When I told you that Law & Order: SVU was making an episode about GamerGate, I still had hope that they would do a good job. It sounded like they might take a well-rounded approach to gamers, showing that while some are awful, toxic creatures, the majority of the population are in no way like that. Unfortunately, the episode is not looking too positive for gamers of any kind.
NBC is showing some promo clips for the upcoming episode. Beyond the sub-standard acting performances in this scene, the content is rather negative. I think we can all guess who Raina is supposed to be here.
Then there’s this clip that seems to take place further along in the episode and is even more unpleasant.
I know it’s just a TV show and probably would never actually show the whole picture, but I sort of expected a more balanced approach. While I agree that the harassment of women in gaming lately is abysmal, it’s a generalization that can be spread over all of gaming. I would argue that the majority of gamers are against harassment and abuse; it’s just a ridiculously vocal minority who are pushing for this awful agenda. Unfortunately, as soon as this episode airs, it will become canon in the mainstream, giving people an easy point of reference with which to condemn gamers of all walks of life.
Let’s just hope that they pull off something a bit more nuanced in the actual show.
Last Updated: February 6, 2015
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 6, 2015 at 19:11
Why are they showing death & rape threats & harassment when it’s actually about ethics in video game journalism? So unfair, surely…
Raptor Rants A Lot:Original #7
February 6, 2015 at 20:09
Dun Dun!
Brady miaau
February 6, 2015 at 20:09
Well, not unexpected. Balanced, happy stories do not for “good” television make. Besides, not sure this show is about social justice or anything like that.
This show sickens me. So many seasons of, essentially, violent crime and rape. And people must watch it in sufficient numbers.
Michael Goldman
February 10, 2015 at 04:45
A big fan of NCIS are you also? A show about our people in the armed forces being murdered, butchered, slaughtered, tortured, etc? Now with 3 different shows and a total of 19 years after this season ends? Since a lot of video games are War Games, I figure you must like these too.
Joseph Joestar
February 6, 2015 at 23:55
you lost me at “While I agree that the harassment of women in gaming lately is abysmal”, yes they get harass but its nothing special as how men get harass, its harassment tailored to a difference audiance
Tom Krager
February 7, 2015 at 02:32
Gamergate only ever got my attention when I noticed popular feminists were trying to censor videogames. It doesn’t really have much to do with ethics in gaming journalism for me but I know to some that’s literally all that they care about . .. then there are some who just want to harass. But to be honest, I don’t see a lot of the gamergaters being harassers or people that throw vile rape threats. In fact, I have yet to see one mainstream blogger or video maker that supports gamergate actually make a rape threat, or harass someone.
Everyone I know in the movement supports women in gaming .. . I know I do. We simply want to be judged fairly and we want our hobby to be kept the way it is . .. we want games to be made that sometimes ppl find offensive because WE HAPPEN TO FIND THEM FUN! When feminists start trying to claim that videogames created or added to the mistreatment of women in the real world, they completely went overboard. I simply want to defend my hobby and my gender . . . I do that by POINTING OUT THE FLAWS IN THEIR ARGUMETNS! not by harassing them or threatening them with rape.
konfab aka derp
February 9, 2015 at 10:49
Unfortunately, if you say anything against this type of feminist, you will instantly be branded as a misogynistic pig.
konfab aka derp
February 9, 2015 at 10:46
They uploaded though the dark net…
Darren Peach
February 9, 2015 at 13:45
Gamers are a soft target. If you keep up to date on global news, You will probably notice that there have been numerous stories about politicians, sports stars and famous television personalities involved in major sex scandals. These often have similar themes, groups of men engaging in sex with underage females. There are odd instances where famous movie directors are guilty of the same thing. Most noteworthy is Roman Polanski who fled the US years ago to avoid prosecution. The worst one I have heard about on BBC and SKY involved politicians being associated with young girls being picked up from their schools and being used for sex. Every other week there seems to be a new instance, Today being no different. I know that this subject has made it’s way on to mainstream television in movies and shows, but in reality, This is far more real than what is being promoted in the above promo’s. I agree that the threats are real but I have not seen or heard of any instance where anyone was seriously harmed as a result. The point I am making is if you are objective about the world, Our heroes are guilty of terrible stuff that we are willing to accept because we like them. Why generalise and make people who play games guilty by proxy ? This is wanton recklessness in order to entertain at the cost of the reputation of many. While gamergate is a real issue, does it deserve this sort of exposure ? Sexism and misogyny in gaming are a issue but I would think that it has more to do with what sells and who your target audience has been traditionally than any real malice. Many who play are teenagers without tact who probably don’t think about consequence pertaining to this is problem. Even I will admit that when I was twenty, Female gamers were a rarity. Things change and society adapts.
Michael Goldman
February 10, 2015 at 04:41
If you are going to write an intelligent response like this, you may lose a lot of your gaming friends. The best thing about this episode is that since it was announced, many gaming people have come to realize what keyboards are really for. What you have written is so far way over the heads of most human beings that they probably won’t finish reading it. Nice job by you.
Darren Peach
February 10, 2015 at 07:35
Thank you.