Gamasutra’s Kris Graft has a concise summary surrounding Infinity Ward’s “Fight Against Grenade Spam” fake PSA video.
The controversy surrounding the video is that the acronym for the fake organization spells out, “F.A.G.S.” The word fag used against gays is a hateful, offensive and disparaging word. Another word in the same category, but usually accompanied with more extreme vitriol is the word nigger.
Robert Bowling said in a recent interview, “We are responsible for what we say and what we do, and we can be held accountable for our successes and failures.”
They damn well ought to be held accountable. There has been a lot of debate about whether that word is offensive or not and whether Infinity Ward did anything wrong. Most of the people who don’t think the word fag is offensive either lack experience or knowledge of how offensive and dangerous the word is.
The word nigger comes with a history of violent oppression and murder of African Americans in the US. The word fag also has a similar history, remember Mathew Sheppard? He was brutally murdered for being gay. Anti-gay churches picketed Shepard’s funeral as well as the trial of his assailants, displaying signs with slogans such as “Matt Shepard rots in Hell”, “AIDS Kills Fags Dead” and “God Hates Fags”. Like the word nigger, fag also is closely associated with violence and oppression towards a particular group of people, in this case, gays.
There is absolutely no reason for Infinity Ward to be condoning use of that word or making jokes out of it. It’s appalling. Their Modern Warfare series is very popular online and during online matches a lot of trash talking occurs. Some in good fun, some not so much. The word fag is often used, hurled by one stranger to another. Infinity Ward knows their audience very well, but that doesn’t make it OK for them to stoop down to their audience’s level.
They ought to act as a role model. Players respect their games and the work they do. It’s obvious to me that we, the gaming industry have a serious problem on our hands. The problem of hate speech during online multiplayer gaming is so pervasive that we have grown to accept it as people being “asshats”. Shockingly, it seems Infinity Ward embraced it in their ad because they think it’s funny.
In my opinion, we as an industry need to recognize hate speech is a problem and make a concerted effort to eliminate it, the sooner the better. I call on Infinity Ward, all major developers and publishers such as Valve Software, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, Eidos, Bungie, Microsoft and others to release a real PSA about combating online hate speech, respecting one another and good sportsmanship. They could collaborate to release a PSA featuring popular characters from their games or release them individually per game.
They have the power and the responsibility that comes with it to educate their audience that certain words hold more power than virtual guns. If we neglect to act on this pervasive problem, we’re taking a big risk that nothing tragic will happen in the future. We can’t wait for an incident like what happened to Mathew Sheppard to inspire us to action. We need to start now and Infinity Ward has an opportunity to lead the way.
Also posted on my Gamasutra blog.
© 2009, Reid Bryant Kimball. All rights reserved.
Wow, Cry some more, Whether you like it or not people are entitled to say what they like, i believe it is called Free Speech. A Great deal of gamers, aren’t the most mature audience, so are unlikely a appreciate the weight which a work like ‘fag’ carries to a person like you. However what you have failed to acknowledge or realise is that when the word is thrown around casually such as it is in trash talk, it begins to lose meaning, i highly doubt that each time it is said, a hate for people who are homosexual is meant to be conveyed or even felt, in fact i don’t believe it hold . The meanings of words mutate over time as cultures change and new generations arise. Besides there are far greater issues, Fag.
Barrel, thanks for sharing your thoughts. We’ll have to agree to disagree.
It’s amazing how the Neanderthals come out of the woodworks when you tell them their behavior is unacceptable. It’s also interesting that they never leave a real name – it’s much easier to hide behind an anonymous account, spouting hate.
And Barrell, in case you’re reading this: It doesn’t matter if it’s used in trash talk. Every time you say it, you’re saying you consider gay people worth less than other people.
Have a little empathy, Barrel. Just because lots of people use a word, it doesn’t make it right. Especially not if it denigrates a section of society who don’t deserve it. I guess you think “retard” is fair use too?
Barrel Could be an alias i use Online Generally? What difference is it if you know my real name or not, it certainly doesn’t represent me as a person, I’m not trying to promote hate speech here, What i’m trying to say is that i feel the word ‘fag’ When used in the context of trash talk, holds very little meaning. I honestly don’t think that homosexuality comes into it. Interestingly enough by Finishing the post with Fag it was intended to show how little weight i believe it holds, However it seems you did not take my point of view into account and have chosen to label me as a ‘Neanderthal’ Which i presume you are suggesting i’m a lesser evolved brute. Still no matter, it seems you missed my point.
Reid, nice piece; thanks for the insights. I don’t know much about Infinity Ward beyond what I’ve seen of the leaked “massacre civilians in the airport” level for Modern Warfare 2. I originally saw that as a bold, revolting, and provocative move to get players to question the nonchalance with which they can kill in games. In the context of the PSA, however, it doesn’t seem quite as redeeming.
In order for a word to do any damage at all, 2 things have to happen: (1) a person says it and (2) a person CHOOSES to take offense. Most people with an opinion strong enough to write about it speak out against step 1, and only step 1.
The problem with only focusing on step 1 is that it happens unintentionally far too often. I’ve said things that have offended others without realizing it, and usually because what I said was misinterpreted. Most people probably have, but no offense was intended. I think Barrell is right about how the word “fag” is used in online games, which is that it’s not intended to offend gay people. Yet step 2 is still happening, and so damage is done.
The problem can never be solved by focusing on step 1, because even if nobody ever said anything with the intent to offend, people will always say things carelessly at times or say things ambiguously that are interpreted differently than intended.
I submit that the REAL problem is step 2 above. As long as people choose to take offense, offense is going to happen. If step 2 didn’t happen, then no words (intended to offend or not) would offend anybody. The problem would be solved, and it wouldn’t require any limits on our freedom of speech.
No mature adult would give any other human being the power to take away their peace, contentment, and happiness by words alone. “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” What happened to that idea? Why would a person WANT to be hurt by words?
Of course, no mature adult would say anything intended to hurt another person either. I’m not defending “hate speech”, only pointing out that the offended is just as immature and just as much a neanderthal as the offender.