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Old 21-01-15, 07:02   #1
Tyrannosaurus
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Default The Sarkeesian Effect

This is a new proposed documentary to be funded through patreon that focuses on the controversy surrounding the Gamergate, the ethics of journalism, a critique of Social Justice Warriors, from a perspective that the mainstream media allegedly ignores:



According to the site:

Quote:
Overview
The Sarkeesian Effect will be a feature-length documentary covering an ongoing phenomenon in video game and tech circles, culminating in the recent outrage known as #GamerGate: the progressive infiltration by disingenuous “Social Justice Warriors” – individuals who claim high minded ideals while operating unethically.

The goal of this film will be three-fold:
1. To introduce #GamerGate to a wider audience of non-gamers.
2. To give a voice to those who have been victimized by the Social Justice “moral authority”.
3. To fully expose the depths of this corruption.

What is the Sarkeesian Effect?
The methodology of Social Justice has a chilling effect on the culture: by demanding perfect diversity, they ensure that true diversity will never be allowed. By celebrating victims-and-only-victims, the conversation is controlled by the voices that complain the loudest; seldom are these the voices those who have actually been hurt. As a result, the culture winds up being directed by those who are most unscrupulous. Creators, gamers, and actual victims are excluded from the conversation.

The documentary will start with, but not be limited to, the eponymous Anita Sarkeesian, the face of Feminist Frequency, and one of the most well-known voices of Social Justice. By analyzing the specifics of her methodology, we will create a framework which allows the audience to identify the actions of other profiteers; by exposing the unethical behaviour behind all of these people, we will demonstrate the inevitable thugishness of Social Justice, an ideology which exploits the very victims it claims to represent.

What is Social Justice?
Based upon the works of the philosopher John Rawls, Social Justice focuses upon achieving equality of outcome, rather than equitable treatment. Rather than focusing on things which are easily measured and quantifiable (Contract Law, Property Law, et cetera), Rawl's Social Justice emphasizes the importance of subjective feelings; dignity, self-worth, and self-actualization. In practice this results in a suppression of Liberty to attempt to achieve a chimerical Equality.

"Social Justice Warrior" (SJW) came about as a pejorative term to refer to a person who berates other internet users over matters of political correctness, but has since evolved to refer to a specific movement within tech and gaming culture that is based around professional victimhood, intimidation, and the proliferation of falsehoods.

How is this different from #GamerGate?
GamerGate, being a grassroots movement, has distinct strengths and weaknesses. One of its strengths is that the members are committed, and largely unassailable by the powers that be. One of its weaknesses, however, is the nature of the very thing it is protesting:

GamerGate's number one issue is with a gaming media which is almost entirely controlled by a small number of people, with a single ideology and a single agenda... but pointing this out is a Catch-22: by definition, anything reported on the Internet is hearsay, and only media reports are reputable.

Which is why everybody is upset in the first place.

By creating a feature-length documentary we up the level of discussion on our side; we force them to acknowledge us. It is our hope that The Sarkeesian Effect will be a good accompaniment to the #GamerGate outrage, while also taking a broader scope, encompassing tech fields in general - after all, this isn't just about video games.

This is a methodology used throughout both the media and the academic institutions to consolidate power amongst a conspiratorial few, at the expense of not only the culture at large, but even the very followers who they claim to be representing. Thanks to GamerGate, the extent of their collusion and control is beginning to be revealed to those who are paying attention; we are going to use this documentary to expose them on the world stage.

Why does this movie need to be made? Don't you already have popular YouTube channels?
The Social Justice Warriors have come to dominate the discussion to such a degree that the mainstream media will only acknowledge their side of the story. The official story as reported by mainstream news outlets is that a small group of brave activists (Ms. Sarkeesian outstanding among them) have been targeted with death threats, rape threats, cyberbullying, misogyny, racism, and other mistreatment for daring speak out against the white-male dominated gaming community.

We intend to shed light on the truth: that the SJWs have been the ones using manipulation and intimidation to push their agenda forward and that the mainstream media has accepted their story uncritically. Constructive criticism is not harassment. Pointing out that someone is factually wrong is not misogyny. Finding fault with a person's unethical behavior is not stalking. There are two sides to every story and we intend for the mainstream media to finally acknowledge ours.

What is your agenda?
The two of us differ substantially on our politics; one of us is right-leaning, the other is left-leaning. Our goal is to return to a world where honest debate is possible, rather than one where debate is manufactured and co-opted for the benefit of the few. With that in mind, we will strive to leave all political baggage at the door and simply report the truth as we find it. Our goal is to expose cynical manipulators, not to advance our own agenda.

Are you guys just doing this to harass Anita Sarkeesian?
No. Anita Sarkeesian and her campaign of misinformation will be central to our film but everything we do will be safe, professional, and above all, legal. The lie that Ms. Sarkeesian has perpetuated is that there is no legitimate criticism of her views whatsoever and that anyone who disagrees with her is harassing her. This, among many other falsehoods, will be debunked in our film.

