The Miscellaneous PC & vidya Games Thread

[Valmy]

The game has Very Positive reviews on Steam. As far as it's possible to be right or wrong about these things it seems that 1/10 is likely wrong.

I would say so. 1/10 is a score that should be reserved for asset flipping shovelware.

[The Brain]

Btw, do movie journalists rate LOTR, Paddington, The King's Speech, Shakespeare In Love, and Pulp Fiction 0/10? What he did is a lot worse than what Rowling did.

[Valmy]

Btw, do movie journalists rate LOTR, Paddington, The King's Speech, Shakespeare In Love, and Pulp Fiction 0/10? What he did is a lot worse than what Rowling did.

I am not sure who you are talking about 

But that is other reason I lean to Death of the Artist. Because there is something rather arbitrary about it. Once you establish that any bad person associated with anything makes it untouchable, it can quickly get ridiculous.

That and the whole thing about ethical consumption under capitalism in general.

[The Brain]

Btw, do movie journalists rate LOTR, Paddington, The King's Speech, Shakespeare In Love, and Pulp Fiction 0/10? What he did is a lot worse than what Rowling did.

I am not sure who you are talking about 

But that is other reason I lean to Death of the Artist. Because there is something rather arbitrary about it. Once you establish that any bad person associated with anything makes it untouchable, it can quickly get ridiculous.

Harvey Weinstein. And yes, I did look up his producer list on IMDB and picked a few different ones.

[Sheilbh]

Although I think death of the artist is a little different. My understanding is that it is the death of the author and the birth of the reader. That the creative act of deriving meaning or signification in a work is in the beholding/reading once it's been written/made.

Ignoring the author's biography or moral worth is an even older idea - it's basic new criticism. But I think the pendulum's swung and those high 20th century ideas are a little out of fashion now and didactic, morally instructive fiction and lives are back in vogue. Not least because I think there's a slightly parasocial relationship thing going on with artists, especially with the idea that everything is valid and means something to someone - which I think Rowling was probaby one of the first to benefit from. Edit: And I think that is why the reaction to Rowling is as strong as it is v other artists.

Of course I hate it. Sadly there's nothing that makes me more reactionary - sat on Twitter posting pictures of Beckett and and some Le Corbusier shouting "RETVRN"

[Valmy]

When your views cross into the domain of opposing the existence of a vast group of innocent people and working to charge the law to restrict their rights then the its just an opinion defence falls down.

I am 100% positive that JK Rowling does not oppose the existence of trans people.

She has her own views that I may agree or disagree with, but you are seriously strawmanning what her views are.

Here is what I think about JK Rowling: she is not a very self-aware person. She lies, but I don't even think it is intentional. Back when I paid attention to things Harry Potter she would bend over backwards pretending plot holes and other inconsistent things were entirely pre-planned and not issues. Later when diversity became more fashionable she was bending over backwards trying to pretend that her 1990s book series about white straight people was in fact very diverse. She just wouldn't let her work speak for itself, she always had this weird need to be seen as never wrong or virtuous or something. I don't know her personally of course, but I found her extremely bizarre in her public statements.

So sure she has said the right things about trans people and said some shitty things about them. Does she in fact have coherent thoughts about trans people? I don't know. I don't even think she knows. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if sometime down the road she insists that she was very pro-trans the whole time though. Tons of characters in Harry Potter were actually trans, honest! 

Granted that is all based on my memories of 2010s JK Rowling she might be different now, I don't pay much attention to her public statements anymore.

[celedhring]

Btw, do movie journalists rate LOTR, Paddington, The King's Speech, Shakespeare In Love, and Pulp Fiction 0/10? What he did is a lot worse than what Rowling did.

I am not sure who you are talking about 

But that is other reason I lean to Death of the Artist. Because there is something rather arbitrary about it. Once you establish that any bad person associated with anything makes it untouchable, it can quickly get ridiculous.

That and the whole thing about ethical consumption under capitalism in general.

Yeah, there's other people involved in making these things besides [insert controversial person]. It's certainly warranted to take exception at a piece of art's message (and Rowlings detective books are hilariously political/defensive), or even boycott something when its autorship is clearly focused on a single person with views you find objectionable - but I'm willing to bet that Rowling's input in the Hogwarts game is pretty minimal, and the people that created it seem to have done a pretty wonderful job according to reviews. Why punish them?

[The Brain]

There are many artists that I enjoy who have views that, if I were offended by other people's opinions, I would consider offensive. Including the opinion that people like me should be killed or put in camps, and worse opinions than that. I find it very easy to separate the artist and the art, but I understand that some people have "culture warrior" as a significant part of their identity and enjoy fighting the good fight.

[Solmyr]

I'm not saying everyone must boycott the game - it's a personal choice. It's just good to remember what the creator stands for, and weight in your mind whether you want to support them. It's not limited to Rowling, other games also have problematic people/companies associated with them - Ubisoft and their massive culture of sexual harassment, Activision Blizzard's oppression of their employees, etc.

[The Brain]

Sure. But many people think there's quite a difference between opinions and illegal activities.

[garbon]

There are many artists that I enjoy who have views that, if I were offended by other people's opinions, I would consider offensive. Including the opinion that people like me should be killed or put in camps, and worse opinions than that. I find it very easy to separate the artist and the art, but I understand that some people have "culture warrior" as a significant part of their identity and enjoy fighting the good fight.

I think this is a bit extreme, but you think people are culture warriors if they didn't want to give money to people who wish they would be killed? 

[The Brain]

There are many artists that I enjoy who have views that, if I were offended by other people's opinions, I would consider offensive. Including the opinion that people like me should be killed or put in camps, and worse opinions than that. I find it very easy to separate the artist and the art, but I understand that some people have "culture warrior" as a significant part of their identity and enjoy fighting the good fight.

I think this is a bit extreme, but you think people are culture warriors if they didn't want to give money to people who wish they would be killed? 

I think they are culture warriors if they give art poor reviews because of the artist's opinions, or tell others not to enjoy the art because of the artist's opinions.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah, there's other people involved in making these things besides [insert controversial person]. It's certainly warranted to take exception at a piece of art's message (and Rowlings detective books are hilariously political/defensive), or even boycott something when its autorship is clearly focused on a single person with views you find objectionable - but I'm willing to bet that Rowling's input in the Hogwarts game is pretty minimal, and the people that created it seem to have done a pretty wonderful job according to reviews. Why punish them?

Although the detective books have been adapted by the BBC - and apparently it's a really good show. It stars Tom Burke, though, which helps.

[garbon]

There are many artists that I enjoy who have views that, if I were offended by other people's opinions, I would consider offensive. Including the opinion that people like me should be killed or put in camps, and worse opinions than that. I find it very easy to separate the artist and the art, but I understand that some people have "culture warrior" as a significant part of their identity and enjoy fighting the good fight.

I think this is a bit extreme, but you think people are culture warriors if they didn't want to give money to people who wish they would be killed? 

I think they are culture warriors if they give art poor reviews because of the artist's opinions, or tell others not to enjoy the art because of the artist's opinions.

With the assumption the art has nothing reflecting the artist's opinions?

[Tamas]

Is this computer game a piece of Rowlings' art, though? And also: is Harry Potter an anti-trans piece of art? I have never read the book so I would not know.