" Dumbass American cultural sensitivities rear their ugly head again.
Sure son, you can slice open that minotaur and watch his innards spill out. Wait, SEX? And it's not consensual?! Get that filth out of here. "
I'm pretty sure most people in any country would have more problems with a kid watching or participating in a rape via a movie or video game than cutting open a fictional creature's stomach.
One is easy to emulate, whereas the other is impossible. One is physical violence on a monster, and the other is emotional and physical violence on a person. Rape is right up there with murder, both can kill a person, just in different ways.
Not that I agree with people complaining about the Penny Arcade joke, but yes, I do think non-consensual sex acted upon a person is worse than slicing open a minotaur.
I think in times like these, we must consult the late and great George Carlin: "I can prove to you that rape is funny. Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd. See, hey why do you think they call him 'Porky', eh? I know what you're going to say. 'Elmer was asking for it. Elmer was coming on to Porky. Porky couldn't help himself, he got a hard-on, he got horny, he lost control, he went out of his mind.'"
" Dumbass American cultural sensitivities rear their ugly head again.
Sure son, you can slice open that minotaur and watch his innards spill out. Wait, SEX? And it's not consensual?! Get that filth out of here. "
I'd actually say rape is worse than straight-up violence in the eyes of most Americans. I think you're confusing the American discomfort of consensual sex against their acceptance of violence.
This whole thing seems like a non-issue, I mean fine don't bring the shirt to sell at PAX, but don't take it out of the store. Especially because I really want it...
While I can understand the decision to pull the shirts from PAX, I think asking them to take the strip down is crazy. While I hate when people use the defense, "But I'm edgy, I break the rules so don't come near me unless you want your rules broken" (it's totally self-serving and usually a sign that you suck), I think it goes in this case. Penny Arcade has always been a bit bawdy, and I'm pretty positive they'be joked about rape before.
Also, to people who don't like PA I suggest you check out their documentary on PATV. I've always enjoyed a lot of PA comics, but I think you can really see how funny they are when you get a look into their personal conversations and how they go about making a comic. It's definitely worth at least a look.
I think that it's perfectly reasonable for people to be upset about the shirt. The comic I don't really understand but the shirt I get. Say, you want to bring your children to PAX. Do you really want to see a merch stand with a shirt there that says, "I WAS RAPED BY DICKWOLVES" or something? I mean, the people who brings their kids there are there to show their kids games; I doubt they would even let them read Penny Arcade as young children. I wouldn't want to have to explain the concept of rape to my child in the middle of a game expo where we just want to play games and have fun.
EDIT: After seeing the shirt, I have realized that everyone in this thread is pretty much right and this is ridiculous.
" I think that it's perfectly reasonable for people to be upset about the shirt. The comic I don't really understand but the shirt I get. Say, you want to bring your children to PAX. Do you really want to see a merch stand with a shirt there that says, "I WAS RAPED BY DICKWOLVES" or something? I mean, the people who brings their kids there are there to show their kids games; I doubt they would even let them read Penny Arcade as young children. I wouldn't want to have to explain the concept of rape to my child in the middle of a game expo where we just want to play games and have fun. "
Uh.
Don't bring your kids to PAX? Pretty much none of the Penny Arcade humor and language is appropriate for children.
@august: But PAX is about the games isn't it? It's not just about the Penny Arcade guys anymore. I think it's perfectly reasonable that in a public place people would not want there to be shirts that reference rape.
" @august: But PAX is about the games isn't it? It's not just about the Penny Arcade guys anymore. I think it's perfectly reasonable that in a public place people would not want there to be shirts that reference rape. "
This is what the shirt looks like:
You're seriously telling me this is going to be a problem?
but i guess to be on-topic, good on them pulling the shirt due to reasonable people having a problem with it (pax is kinda kid friendly) and good on them for not pulling the comic from the site.
" @august: But PAX is about the games isn't it? It's not just about the Penny Arcade guys anymore. I think it's perfectly reasonable that in a public place people would not want there to be shirts that reference rape. "
This is what the shirt looks like:
You're seriously telling me this is going to be a problem? "
Wow. I was expecting something with, you know, rape! This is way different than what I had in my head.
