Over on Return of Kings, one brave gamer dares to ask the question of our age: What will the world look like after the inevitable triumph of GamerGate?
I know, I know, just humor him for a few minutes. Because he has a rather, well, revealing notion of what triumph will look like, and it’s not one that’s compatible with the #NotYourShield propaganda that GamerGaters use to disguise its retrograde goals. Greendestiny, a veteran of TheRedPill and KotakuInAction on Reddit, sees in the video game “war” a new opportunity for gamebros to become Game Men:
It is my personal belief that, after GamerGate, video games will evolve to become a tool for raising a new generation of men. Our current education system fails horribly at providing real information on how the world works, what motivates people, and how to get laid.
Our education system is a disaster! Can you believe that not one college in the United States offers a major in Getlaidology?
More importantly, it pussifies men and turns them into starry-eyed believers in the Disney variety of life and love.
Huh. You know, there’s a cultural critic who’s made some interesting videos challenging the sexist tropes you can find in Disney movies and elsewhere in popular culture. Her name is Anita Sarkee… oh wait. Never mind.
The entire concept of sitting quietly and reading is meant for girls. Boys need the fight, the challenge, competition, and a test of their strength.
So why exactly are you trying to convince guys of this in a post you expect them to sit down and read? Shouldn’t your blog post be a video game or an arm-wrestling contest or something?
Games were always learning tools. Now they can become a tool for learning greater masculinity.
If by masculinity you mean “the proper sequence of buttons to push that will enable you to pull off an awesome combo.”
To become real men, boys must overcome challenges and find the true strength in themselves. Whether this is done in a virtual or real arena is irrelevant. By creating games that are consciously aimed at presenting a proper challenge, we can collectively make the world a better place for the next generation of men. And possibly help them get laid more.
“Hey, babe, I bet you didn’t know you were sitting next to a Level 90 Fire Mage.”
But seriously for a second: Yes, video games do teach gamers certain skills, and even something about the value of persistence. But why are the skills involved in, say, shooting dudes with maximum efficiency in Call of Duty any more intrinsically valuable, or “masculine,” than the skills involved in doing this?
(Also DAMN I hope I can persuade him to wear a suit like that black velvet one on the right sometime.)
Amazingly enough, this original Star Wars fan has completely missed every Star Wars trailer out there! Maybe when I go see The Hobbit?
This is what happens when you watch shows on Netflix, instead of TV, and only go to the theater for two or three movies a year.
I’m a Hunger Games fan, but I’m waiting for video, because of the pause button, the subtitles, and the less-likelihood of getting a massive headache.
I’m watching “The Hobbit” in the theaters, because New Zealand should be seen on the big screen, whenever possible.
For that matter, I enjoyed watching Twilight on the big screen (I was a total Twilight noobie), but I was rather shocked at the squee-ing in the audience when this KID walked into the frame. “EEEEEEHHHHHH!!!!! JACOOOBBBB!” Ummmm, OK. Wait, how old are you? Isn’t this guy, like, twelve? But, wow, that part of Washington sure is pretty!
I do hope that Star Wars turns out to be wonderful, and I am happy that there is more diversity. YAAAY! I’m also happy to miss all the hoopla white-man tears because they don’t like the trailer, although I’m kinda laughing at the fact that there ARE white-man tears because of a movie trailer.
Today, I Learned: Hollywood is making a movie about Moses in Egypt, and they cast all white people of European extraction, and although I can’t remember any names, except Christian Bale, I did read that list, and think, “Come on, at least cast a Jew.” And, historians, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Egypt largely black at some point in their history? I thought I remembered something about the ruling class changing during the course of the millenniums that country has been around. So, what color were the Pharaoh and his cohorts at that particular time? They need to at least try to get that right. Black, white, brown or turquoise, they need to check that out, and when people say, “We want this actor for the job,” or “Why did you cast him?” they can whip out their research and say, “According to historians, Rameses II (was it him?) looked like this.” I mean, people may complain that their casting doesn’t reflect the majority of Egyptians today, but to be really good at their jobs, they need to reflect the true history in their casting choices.
In other words – yeah, enough with the white-washing so you can get the biggest names. Cast the best actors to fit the roles, and you will CREATE the biggest names. Also, you’ll save a lot on the payroll.
OH! Who here has seen “Dear White People”? It’s not available locally, so I haven’t, but I’ve heard it was good, and want to see it on video.
grumpyoldnurse, there is no such thing as too much MP!
Michelle – LOL about the next generation; the duellist Bouteville’s son, who was born after his father’s execution, was the duc de Luxembourg, one of Louis XIV’s great generals.
Soooo true about the repetitive and stupid attempts at treason. What really gets me is what kind of an imbecile would trust Gaston an inch. He was all of 18 when he got involved in his first efforts at treason – trying to get Richelieu assassinated, no less – and all because he’d got in a snit about having to get married. Yeah, it was fine for his brother and sisters to be married younger than that and with no say in the matter, but oh no, precious spoilt brat didn’t want to know, and of course it’s just fine to try to murder people to get out of it.
