ObjectiveObserver
Neo Member
Ouch... so, why the name calling? "Comedy?" Really? I mean, not that this would justify anything, but I can't even figure out what the joke is supposed to be..
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Transgender journalist at EG Expo called "this person" on stage at MS event (See OP)
- Thread starter winstano
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This was very common among black comedians in the 90s. The difference is many of them were good at a)judging the person's feelings and b)were polite to the person afterwards. Its a give and take, you don't just rip someone to shreds on stage and then leave them high and dry, that is funny to some but offensive to most.
TheLegendary
Member
To be clear, I think the people saying MS is at fault here are correct in a sense. MS employees hired the guy. He's a comedian, yes, but it's a sponsored event that he's hosting. The people at MS who hired him and dealt with the situation when the journalist followed up with them were wrong.
But It's just silly to make this another "MS is evil; look at the billion dollar powerhouse company not caring about people" . That's just not true. Their business practices may be ruthless and cold but their stance on employee and "human rights" are about as progressive as you'll find in a major company. They were ahead of the times on LGBT rights ...way before before the spotlight was put on companies to address and way before it was the major social discussion it is today.
But It's just silly to make this another "MS is evil; look at the billion dollar powerhouse company not caring about people" . That's just not true. Their business practices may be ruthless and cold but their stance on employee and "human rights" are about as progressive as you'll find in a major company. They were ahead of the times on LGBT rights ...way before before the spotlight was put on companies to address and way before it was the major social discussion it is today.
Thanks. That's just disgusting, then.
Because I'd like to believe that as a society we can move towards a norm where gender is no longer treated as a means to categorising and or creating superficial constructions of any one person or groups of people. What better way to do this than to eliminate gender!
I hope you're trying to be a comedian here though you should know it isn't working.
partyphone
Banned
This was a press event for a new toy from a billion dollar corporation not a comedy show in a sketchy bar.
Warmijwilf
Banned
This is terrible and I can't possibly defend them calling her "it" (like, seriously, would love to know the context and sentence of that), but did she ever correct the guy? Just wondering.
Not that that makes it much better, but if the dude didn't know... I mean a lot of male bronies dress up like that too so it's not completely obvious and from the looks of things she is only starting transitioning.
Not that that makes it much better, but if the dude didn't know... I mean a lot of male bronies dress up like that too so it's not completely obvious and from the looks of things she is only starting transitioning.
No kidding.
The complete inability of some of these people to see that being responsible for hiring a shitty comedian has nothing to do with DRM, Kinect or anything else is throwing me for a loop right now.
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
There's that free pass again.
Iacobellis
Junior Member
I don't understand why she is retweeting them. Ignore it, don't make them feel any stronger.
BluePigGanon
Member
Presumably he was just hired for this event and won't be rehired. MS will issue an apology, and that will be that.
EightBitNate
Member
I mean c'mon. Did you miss the list of pro-LGBT things Microsoft has done posted a couple pages back?
#TeamGenderlessUtopia?
I kind of understand what you're trying to say, but I don't think this is exactly the time or the place to tear down the idea of gender. You might also want to consider that people could be very unhappy with their sex or consider it a minor part of their identity, which is an equally strong argument for removing it from pronouns as well.
Majmun
Member
I wouldn't direclty blame MS. But they're still responsible because that awful "comedian" was hired by them.
I'm expecting an apology by MS soon.
And I feel really bad for Laura. Twitter responses are awful. People are just awful. I'm glad NeoGaf is banning the rotten apples so fast.
I'm expecting an apology by MS soon.
And I feel really bad for Laura. Twitter responses are awful. People are just awful. I'm glad NeoGaf is banning the rotten apples so fast.
I have and it's all about the delivery. One can easily go into generally offensive territory so long as it's recognizable that it's still tongue in cheek. We have one side of the story here with no collaborative support. I'm curious about the delivery and some video.
What? Just because you don the odd title "comedian" doesn't give you the right to be offensive and derogatory.
I hope she's not actually getting too offended by the statements but is instead showing the bigotry she is subjected to.
whatsinaname
Member
Were some posts in this thread deleted? The first page seems very disjointed to read.
WAR recon zero
Banned
Twitter is a megaphones for assholes
Laughing_Man__
Neo Member
Kotaku has their hands on this now.
http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-presente...m_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow
http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-presente...m_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow
mullet2000
Member
I can't get mad at someone mistakenly using the term "man" or "he" before getting corrected, it's a pretty easy mistake to make.
Using "it" or "thing" though, fuuuucccckkkk him. How does someone who's at a semi-official event representing a company ever think that that's a smart thing to do? I mean, it never is a smart thing to do but ESPECIALLY then. Jesus how dense.
He probably thought he was doing a comedy routine and went way too far with it, but seriously, basic-ass common sense dude, christ.
