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[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Why do SJWs hate escapism so much? Why do they feel the need to inject politics into everything?

I remember back in the 2000s gaming was such a great escape from the post 9/11, Iraq war, George W Bush days, I guess if games were made then like they are today there'd be endless haranguing about Dubya.

Sure, on occasion a game would get political, which is fine, but it wasn't everything, when even something as goofy as Mortal Kombat is political, you know things have gone too far.

And generally games that did have social commentary did so in a way that wasn't such cheap, lazy pandering, take Gears of War for example, there was certainly Iraq war undertones to the whole thing, but you could also just enjoy it as a fun sci fi shoot 'em up, it wasn't as obvious about it as it would be today.

 

[Hobo Box]

Why do SJWs hate escapism so much? Why do they feel the need to inject politics into everything?

I remember back in the 2000s gaming was such a great escape from the post 9/11, Iraq war, George W Bush days, I guess if games were made then like they are today there'd be endless haranguing about Dubya.

Sure, on occasion a game would get political, which is fine, but it wasn't everything, when even something as goofy as Mortal Kombat is political, you know things have gone too far.

And generally games that did have social commentary did so in a way that wasn't such cheap, lazy pandering, take Gears of War for example, there was certainly Iraq war undertones to the whole thing, but you could also just enjoy it as a fun sci fi shoot 'em up, it wasn't as obvious about it as it would be today.

If the Gears of War franchise was created today it'd be humans invading a different planet under the orders of President Fichus, because its inhabitants destroyed the Triple Towers. And the moment the humans landed there would be excavators mining all the planet's resources.

And your first kills would be an unarmed family.

/s

 

[Geki-D]

That's insanely hypocritical when you've been dismissing people's opinions this entire time.


How about you ignore the thread if people feeling this way triggers you so much?

Lol. No, that's not the same thing at all. Now who's being sensitive?
You've said multiple times in this thread that this discussion isn't worth having, that people shouldn't be getting upset, that it's not a problem, blah blah blah. If you're so convinced that discussion is not needed, then just see yourself out. You're not providing anything by simply saying "this is dumb".
Telling people they shouldn't care not only doesn't change the fact that they do, it removes any and all incentive to debate you because it's directly admitting that you yourself don't care.

I'm not dismissing you, I'm actively wondering why you're sticking around if you "don't care" so much.

Except I'm not actively telling people to leave and my position at this point is that people don't care because of this fake "writing issues" BS but because they're outraged for political reasons. Something that I'm sure a lot of your would be total hypocrites on if this was some SJWs bemoaning violence against women in the game. You're all ok with devs doing what they want with their games till it touches your own political sensibilities. Then you do a 180.

I keep pointing out it's just a non-canon 2min slideshow ending from an optional mode because it is just that. The fact that people are so triggered by so little proves that hypocrisy and your utter fragility in the face of political opinions you don't like. At least when SJWs cry about some shit it at least tends to be a more present feature.

 

[Hobo Box]

Except I'm not actively telling people to leave and my position at this point is that people don't care because of this fake "writing issues" BS but because they're outraged for political reasons. Something that I'm sure a lot of your would be total hypocrites on if this was some SJWs bemoaning violence against women in the game. You're all ok with devs doing what they want with their games till it touches your own political sensibilities. Then you do a 180.

I keep pointing out it's just a non-canon 2min slideshow ending from an optional mode because it is just that. The fact that people are so triggered by so little proves that hypocrisy and your utter fragility in the face of political opinions you don't like. At least when SJWs cry about some shit it at least tends to be a more present feature.

Except it doesn't go against my personal politics. "Slavery is bad" is a fairly universally-accepted sentiment. I'm not upset because of the idea that slavery was stopped, I'm rolling my eyes and shaking my head at how fucking poorly it was executed, and how it was at the expense of a fan-favorite character.

The fact that you refuse to acknowledge that maybe people are mad about the subject of real-world slavery being brought up out of the blue in a game about Necromancers, shapeshifters, face-eating women and dudes dressed like buff-ass Daimyos swinging giant hammers around, is what's causing you to run into so much resistance.

People didn't want this shit in MK, so they're talking about it. It's really not that hard to grasp.

 

[Dacon]

Except I'm not actively telling people to leave and my position at this point is that people don't care because of this fake "writing issues" BS but because they're outraged for political reasons. Something that I'm sure a lot of your would be total hypocrites on if this was some SJWs bemoaning violence against women in the game. You're all ok with devs doing what they want with their games till it touches your own political sensibilities. Then you do a 180.

