So after another month and a half her 2nd video is out:
Unfortunately it's basically just another listing video stating that this is what happens regularly in video games and its bad, but does nothing to spark any discussion in how to remedy it or whether this is an allowable but completely overused trope.
At least this time she did explicitly mention that this trope mostly persist out of laziness rather than intent (contrary to how it looked like in the first video where she repeatedly and explicitly called out Shigeru Miyamoto for using the trope). And she also provides a list of games who do a good job.
I also think she is really too much of a surface dweller and she seems to frame it as if there is really no legitimate motivation for seeking to free or avenge a person that the character loved, other than it being seemingly demanded by society.
Overall I think the content of both of her videos could have been presented in a single video. And there is apparently going to be a third video on the same topic, only on the role reversal. This is bizarre because in the same video she said that the role reversal is so rare that it is basically a punchline. So if it is so rare how is there enough for an entire video?
Im sure she has something interesting to say but how she presents that information is in such a stilted and poor way that its unpleasant to watch. Better rehearsal or at least not pausing when the script says pause might help make it less painful, but a lot of what she is saying it lost in a dull monotone of presentation and dull body language.
My only problems with this video series are that: A: A $150k budget has resulted in her making the most boringly shot and cut videos of this notoriety. If that was all spent on buying games for research... B: Most of her information is identical to what you'd find looking up games on Wikipedia and TVTropes. She can easily acquire this information for free and do more than just regurgitate it. C: Her time making these videos seems to have been spent more on proving how widespread the tropes are rather than actually getting some information or analysis that adds something new to the conversations. I take issue with her claim that killing a female who has been turned into a monster/is being abused and misused in a video game supports violence against women. I think that point goes way too far and is difficult to listen to.
Other than that, she continues to be inoffensive and point out very little that is untrue. Games are super sexist, this is the truth. Still not finding her videos informative or interesting. Maybe to a much younger audience who needs to learn these things early, but other parts of her videos are inappropriate for this crowd.
A: A $150k budget has resulted in her making the most boringly shot and cut videos of this notoriety. If that was all spent on buying games for research...
It was used for not just the games, but paying herself, her Producer/director and her research assistant all a pretty good full-time wage(as this is now a full time job for two out of the three, and the third is Sarkeesian herself, who is doing this and paid public speaking gigs which are not part of this project, though they are a direct result - fair enough, I guess, they've gotta eat and make car payments what have you like the rest of us) for the duration of the project since the kickstarter finished, along with upgrading all of their equipment, studio, etc. I don't doubt they've used the entire amount, or at least, have a budget laid out that uses the whole amount.
A: A $150k budget has resulted in her making the most boringly shot and cut videos of this notoriety. If that was all spent on buying games for research...
It was used for not just the games, but paying herself, her Producer/director and her research assistant all a pretty good full-time wage(as this is now a full time job for two out of the three, and the third is Sarkeesian herself, who is doing this and paid public speaking gigs which are not part of this project, though they are a direct result - fair enough, I guess, they've gotta eat and make car payments what have you like the rest of us) for the duration of the project since the kickstarter finished, along with upgrading all of their equipment, studio, promotion, etc. I don't doubt they've used the entire amount, or at least, have a budget laid out that uses the whole amount.
She didn't ask for $150K, she asked for $6000K. She got $150K. How come you aren't picking apart other Kickstarters that got more than they asked for? I didn't hear anybody make this complaint about Order of the Stick.
I'm not picking shit apart, I'm just filling in Axel for how the money was used. She hired full-time professionals, do people expect them to work free, full time? Not like studio equipment comes free, either.
Video costs money. The ONLY reason Scott and I can do GeekNights Presents: Utena AT ALL is:
1. We don't bill anyone for our very expensive hours 2. We don't write scripts 3. We don't edit to any meaningful degree 4. We have the most ghetto studio in the world 5. Our lighting and post-production are the jankiest 6. No teleprompters or cues of any sort 7. Our schedule is "whenever the fuck" 8. We produce it at a snail's pace 9. We seriously don't write scripts: it's just live bullshitting from a notepad and one camera angle.
I'm just reading this thread now cause I never knew about any of the stuff this person is doing/did, but I'm just seeing a bunch of funny drama about it now on Twitter. And anyway I just want to say that this post was hilarious:
Making a game is not the same as running for fucking congress! I'm doing it for christ's sake! It has never been easier to make a game on a shoestring budget and still get it out to a mass audience. Sarkeesian could have done better to use her kickstarter money to make the game that she wants to exist.
The thing is, though - I'd put GP:U and RFE (well, maybe not the earliest ones, but the stuff that's coming out of late) to be at an equal level of quality in the final product as Sarkeesian's videos. You're not as fancy with it, sure, and the content is entirely different, and for an entirely different purpose - but the quality of the final product with video, audio, etc is equal.
I've watched Sarkeesian's pre-TvsVG videos, they aren't of that much worse quality. And I'm arguing that her researching time is not that expensive given that she has yet to turn up any new information that you can't get from a few hours on TV Tropes. I understand paying her crew, but I'm saying her videos aren't showing from a super huge benefit in quality. Do they look really nice? Yeah. But all's she really has is good video editing and a steady camera, all things one person can do themselves.