Using "it" or "thing" though, fuuuucccckkkk him. How does someone who's at a semi-official event representing a company ever think that that's a smart thing to do? I mean, it never is a smart thing to do but ESPECIALLY then. Jesus how dense.
He probably thought he was doing a comedy routine and went way too far with it, but seriously, basic-ass common sense dude, christ.
As scummy as I think MS has been lately, I can take a step back and I would have no issues accepting their apology if they put one out there. They did hire this guy and that seems to have been a dumb decision but you can't plan for that all the time. The real issue here is that the other stage staff that were actually employed by microsoft were rude and unhelpful.
I don't think calling another human being "It" on a stage has ever been tongue-in-cheek.
If he knew she was transgender and he did it on purpose, he should of course apologize first, and then ban himself from ever doing comedy again. At least the public should blacklist him.
But if he made a mistake in the heat of the moment it is still bad, but could at least salvage some of his soul by doing a sincere apology to her, and in public as far as it has gone now.
I also want to say that those of you that are using this for whatever console war agenda should be ashamed of yourselves.
But if he made a mistake in the heat of the moment it is still bad, but could at least salvage some of his soul by doing a sincere apology to her, and in public as far as it has gone now.
I also want to say that those of you that are using this for whatever console war agenda should be ashamed of yourselves.
RustyNails
Member
MS dun goofed.
Well he isn't even an employer, and do your fucking homework, Microsoft was one of the first companies in the US to back LGBT.
Impeccable
Member
Actual, he is a contractual worker for Microsoft.
And they still let this type of stuff happen under the Microsoft name. It shows that the pro-LGBT stuff is just PR bullshit.
Looks like Microsoft don't give two shits.
Imperfected
Member
To be fair, if it was a Sony thread there would probably be people saying equally insensitive things about "Japanese xenophobia" or whatever other preconception they have, and at least a few who would consider it a corporate-level statement rather than a failure of responsibility on the part of someone in their event planning team.
I think, for the most part, Microsoft gets the benefit of the doubt here in not actually espousing these views as their corporate ethos or having them institutionalized to any real degree in their corporate culture. (And they don't, they're a very inclusive company from everything I've seen at their Redmond campus.) I could easily imagine Sony or Nintendo not getting that same leniency if they had a snafu like this.
The main thing working against them is that their PR has been consistently awful in the run-up to this launch. This is coming down between any number of muddled marketing messages, poor public receptions to showings, and a general tenor of being out-of-touch; they really just need to get a few weeks without chewing on their foot, and having things like this happen due even to casual negligence isn't helping.
Exactly. Which is what makes it so strange for me. It was a Microsoft event, so even if his usual routine was a little 'edgy' he must have realised he had to tone it down at that event.
A lot of people are assuming his intention was to make horrible jokes at her expense though. It is quite possible he did, but without knowing the full details, and the comedians train of thought, we don't really know what he was thinking at the time.
It's relative. Subjective.
Comedians need to get it in their heads that this is not a joking subject ever when directed at a transgendered person. They already face extreme bigotry on a daily basis and it's already exhausting to the point where the subject is super touchy, so direct jokes are the absolute worst thing to do. They're not going to "play along" and be "good natured" about it (not should they be) so just don't try it. Just remove it from your comedy repertoire.
Warmijwilf
Banned
Also do we have context for "it" and "thing" yet? I was at Eurogamer on Friday and the dude at the MS stage said "it" a lot when referring to people (who were on stage)'s avatars. Not that that makes it better, and "thing" is just weird, just mentioning that.
Alligatorjandro
Banned
Thats terrible. You go to a place looking to have fun and get treated like that.
IdreamofHIME
Member
MS are well of this guy it seems, his website lists MS and Xbox as one of his key clients and talks about working with them to promote Forza 4.
I'm not blaming Microsoft. I just blaming this person who was hired to do a job, who gives people working within the industry a bad name. The reason I said it the way I did is because of all the recent stories about insensitive moments like this throughout the industry at the moment. Inclusiveness should be the goal here, so it's sad to see this behavior.
DON'T READ THE COMMENTS
BluePigGanon
Member
Okay that's ridiculous.
Ok, first off. Microsoft as a whole backed it, its subsidiaries (like just the xbox division) can still have their own stances on the matter. Second, they don't get a free pass because they did something cool in the past. "I didn't kill someone a year ago so I can have a pass on this triple homicide, right?"
You're so full of it, one incident MS hasn't responded to immediately and omg it's all a farce!!!
Take the blinders off.
Literally just going to type that. That's the worst, I'm sure she was flying high at a cool convention - then - bam.
mullet2000
Member
"Let this stuff happen."
They can't see into the future dude. And yeah they were just faking all of the pro-LGBT stuff all these years so they could get to this point to insult one transgender person.
What a ridiculous post.
Laughing_Man__
Neo Member
FUCK I READ THE COMMENTS!
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