The conspiracy was marked by all-round incompetence; “don’t tell people what you’re planning” doesn’t seem to have crossed these ditzes’ minds – but to top it all, Gaston squealed. Told everything, incriminated everybody. He had nothing to fear, he was immune. But he told, there were arrests, two deaths in prison (natural causes) and one very nasty execution – also his fault as he kidnapped the headsman.
Yet the nobles who wanted to rebel trusted him with their secrets every damn time after than, and every damn time, he gave them away. The sheer cowardice on top of the treachery, argh, it’s very hard to forget how long ago it happened and how it doesn’t matter to Louis any more, because I want to kick his rotten brother’s backside from here to doomsday sometimes!
@Lord Crowstaff
ROTFLSH!!!
Michelle – overall the Egyptians looked like their descendants today, and they did have some Nubians, ie black people, in the population too; there was also at least one Nubian ruling dynasty, during the Late Period iirc. As far as I know the 19th Dynasty was native.
@andiexist
I read your teal dear, and found it quite the perfect shade of greeney-blue.
In other words, I agree. Totally.
@Kootiepatra
Heeeheee! These Gamergators are failing the Turing test!
@zennurse – that muscle suit just gave me the heebie-jeebies. Still shivering.
Michelle, forgot to say I love the asshole kitty, or kitty asshole, cartoon! 😀
@DJG – SQUEEEEEE! You’ve read Lady Susan, too! Huzzah!
Seriously, I’m tired of people not even knowing it exists.
Also, my massage therapist has *opinions* about Jane Austen, and I have to bite my tongue, every time the topic comes up. Makes it really hard to relax. He admits, he has only read one of her novels, yet he still calls her a twit, who wasted her life, and says that ALL the books follow the same formula of poor girl marries rich guy, and love at first sight, and…
GRRRRR.
I like him, but there are certain topics about which we will never agree.
But you’ve read Lady Susan! Boing! Boing! Boing! YAAAAY!
My favorite part of that book is how enjoyably innocent-wide-eyed-who-me? sounding the villain’s letters are, as she lays out her cruelty to her friends and laughs about it all.
@kirby
I want to see this script made into a movie! Oh, my gosh, I laughed so hard!
Re: Cold War
BWAHAHAHAAAAAA! These guys! My father, the late Cold Warrior, would be dying (again) of laughter, if he could read these guys’ stuff.
Seriously, he knew his Cold War stuff! He could tell when a phone was tapped, just from listening to it. Watching a spy movie with him was something like a review period for a history class, as he would comment on the accuracy of this, that, and the other thing. This INCLUDED spy movies set in the FUTURE. “Yep, I’ve used one of those. Yeah, that’s real. They just declassified that last year. HEY! They got that all wrong! You’re holding it upside down!”
As for going to sleep every night, wondering if we’d be nuked, well, not EVERY night. But yeah. The fear was there. You just lived with it.
Growing up, I never worried about disgruntled students shooting up the school. I worried about terrorist cells, and now and then I worried about abductions, and bombs.
The movie Taken – where the girl has to get her father’s permission to travel, because she might be targeted? Yeah. That permission thing is REAL, and there’s a real reason for it. There were certain places I was never allowed to visit, because I’d be targeted. The fact that her abduction was actually random was just so darkly funny to me. Irony. Sometimes, they get it right.
And I remember the dancing when the wall came down. How happy I was to be able to address an envelope to Germany. JUST Germany.
And yet, even with the wall down, I was well aware that the Cold War was still going on, and my Dad was still fighting the fight. The targets became less obvious, less visible to civilians, but they were still there.
There is no comparison to the Cold War, and if there were, these tools would lose.
And just what does your therapist think Jane Austen was supposed to – able to – do with her life, Michelle? Does Mr Genius Therapist even know how restricted her life choices were?
I wasn’t allowed to watch The Day After, or Three Days Later, or any of those.
However, I vividly recall when Chernobyl blew, and we were terrified of that green cloud in the sky, and the pouring rain.
Hey, anyone remember “acid rain”?
Anyway, it wasn’t until people stationed in western Europe looked up and saw that, that the USSR finally admitted (THREE DAYS after the fact) that Chernobyl had blown. I guess they figured that as long as the radiation stayed internal, they’d never have to admit it?
That was a pretty scary time. We lived on canned goods, because nothing fresh was safe. Fortunately, my family was well-stocked.
Absolutely. And the film of the book. Post-apocalypse fiction wasn’t so common back then.
I haven’t seen the film for years. I really don’t remember it very well, but that was yonks and yonks ago. It got a couple of Oscar nominations so obviously some people thought it was OK. I’m at the stage now that I remember more about the film being shot in Melbourne than the film itself. It’s all a bit of a blur. (Well, I was in primary school when it was filmed and still in high school when I saw it.)
