Stupid Comment of the Month #6: totally not about gamergate

We’ve not had a Stupid Comment of the Month since 2012. The topic does not often come up, and is usually helmed by Shaun, but this time round I am taking the reigns. It is going to be a bumper edition courtesy of a random guy off the internet.

In the last few weeks I have been slowly retreating from social media. After reading a piece by Laura Michet (not linked here due to the nature of this post) it struck me that I was spending too much time engaging in social media discussion that ultimately left me exhausted.

A comedian once said that mobile phones allow people to talk more about less and I utterly agree with that sentiment. I feel like the internet has caused me to have even fewer significant conversations and yet I’m more drained due to investing more time in those I do have.

However, when the following conversation started on a Facebook thread I really couldn’t resist breaking the silence.

Please note: we aren’t complete dicks, so identities have been obscured (with humorous pictures in some cases). Also, we have provided a translation for one of the members of the conversation. The text exists mostly in unedited form but we have included some non-stupid inline comments so as to give the rest of the discussion context. Screengrabs of the conversation were taken in two batches, on the night that the conversation started and the following afternoon just before the thread was deleted.

It started on a discussion thread outside of the normal gaming forums, on which the initial posts were civil. Then this:

Translation: I haven’t got a clue what I am talking about…

Translation:… and I can prove it.

So I had to comment.

At the time I was responding to a different post but this invoked Krusty’s disagreement.

Translation: I once saw someone much cleverer than me use this word in an internet argument to shut the other person down.

Translation: For anyone who wants to base their opinions on my shade of dumb feel free to agree with me.

Translation: Damn, I really like that word. It really rolls off the tongue.

Translation: I am a massive homophobe who bases his views on made up flim-flam, which is supported by my equally homophobic peers. That is, when we aren’t flinging poo at each other and checking each other’s hair for ticks.

Translation: I have no real interest in continuing this discussion because I have no proof and instead I would rather further my own agenda. Also, yes, I did just say that anyone who calls someone a misogynist is actually being racist.

Translation: My stance is basically: I am headbutting the keyboard at this point. I am as surprised as you are that words are coming out and forming sentences.

Some of you may have made it this far and be shaking your head in disbelief and wondering ‘how is it that this guy is getting likes?’. Please note: if the likes are singular then it is because I had to click ‘like’. I mean, most of this is comedy fucking gold. Half the time I had tears rolling down my eyes.

So then I posed the question (sorry, the thread has been deleted, so I can’t screen capture me posing this question): was Krusty a gamergate supporter or just a person interested from the sidelines? Incidentally, this is a trick question that Krusty the clown cannot answer correctly, but here he goes:

Translation: Yeah, you thought it was going to be a simple answer but this is way better than anticipated. Listen to me, seriously, fucking listen to me: South Park.

At this point the tumbleweeds had blown away and someone other than me actually responded to him. To steal some buzzfeed terms, his response to this was priceless.

 

Translation: What does ‘apologia’ mean? I only have one big word that I know. Also, I have not read all of your post and I’m going to prove it to you.

Translation: Told you I’d prove that I didn’t read all of your post.

Translation: As I write these words I can imagine a bunch of people standing up at their desks (in their homes or their offices) and applauding – hands pumping furiously as they clap -  all of them exclaiming: ‘oh my deity, Krusty, you fucking nailed it’. Have you seen that awesome film ‘Wolf of Wall Street’? I am Leonardo DiCaprio in this scenario.

At this point the admins dropped in with a reminder telling him what is acceptable and what is not.

 

Translation: I don’t give a fuck what you say. You will never take my FREEDOM, or my misuse of ‘sophistry’.

The diatribe that Krusty went on about porn use is pretty good after that but we are talking about about 1000 words of fantasy. After that, Krusty has time for some theorising.

Translation: Whenever I say ‘my theories’ it basically means I can spout whatever the fuck I want and you can’t fucking touch me. Theories hurt no one, especially the ones based on facts… in my head. Come on, it isn’t that much of a stretch to believe what I am saying.

This didn’t really work for a few people so they started calling him a misogynist. He came back with a serious riposte.

Translation: You thought I just wasn’t reading your posts? Fuck man, I’m not even reading my own posts.

Translation: And when I say ‘in how they express themselves’ I mean ‘when they do that thing where their mouths move and I have to listen to them’.

At this point I woke up with a bit of a hangover and laughed my arse off.

Apologies for the spelling and grammar stumbles there – I was a little hungover and without an editor.

Translation: You have pointed out a hole in my logic, but my logic is infallible – I am confused.

Translation: I am even more confused. I keep using that word over and over and you don’t seem to understand that this means you have to stop debating with me. Hmmm… what’s this? ‘Troll calling card – use in case of emergency”.

The thread then dissipated as the admins came in and stomped it out.

A lot of centrists are trying to paint a picture of two sides to the story that need to be heard. It becomes harder and harder to believe that when people like Krusty exist.

Perhaps the biggest problem was that no one else expressing support for the gamergate movement was condemning his words. One made a few allusions to it but still appeared to class Krusty as an ally, and never outright asked ‘seriously dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?’

Such silence from the gamergate movement is worrying – they are quick to decry hypocrisy but appear unable to look at the contradictions within their own ranks of members and supporters.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this conversation.

Postscript: it appears that gamergate is shifting away from its original manifesto concerning ethics and games journalism. Instead they seem to be about pushing against Social Justice infestation. Make of that what you will.