “campaign”?
When are they going to shut up and play?
See, normal MRAs I understand, despicable as they are, but these guys? They’re like an invasive alien species whose psychology is always going to remain a mystery.
@Loon of Nature
ARGH! That is exactly what that image was reminding me of! Does that mean that Vivian James = Android 18? Because Android 18 is way too good for these people…
I’m pretty sure that the first pic is a reference to cell from dbz getting punched so hard that he puked up A. 18. Cell was a power hungry parasitic organism that absorbed the life force and power of everything that he sucked up, so barfing up 18 saved her.
Maybe I’m overthinking things, but there’s a bunch of dbz references; the purple and green (started out as Piccolo Dick; a dbz meme), the mismatched arms, and the whole “barfing up a person when punched” thing.
There’s this orange liquid soap with pumice in it my family (full of mechanics and car nuts) is fond of. It smells great, and it gets all the thick oil and grease off if you scrub hard enough!
As for the comics, all I can find myself doing is shaking my head. This Vivian James nonsense really has gone too far. Poor thing. I blame the “parents”.
I saw a completely different story happening there. Sarkeeeeeesian is choking on Vivian and the gators are giving her their version of the heimlich maneuver. Whadaya think?
Are they trying to fill out some kind of asshole bingo? Because they’re WINNING.
I don’t think this is quite representative. I’ve been collecting images arising out of Gamer Gate and have almost a thousand, ranging from bad Photoshops to well-crafted artistry. I guess the next step is to try to organize them to tell a story.
I think you’re thinking of swarfega.