I used to love Kinda Funny. It was my go-to for video game impressions, podcasts and just general entertainment. I loved listening to “PS I Love You XOXO” every Tuesday and I always tuned into the Kinda Funny Gamescast whenever I could. But then I began to watch with my girlfriend and she pointed some things out. Things that as I better understand some of the major issues with sexism and racism in video games the more I want to stop supporting them and vehemently challenge them. I started to tune into Kinda Funny less and less as I began to realise one particular voice embodied the many issues: Colin Moriarty.
He Only Does What He Wants, Colin Moriarty…
Colin often reminds us of his “loathing PC culture” and how he feels all the Bernie Sanders loving, crybaby SJWs need to shut up and get over themselves. It’s a common voice anyone who’s ever advocated for diversity or change in the industry has quickly run into. He’s commented several times about how much he detests “safe spaces” and can’t understand how coddled people are becoming. He’s exactly the kind of person you would expect to have a “Join or Die” tattoo on his forearm and likes to regularly espouse his rhetoric from his digital soapbox on his many shows including his most recent one, arrogantly titled “Colin Was Right.” Colin’s anti-progressive beliefs seep into his conversations on Kinda Funny all the time, politics and beliefs I refuse to indulge and support.
By allowing voices like Colin’s to go unchallenged, it only serves to support these views- as has happened with the other Kinda Funny hosts and with the community. This is a man who writes definitively that “I generally think safe spaces, microaggressions, and trigger warnings are ultimately destructive and entirely anti-intellectual” (Source). By stating “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings” are anti-intellectual he is attacking the victimised groups who these constructs serve to help and protect from further harm. The fact that Colin refuses to see that or acknowledge any perspective other than his own is terribly indicative of the industry’s refusal to acknowledge perspectives other than the dominant straight, white, male one. So I’ve stopped supporting and started challenging.
Colin is very quick to state his opinions definitively as if there’s no debate, and if you do debate him then you’re just wrong. He took to his Facebook to write an essay after the election where he stated over and over “I was dead right” like it’s scientific fact. He said “Hillary Clinton was a profoundly terrible candidate, and everyone — and that means all of us — knows it” (Source). “That means all of us” is so fucking pretentious, like “ah yes of course we all agree with me how could I be wrong?” He’s quick to block anyone he doesn’t like on Twitter, to the point where it’s a running joke on Kinda Funny shows. While that’s his right, it’s a little ironic how a man who likes to take time on his shows to pull out a massive white board and make lists of the most easily offended people is so easily offended himself that he blocks hundreds of people he doesn’t like. He creates his own “safe space” as it were, the most “anti-intellectual” of places, according to himself (Source).
He uses his digital soapbox to berate the liberal “babies” who have protested the rise of neo-nazis since Trump’s election. He took to Twitter to whine about UC Berkley’s protest of Milo Yiannopolous, saying how glad he was he got through college before the “babies completed their hostile takeover of academia” (Source). He was quick to point out he wouldn’t go to see Milo speak himself but simply doesn’t understand why the liberal snowflakes would protest a man speaking at their school who is famous for his desire to put women into internment camps and ban safe spaces and trigger warnings- something Colin himself has advocated for.
Colin’s war on “political correctness” often devolves into name calling, something he criticises the politically correct for doing to him. He said in a recent video that “People who are essentially grown up babies for trying to scrub anything ‘offensive’ from video games, not to mention society at large, deserve much of the scorn that comes their way” (Source). His despise for those seeking to alter the predominantly sexist, racist tendencies of game development and challenge the status quo only serve to prove that he himself is a part of those issues, refusing to acknowledge other perspectives only to call them “grown up babies.” He continues asking the viewer to “trust me, I was speaking out and writing about so-called political correctness and the scrubbing of games and ideas so as not to offend anyone long, long before it was popular and cool to do so” (Source). Oh don’t worry Colin, we trust your war on PC culture is a long fought one.
Colin vs. Progress
In another piece on political correctness, Colin writes “should we succumb to the plight of political correctness and let it ruin the creativity of our industry like it’s corrupted so many other artistic avenues?“ (Source). “Succumb to the plight of political correctness” is the most melodramatic response to people advocating for more diversity and less sexism and racism in games that I’ve ever encountered. He uses “succumb” as if the idea of more representation and more diversity is a disease and he’s barely holding on to the same Whitey McStubbly protagonists he so desperately loves.