I keep pointing out it's just a non-canon 2min slideshow ending from an optional mode because it is just that. The fact that people are so triggered by so little proves that hypocrisy and your utter fragility in the face of political opinions you don't like. At least when SJWs cry about some shit it at least tends to be a more present feature.

Yes how dare people hate seeing one of their favorite characters be used for something dumb like this.

God what does it say about you deliberately coming into a thread where people are "crying" to cry about said crying.

"I don't care but here I am spending an hour telling everyone else how silly they are for caring". You're still a hypocrite for complaining about people dismissing you while you actively continue to do the same.

 

[Geki-D]

People didn't want this shit in MK, so they're talking about it. It's really not that hard to grasp.

Where did I say people *can't* talk about this? People can say whatever they want, just like I can tell them what I think of it. It's the how a forum works.

"I don't care but here I am spending an hour telling everyone else how silly they are for caring". You're still a hypocrite for complaining about people dismissing you while you actively continue to do the same.

Where did I actually say "I don't care?" If I didn't I wouldn't be posting here at all. Also I'm not dismissing people, I'm calling their outrage overblown and misplaced. I didn't complain because he was being dismissive, I don't care about that. I complained because it was merely an attempt to shame me out of the thread. A clear attempt to make me shut up because it was actively telling me to leave.

 

[Paracelsus]

Why do SJWs hate escapism so much? Why do they feel the need to inject politics into everything?

I remember back in the 2000s gaming was such a great escape from the post 9/11, Iraq war, George W Bush days, I guess if games were made then like they are today there'd be endless haranguing about Dubya.

Sure, on occasion a game would get political, which is fine, but it wasn't everything, when even something as goofy as Mortal Kombat is political, you know things have gone too far.

And generally games that did have social commentary did so in a way that wasn't such cheap, lazy pandering, take Gears of War for example, there was certainly Iraq war undertones to the whole thing, but you could also just enjoy it as a fun sci fi shoot 'em up, it wasn't as obvious about it as it would be today.

They don't hate escapism (you have never seen how many ridiculous arguments are made by quoting shitty marvel movies but especially Harry Potter), they know how important entertainment is to a generation of kids devoid of any real goals, real struggles to win, a generation bound to an empty life filled with meaningless consumerism, so they want to weaponize it to control them from the youth. If they can also sneak a "fuck you" to straight men by censoring things, even better.

 

[Hobo Box]

Maybe if you find this discussion so ridiculous and trivial, you could simply choose not to participate, instead of hanging around and acting superior, like you're somehow above us even though you keep coming back?

I complained because it was merely an attempt to shame me out of the thread. A clear attempt to make me shut up because it was actively telling me to leave.

As you can clearly see, I never directly told you to leave, I merely presented the option, because I was confused at why you insisted on staying despite having stated multiple times that the debate was stupid and people shouldn't care about this.

Also, you've never directly said that you "don't care", however you have been telling everyone else that they shouldn't, so what are we supposed to assume, exactly...?

 

[Geki-D]

Also, you've never directly said that you "don't care", however you have been telling everyone else that they shouldn't, so what are we supposed to assume, exactly...?

Actually I've been telling people that they need to reevaluate their priorities and look at the actual reasons this bothers them rather than acting as if it's some deep plot related element, along with how they would act if this was something SJWs didn't like. I've been doing that throughout the thread and as I've already told you, if me pointing that out bothers you so much, please put me on ignore.

 

[Facism]

Incredible ending, absolutely sensational. Scenes.

 

[Hobo Box]

Actually I've been telling people that they need to reevaluate their priorities and look at the actual reasons this bothers them rather than acting as if it's some deep plot related element, along with how they would act if this was something SJWs didn't like. I've been doing that throughout the thread and as I've already told you, if me pointing that out bothers you so much, please put me on ignore.

Okay, but your 'argument' is rooted in the assumption that most if not all the people that have a problem here are either being disingenuous or outright lying about why they dislike the ending.
I'm sure you already know this, but a 'debate strategy' that involves calling your opposition a liar at best and a sensitive snowflake at worst, is generally not going to prompt people to engage you in meaningful discussion. Hence, why I wasn't exactly taking you seriously.

I can't speak for others, but me personally, I'd have a problem regardless of the statement being made. Even if it was something that made 'SJW's seethe and cry, if it was executed as poorly as this was, I wouldn't want it in Mortal Kombat, because our real-world politics has no place in it.

 

[Majukun]

I would accept this if the 'political message' they were sending wasn't so bloody trite. "Slavery is bad" is not even a statement worth making; of course it's bad, nobody you could ask would say it isn't. So why did they have to torpedo Jax's character to make it?

does this ending really "torpedoes" jax's character?

what goes against his character exactly?

