These thoughts are an indirect response to a reviewer stating they wouldn’t be able to enjoy certain products due to the involvement of certain individuals (because of comments they had previously made and beliefs that they hold)

A wise man (bloke in a flat cap, walking his whippet) once astutely proclaimed that there is, in fact, “Nowt Queer as folk”. For those that are struggling to comprehend such a profound statement, it simply means that there is nothing as strange as people; how they behave and what they think. And, as we’re all “folk”, this statement then inherently suggests that queerness must be subjective and relative to our own views and presuppositions. Such wisdom, insight and depth from something so concise (and Northern).

So yeah, basically, there’s some right oddballs out there. People that even today, in this, the current year, have some fucked up views on all the current hot button issues. And the really crazy thing is, they’re the ones that think you’re the oddball! That you have it all backwards. I KNOW RIGHT!? Not me though, I don’t fit into any oddball category because the stuff I think is normal. It’s logically and morally sound. It’s the correct thing to think….otherwise I wouldn’t think it, would I?

The problem this creates is, unless we go the Ingsoc route in Orwells 1984 and eradicate all those guilty of thoughtcrime – as dictated by the arbiter of correctness “big-brother” – we’re going to have to accept the fact there’s a load of bloody wrong’uns out there. Wrong’uns with their wrong opinions. Nasty opinions. Dangerous opinions. Not me though. Them.

But then accepting that they exist and are going to exist is one thing; what do we do when the bastards try and create something, or are involved in the creation of something?

Do they automatically leave an unavoidable shit stain on everything they are involved in, or can we separate them from their content?

The short answer is yes. Yes we should. Yes…if we can. I think that’s fairly easy for me to say though as (and probably on account of my laziness) it seems that I am very reluctant to jump through the necessary hoops that go from “They said this >>> which actually means this >>> which means that think this >>> which means they are this >>> which means anything they touch is this >>> which means if I go anywhere near it i’m part of this“.

I really struggle with those leaps and think it’s all a bit more muddy and complicated …because people are a bit more muddy and complicated. In short, I find it very easy to separate creators from the content. Although, actually, it might not even really get that far. I think I just find it very difficult to pass final judgement on someone based off of some comment(s) they’ve made. To me they’re just another douchebag with what I consider a shitty opinion; another one of us “folk”, being “queer as” and proving the statement to be correct.

There are people that will bound through those hoops like Tigger on crack though and I guess that makes it harder for them. They can’t, for whatever reason, separate the two and it leaves a nasty taste in their mouths. Their judgment is quick and absolute.

I mean, for me to get anywhere near what their feelings must be, I think I’d have to go to a pretty extreme example. Hilter liked to paint right? Would I have a one of his finest water colours up on the wall above the mantelpiece (if I had one)? Probably not. It would have to be a fucking amazing painting….. and I’m not a massive fan of art anyway. The point is, I do get where the contention people have comes from but I think, in most non-Hitler related cases, it should be distant and inconclusive enough not to be an issue.. especially if it’s your line of work.

Leaving aside the mildly ridiculous/pure evil example, sometimes there are actual links  between content and creator (or more specifically shitty opinion of creator) that can’t be ignored. Situations, for example, where the art/content could be considered representative or propaganda of the perceived wrongness. Another one would be if the content is being used to finance activities related to the “bad” opinion. If all proceeds from Dudelove McHippys latest indy release “Medical Conspiracy simulator” are going to his anti-vax campaign, you can’t NOT link the two. Basically, if content and the “wrong” view of the creator are actually linked, then yeah, link them.

In relation to gaming though (and most things), this is just never the case. It will be that a contentious comment has been made by a single developer, a developer that is part of a massive team and whose remarks have zero bearing on the product that team of people are working on. In brief, it will be so mild, diluted and far removed that to claim any link or even relevance to the end product is unreasonable or flat out absurd. Bringing up the grievance in relation to the product therefore is….questionable. It’s not professional, it’s personal; and those grievances should really be able to be left at the door when it comes to perceiving the product.

To be clear, this is in no way excusing the comment or the person that made it. It’s just stating it should have no relevance or power over you in relation to viewing the product, unless you are willing to give it such power.

Where I think most of this has stemmed from is that thanks to the wonder that is social media, we are now exposed to queerness of folk on a daily bases. Don’t worry if you missed some though, cos there’s people out there that dedicate their life to digging it out and shoving it down your throat whether you want it or not (and for the most part, we do seem to want it). If its not happened already, the chances are, at some point you’re going to find yourself in the awkward situation the creator of a beloved product turns out to be bellend. It’s true what they say; never meet your heroes. Unfortunately, social media enables just that.

The bad news is, pre-social media and the increase in outrage culture, these bad opinion having douchebags weren’t any less prevalent; we just lived in blissful ignorance of them. The really bad news is, if you’re playing or have played anything triple A, it’s almost certainly going to have been created, in part, by one of these douchbags. If you honestly think all the thousands of people that worked on those games are woke as fuck, just because you’ve not heard otherwise yet, then you’re lying to yourself. This is before we even stop to consider games made in countries where the culture (and thus prevailing thought) is different to our own, or that many companies hire offshore resource. If this REALLY is that important to you and your impeccable moral fibre, ignorance isn’t going to cut it here. You’re gonna to have to go full-vegan and only play/critique that which you’ve vetted properly first; otherwise your selective outrage is going to undermine you.