" To quote the beautiful Jim Sterling "I hate people who think tasteless humor is fine until it touches on their one personal pet issue. Fuck you, you self-serving cunts." "
I'm no Sterling fan, but this is spot on. I also recently watched that Joan Rivers doco, A Piece of Work, and there's a bit at one of her stand up shows where someone gets offended by her making a joke about deaf people. The person starts heckling her and Joan (obviously) dishes her own up. Regardless of whether her joke is in poor taste or not, YOU PAID MONEY TO GO SEE JOAN RIVERS SAY THIS KIND OF THING. IT'S WHAT JOAN RIVERS DO.
It's supposed to be awful. That's the point. Contextually, within the strip, it makes perfect sense, and reading it for the first time didn't make me bat an eyelid. It's fucking Penny Arcade, and if you are offended then get the fuck out. It's a fucking webcomic; It's obnoxious almost by definition. That's why they didn't take the strip down after the initial beef.
There are people out there that will stir up shit over anything.
The new argument is that people wearing Dickwolves shirts, until recently being sold at penny arcade, would make readers uncomfortable being at PAX. I kind of see where they are coming from. It's the difference between reading/laughing at this comic:
And then publicly spending time outdoors wearing a shirt bearing the word "RAPIST". You can do it, sure, but don't be surprised if nobody holds the door open for you.
I would have thought that PAX would have been one of the more accommodating locations for something like that - the whole point of selling the fucking shirts in the first place- but whatever. People want to enjoy videogames publicly without being associated with rapist lycanthropes and that's fair enough. I think it's a bit of a pussy move on Gabes behalf considering the entire expo was founded on that type of humour, but whatever - it's his show and he can make the calls. I fully expect people who have already bought the fucking things to turn up to PAX wearing them out of spite.
While I think it's silly that people got that upset over it, Gabe's right and they did the right thing. At least, they did the right thing to keep PAX as intended.
That said, this will have all been forgotten in a week so everyone should just carry on.
" To quote the beautiful Jim Sterling "I hate people who think tasteless humor is fine until it touches on their one personal pet issue. Fuck you, you self-serving cunts." "
" I rarely find Penny Arcade funny, but I respect what they've done for the industry. I didn't find the initial comic offensive, but I could see where people were coming from with the merchandising stuff. Was this the logo?
"
The strip didn't make me laugh. That shirt design did.
As for everyone saying that people having a voice of being uncomfortable with this, here's what I'll say:
I've had my own run-in with this same type of incident on Screened. Specifically, the title was the thing that people had a problem with, especially one moderator and with Rorie as well. Personally, I saw no issue. If anything, Whiskey Media sites are typically known for a very loose and kind-of-upside-down stigma at times. However, there will always be people that are sensitive to someone potentially using something sensitive in a joking manner. That does not in any way mean that either person is right: the person who is "offending" has chosen to use a sensitive matter as a form of jest, while the person "offended" has an issue with something sensitive being used in some form of jesting way. Trying to say that a person being offended is "stupid" or "bullshit" is far stupider and just as much bullshit. When you decide to make a joke involving something like that, you should know that there will be some kind of backlash and that actions will need to be taken because of it.
There is nothing wrong with people being sensitive to things like that. As I point out in that linked thread, I have a massive issue with films (as well as music, art, games, etc) that convey or portray rape. It's something I just do not want to see. Does that mean I'll throw out jokes between my friends that involve the word "rape" and make it something to jest about? Yeah. Why? Because I have a darker sense of humor than others. Does that mean that I'm right for doing so? No, but that's the way the cracker crumbles.
Therefore, while I can't understand what the threat of having people feel uncomfortable at an expo that I fund and throw every year feels like, I can say that I know how it feels to have offended someone with a joke of the same caliber. We see it as nothing more than our own twisted sense of humor. Other people don't see it that way.
I still, however, stand by my beliefs that the person making the joke is fully allowed to make the joke, as one of our rights in this country is the freedom of speech. However, just because you can make the joke, don't expect people to always agree with it and find humor within it as you do.