 

[Hobo Box]

does this ending really "torpedoes" jax's character?

what goes against his character exactly?

He's a red-white-and-blue American that's fought for his country and her people for most of his life. He would have enough experience to know that the ugliness in America's history is part of what makes it the way it is. He loves his country, and he's fought alongside men and women from all different walks of life to keep Earthrealm intact.

Going back in time and stopping slavery means all those people he served with likely no longer exist. He fails to 'fix things' twice, having to try again, potentially creating timelines where there is even more suffering.

Jax retrying his time-travel bullshit until he can be with his wife and daughter in Africa (which is an absurd copout that makes no sense) just presents him as bizarrely short-sighted and selfish. It also begs the question, how did Earthrealm defend itself against Outworld if Jax isn't around to play his part in the story?

Honestly the whole thing just makes zero sense the moment you put any modicum of thought into it, instead of just accepting "well that's a nice thought "

 

[Nymphae]

does this ending really "torpedoes" jax's character?

what goes against his character exactly?

I think this post gets it:

.. why is MK bringing Africa as a subject to begin with? The real Earth was never a subject in this franchise. We know Special Forces are Americans and Liu and Kung are Asian. and that's it. MK is supposed to be a fantastic world filled with strange realms, monsters and weird creatures. It should be full sci-fi fantasy shit. I never once thought about our Earth when Earthrealm came up.

Earthrealm, to me, is not our Earth. It's like a whole different planet or alternate universe much like the Game of Thrones world which is not our world at all. OK, maybe Earthrealm is our earth after all. But when you have Outworld, Edenia, Netherrealm and countless fictional races and charismatic characters... why the hell should you bring up a real world problem?

It strikes me as tone deaf to insert real world woke bullshit into a franchise that just doesn't concern itself with that stuff in the slightest.

I'm not outraged at this at all, pretty much just makes my eyes roll. But I think Lock here nails why it feels out of place.

Also any sort of attempt to be preachy towards me from this game is going to fall a little flat considering everyone in the roster has moves that split faces open or crush testicles or something similar, they spend months devising ways to display gruesome deaths in new ways. You can't revel in bad behaviour while telling me I'm not woke enough, like it all just makes me laugh.

 

[Hissing Sid]

I have absolutely nothing of substance to add to the conversation but just wanted to say that for some unexplained reason the terms ‘Hella’ and ‘Woke’, make my brain itch.

And when you combine Hella and Woke, we are at turbo, rocket powered levels of eye fizzing shit. It’s like obnoxiousness squared.

 

[autoduelist]

Please, let us overthink this 2 mins static image slideshow that's not canon and is but one ending in a game where each character has their own.

The mental gymnastics people are doing to make this insignificant, crappy ending a big deal is just stunning.

Believe it or not, for some people, responding to a blatantly false comment with critical reasoning isn't mental gymnastics. It was actually very easy to point out the gaping moral flaw in the posters suggestion. Shocking, I know.

 

[Ulysses 31]

 

[Dr. Claus]

 

[WorldHero]

I have no problem with this ending.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Just watched it. It’s pretty silly and simplistic tbh. How on Earth one person could stop slavery seems about as realistic as Santa Claus delivering all the worlds toys on one night. It requires a fantasy version of slavery that is entirely different from the many real world examples and with no nuance. Are computers and phones still made with cheap labor? Like many questions this is just ignored entirely.

I see why this is good to people who think you will make the world better by finding bad guys and punching them. But those types of people only want simple virtue signalling, not real solutions.

Fine for a silly video game ending but to pretend this is deep or subversive or anything other than a silly power fantasy is a waste of time

 

[DeafTourette]

White genocide? WTH?!

 

[SonGoku]

No surprise after the female characters sjw coat of paint.

This video is no longer available because the uploader has closed their YouTube account.

 

[Hobo Box]

Whoof. I didn't even watch the video, but that fucking thumbnail says it all.

What an idiot.

 

[HaveButOneLife]

Dumb ending.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

If the Gears of War franchise was created today it'd be humans invading a different planet under the orders of President Fichus, because its inhabitants destroyed the Triple Towers. And the moment the humans landed there would be excavators mining all the planet's resources.

And your first kills would be an unarmed family.

/s

Did you ever play Gears of War 3? Being from 2011 it was already a lot more political than the first two games, albeit not quite to that degree.

But it did have some "fuck rich people" messaging in keeping with the post-Recession era.

They don't hate escapism (you have never seen how many ridiculous arguments are made by quoting shitty marvel movies but especially Harry Potter), they know how important entertainment is to a generation of kids devoid of any real goals, real struggles to win, a generation bound to an empty life filled with meaningless consumerism, so they want to weaponize it to control them from the youth. If they can also sneak a "fuck you" to straight men by censoring things, even better.

