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Sooo.. that "rape joke" during the Killer Instinct demo [Microsoft apologizes]

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T

Toparaman

Banned
I think the joke was harmless, but awkward. Also, lawl at Microsoft claiming that the banter wasn't scripted. They sounded EXACTLY like they were saying memorized lines. No one sounds that robotic when they're speaking off the cuff.

Just let that sink into your brain for a moment. Someone actually wrote this and thought "Wow, this exchange sure flows naturally!". And no one said otherwise.
 
A

AkuMifune

Banned
20130610_oops.png


Still not a rape joke, but reeeeallllly dumb of MS to think it was ok.
 
J

JDSN

Banned
The whole segment was weird and full of cringe. I didnt grasp the rape implication of the comment, but then again im not a woman and the posibility of rape is something that I dont entertain, it was definitely innapropiate and so obviously scripted.

I think the female Alfred Molina writer from Kotaku is finally in a situation in which her outrage is justified.
 
E

EricDiesel

Member
I would say I'm surprised this sparked a 5 page debate on why "let it happen, it'll all be over soon" is an inappropriate and gross thing to say to anyone, especially a woman, but... sadly I'm not.

Keep up the status quo, guys.
 
T

theSlacker

Member
Brawndo Addict said:
Gaming side GAF seems to be physically incapable of accepting, let alone maturely discussing, even the most basic problems of gender and race in the gaming industry and now we expect them to acknowledge rape culture? The demographics of GAF in that respect are like the Republican party, a bunch of men telling women whether something qualifies as a rape joke and whether its valid for them to feel offended as if they're the experts on the whole issue. Yeah, we definitely should defer to the authority of men in determining all this, why would we care what women think about it?

This was a rape joke no question about it, sorry if you're so removed that you can't acknowledge that. It doesn't have to be overt and actually say the word rape to qualify (although there's plenty of that to go around online); things can be racist without saying you believe whites are the supreme race. There's that quote by Margaret Atwood that really sums up the complete dissonance that most men never comprehend.
Click to expand...

I'm sure glad us dumb gamers have you to enlighten us about who we really are, what we should think, and what gender we are like. Thanks friend.
 
M

Madness

Member
I didn't even think it was a rape joke until I saw this thread... Really makes you wonder what other people think of. The thought never even crossed my mind that it's something you say during a rape or something.
 
T

The Librarian

Banned
As a girl, I didn't see it as a rape joke. I was wondering if it was a rape joke, but I didn't think it was. It could've been worded better, most definitely, and should have been.

I can see how others would see it as a rape joke.
 
B

Buzzati

Banned
Brawndo Addict said:
Gaming side GAF seems to be physically incapable of accepting, let alone maturely discussing, even the most basic problems of gender and race in the gaming industry and now we expect them to acknowledge rape culture? The demographics of GAF in that respect are like the Republican party, a bunch of men telling women whether something qualifies as a rape joke and whether its valid for them to feel offended as if they're the experts on the whole issue. Yeah, we definitely should defer to the authority of men in determining all this, why would we care what women think about it?

This was a rape joke no question about it, sorry if you're so removed that you can't acknowledge that. It doesn't have to be overt and actually say the word rape to qualify (although there's plenty of that to go around online); things can be racist without saying you believe whites are the supreme race. There's that quote by Margaret Atwood that really sums up the complete dissonance that most men never comprehend.
Click to expand...

There is a huge question about it. Most of the people in this thread can't even get their head around how you could construe it to be a joke about raping a woman. You don't have to juxtapose someone's inability to find rape language in a video game conference demo to rape culture as a problem in society. Why are you doing this to yourself?

He said "It will be over soon". The fight will be over soon. She is getting the shit kicked out of her because she sucks at a video game and he made a joke about it. This is nothing close to a joke about a rape scenario.
 
L

LordJim

Member
Pick any fighting game, have a man against a woman, describe solely the action on screen.
It will sound dirty if you focus on that.
"HE IS OPENING HER UP!'
'GOING IN HARD'
'SHE CANNOT STOP HIS ADVANCE'.

Like, ffs.
 
Q

QueenOfThorns

Member
Buzzati said:
There is a huge question about it. Most of the people in this thread can't even get their head around how you could construe it to be a joke about raping a woman. You don't have to juxtapose someone's inability to find rape language in a video game conference demo to rape culture as a problem in society. Why are you doing this to yourself?

He said "It will be over soon". The fight will be over soon. She is getting the shit kicked out of her because she sucks at a video game and he made a joke about it. This is nothing close to a joke about a rape scenario.
Click to expand...

And "Let it happen." It's great that that's never been said to you, or that you're not even aware that it could be used in the context of rape. It really is, but don't doubt the people who say it is and say they're just making things up when they're obviously not.
 
A

aceldama

Banned
No one thought it was a rape joke. Get real. People are just bored, waiting for something to talk about before Sonys conference.
 
angelic

angelic

Banned
I took it as a guy on the dev team saying he's gona kick someone's ass who doesn't know how to play it.

The Ubisoft conference has now had about 5 sexual references by the female presenter with no innuendo, flat out telling us about herself in bed.
 
boutrosinit

boutrosinit

Street Fighter IV World Champion
Didn't pick up on any rape joke. Just seemed more to imply "let the beatdown run over you. It will be over soon".

I'm all for gender sensitivity. This unfortunately seems to be over-sensitivity to *anything* that can fit the anti-female / anything mold.
 