He talks often about how he doesn’t like the trend in games towards more diverse casts of characters. He states often that “I’m not about diversity for diversity’s sake, I don’t think that’s a positive thing” (Source). He was quick to come to the defense of Naughty Dog over the choice to cast a white voice actress as a black character, something that is known in the voice acting community as digital blackface. In Colin Moriarty’s meritocracy, we shouldn’t “pander” to minorities or segregated members of our society. Colin constantly refuses to acknowledge that the industry isn’t fair to begin with, and things like digital blackface only serve to reinforce systemic disadvantages and oppression people of colour face.
Colin also came out and teased Colin Kaepernick, an African American SanFrancisco 49ers players, who was protesting the systemic issues of police violence against black Americans in the United States. Colin Kaepernick decided to protest by kneeling during the national anthem, an action that generated a massive discussion in the US around police violence. But Colin Moriarty showed his disdain for Mr. Kaepernick’s action by likening him to a rebelling, immature child living with his mom. Moriarty, a man who constantly talks about his American pride and love of American history, completely dismissed Mr. Kaepernick’s act of civilian protest and the way it could enact change in his country.
Mr. Moriarty was also quick to fight against those who took issue with Horizon Zero Dawn‘s cultural appropriation of indigenous peoples. The game uses colonial terms like “Brave” and “Savage” to describe the other characters in the world and features dozens of white characters sporting dreadlocks and tribal markings. While his co-host Greg was reading a critique from Native writer Dia Lacina Colin was sarcastic and mocking, saying, “Oh sorry I was falling asleep there.” Pretending to fall asleep because a Native woman is pointing out her issues with the appropriation of her culture is the epitome of privilege and only further illustrates the man’s complete disregard for victimised groups.
“It’s absurd, it’s just more identity politics at play, everyone has a fucking axe to grind- oh sorry, is that offensive to blacksmiths?” – Colin (Source)
He goes so far as to actually pull up Lacina’s article during the show and read it out, mocking it repeatedly. “This cultural appropriation nonsense, this idea that a white person can’t dress up as an Indian on Halloween… you guys are making an issue over nothing, there is nothing here. I do not give a fuck if I’m a white male, there is nothing here that anybody should get offended about” (Source). While being quick to pull up a Native woman’s critique of a video game appropriating Native culture, it seems Colin couldn’t be bothered to do any research into the implications of cultural appropriation in the historical context of the complete genocide of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. Lacina said it best, “nearly every aspect of Horizon’s world building has been critically praised using terms that explicitly and historically have applied to indigenous peoples often to disparage our ways of life and oppress us, all while ignoring that unique and refreshing world building has been lifted almost entirely from our cultures” (Source).
It’s important to note here that you absolutely can be critical about aspects of a piece of media while loving other aspects, it’s not an on/off switch of enjoyment. Colin is absolutely correct in asserting that Horizon Zero Dawn is a marvellous example of diverse characters, a strong well-designed female lead and a great exploration of gender politics. But as Lacina points out, it also appropriates and employs racist language in a game about Native-inspired tribal culture, and it’s important to be critical of those flaws. But rather than acknowledge a Native woman’s issues with the abuse of her own culture, Colin can’t be bothered and this racist attitude needs to be challenged.
“And I really feel like with this kind of thing we do speak, not only for the majority, not only for white people or ‘so-called’ privileged people, but really for people of all ilks, for people of all colours and creeds, everyone is tired of it.” – Colin (Source)
Colin was also quick to come to PewDiePie’s defense after Pewds was dropped by Disney and Google for his history of antisemitic content. Colin applauded those defending PewDiePie from those “in the bleachers, with nothing to lose whatsoever- largely hiding behind anonymous handles, living obviously miserable lives as you declare yourself the morality police” (Source). He was so proud of those defending PewDiePie’s abrasive and derogatory videos and so disappointed with those taking issue with Pewds dressing up as a Nazi and wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. He said that it’s time for “the goosestepping morality police to grow the fuck up… their only focus is keeping their heads as far up their own asses as possible” (Source). Well, Colin, those of us who challenge PewDiePie’s attacks on history’s most targeted minorities will only get louder until people like Pewd’s understand how saying “Death to all Jews,” with or without context, only fans the flame of alt right hate spreading through online discourse. An alt-right discourse you are now a player in, whether you meant to be or not and it’s time you took responsibility for that.