They do hate it though, because this attitude that entertainment is only a tool for social engineering first and your actual entertainment a distant second is complete anathema to the concept of "escapism"

 

[Dr. Claus]

Did you ever play Gears of War 3? Being from 2011 it was already a lot more political than the first two games, albeit not quite to that degree.

But it did have some "fuck rich people" messaging in keeping with the post-Recession era.



They do hate it though, because this attitude that entertainment is only a tool for social engineering first and your actual entertainment a distant second is complete anathema to the concept of "escapism"

Most people hate the rich. Especially those from lower social classes - this has been a thing in nearly any society for millenia. Hardly to do with the "post-recession" era.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Most people hate the rich. Especially those from lower social classes - this has been a thing in nearly any society for millenia. Hardly to do with the "post-recession" era.

Sure, but there was a real resurgence in it post-recession, it's not a coincidence the game came out around the same time as OWS, it was just the zeitgeist of the era.

 

[Dacon]

Wow that is really dumb. The ending is stupid, but only because it reduces Jax's character to just his skin color, and isn't something more thoughtful and relevant to his personal storyline like his daughters ending.

Jumping at scarecrows this is.

 

[MiguelItUp]

That ending feels like an incredibly lazy route to take.

 

[Hobo Box]

That ending feels like an incredibly lazy route to take.

That's because it is. Completely disregard's Jax's character.

 

[manfestival]

everything about this video is amazing

 

[Sho_Gunn]

Wow this ending was very basic. The outrage is ridiculous.

 

[sn0man]

DId Jax just kill a WHITE GUY?!!!!

OMG MK4 is such a terrible game.

 

[Dacon]

OMG MK4 is such a terrible game.

I realize you're joking but you're not wrong lmao.

 

[angelic]

Most people hate the rich. Especially those from lower social classes - this has been a thing in nearly any society for millenia. Hardly to do with the "post-recession" era.

I do find this funny, the mentality of hating the "rich". Most wealth is either earned in someones lifetime, or inherited from family, and yet low income people (to be kind) are just as territorial about their money. They complain about the royal family, but happily inherit money from their own families, and see it as their own. They see any money they earn as theirs (same as "rich" people), they resent paying tax ("rich" people pay far more tax), and they cling on to their wealth as much if not more as "rich" people.

I find socialism to be an almost absurd concept, most socialists are capitalists, they just dont know it. They protect their own money, take anything they can get, and believe what they earn is theirs...but then vote for socialist parties every 4 years out of habit and tradition. The socialist parties that then destroy economies by over borrowing, until theyre voted out again and the capitalists come in and have to fix it. Again.

I genuinely know people who've said things like "the government can just print more money when it needs it", and believe it. I'm barely middle class, and I find social lower classes spectacularly dumb and dangerous. If I had my way I'd round them all up in a pen, like Escape from New York.

 

[Dacon]

I do find this funny, the mentality of hating the "rich". Most wealth is either earned in someones lifetime, or inherited from family, and yet low income people (to be kind) are just as territorial about their money. They complain about the royal family, but happily inherit money from their own families, and see it as their own. They see any money they earn as theirs (same as "rich" people), they resent paying tax ("rich" people pay far more tax), and they cling on to their wealth as much if not more as "rich" people.

I find socialism to be an almost absurd concept, most socialists are capitalists, they just dont know it. They protect their own money, take anything they can get, and believe what they earn is theirs...but then vote for socialist parties every 4 years out of habit and tradition. The socialist parties that then destroy economies by over borrowing, until theyre voted out again and the capitalists come in and have to fix it. Again.

I genuinely know people who've said things like "the government can just print more money when it needs it", and believe it. I'm barely middle class, and I find social lower classes spectacularly dumb and dangerous. If I had my way I'd round them all up in a pen, like Escape from New York.

inb4 Bernie the saddest millionaire Sanders

 

[Xux]

Wow this ending was very basic. The outrage is ridiculous.

Seriously. I was on board at the promise of white genocide advocacy but the reality is really tame. I guess I'll stick to skipping this one.

 

[Petrae]

We just want this shit out of our games. Not 'black people', or 'women' or any of that shit, we want politics out. Gone.
"I'm not waiting a century for people to get woke" is not a line I needed to hear from my dumb fighting game about ripping people's spines out.

It could have been Johnny Cage giving an impassioned speech about 'All Lives Matter' with an 'It's OK to be white' sign in his hand, and I still would've wanted it out. This shit has no place in Mortal Kombat.

