In a promotional video interview that went live on February 6th, David Jaffe included a statement that I and others found objectionable. So I objected. After the piece ran, Jaffe reached out to me through Twitter and we agreed to schedule a call. Yesterday evening, we spoke about the issue by phone for roughly half an hour.
The important thing is to do the hard work.
During our talk, Jaffe and I went back and forth for quite a while, unpacking the original statement, discussing how editing plays into perception in a video, and discussing the problems of intent vs. outcome.
Although in the end we mainly agreed to disagree, it was still a productive chat. He stressed repeatedly, and passionately, that his intent was not to harm and although it does not change my position, I believe him:
Well, let me tell you my position. The reason I even wanted to do the call ā obviously, you know, it was hurtful, when I saw this ā thereās this line you wrote where you talk about, the issue is that to be a misogynist or a sexist you donāt have to be so overt, itās the thoughtlessness.
That strikes home with me because I have a brother whoās gay, and I grew up in the 80s, and it was very common for us to say, āthatās gay.ā Never meant homosexual, never entered my mind, and it wasnāt until probably ten years ago that I was like, āOh my God! I didnāt even realize what Iām doing.ā That if youāre still using that term, even though, yes, you donāt mean it, as a knock against people who are homosexuals, the very nature of you allowing this to be in the culture and you associating that word that also means homosexual with something thatās crappy or bad or dumb or whatever, is perpetuating a really harmful and bad and frankly not even true stereotype.
And so I get that, and thatās why Iām likeā¦ Even, the word ā you know, I donāt even like saying it, B-I-T-C-H, I wonāt let my kids say itā¦ it means something. Iāve said it ā look, Iāve said it in the press, Iāve said it accidentally, ācause itās so ingrained, just like, āguys, what up,ā you know, like that, and I felt terrible about it! So I totally see where youāre coming from with that. And so Iām very aware of those things and I definitely donāt want to be the person out there doing that.
We did ultimately agree on something, and that was this: that even if women are a minority demographic for a particular game title, they are still a demographic, and should be taken into account. āThat wasnāt coming from a place that āonly men can game,'ā Jaffe explained, āit was more, you know, thatās who I was speaking to. But I can see how thatās problematic, given that I really should have been thinking more about the entire realm of gamers.ā
(Top photo by Ethan Miller | Getty)
