I like having the ability to write articles, and offer different and/or new ways to look at something. Especially since these are trying times. (i.e. The internet revelation of people not realizing how often they take the ability to complain for granted). But that’s just the times we live in. I tell myself over and over again that I’m tired of it, I’m done paying attention, but then I want to write about it.

So now we’re here.

One of the things that I seem to notice, is that I never really notice things. I suppose I’m ignorant or a oblivious but I know better. I choose not to look for things that may be racist or sexist, because there’s always two sides to everything. So when someone cries wolf to the potentially offensive, I always end up looking at something in a completely different way. I was surprised at the very beginning of this article on Cracked: 6 Sexist Video Game Problems Even bigger than breasts. 

First, I know I know, it’s another one of those articles, because that’s all we seem to talk about when it comes to video games lately. It’s a good conversation to have, and culturally, we’re just at this point where we will talk about it forever until it’s done. But I’ll tell you why I was surprised. “#6 Daddy Issues” seems to be written ignorantly. I’m not going to tell them that they’re wrong, I just want to understand why it was written like that. I sat through The Last of Us, and I got a completely different experience.

Ellie from The Last of Us is immune to an apocalyptic virus, learns new weapons faster than Neo, and has stabbed more enemies to death than Wolverine. But as soon as the guy turns up, she dissolves into tears and nursing. She could be machetifying a rapist cannibal into sashimi, but if the hero arrives she’ll instantly collapse into helpless tears, safe in his arms. Because that’s exactly what happens.

For some reason, we’ve becomed conditioned to believe than when a girl/woman in fiction becomes sad, it’s because the man needs to come along and make it all better. Joel could have been anybody. What Ellie experiences at that characters age is crazy, and breaking down into tears in front of the only person she can trust is an amazing emotion, that lets you know that you’re still only human.

Joel does everything to protect her, because he’s the one that’s broken. He’s already lost a daughter and he’s had to live with it for so long that he’s willing to lie to fill that void. He’s broken, he’s empty, he’s vicious. Ellie cried. It doesn’t look like much on the surface of a video game, but she’s still more human than him, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

So how do I feel now after I’ve clearly gone out of my way to defend a piece of fiction? I don’t want to defend the fiction so much as I want to point out that we’re actively looking for things to get mad about. I’ve said in my Newsroom article that the three most over used words on the internet are Sexist, Racist and Homophobic, and I feel like I’m going to talk about them a lot on this blog.

One of the things that’s been on my mind, that happened 10 months ago (it’s a late example but it’s still an example.), is a post that The Mary Sue reblogged on their tumblr. It was a page from a Wonder Woman comic, where WW is saving a girl from being run over by a tank.

The girl says “Thanks.” and underneath that someone jokingly suggests “Tanks” instead. Class, can you tell me why it’s an issue of racism? It’s because the girl happens to be asian. People that follow The Mary Sue’s feed got into an uproar because of it, then the editor had to respond (the link that I gave you.) with the intention of pointing it out as a pun, rather than a racist remark.

It makes me wonder if that response would have been the same if the woman were white or black, Punjab, jewish. I mean, what if we can set race to the side as a non-issue if only for a second, and I can humbly suggest that there is a tank in the picture?

Tell me where your mind went.  I already had a conversation with a friend of mine soon after the event happened, it was a conversation, inadvertently about our different views. But I wanted to bring it up as an example, not to aggravate,or start a fight, but because I think it’s a perfect way to show how we seem to view things now a days.

Think of it as an eye test.

The intention of this article, let alone blog, only scratches the surface of the greater picture. As I’ve grown up a cynic, more and more I’ve had an urge to set a middle ground for all the hostility that’s being thrown about. I don’t really have all the right answers when it comes to this, But I really think it’s time to start suggesting a more neutral point of view.

So, if any of this stuff ever crosses your feed, and it makes you think about it. Or you have an issue with something that you want to bring up with me, feel free. Comment below or use that handy form on the about page. I only hope that I can utilize the intention of this blog, as well as just honing my ability to write about the things that matter, as they happen.