Colin vs. Women
Aside from issues of race, Colin has often joked about their female viewership or lack thereof. There are hundreds if not thousands of female Kinda Funny fans but the Kinda Funny store had no female clothes for over a year, and when they did finally put some up Colin was quick to state that “if these women’s shirts don’t sell, never again are we going to put women’s shirts up on the store” (Source: see 02:29:45 mark). While it’s said jokingly I truly believe that Colin hates being inconvenienced by the minority of his audience that is female.
Most recently Colin took to Twitter to make a sexist joke on International Women’s Day, a day meant to challenge systemic sexism and celebrate women’s many accomplishments and contributions to the world. He felt it was a day to finally be free of the noisy, irritating women in his life.
He responded to criticisms from his colleagues and fans with his patented indifference, and even his co-hosts Tim Gettys and Greg Miller said they were disappointed with him. But he remains steadfast in his fight against progress, and against women. A war on women is being fought every day, and those leading the charge rally around popular entertainers like Colin Moriarty.
“To me, it’s personal freedom, responsibility, the right to succeed, and the right to fail. And the right to express yourself freely, without having to worry about being called a bigot or being called a sexist, as I was for making a silly joke.” – Colin in an interview with Glenn Beck
Aside from his being sexist towards his fans, Colin’s sexist attitudes flow into his work. Ask any female developer who’s tried to pry their way into the toxic boy’s club that is the video game industry, or ask a female video game fan who is constantly alienated and pushed out of the testosterone fueled male power fantasies that dominate video games. They will all tell you there’s a sexism problem in the industry, a refusal to budge from the male dominated state in which it currently exists. That’s why many were troubled when Borderlands 2 developer John Hemingway dubbed the simplified skill tree of the Mechromancer “girlfriend mode.”
Many were upset at this remark as it was another instance in a trend towards discrediting and downplaying female players ability to play and be good at video games. Hemingway said “I want to make, for the lack of a better term, the girlfriend skill tree. This is, I love Borderlands and I want to share it with someone, but they suck at first-person shooters. Can we make a skill tree that actually allows them to understand the game and to play the game?” (Source). This hypothetical player, your girlfriend, sucks at first-person shooters because she’s a girl. Colin was quick to jump on the outraged fans who were once again being discriminated against based on their sex. Colin wrote “Mr. Hemingway didn’t actually say anything offensive. People wanting to be offended are simply looking for anything to jump on, consequences for anyone and anything be damned” (Source). He completely ignores the complaints that people are making and never even bothers to actually talk to those most affected by Hemingway’s statement. He instead quotes another straight white male writer, Jason Schreier, from Kotaku and uses his work to explain how if people keep getting offended by developer’s comments then developers will stop sharing information, and what a tragedy.
These are things that cannot be overlooked.
So what now?
The more I see Colin’s toxic views and whiny, privileged attitudes the more distance I put between myself and Kinda Funny. I used to love their work and I especially love Greg Miller, Colin’s co-host. I’ve been listening to Greg’s work for almost a decade since he started at IGN. I will always have a soft spot for Greg, but he does nearly every video and livestream with Colin it’s hard not to wonder why Greg doesn’t challenge any of Colin’s disturbing statements or views. He instead goes along implicitly with everything Colin says, nodding his head in agreement. Silence is a luxury and I want to stop silently supporting these issues, instead actively and loudly challenging them.
♥
Thanks for reading! I’d love to know what you think about the article, Kinda Funny and Colin or anything else you want to say in the comments. Have a great day 🙂
Stephan's Universe 
I agree with some of your points where Colin’s comments will sound pretentious to some. However, as a liberal, non-white female who’s met and talked to the KF guys at various events before, I can say that at no point in any of those interactions that I felt any of them was sexist or racist. They’ve always treated me kindly and spoken to me with respect.
I’d argue “pretentious” is a little too kind, he has some dangerous beliefs, especially considering the preexisting issues with racism and sexism in the industry. I’m glad there’s a community that’s so cool and I’m glad they treat you so awesome 🙂
I met Greg at PAX West and was over the moon, he took a picture with me and retweeted me, he’s a great guy and a talented entertainer. I’ve never met any of the other guys, I assume they’re equally friendly and courteous. I had some trepidation posting this without having met them or watched any videos lately. I’m glad to see they hired Joey, I want to believe that Colin can come around so I’ll feel comfortable supporting again but I highly doubt he ever will.
Very well written, Stephan. As a social worker (SJW?) I find it hard to watch many of the videos he is on for many of the reasons you stated above. Keep it up!