What are you going to do?
We are going to create a completely professional and insightful feature length documentary film. We intend for there to be a theatrical release, DVD and Blu-Ray, and streaming media such as Netflix.

Your contribution will allow us to finance this project and produce a high quality result comparable to the best current documentary films.

How will you be spending the budget?
Our goal is to make a professional-quality film, and that involves not only ourselves and airfare, but crew, experts and consultants, as well as many other incidental expenses. This is going to be a challenging film to make, and we will be going up against entrenched interests. We will be keeping you updated with monthly progress videos, as well as our conversations with you on the forums.
You can see the rest here:

https://www.patreon.com/thesarkeesianeffect

I'm intrigued by this project, but skeptical as to whether it can be put together and achieve the ends the authors intend. Anyone have any other thoughts to share? Are you for this project succeeding? Against it? What should they be doing differently, if anything?
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Old 21-01-15, 12:27   #2
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Let's face it: this is merely an extension of the fanboi hissyfit that started when Sarkeesian announced her project. From that moment, fanbois over-reacted. A single video hadn't been produced, but the harrassment had begun. "There's nothing wrong with video games and their portrayal of women!!!!! And if there were (which there isn't because we've found a girl who agrees with us!) we certainly don't need a woman to tell us!!!!1"

This will have a sort of Streisand effect, just like every other action they've taken.
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Old 21-01-15, 12:34   #3
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Anita doesn't deserve to be hated. It's what she feeds on.
She deserves to be forgotten for her shoddy videos, and receiving huge amounts of money for no particular reason, lol.

Last edited by Lara's home; 21-01-15 at 12:39.
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Old 21-01-15, 13:33   #4
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She received HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY because of fanboi freakout.

Of course, she did bring this on herself because girls aren't allowed to discuss how women are portrayed in gaming unless they're fanboi apologists who don't want said fanbois to turn on them. That "feminazi" label is holstered unsnapped and they are not afraid to use it.
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Old 21-01-15, 13:44   #5
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Not everything is black and white you know.
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Old 21-01-15, 19:10   #6
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I never said it was. I simply said this is typical fanboi response and would probably end up having the opposite effect.
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Old 21-01-15, 19:59   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis's Mom View Post
I never said it was. I simply said this is typical fanboi response and would probably end up having the opposite effect.
I never said you said it was, but I'm certainly getting that impression. I mean, nobody said girls aren't allowed to discuss the portrayal of women in video games and one doesn't have to be a "fanboi" to be critical of Sarkeesian.
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Old 22-01-15, 04:26   #8
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No, but the ones that are most critical are usually the ones that are trying to discredit/silence her, aggressively trying to stop her from speaking out. This documentary isn't about criticism, it's about discrediting her and others like her.

I'm not a fan of Sarkeesian, but she has a right to speak, and the things that have been said and done to her in the past several months are not right.
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Old 22-01-15, 04:42   #9
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By celebrating victims-and-only-victims, the conversation is controlled by the voices that complain the loudest...
I.E. The grownup immature "men" (and I use the term quite lightly) who made a huge deal out of her project, threatened her with death and rape and did whatever they could to shut her project down.

Ironic isn't it?

Sarkeesian isn't exactly my top choice for being a hallmark representative of the feminist movement. Some of her viewpoints in her videos don't really look upon credible issues with the gaming industry and how sexual harassment and misogyny is prevalent in not only the general work-environment but also on the marking area; But rather nit-picks on things with little relevance to the general problem and skews them out proportion.

She might as well be pointing out minor scratches on a patient while completely ignoring the gaping gunshot wound on the patient's chest.

Having said that, she had every right to start up her project as she saw fit and the resulting blow-back from misogynistic morons only (rightfully) helped out her cause. Does she has the right to profit out from the fallout? Absolutely! Lest we cave into bullying tactics and threats through hateful projection and restrict freedom of speech; Some of which have a habit of escalating into full blown violent acts... Charlie Hebdo tragedy anyone?

Last edited by Catapharact; 22-01-15 at 05:07.
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Old 22-01-15, 04:57   #10
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Not sure if this is the smartest way to go for them. It'd probably be the better decision to leave Sarkeesian and the others out of it and just focus on their (before someone tries to make a discussion out of this, I'll add: allegedly) issue, which is ethics and corruption in games journalism. No matter which side is right and which is wrong on which counts (and I certainly don't know the answer to that), going after Sarkeesian is a battle they can only lose from a PR perspective. The media and the public have already formed an opinion on her and the issues surrounding her and everything that criticises her is simply going to get dismissed as misogyny (again, I'm not saying the points this documentary is going to make will be correct, just that, if they are correct, it won't really matter).

Last edited by Zebra; 22-01-15 at 04:58.
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