Hey, I didn't say anything that against any of your points, or for them. I'm just giving you the john dory on where the money is going. I'm leaving all the rest of it up to other people, though I do point out that my previously mentioned preliminary assessment of a non-committal shrug is only modified by the fact that it's now "Shrug 2: Shrug harder", though it may be subject to change.
The only point in which I disagree with her video is that most of her examples aren't games. At least not in my book. They are just shit movies written by Hollywood's rejects. Walk around and hit things plus cut scenes does not a game make.
Hey, I didn't say anything that against any of your points, or for them. I'm just giving you the john dory on where the money is going. I'm leaving all the rest of it up to other people, though I do point out that my previously mentioned preliminary assessment of a non-committal shrug is only modified by the fact that it's now "Shrug 2: Shrug harder", though it may be subject to change.
wait the first eps was all Mario and Zelda themed, did you just call all those games shit movies?
I'm referring to the new video.
Also, for both videos, notice how so many examples are Japanese. Yeah, Japan is very sexist society. Seeing at is the source of much geekery, not too many surprises there. I feel like cleaning up the sexism in the west is achievable to some degree, both online and in the media industries. I don't feel like fixing Japan's sexism to any meaningful degree is possible in any short or even medium term. As long as Japan remains the source of so much entertainment media, these sexist tropes will persist. Count ourselves lucky that Saudi Arabia isn't the fountain of geekery.
Define "fixing". I don't think that Japan will become not-sexist any time soon, but I do foresee them becoming less directly oppressive in the medium term.
Define "fixing". I don't think that Japan will become not-sexist any time soon, but I do foresee them becoming less directly oppressive in the medium term.
Judging by the anime charts, they're getting worse.
wait the first eps was all Mario and Zelda themed, did you just call all those games shit movies?
Zelda has so many fucking cutscenes it's ridiculous. It's like _every_fucking_time_ I pick something up, I gotta watch a cutscene of the fucking thing just floating above Link's head. It's so stupid.......
Define "fixing". I don't think that Japan will become not-sexist any time soon, but I do foresee them becoming less directly oppressive in the medium term.
Judging by the anime charts, they're getting worse.
That's only judging how women are viewed, and not what women are doing to try and change that. From what I've read, Japanese women are integrating into the workforce in greater numbers and more fully than previously seen, and are becoming more self-assertive. I'm hopeful.
Comments
Unfortunately it's basically just another listing video stating that this is what happens regularly in video games and its bad, but does nothing to spark any discussion in how to remedy it or whether this is an allowable but completely overused trope.
At least this time she did explicitly mention that this trope mostly persist out of laziness rather than intent (contrary to how it looked like in the first video where she repeatedly and explicitly called out Shigeru Miyamoto for using the trope). And she also provides a list of games who do a good job.
I also think she is really too much of a surface dweller and she seems to frame it as if there is really no legitimate motivation for seeking to free or avenge a person that the character loved, other than it being seemingly demanded by society.
Overall I think the content of both of her videos could have been presented in a single video. And there is apparently going to be a third video on the same topic, only on the role reversal. This is bizarre because in the same video she said that the role reversal is so rare that it is basically a punchline. So if it is so rare how is there enough for an entire video?
A: A $150k budget has resulted in her making the most boringly shot and cut videos of this notoriety. If that was all spent on buying games for research...
B: Most of her information is identical to what you'd find looking up games on Wikipedia and TVTropes. She can easily acquire this information for free and do more than just regurgitate it.
C: Her time making these videos seems to have been spent more on proving how widespread the tropes are rather than actually getting some information or analysis that adds something new to the conversations.
Other than that, she continues to be inoffensive and point out very little that is untrue. Games are super sexist, this is the truth. Still not finding her videos informative or interesting. Maybe to a much younger audience who needs to learn these things early, but other parts of her videos are inappropriate for this crowd.
1. We don't bill anyone for our very expensive hours
2. We don't write scripts
3. We don't edit to any meaningful degree
4. We have the most ghetto studio in the world
5. Our lighting and post-production are the jankiest
6. No teleprompters or cues of any sort
7. Our schedule is "whenever the fuck"
8. We produce it at a snail's pace
9. We seriously don't write scripts: it's just live bullshitting from a notepad and one camera angle.
10. We already own professional audio equipment and prosumer video equipment.
11. We already know how to edit audio and video to a reasonable degree.
Also, for both videos, notice how so many examples are Japanese. Yeah, Japan is very sexist society. Seeing at is the source of much geekery, not too many surprises there. I feel like cleaning up the sexism in the west is achievable to some degree, both online and in the media industries. I don't feel like fixing Japan's sexism to any meaningful degree is possible in any short or even medium term. As long as Japan remains the source of so much entertainment media, these sexist tropes will persist. Count ourselves lucky that Saudi Arabia isn't the fountain of geekery.