Thanks Tom 🙂
I had to stop listening after each 109 of the gamecast thanks to Colin going on about how much he loves the term Oppression Olympics. It’s really disheartening. As a non white person living in Trump’s America things are bad enough without me needed to hear something like that on a video game podcast.
Thanks for reading 🙂 I totally am with you on your point, Colin only compounds existing systemic issues with racism that exist within the games industry, none the less all of America. He has such a massive platform from which to be racist that it gives others the idea it’s okay, he doesn’t get challenged on anything he says the other guys just nod along…
The Oppression Olympics comments were the tipping point for me. I’ve been a fan of Kinda Funny for over a year now and the more I got to know Colin, the more had to justify my continued support of their gaming podcasts. He has said some pretty questionable things but this was the first blatantly gross and disturbing thing that I’ve heard. I thought about sending him a message explaining how his words could cause a wider divide among gamers after gamergate became a thing (not that gaming was that very inclusive to begin with) but it feels like it would be a wasted effort after you filled in the blanks with your insightful and thoughtful blog. I agree that it is frustrating that he has a huge platform that he could be using to bring people together, I thought that was the point of calling their fans, best friends. I guess it also says a lot about Greg given that they live together and he doesn’t call him out on any of it. He is either comfortable which would be strange giving that they are living together or he doesn’t see a problem with it. Thank you again for your extremely detailed blog, confirmed my feelings about supporting Kinda Funny and it is good to know that others are bothered by his words. Now I just need to find a new gaming podcast that fills the gap left by the gamescast and PS I Love you (maybe something a little less juvenile).
I’m glad I could help, it’s an issue I’ve been struggling with for a while as well. As for other gaming shows I highly recommend all of Polygon’s content, they are great people who want to be a positive force in the game’s industry. If you’re looking for a more critical lens I highly recommend FeministFrequency, they do reviews and their “Tropes vs Women in Games” series is very well done.
I also am greatly troubled by Greg’s implicitness in Colin’s racism and sexism, all that’s required for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing and all that jazz. Maybe one day they will challenge him, I highly doubt it. Hope you find other voices to entertain and enjoy your video game critiques through!
What this sounds like to me is an angry liberal (and yes, I’m liberal), who refuses to listen to or entertain opposing viewpoints. Try being a little more open-minded and then people who think differently than you won’t upset you so much. Although the page self-identifies you all as SJWs, as if that’s something to be proud of, so I guess I understand why you’re upset. Thankfully there’s SJW echo-chambers like Neogaf that you can still hang out in.
Thanks for reading 🙂 I’m quite proud to advocate for social justice, I’d ask you why you don’t want there to be social justice? Or why you feel being pro social justice, equal rights, or wanting to help disadvantaged and systemically punished minorities is a bad thing?
No where in his comment did I see him proclaiming that equal rights or wanting to help disadvantaged and systemically punished minorities is a bad thing. He was just suggesting that you try to be a little more open minded. Think like a hammer and all you will is nails.
He stated “Although the page self-identifies you all as SJWs, as if that’s something to be proud of” and I was merely explaining that the aim of social justice is to “help disadvantaged and systemically punished minorities.” By him saying that being pro social justice is not something to be proud of he’s saying that those are bad things he doesn’t believe they’re important.
I would love to see you at a comedy club. The reactions would be priceless.
I love comedy, I think I’d enjoy that 🙂
It’s people like you that are the real danger in this world. You cant’ handle other people having a different opinion to you. To the point you go on a witch hunt to try and destroy the persons character and reduce him terms like racist, sexist, Nazi, White Supremacist. Just like they are now doing over at Neogaf. You and your kind are far more dangerous than any Trump of this world. You are the Gestapo of our times. Colin has done nothing wrong except have a different opinion than you lot. Something that can’t be tolerated by you clowns that have appointed yourselves as the moral law givers of this universe.
If you lot can’t handle other peoples opinions go live in a padded underground shelter where your feelings can’t be tested by those nasty people who disagree with you. You will be doing humanity a favour. The reason Trump is in power is because of people like you. The world has had enough of your bullshit, trying to dictate how everyone must think and act. Enjoy the next 8 years of trump, you got what you deserve.
