Trigger Warnings: Rape, rape culture, lotsa swearing.
[a great, comprehensive recap of this situation can be found here: http://debacle.tumblr.com/post/3041940865/the-pratfall-of-penny-arcade-a-timeline]
About a week and a half ago, the Dickwolves controversy reared it’s ugly, ugly head again when Gabe said in an interview that he wishes he wouldn’t have pulled the Dickwolves Merchandise from stores. This exposed some still-fresh wounds in the gaming community, prompting a hailstorm of blogs, twitter responses, and discussions. For those who aren’t familiar, here is a recap with my personal reactions along the way:
August 2010 [read this if you don’t understand what the big deal is]: Penny Arcade, a powerful and well-known group in the gaming industry posted a comic where they made a joke out of an NPC being raped by Dickwolves. More specifically, the cartoon was a critique of fetch quests where you do heroic acts like save slaves, but then stop while others are still there because you have completed the quest. The rape part was a small part of the comic and was not the focus. While I don’t believe the comic was directly making fun of rape, it was using the severity of rape to make its point and to make its joke. So, not cool. But considering how many horrible, disgusting fucking things that happen in the industry every day, this probably wouldn’t have even stood out to me if not for the backlash.
But here’s the thing, many many people found the cartoon unoffensive. Some people found it offensive. That doesn’t mean one group is right; that doesn’t mean that there is one “right” way or even one “feminist” way to interpret the cartoon. People get offended by shit. People get offended by shit that I think is ridiculous. People get offended by shit I think is serious and horrible. Unfortunately for Gabe, the video game industry has a long, entrenched history of abusing, sexually assaulting, shaming, ignoring, silencing, excluding, marginalizing, and erasing women and their contributions to the field. The numbers of women in the industry are abysmally low, and most of the time a woman comes into the spotlight, they get harassed, insulted, and threatened until they (most often) quit the industry and are silent to keep themselves and their families safe. In this culture, a rape joke is never just a joke. Women are *systematically* excluded from the video game industry by things like rape. When you’re in a position of power, when people respect you, like Penny Arcade, you add to this by making a joke out of rape. No matter how innocuous. No matter how accidental. They made a joke of rape, and it offended people [in and of itself, not so horrible, or rather it’s at least far far more common]; but for me, the real crime came after when they defended their comic and empowered those who believe women should get the fuck in the kitchen and make a sandwich.
[Oh but it was just Gabe, not Penny Arcade). I doubt that is of little consolation to those who got trolled, threatened, or hurt by the comic and by the actions after. In my mind, Gabe is and speaks for Penny Arcade, because people respond to him as “Gabe from Penny Arcade” not just Gabe some random dude. He is his position and Penny Arcade is the reason he has power and why this was such a big deal.]
2 months later… In the interim, several well known female bloggers spoke out against the comic for making a joke of rape and for contributing to the anti-woman culture in the industry. Many gamers rallied behind Penny Arcade, showing their love by creating things like “Team Rape.” [https://twitter.com/teamrape]. Gamers tell most of the women speaking out that they hope the women get raped, particularly by Dickwolves. Then Penny Arcade sanctions Dickwolves t-shirts. There are countless rape threat attacks on twitter. Finally gamers who hate women have sanctioning from someone in power and they use it to troll and abuse and threatening anyone who dare speak ill of Penny Arcade.
Eventually Gabe apologizes. It’s weak, and clear he still doesn’t understand. And it’s too late. Because of him, people who would join Team Rape have been given power and a voice and found likeminded people. They pull the Dickwolves merchandise (at the urging of Robert, the other primary Penny Arcade guy).
But then, in September 2013, Gabe says that pulling the Dickwolves merchandise was the biggest mistake he has ever made. Not, mind you, creating an atmosphere where it was ok to threaten women with rape, to troll their sites, to create pro-rape merchandise, but pulling the merchandise was the problem. He then writes an apology found here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/09/04/some-clarification. He says he regrets everything he has done after the initial comic. It actually sounds like he is starting to get why people found it offensive. Or at least he is saying the words.
I, for one, find the apology genuine. Gabe sounds defeated and tired (just imagine how tired Courtney Stanton is having to block thousands of rape threats from her site, but I digress). His legacy is that of supporting and rallying together people who think rape is funny and/or who think that its ok to threaten to rape women (they’re not people anyway, right?). The groups have been formed, the connections have been made. Dickwolves will never die. And for me, Dickwolves are the perfect representation of how the video game industry systematically excludes women.