" To quote the beautiful Jim Sterling "I hate people who think tasteless humor is fine until it touches on their one personal pet issue. Fuck you, you self-serving cunts." "
I'm no Sterling fan, but this is spot on. I also recently watched that Joan Rivers doco, A Piece of Work, and there's a bit at one of her stand up shows where someone gets offended by her making a joke about deaf people. The person starts heckling her and Joan (obviously) dishes her own up. Regardless of whether her joke is in poor taste or not, YOU PAID MONEY TO GO SEE JOAN RIVERS SAY THIS KIND OF THING. IT'S WHAT JOAN RIVERS DO. "
I don't know how I feel about this. I think some people take advantage of the whole "edgy sense of humour" thing to just genuinely be a cunt. Sure, you can make jokes about Jewish people, but do you know who else made jokes about Jewish people? That's right.
And I'm not agreeing that you have to be tasteless to be edgy (although sometimes it helps with me) - as I said, I'm definitely no Jim Sterling fan, and find a lot of what he has to say to be childish foot stomping to get attention. But when you go directly to the source of what offends you and then get all put out when you get offended, that's just dumb. It's like flying into the sun and then getting pissed off when you get burned to a cinder.
@jakob187: The problem is it's fucking penny-arcade to begin with.
You were on a public forum on a movie site, so to have something kind of sensitive upfront is kind of a problem for people who just want to talk movies on Screened. You were in the wrong...
Your whiskey media staff humor favorites aside, some people on here actually could care less about the staff and just use the forums all the time.
Penny-Arcade has always been in line with the darker sense of humor, so these fans who were with them touching every subject before, suddenly shit gets real and then they are offended is a fucking joke. I lost a lot of respect for Penny Arcade just now reading that apology. Whatever I guess, the joke wasn't even about rape, but lets let morons be morons.
" To quote the beautiful Jim Sterling "I hate people who think tasteless humor is fine until it touches on their one personal pet issue. Fuck you, you self-serving cunts." "
Thank you. And that's why I like Jim Sterling now.
I have no idea why they caved after seeing the shirt design. The only way someone could be offended by the design alone is if they knew of the original comic and if they were offended by that then fuck those people.
@Doctorchimp: In reference to the example I gave, it was meant as nothing more than a statement that I can understand what it's like to have a vocal minority say "yo, that ain't funny". Whether it's a public forum or in a comic strip on the internet, the fact still remains that it's the same type of attempt at humor and in no way is belittling to the idea and/or act of rape.
In reference to Penny Arcade, I have lost no respect for them. They are making amends with people. Again, whether YOU individually think that people need to pull a stick out of their ass or whatever means nothing. An expo that they've poured their hearts into being for the public, something that they have dedicated so much time to making a comfortable environment for a large sect of hobbyists who are generally frowned upon by the mainstream... To say that them taking a shirt off their store and then saying "sorry we took it a little too far for some people, but we're not changing our humor" is more than okay.
Besides, they'll make a comic strip about it all next week anyways.
The thing is, the Penny Arcade strip's joke wasn't even about rape. The point of the strip was how nonsensical quests are in MMOs, and the comic actually uses rape as an example of a terrible thing. It mentions this in pursuit of comedy, but it is not making light of the act itself. I have no problem with the comic as is.
Most of the people against it understand these facts as well. However, rape, like any number of traumatic events, is one of those things that can be triggered in a victim's mind, forcing them to go through vivid and painful flashbacks, a lot like Vietnam vets had to go through. Most of the intelligent people that have a problem with it, have a problem with the word being used casually, as it can trigger these memories. There are stupid people against the strip, however, who claim that making "rape jokes" (which this strip does not) invites a culture that doesn't view rape as a travesty. I can understand why some people would have a problem with raping in the comic, and one of the original people to voice their complaints didn't want any action to be taken, they just wanted to mention the trigger it caused in her so that Jerry and Mike would be more aware of it. It's the people after that that turned this into some big thing.
Also, a Dickwolves t-shirt does not breed an aura of oppression at PAX. Those bitches need to shut the fuck up.
All these protesters have accomplished is turning the Dickwolves shirt into an uber rare collector's item. That being said, anyone know where I can get one men's size small?
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