T

TurnipFritters

Member
Buzzati said:
He said "It will be over soon". The fight will be over soon. She is getting the shit kicked out of her because she sucks at a video game and he made a joke about it. This is nothing close to a joke about a rape scenario.
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are you fucking kidding me

pixlexic said:
yes he clearly meant lets go out and rape innocent people..
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no one has implied that's what he meant but ok

aceldama said:
No one thought it was a rape joke. Get real. People are just bored, waiting for something to talk about before Sonys conference.
Click to expand...

lots of people thought it was a rape reference and are legit offended. get over it.
 
I

Igo

Member
You know, how could Microsoft let a guy go up on stage opposite a woman and give her a beatdown like that. I mean, you gotta know people were going to lose their shit even if he had kept his mouth shut the entire time.

The rape connotation is there, with like 10 other frequent and cliché use cases. Just a really unfortunate incident all round.
 
B

Buzzati

Banned
QueenOfThorns said:
And "Let it happen." It's great that that's never been said to you, or that you're not even aware that it could be used in the context of rape. It really is, but don't doubt the people who say it is and say they're just making things up when they're obviously not.
Click to expand...

It's obvious that the Mad Katz representative was implying he was using rape as an innuendo for the beating the girl is receiving in the game?

Can we get a poll on this?
 
Q

Quadraphonic

Member
Part of autism is understanding everything literally.

People who don't understand innuendo and metaphors are going to be incapable of understanding why this is a rape joke with the word being literally mentioned.
 
J

JimtotheHum

Member
Dax01 said:
As a girl, I didn't see it as a rape joke. I was wondering if it was a rape joke, but I didn't think it was. It could've been worded better, most definitely, and should have been.

I can see how others would see it as a rape joke.
Click to expand...

I don't think it was his intent to use it as a rape joke, but at the end of the day, it's most common usage is as a rape joke.

So that's what makes it inappropriate for me. Especially when the it's the first female presenter of the Microsoft show in an industry that has a reputation for misogyny. I don't think that dude is a bad guy or anything, but he definitely fucked up, that's all I am saying.
 
J

JohnsonUT

Member
aceldama said:
No one thought it was a rape joke. Get real. People are just bored, waiting for something to talk about before Sonys conference.
Click to expand...

I recognized the context and history of that "joke" immediately. I am not offended, but it was a terrible choice of words for MS because I foresee a lot of people get upset about it.
 
D

Diffense

Member
MS' probably well-intentioned attempt to be inclusive is the cause of the storm in a teacup. Here we have a competitive match with simulated violence in which the guy is winning. If he says "I'm totally beating you" then that's like alluding to battering amirite. And if he is apologetic about winning that's sexist as well. Take away lesson: use two dudes next time. You lose inclusiveness but it's better than being called a purveyor of rape culture/battering/damsel-in-distressedness.
 
R

Risette

A Good Citizen
Revolutionary said:
This thread is embarrassing. It's fucking trash talk, and it does not carry any further implications.
Click to expand...
pro tip: the fact that it is "just" "trash talk" is indicative of the problems that make gaming such a trashy subculture (ie, normalized rape culture bullshit)
 
J

jorma

is now taking requests
TurnipFritters said:
no one has implied that's what he meant but ok
Click to expand...

That's exactly what is implied when people go "see? see? rape culture!"

They think that this sort of banter is normalising rape and that it makes people go out and rape innocent women after playing video games.

edit: hah
 
L

LordJim

Member
JohnsonUT said:
I recognized the context and history of that "joke" immediately. I am not offended, but it was a terrible choice of words for MS because I foresee a lot of people get upset about it.
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There are quite a few situations that can be described with this choice of words, fixating on rape in the off chance someone considers it anything but a joke is kinda silly.
But whatever
 
R

ramoisdead

Member
It was awkward, yes. However, I wouldn't go far and say it was a rape joke. Show a n00b fighter some decency is what I would say about that.
 
J

John Rabbit

Banned
i don't see why it's specifically a rape joke; similar things are said in dentist and doctor's offices across the world.

but yeah, it was a really shitty choice of words.
 
J

JohnsonUT

Member
LordJim said:
There are quite a few situations that can be described with this choice of words, fixating on rape in the off chance someone considers it anything but a joke is kinda silly.
But whatever
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Would it have been ok in your opinion if he said "I am going to violate you" when talking trash?

Moral Panic said:
I think it was a rape joke, but I don't think the person who said it truly understood that it was a rape joke.
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Exactly
 
W

Wazzy

Banned
jorma said:
That's exactly what is implied when people go "see? see? rape culture!"

They think that this sort of banter is normalising rape and that it makes people go out and rape innocent women after playing video games.
Click to expand...

Please tell me you're joking. All anyone here has said is that it's a commonly used joke about rape and that it was inappropriate for MS to use it.

Don't put words in our mouths.
 
G

Gestahl

Member
Risette said:
pro tip: the fact that it is "just" "trash talk" is indicative of the problems that make gaming such a trashy subculture (ie, normalized rape culture bullshit)
Click to expand...

It is really cool that these people are using the context of fightman vidcons, possibly one of the slimiest and misogynistic gaming cultures (no small feat!) as some sort of excuse or exemption for not taking unfortunate statements made during a professional presentation that can be interpreted as exceptionally creepy and rapey to the sole woman on stage as potentially offensive
 
T

TurnipFritters

Member
theSlacker said:
And a lot of other people apparently didn't. Get over it?
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Why does it bother you that people thought it was a rape reference.

jorma said:
That's exactly what is implied when people go "see? see? rape culture!"

They think that this sort of banter is normalising rape and that it makes people go out and rape innocent women after playing video games.
Click to expand...

you have a poor grasp of what's being discussed.

MCXC Pioneer said:
People actually think that was a rape joke? Christ, stop trying to stir up controversy.
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people actually don't think it was a rape reference? christ, stop trying to dismiss the concerns of others.
 
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