Hey thanks for reading 🙂 it’s not people like me who are a danger. Trump won because progress was happening in America, a black president elected into the highest seat of power, minorities are becoming less the minority and more the majority and LGBTQ+ are getting more rights than they’ve ever had before. That scared so many people in positions of privilege, like Colin, who for the first time in their lives were being forced to check their privilege and instead of having to face that they turned their anger and frustration on Muslims, gay people, victimized groups. That’s why Colin made “jokes” about women, Colin Kaepernick (an African American) and Milo protestors. He doesn’t want to check his privilege, it’s helped him accomplish so much in his career. He’d rather just ignore it and shift the blame for his uncomfortableness on those demanding progress.
I can handle other people’s opinions, I even decided to do research and write about those opinions. That’s how I handle it, by producing well though out responses that challenge those opinions and the danger they pose to vulnerable, systematically oppressed groups. Also I live in Canada so the next 8 years are fairly Trump free for us, but I hope those effected by his oppressive and dangerous regime can come out the other side okay.
I think you have a really well thought out argument against Colin, but I do think it overlooks some things. Trump didn’t win because progress was happening as a lot of people who voted for Trump voted for Obama. Why would they vote for the progressive candidate in one election and not in another.
I don’t think Colin’s jokes came out of a fear of the loss of his privilege, but out of a frustration with being a right winger in a very left wing branch of media. When Colin is speaking in actual discussions and not short bursts on twitter it’s clear that he has respect for women, seeing as he brings women on the show and treats them fairly.
As a very liberal Canadian I understand that the situation in America is far different than it looks from the outside, and while I rarely agree with Colin’s ideology I still find his voice important to counterbalance my, often times, unfair feelings towards conservatives. His joke on International Women’s Day is a sexist joke, and the way he handled it was just stupid, but the fact that he’s being lumped together with JonTron instead of Pewdiepie I think is a inherent distrust of right leaning people in the current state of games media.
The joke about Colin Kaepernick isn’t about his race either, it’s about how Colin M feels like the protest of not kneeling for the anthem isn’t much of a protest. I don’t feel it’s a reason to label him as racist, and while supporting the Uncharted 4 Black Face is a lot more questionable, supporting Naughty Dog still isn’t a straightforward racist opinion. There is a lot of race swapping in voice acting, and it’s not all white washing, and it’s also not a new thing. This doesn’t make digital black face any better, but it atleast proves that there’s space to argue against it. I take issue with
“He uses “succumb” as if the idea of more representation is a disease and he’s barely holding on to the same Whitey McStubbly protagonists he so desperately loves. Grow up, dude.”
because Colin has been a big supporter of games with diverse protagonists. Gone Home, 3/4th Home, Horizon, and Mafia 3 are all games he’s openly showed his support for. He constantly says that he wants different characters in games, he just doesn’t want them forced into them
My biggest issue with Colin is that he does have a lot of support from people who’s right wing attitudes are far more hostile than Colin’s. He does have support from people who consider themselves Alt-Right even though he isn’t. Even though he does say things like “respect everyone” and other things like that, it’s his job as a member of the media to insure the message he’s creating isn’t being used negatively. While I don’t think Colin making that joke in the context of a conversation is nearly as offensive, releasing it on twitter with absolutely no context inscribes a lot more meaning to it, and makes it offensive. It also strengthens the opinions of those that follow him that are already blatantly sexist. His sexist joke is empowering people with real sexist tendencies to spout them because a media icon did.
Sorry to go on for so long, so here’s my last point. Is Colin at fault? Abso-fucking-lutely. It might not be an offensive joke, but he hasn’t dealt with the small, vocal, following of people that he has gained that aren’t just right wing, but alt-right with white nationalist views. Colin himself is a strong willed conservative, but I feel he does show a respect for women in his many interviews with women and his support of people like Alexa. I think Colin’s actions are atleast somewhat driven by an unfair hatred of him solely due to his political standing in an incredibly left bent media. People like Arthur Gies (who’s work I also love) do seem to despise him solely due to his unabashed political views, and strong opinions. This can’t be easy, and there definitely IS a lot of unhappiness directed towards the right, and as a guy who’s never voted anything but the Liberal Party (I was not old enough to vote when Ignatieff was there so my hands are clean), I can say that I have at many times felt irrational anger towards the right.
Thanks for this well written article. =)
Thanks for taking the time to read and leave such a thoughtful reply ❤ I'm also Canadian, just more left than the liberals.
