The Marcon Diaries provides the editor of this publication with an opportunity to share his innermost thoughts. You have been warned.
It should be a great time to be David Jaffe. The creator of God of War and co-founder of Eat Sleep Play is returning to the vehicular combat series that established him as a creative force in the industry. However instead of promoting the long awaited Twisted Metal revival, he’s fending off questions about his rather unfortunate choice of words in a recent interview with GameTrailers. Let’s take a quick look at exactly what he said.
He described his latest game as an ideal Valentine’s Day gift for your “special lady”. He then promised that “she will give you a fucking blowjob if you play this game.” Seemingly concerned that his message was a little too ambiguous, Jaffe followed up with “If you let her win Twisted Metal splitscreen, she will suck your dick.” Thanks for the clarification.
As noted by the Oxford Dictionary, misogyny can be defined as “the hatred of women by men”. This has led many to conclude that a statement cannot be considered misogynistic unless it amounts to “I really do despise women. They’re the worst, right? Wow, it feels great to finally have that off my chest.” Obviously Jaffe didn’t say that (he’s not a serial killer after all), but his words are nevertheless demeaning and exclusionary.
Though clearly said in jest (the ultra violent Twisted Metal would indeed be an amusingly inappropriate Valentine’s Day gift), his comments are problematic. They assume that the audience is exclusively male and that women can only participate in the office of girlfriend. Worse yet is the implication that women don’t possess the necessary skills to succeed at the game. Instead, they have to rely upon their sexuality (that old chestnut) in order to level the playing field.
Shortly thereafter, freelance writer Matt Clark labelled the remarks “horribly misogynistic”. At this point, Jaffe could have apologised for the implications inherent in his joke. Instead, he logged into Twitter and went on the attack, only digging himself deeper into the mire in the process. He suggested that his detractors were “super pussy whipped PC types”, who didn’t understand the definition of misogyny. Here’s a hint: misogynists tend to use phrases like “super pussy whipped PC types”.
No doubt sensing the rising tide of outrage, Jaffe pulled a couple of well worn strategies from the drowning man’s playbook. First he claimed that edits to the interview had resulted in him being (you guessed it) taken out of context. If his reported remarks were preceded by “I really do object to the kind of joke I’m about to tell”, we’ll all have to concede that he was hard done by. If not, this is a spurious claim. He also reminded us that “many of my very best friends are women”, the unspoken conclusion to that statement being “so that entitles me to say anything I like without being labelled a misogynist”.
He eventually struck a more conciliatory tone during an interview with Kotaku, seemingly acknowledging that his initial remarks could have been interpreted as exclusionary. “I can see how that’s problematic,” he said, “given that I really should have been thinking more about the entire realm of gamers.”
Jaffe has spoken of his admiration and respect for women. He says he is not a misogynist and seems genuinely wounded by the accusation. Let’s take him at his word, but let’s also remind him that his comments have the potential to marginalise and debase. Jokes of this nature contribute to the broader misogyny pervading some corners of society, internet message boards more than most. In short, let’s make women feel more welcome at the table.
Oh, and if anyone disagrees with the content of this post, I’d like to remind them that I was taken out of context.
I would just like to say that my horrible treatment of the game “AMY” was in no way misogynistic it really was that bad….
Serious time now, Great article Erin. That sort of statement wouldn’t be ok in footy team’s dressing shed let alone an interview with the press. He is either a bonehead who doesn’t understand his audience or he is truly a relic of a bygone era.
Well said! That sums up how I feel about the whole thing. He really should’ve thought before he spoke.
Very well said Erin. I can’t add anything to the actual article but I congratulate you and others commenting on being men speaking out. Many people seem not to realise that misogynists give the male gender a bad image and calling them on it gives others a chance to show they’re not complicit.
My whole reaction to this was “meh”. He’s crass and it wasn’t the smartest move to say a joke like this in an interview but it’s ultimately harmless and not intentionally offensive.
He’s proposing a ridiculous scenario, that’s the whole joke, that something like this wouldn’t and doesn’t happen because it’s fantastical.
The only thing that is demeaning about his comments is the idea that women aren’t as good at video games as men.
I take more offence to the idea that comments like his, somehow contribute to other grown men online screaming that they are going to “rape sister and mother” and various other misogynistic, disgusting, vile, and borderline / psychotic things.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
Liam, I don’t think you’ll find that my article suggests that Jaffe was describing a realistic scenario (he was obviously joking and the article acknowledges this). It also doesn’t claim that Jaffe’s remarks will incite others to make hateful threats. All it suggests is that his comments were exclusionary and offensive. Not sure where you got the rest of it from, but thanks for your comment nonetheless.
I should of specified my points weren’t all directed at yours, specifically the “ridiculous scenario” one is more about the idea that his comment was offensive at all.
Also perhaps I miss-interpreted:
“Jokes of this nature contribute to the broader misogyny pervading some corners of society, internet message boards more than most.”
To clarify my final point for Liam – I do think his comments have the power to normalize and thus encourage misogyny but I’m not suggesting they will directly trigger a spate of rape threats.
It’s now plainly obvious to the rest of us what kind of person he is. An interesting insight into what other’s think though. Thanks for sharing Erin!
This article is a joke. your all a bunch of pussies. leave the guy alone it was a joke. hes a joker. something wrong with the world where if you joke about a damn BJ its like your hitler all of a sudden? this is why he makes the big bucks. because people like HIM and HIS PRODUCTS. Has anyone seen his “shoot my truck” ad? ya Sony likes him 2. what did you get all your friends on your email to post this crap about how your right? cause your dead wrong. he has a Wife and 2 awesome kids. he loves them to death and guess what? there woman. he would never walk over his children like that, he was joking. get it? a joke? you people have nothing else to do but make fun of the poor guy? a comedian could say that and you would laugh. so why cant he? yes 90% of twisted metal fans are male!!! its a simple concept relle. think about it. never seen a girl play one of those games. prolly play final fantasy or something similar. but thats not the point. the point of your article is to get some people behind your stupid ideas. if i woman were to say this it would be fine. your all femenists and its sick how the world is turning onto the womans side all the time. move over men were ALWAYS last now!!! YOU PEOPLE ARE SICK
P.s. I have a wife and a daughter so dont gimme this your sexcist shit.
Opinions are fine to have, but when expressing them it helps if you don’t need a decoder ring to translate the poor attempt at English.
Clearly you didn’t read the article as it is plain to see that the author isn’t saying that he is a misogynist but saying that his comments were misogynistic. Which is fact and it was probably not the most appropriate forum for Jaffe to make this “joke”.
There is a time and a place for this sort of humour but a press interview is not the place.
Well articulated Erin. Just to give a female perspective, I play video games. In fact, I love the God of War series. I have endured a significant amount of sexism in numerous facets of my life, not just related to video games. An important element which Erin and others have highlighted is that just because you’ve got female friends; a wife; a daughter; a girlfriend etc. does not justify that kind of marginalising behaviour, especially in a public forum. I am happy to concede that Jaffe made an error in judgement and that he is not himself a misogynist, but made a comment which could be interpreted as such. I will continue to play his games and hope that he and others have learnt from his error in judgement and make an effort to show some understanding of not just female gamers, but women in general.
@John Kevorkian
tl;dr
Sounds like little babby got offended by the big mans jokes.
“Boo hoo I have a vagina and he said something dirty that involved a woman that means he hates me and my kind”
That’s you.