I’m in agreement with you; however, game developers generally lean HARD left/Liberal. They inject politics into the games they make— for better or worse— because they serve as a platform off of which they can occasionally (or more often at times) promote their politics.

In this age of resistance, of #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, of complete and utter hatred of the President of the United States by a sizable portion of the country and the world... politics in video games and exceptionally loud griping on social media will be the calling cards of this generation of video game makers.

It sucks, but it is what it is.

 

[Hobo Box]

I’m in agreement with you; however, game developers generally lean HARD left/Liberal. They inject politics into the games they make— for better or worse— because they serve as a platform off of which they can occasionally (or more often at times) promote their politics.

In this age of resistance, of #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, of complete and utter hatred of the President of the United States by a sizable portion of the country and the world... politics in video games and exceptionally loud griping on social media will be the calling cards of this generation of video game makers.

It sucks, but it is what it is.

this makes me very upsetti

 

[Silent Duck]

Thought you might like this.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

It’s actually funny how so many people are upset by that ending

It’s normal I guess

If any are “woke” it’s Raiden’s

 

[kingbean]

I laughed. It shouldn't be taken so seriously. It's just entertainment, folks.

 

[Aurelian]

I laughed. It shouldn't be taken so seriously. It's just entertainment, folks.

That's the thing. Games can certainly be art, but I don't think the devs were aiming for anything particularly deep here. If you were a black person who just got the opportunity to rewrite history, wouldn't eliminating slavery be on your short list of things to do? It's about as radical a concept as wanting world peace.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Feel like the fantasy of “if we could just go back in time and free all the slaves” is a bit disingenuous and a little victim blaming.

You can have a problem with the ending and still think slavery is bad.

 

[Xenon]

The more I think about this the more I'm convinced that Jax has committed an act of genocide. Not against white people but rather the Black America culture. Like it or not the removal of slavery would completely eliminate it from ever existing. Think of the loss to America as a whole and the people who would have never existed, at least the way the existed in the current timeline. No MJ(You Pick), MLK, BBQ, Hip Hop, Rap, etc These were not created by just black people but rather black Americans who lived through hardships and while separate for a long time had a connection to American culture. I'm not saying the ends justified the means, but rather we are all made up of the good and bad of our history. Many people I've talked to who have lived through hardships have an understanding that it is huge part of who they are and what defines them. Removing slavery from history would remove millions from existence. Well at least in the form they exist today. How can one man make this decision?

This ending is borne from the shallow inter-sectional perspective that skin color or other simple classifications are the most important facet of ones identity. So taking away the bad will net a positive result because that aspect will remain the same yet give them better lives. They are still black right?

 

[Mitsuda Maniac]

The crack of the bat sound effect when he said he knocked it out of the park was a nice touch lol.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Why do SJWs hate escapism so much? Why do they feel the need to inject politics into everything?

I remember back in the 2000s gaming was such a great escape from the post 9/11, Iraq war, George W Bush days, I guess if games were made then like they are today there'd be endless haranguing about Dubya.

Sure, on occasion a game would get political, which is fine, but it wasn't everything, when even something as goofy as Mortal Kombat is political, you know things have gone too far.

And generally games that did have social commentary did so in a way that wasn't such cheap, lazy pandering, take Gears of War for example, there was certainly Iraq war undertones to the whole thing, but you could also just enjoy it as a fun sci fi shoot 'em up, it wasn't as obvious about it as it would be today.

I agree with a lot of this, I just felt like adding one thing though. Everyone injects politics into everything, not just SJWs. There are random "uh oh white cis male!" sarcstic comments in the Days Gone threads that weren't prompted by anything. I get these comments are meant to poke fun at SJW culture but it's still injecting politics into a discussion/game that has nothing to do with that. In my opinion, anyway.

It would be nice if just once in awhile there could be silence on the political front from both sides for a big new game. But I think we are well past that point, unfortunately.

 

[Dr. Claus]

That's the thing. Games can certainly be art, but I don't think the devs were aiming for anything particularly deep here. If you were a black person who just got the opportunity to rewrite history, wouldn't eliminating slavery be on your short list of things to do? It's about as radical a concept as wanting world peace.

The issue is that the way it is done here goes completely counter to the characterization and personality of the Jax we have seen and known for years.

 

[Hendrick's]

To me the ending seemed to be about bagging a threesome with a white and black chick.

 

[Aurelian]

The issue is that the way it is done here goes completely counter to the characterization and personality of the Jax we have seen and known for years.

And? It's a video game where, among other things, an older Johnny Cage fights his younger self. Acting like consistency is sacred here is like blasting the WWE for a silly plot line... that ship sailed a long time ago.