It's hard for me to believe Colin has a respect for women. He clearly doesn't believe there's any systemic issues with sexism in games or the greater world, and if he does then he has no issue compounding those issues with his own sexist jokes, which is even more upsetting…
I agree with you in that he needs to assume responsibility as a popular entertainer to not instill and encourage the sexist and racist alt-right members of his fanbase with his actions, which he either doesn't realize he's doing or doesn't care.
The race issue is one I struggle with. Colin devaluing Mr. Kaepernick's protest of police violence is racist, he's a white man mocking a black man's statement about white supremacy in America, that's racist. For the Digital Blackface thing I know not every single person who bought U4 was racist, I bought it, I played the hell out of it. But Colin, knowing the game employed Digital Blackface, saw no issue with it and defended it as a creative decision in his meritocracy. I take issue with that, and so do plenty of non-white writers and gamefans I've read.
I've been guilty of irrational anger towards the right, of looking for something to get up in arms about where there might not be anything, and it's always important to have people check me on that.
Thanks for your well written comment, and I hope to do better with my next article 🙂
Cute how when people who you admire use their platform to say ignorant, at best, or outrageous and bombastic things, at worst, they are just exercising their right to free speech. But when somebody writes an article disagreeing with these folks, (in a very civil and thoughtful way, I might add) they are now the Gestapo. *cue Imperial March music*
You right-wingers are always talking about your disgust regarding safe-spaces, but you are constantly carrying around the free speech card as if you can say whatever you want and deserve a public platform for it with no dissenting opinions simply because “free speech.” It’s like your own portable safe-space! Free speech simply means you don’t get persecuted by the authorities for voicing your beliefs. It doesn’t mean that somebody won’t disagree with you, or mock you, or even kick your ass. That’s just how it goes when you say inflammatory things. Take ownership of your words instead of cowering behind your victimhood. You can’t say offensive things and then cry about how persecuted you are because people think you’re a twat.
So let’s drop the hyperbole and be honest — is anyone REALLY being the Gestapo here? I don’t see anyone on either side doing that. I see one guy saying flagrantly ignorant things and another guy holding him accountable, and then I see you complaining that you don’t have a platform to say whatever you want with impunity. Cry me a river.
You might want to take a few minutes to consider this quote from your own comment: “Colin has done nothing wrong except have a different opinion than you lot. Something that can’t be tolerated by you clowns that have appointed yourselves as the moral law givers of this universe.”
Replace “Colin” with “Stephan.” Do you see now? Compare the tone of your post to the tone of Stephan’s response to you. Who’s the one being authoritarian here?
I have a few words for you: “If you lot can’t handle other peoples opinions go live in a padded underground shelter where your feelings can’t be tested by those nasty people who disagree with you. You will be doing humanity a favour.”
Oh, the irony.
This article worries and concerns me.
I have consumed content that Colin has created for the better part of ten years, i find that i disagree with him more often than not and can see why many people dislike him and his views.
However i can always understand his viewpoints and after this length of time listening to him openly talk about his point of view can say that i dont think he is sexist.
To me the joke was not funny and I can see how it can be viewed as an attack on feminism.
however the way in which people are using this to attack his character and take things he has said out of context is as i have said worrying.
For instance “I actually agree with much of Donald Trump’s platform.” is a little misleading to say the least, in the discussion where he said this he was merely talking about economic policies that actually mirrored Bernie sanders policies.
he has made it clear after trump became the republican nominee that he no longer considers himself a republican and has made it clear that he completely detests the man.
I you listen to the full context of some of the points Colin makes it is clear than the man is a feminist, attacking his character to this extent i believe is actually hurtful for feminism.
Thanks for reading 🙂 the purpose of this article was to worry and concern people. Colin’s stance on diversity, representation and conservative values are part of the bigger issue with sexism and racism in the games industry and community. His fan base of hundreds of thousands, of which I used to be one, need to become more worried and more concerned about the implications of supporting a man who fails to recognize his privilege and how they effect people’s perception of the issues. His stance on Naughty Dog’s use of digital blackface in Uncharted 4 is a clear example of this, as is his use of sexist and derogatory speech on International Women’s Day.
I recognize the value in listening to viewpoints that aren’t your own, you can often learn something about others and yourself. I’ve learned Colin refuses to do anything to help create a less toxic and harmful gaming community for victimized peoples. And I’ve learned I do want to challenge the people who use their platforms to be openly sexist and racist. I want games to be an inclusive, passionate community of real best friends, like Greg has said so many times before. But that can’t happen if men like Colin flaunt their disregard for gaming’s biggest issues and take pride in the lack of care for those who need it most.