So in the end. I accept the apology. But he has done so much damage that he probably will never know about or understand. You just can’t kill a dickwolf. They will keep respawning. He says in his apology that he doesn’t try to be a role model, that he just wants to be a regular guy. Unfortunately, he’s not. And he inspired a lot of pain and hurt. And then defended it and stood by it. He says that he still thinks the original comic is funny. But can anything really be funny after all this? You keep laughing at your Dickwolves, and the rest of us will be trying to pick up the pieces, installing sexual harassment policies, creating safe and equitable work environments, making games that don’t objectify women, and trying to make things a little safer for us at cons. But no no, what’s important is whether or not the comic is funny.
10 thoughts on “How You Kill a Dickwolf”
Well said. Well said. I think it is systematic of people who find themselves in positions of power (whether they be sporting heroes, politicians, celebrities, etc) and then don’t realize the influence they have over the masses. And, of course, when they screw up they tread out the line “Oh, but I never wanted to be a role model”. Well, sorry dude but there is an implied contract when you gain power & status and that is, like it or not: you ARE a role model. And, of course, they know that deep down but conveniently push it to the side.
That is the trade-off of success. You want to be successful, powerful, rich, and famous? Well, to use a cliché: With great power comes great responsibility. ie. Think before you act.
What Penny Arcade did & said was horrible in & of itself but that horribleness spreading to the masses……yeah….I don’t have the words. 🙁
Well thanks for your thoughtful reply. I always get nervous before posting stuff like this because it’s so contentious, and it’s such a huge topic that you can never consider or discuss every nuance. But I think you’re right, they are role models. And they are responsible for things like “Team Rape” becoming a thing. And hopefully they’ll answer for it some day, or at least really understand what they’ve done.
Political correctness (and western feminism) is a mental illness that should be forcefully medicated. The dickwolfes joke was funny in its own context. Taken out of that context it is just another rape joke, most of which are really really stupid. The only way anyone could get riled up about it is if they suffer from one of the mental illnesses mentioned above and by taking it out of its context.
But once you take things out of their context there is no limit to how offended we can all be about everything.
They are not role models. They are 2 guys with a webcomic and a trade show and if you place more than that on their shoulders, it is entirely an imaginary construct of your own making and they have no obligation to comply with your narrow world view.
I agree that there is something that could be interpreted as Misogyny in the game industry. But rather than that, it is an expression of how conservative publishers are. These suits still think that their core audience is 15 year old boys, and in this lies most of the problem with the lack of female protagonists etc.
@Noah
First off, I respect your right to believe that feminism and political correctness are a mental illness and am simply thankful that global medical decisions are not left up to you 🙂 That being said I would like to address some of what you say in a manner that may actually add to the conversation that is currently taking place in this community.
While I understand that the joke about dick wolves may have been amusing to some, but what was most problematic for some of us was that it was posted in a public forum. In the same way that racist and homophobic jokes may be funny to some people, they have no place in a public space (online or off). I actually agree with you when you say that Mike and Jerry are not role models, they are unfortunately looked up to and emulated by some of the less mature and/or intelligent members in the gaming community. Sadly, when we put ourselves in any public position (i.e. via web comics or as a professional athlete) we place ourselves in the position of becoming a role model and someone to emulate by someone and have to accept the responsibility as such.
I am glad to see that we do actually agree on something when you say that you recognize that misogyny in the industry exists and that this is the core cause of many of the problems that our community faces (I would include racism and homophobia, but that’s another post).
In regards to yor second comment. You are right that the comic was about the rape of a male cavedweller, but rape in no less traumatic when the victim is of the opposite sex. Women do not think so little of men that they would ignore the pain and trauma that male rape victims endure.
That being said, please know that we welcome your (civil) participation in our community. We need to have these discussions that look at all opinions in the larger gaming community because it is this open communication that makes us stronger and more inclusive.
Game On!
Thank you kindly for the warm welcome 🙂
The way I see it, this whole conversation really takes its offset elsewhere. We have grown a culture in which we seem to believe that we have the right not to be offended, ever. The crass and rude should not automatically be excluded or fought in the name of trying to make sure that nobody is ever hurt or offended by the actions of others.
Gay jokes, racist jokes and homophobic ones are all fine. Most people who hear them understand that what makes the joke work is the fact that they are so absolutely wrong.
The difference between a racist joke and a racist is enormous. One is told to overstep other peoples boundaries and have them feel dirty and naughty and it often makes us laugh. The other is hateful towards others for reasons beyond their own control. Which obviously is retarded. You can blame someone for their choice of political party, but not what skin they are born into or how their emotional systems work.