It turns out that grumpyoldman and I share a birth year. Anyone else claiming to be a baby boomer needs to polish up their credentials. I’m a _real_ boomer. War ends ’45, parents marry ’46, I’m born ’47. These johnny come latelys born after 1960 might belong to a boomer family, but they’re really on the fringes.
@Ira Shantz-Kreutzkamp – Oh, I grant you the story is very manly. It’s the WORD. Words require reading, which is only for girls and girly-men.
Snicker. I am so missing Patrick Swayze right now.
@kitteh
Binary brains – yeah. A renaissance man would blow their minds.
Did you know, Henry VIII was good at more than having sex with all the noble women at court? Yeah, he was a fighter, and fought some real battles, before he had to take the throne, and he jousted, as well. AND, he was a poet and musician, as well as a dance choreographer. Yep. Real Renaissance Man.
He was knocked unconscious for some hours, and historians say that is when his personality began to show changes, and he became harsher, less forgiving, a bit paranoid. This is in line with common side-effects of such a head injury. Plus, the never-ending wound on his leg was really starting to get to him, by then.
And yet, this renaissance man who is most well known for his sexual voracity also knew to treat women as real human beings, at least when he wasn’t trying to woo them. Queen Anne of Cleves became his best friend, and he declared her to be his royal sister, second only to the queen and the princesses (when they weren’t being cut out of the line of succession) in rank at the court. He talked with her a lot, and even counseled with her. Because he recognized in her a real, worthwhile human being.
Yeah, as long as sex wasn’t on the table, he could actually SEE the table, if you know what I mean. And Anne Boleyn won his heart not by being an HB10, but by being brilliant. She really wasn’t considered that pretty, by her contemporaries.
Too much Monty Python? Is that even possible?
@Kitteh
Oooh, the dream gives me shivers. Heavy on the description, and the surreal suspense, and it could be a real chiller.
The best nightmares are, I believe, insubstantial.
@Kitteh
Gaston – WOW. Yeah, he’s the kind of enemy I’d like to have and the kind of ally I’d like to avoid. Or possibly assassinate.
Louis was blessed and lucky to have a traitor-brother like him, rather than someone actually competent. Of course, he was cursed to have a traitor-brother, at all.
In fact, it seems Louis was both cursed and blessed in his entire court.
See, if stuff like THIS was taught in history classes, rather than boring old dates and numbers, kids would be clamoring to sign up for the class. We all love a good soap opera, right?
Yup.
I read On the Beach, never saw the film. Last Grand Prix in the world …
::cries::
I think I’m early Gen X; certainly the characteristic job insecurity has been the story of my working life.
Michelle – yes, I knew that about Henry’s skills! Pastime With Good Company is one of my favourite songs.
I didn’t know about his accident having that effect on him, though I did know about that horrible ulcer. I think it was the news of his accident in that tournament that sent Anne into premature labour, too.
Historians so often don’t seem to put two and two together when it comes to chronic, severe pain. They’ll say that X was bad-tempered or depressed or whatever like it’s something X should snap out of, when that person is in horrible pain all the time, and, in the case of monarchs, has a neverending workload (at least if they are trying to do their job). Hello, historians, try living with pulmonary and intestinal TB, no effective painkillers, and doctors whose treatments are themselves painful and only make you worse, and see how bright and chirpy you are.
Anne of Cleves did far the best of any of his wives. She survived him by ten years, had nice homes, stayed on good terms with her stepchildren, had the money for LOTS OF NEW DRESSES and eventually converted to Catholicism – kind of ironic given a short-lived Protestant alliance was the reason she was in England in the first place.
@Kitteh – re Egyptian Nubian dynasty.
Exactly. MOST of the dynasties looked one way, but one looked another, and they need to state outright which one it was, and get it right.
The fact that all but one looked like modern Egyptians means that they’re getting it wrong, no matter WHAT year they used for the setting.
Feh.
There are great actors they could have cast. I’m not saying the cast they have is bad, it’s just WRONG.
I do think it would be great to have a movie set in Egypt during that Nubian dynasty. Because that would remind people of that dynasty, you know? Maybe one of those epic family sagas that covers the dynasty from beginning to end.
Also, I want to see something about “King” Hatshepsut (sp?).
Also, please, Jewish actors to play the Israelites. I’ve been watching Numb3rs lately, and have developed a thing for Rob Morrow. I think he’d make a good Moses. Better than Christian Bale.
Speaking of Numb3rs, I promised myself to watch just one episode, and that would be my time-limit for knitting for Christmas presents, so I don’t hurt myself, and I still haven’t gotten off this thread!
OK, I’m just gonna go watch the show and do my knitting, and then I really ought to go to bed. Yep. I sure will.
Just as soon as I read this next comment.
@Kitteh – he takes “Becoming Jane” as the straight-up truth, and thinks she should have married the guy. Actually, either one. He says she wasted her life because she did not get married and have babies.
We have agreed to disagree on the topic.
The only post-apocalypse stuff I actually enjoy is the Sims 2 Apocalypse challenge. And I always play it as a non-nuclear variety, because I have to be different.