This is awful. And I mean your article and responses and not Colin. I stand by him as you, and many others, are conducting what amounts to cyber-bullying. Much of your arguments are out of context and simply hold no real water. I am tired of seeing people bash a person for having his own opinions. I have followed him since he began at IGN, and I can see how people may dislike him, but he has never been anything but inclusive and kind. People are quick to slander him over a simple joke, one that is made a million times over and is hardly new. Women make jokes at the expense of men constantly as well. There is nothing new or argumentative here, sorry. If you ever cared to listen to all of his content and not chop up his sentences to take things out of context then you would have no argument. Gaming is an art form and a creative medium. There is no onus on any developer to cater to you and create a game that speaks to your particular lifestyle. There are a million variety of games available, but to argue about inclusiveness in games is silly. And this is coming from a female listener from a lower-class part of society. Everyone needs to relax and stop using Colin as your personal punching bag, This could just as easily be you being attacked for your views, except you would need a legitimate following and some relevance or fame before anyone would bother.
Sorry to hear you didn’t appreciate my article, I put a lot of time into researching, citing and writing this piece 😦
I am in no way cyber-bullying the man, he’s doing just fine. People always say context matters in these situations but for a lot of the people rallying around Colin’s ideas and statements to support their own far right perspectives they don’t care about context, a popular entertainer is normalizing jokes against women and therefore they feel it’s okay. That’s an issue, one Colin refuses to address.
I too have followed Greg and Colin for a long time, I was reading their work on IGN for years and listened to Beyond! Since ep 270-ish. As you can see from my piece, I’m not slandering him over “a simple joke.” He’s demonstrated a long history of ignorance to a lot of these issues and a complete disregard for victimized perspectives.
You’re absolutely right, games are art and developers don’t have to cater to me in any way at all. But that doesn’t mean the art they create and how they choose to approach certain ideas and representations aren’t open for critique, and they can’t aim to make better games and better art as a result. Arguing for inclusivity isn’t silly, it’s necessary.
You’re also totally right that I don’t have a huge following or any fame for my work or writing 😛 Everyone has to start somewhere and while I doubt I’ll be a famous game critic one day I still want to make a difference in the industry I love, no matter how small ❤
im not sure you actually read what i wrote, i was concerned over the fact that you misrepresented Colin and appeared to be taking selective “soundbites” of what he said to effectively lie in order to make attacks on his character.
your reply did the same thing and disregarded what i said.
Colin is not sexist or racists but differs in his opinion on a few issues within subjects that touch on race or sex.
you will never fix these complex issues by attacking people rather than actually discussing them.
I understand its more gratifying to attack and shame, focusing on an individual and hating them, but its more constructive to actually think about the ideas and culture behind an issue trying to convince and understand instead of demonize.
all you do with this kind of article and response is create an “us” and “them” mentality further creating rifts and more and more insular communities that will not listen to any point from the “other”.
I say this as someone from a country where this kind of behavior has caused so many many issues.
Thanks for responding again. I see your point about the Trump quote, after further reading Colin’s post he wasn’t talking about Trump’s more sexist or racist comments, but rather his economic platform. Thanks for the clarification.
In response to your other comments I feel I have appropriately represented Colin, these “soundbites” as you call them are all troubling statements about race, sex and diversity. If there’s other ones you have an issue with I’d love to hear your thoughts.
You say Colin doesn’t have sexist or racist opinions just different ones, I would disagree. They may not be actively racist or sexist, like “non-whites are worse than white people,” but the belief that white people representing black characters in games isn’t problematic is an issue.
I really don’t believe he’s a feminist as you’ve said, and by your own logic Colin is also creating an “us” and “them” mentality by saying that progressives who advocate for more representation and diversity are “grown up babies” who deserve a lot of ridicule and scorn for their beliefs. Seems to be a clear division of “us” and “them.”
I recognize creating divides makes it harder to create unity, and I’m sorry in your country that this has been such a problem, but I feel like my writing has been a well-researched critique of the man’s views and how within the larger context of games and the gaming community they compound pre-existing issues. I’d love to know your thoughts and if there’s anything else you had to say. Thanks again for reading and replying 🙂
[…] awesome season too. We published a lot of articles I’m really proud of. A thorough analysis of everything wrong with former Kinda Funny co-host Colin Moriarty, a look into the sad state of AAA female characters and lots of really great interviews and reviews […]