What about cultural jokes and stereotypes? The right way to deal with those issues is to laugh at the hatred, disarm it. Do not directly attack it or try to suppress it because thats the very same core mindset the haters have (going to war with everyone and everything, winning “battles” and taking P.O.W’s), and by doing it, we indirectly lend them legitimacy. The tyranny made from good intentions.
Another part is the “*im not responsible” mindset. We have a brain and we’d do well to use it. Mike is just a guy. Just like the rest of us, but with more money and fans. Nothing in this automatically makes him responsible for the thoughts and behavior of his fans unless he directly preach hatred. You are responsible for you.
It is like the people who scream that fast food commercials makes people fat. No, our brains and evolution makes us fat in a (part of the) world with such abundance. There are people actively trying to fight a war with fast food companies. How arrogant is that? What they are indirectly saying is that people are simply too stupid to make informed decisions so they will be happy to do it for you. The anti racist, anti fascist etc. etc. crowd are very much bordering on this too.
I was an immature tosspot too when I was a teen. I probably still am, but I like to think that I grew older and wiser, regardless of the fact. This with all the crap I had to hear and all the bollock bad jokes, the crass, the rude, the whole ball of wax and yet, here I am, and none of it really stuck with me. Why do you assume it will to young gamers unless a war is fought against those who would pollute their fragile little minds?.
Real haters are soon found out and both IRL and online and most people isolate them from larger communites. We all know its BS of the highest magnitude and that it express nothing but their own fragile self image.
All the rape threats and being mean towards those poor feminists who had a spinal reaction to a trigger word are dealing with the generation who came up with Encyclopedia Dramatica. What did they expect? Its their way of saying “you are so full of it, suck it lady”. I do not believe that one of those threats were real in the sense that something bad would happen. Its just….they are a pretty crass generation, but clearly they are no more hateful than mine was. They are a natural reaction to political correctness which in my book is the worst kind of lying. I’d rather someone tell me off for whatever about me rubs them the wrong way than have them slime me with smarmy. Especially if it was by law they did so.
On the conservative culture with the games industry itself. give it 10 years and the lulz generation are in charge, which is when it will change.
Fucking kids. They are alright. 😉
Wow, I did not realize that I created a wall.
I think the short of it is that I can put myself in Mikes shoes. He had a joke that relied on one guy not wanting to be left to his ill fate. And what was the worst thing Mike could think of that could happen to the poor guy, short of death? Rape.
Everybody ignored that he made his own view perfectly clear right there. And to me the rest is just noise. I can fully understand why Mike would get seriously offended that anyone would even suggest, that he in any way endorsed rape. It is however a part of our reality and therefore storytellers can include it in their stories and dirty jokes.
No one ever accused Krahulik or PA of endorsing rape. The Sixth Slave comic relied on the juxtaposition of the slave’s horrible fate and the “hero’s” indifference to their plight. No criticism that I read ever construed that to mean that the creators were in support of rape. What they were bothered by was the fact that some rape survivors suffer severe PTSD which can be triggered by even a casual mention of rape in a fantastical environment. (That’s why this article started out with a trigger warning; it’s what people who are aware of that potential and aren’t assholes do when they chose to discuss potentially harmful subjects in public.)
Just in the way you wouldn’t pop a bag behind the head of a war vet with severe PTSD, it’s not unreasonable to ask people to not mention rape when their audience might include rape survivors. With an audience as big as PA has, it’s almost guaranteed that some of their audience could be easily triggered by that comment.
Instead of acknowledging those complaints, Krahulik and Holkins chose to make a comic attacking a straw man and completely ignored genuine criticism meant to help them avoid such missteps in the future. People aren’t nearly as concerned with their use of rape in the comic as they are by their response to people asking them to be more considerate of rape survivors in the future.
Just to point out precisely how I know that this whole quagmire is just the usual spinal reaction from the feminist peanut gallery to certain “triggerwords” like “rape”. You said;
“His legacy is that of supporting and rallying together people who think rape is funny and/or who think that its ok to threaten to rape women”
The strip he made was about a GUY who did not want to get raped by the dickwolf. The joke was the he was the 6th slave, but the quest only required 5 to be rescued so…. tough titties cavedweller ima go back to town to get my XP and loot.
If you read Mike’s apology, the question he was answering was “What mistakes has Robert Khoo made?” I hope a question about his own mistakes would be different.