Some people seem to be interpreting the question as, "Should it be legal for games to make political statements?" There are a lot of stupid things that it should be legal for games to do, but games still shouldn't do them. For example, if a very grindy game wanted to completely wipe the database every 24 hours so that no one ever got very far into it, it should be legal to do that. But it's stupid, so games shouldn't do it. That's about how I feel about political advocacy in most games, too.
Games which tell stories have no choice but to be political. Even if you sit down and try to write a non-political story it will still be shaped by your biases, culture and prejudices. This is true of every author ever. You seem to be confusing "politics" with "propaganda". A well written game is usually not going to be so unsubtle with its politics as to devolve into propaganda blatantly trying to convince you of some idea or belief system. The game is going to portray society in a certain way with certain power dynamics though and thus be inherently political.
Propaganda is usually just bad writing (although there are some people who can do it well).
a person's politics are tied to their view of the world as a whole, you really can't expect politics (or philosophy) to be completely absent from games.
Bioshock, famously, was presented as an incredibly scathing critique of ayn rand's philosophy. I didn't know that when I played it, but i enjoyed it. When a friend pointed it out to me, i was like, wow, makes perfect sense, what a great platform for commentary.
You can find conservative-leaning dialogue in Firefall; makes sense because orson scott card has a lot of conservative views. I don't agree witth him but i didnt feel they detracted from the game just because i didn't agree with him. I would have drawn the line if he had included any homophobic content; politics are one thing, hating on people because of who they are is another. But he (wisely) didn't let any of that seep into the game. I actually recommend playing the game even though i firmly disagree with the game's primary writer.
Obviously there is a difference between alluding to your philosophy or political leanings and beating your players over the head with them. It's foolish to think we can completely remove ourselves from our work, especially creative work where the creator puts a bit of themselves into the product.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
'Everything is politics' if your agenda is to politicise everything. First establish a nonsensical statement as fact, then push your agenda into every corner of human activity and thought. No thanks.
All games should be able to make political statements.... As long as it ADDS something to the game. That's where most forms of media get into trouble. The authors/directors/artists get so worked up about making some crtitque of the human condition it makes the end product rubbish.
It's like anything else sex, violence, profanity, all SHOULD be allowed in games as long as it's for a reason other than just to have it. As long as it's to develop a part of the story... that's fine.
If you preaching gender inequality because it's vital to explain the story or the characters then great. If your doing it because your trying to make your platform shoot-em up game have "depth" than you need to stop.
There is a place for everything..... It all depends on what your trying to accomplish and how your going about it.
It depends on how many people you want to alienate.
You don't have to alienate many people if you do it subtly and in ways where it's not immediately obvious to everyone. I still say it's nearly impossible for games not to make a political statement. When people talk about "non-political games" they seem to be usually talking about games which reflect the politics of the majority and the status quo (Straight relationships are not political Gay relationships are political.) (Heroes are not political. Heroines are political.) This is blatantly wrong. All those things are making a political statement.
You don't have to alienate many people if you do it subtly and in ways where it's not immediately obvious to everyone.
But you will alienate people. It may be a small group or a large group depending on how charged the issue is and that could determine how well you meet your population goals that keep the game running.
Subtlety has no effect. People aren't stupid and they will see issues that get them riled up no matter how subtle you try and portray them. Hell, people see political statements in things that don't even have them when they're overly sensitive about the issues.
You don't have to alienate many people if you do it subtly and in ways where it's not immediately obvious to everyone.
But you will alienate people. It may be a small group or a large group depending on how charged the issue is and that could determine how well you meet your population goals that keep the game running.
Subtlety has no effect. People aren't stupid and they will see issues that get them riled up no matter how subtle you try and portray them. Hell, people see political statements in things that don't even have them when they're overly sensitive about the issues.
A game which portrays the world in a certain way is making a political statement (i.e. any game with any kind of story and game world). The fact that you don't really notice or get offended proves that most do it subtlety and it does work. As I said earlier in the thread making a subtle political statement is different from outright propaganda. If you make a world which is suffering from the effects of global warming, that is a subtle political statement. If you have an NPC lecturing the player about environmentalist talking points, that is propaganda. The first probably won't piss many people off, the second definitely will.
It depends on how many people you want to alienate.
You don't have to alienate many people if you do it subtly and in ways where it's not immediately obvious to everyone. I still say it's nearly impossible for games not to make a political statement. When people talk about "non-political games" they seem to be usually talking about games which reflect the politics of the majority and the status quo (Straight relationships are not political Gay relationships are political.) (Heroes are not political. Heroines are political.) This is blatantly wrong. All those things are making a political statement.
Sorry iridescence, but your central premises is a load of bull.
Having a setting does not make it political, and it most certainly does not make an excuse to actually add full-blown political propaganda just because "hey, it's already political. And if you don't find it such, it just means you haven't been looking hard enough.".
I've been playing torchlight II. Please tell me the political statements in chasing a demented alchemist across desserts and rainforests.
I want to try GW2. Please tell me what political statements does the world of Tyria hold, as a whole?
Cabal Online? What influencing propaganda does a generic korean MMO make?
I want to try Star Citizen because space battle games with shiny graphics are fun. Irrelevant settings based on late roman empire politics are inconsequantial to the real world.
I played Mortal Kombat 9 with friend a couple of days ago. Couldn't care less about the story, but X-Raying Reptile was fun.
Heroes of the Storm? I really want to know the political biases in a game who's entire premises is half-assed.
These things are not political, they are just fun.
It depends on how many people you want to alienate.
You don't have to alienate many people if you do it subtly and in ways where it's not immediately obvious to everyone. I still say it's nearly impossible for games not to make a political statement. When people talk about "non-political games" they seem to be usually talking about games which reflect the politics of the majority and the status quo (Straight relationships are not political Gay relationships are political.) (Heroes are not political. Heroines are political.) This is blatantly wrong. All those things are making a political statement.
Sorry iridescence, but your central premises is a load of bull.
I've been playing torchlight II. Please tell me the political statements in chasing a demented alchemist across desserts and rainforests.
I want to try GW2. Please tell me what political statements does the world of Tyria hold, as a whole?
Cabal Online? What influencing propaganda does a generic korean MMO make?
I want to try Star Citizen because space battle games with shiny graphics are fun. Irrelevant settings based on late roman empire politics are inconsequantial to the real world.
I played Mortal Kombat 9 with friend a couple of days ago. Couldn't care less about the story, but X-Raying Reptile was fun.
Heroes of the Storm? I really want to know the political biases in a game who's entire premises is half-assed.
These things are not political, they are just fun.
There probably is political stuff in all those settings. I don't know them well enough or really feel like taking the time to analyse them but everything has some politics in the loosest sense of the word in it People find political messages in things like children's fairy tales all the time.
Also I wasn't arguing that "it's already political so just put a bunch of propaganda in it!" I was actually saying the exact opposite. "Politics" isn't bad but blatant propaganda is.
I'd like to think that games which rely heavily on narrative make philosophical statements all the time, and should continue to do so. The best games in this regard have to be the Metal Gear: Solid series and the Mass Effect series.
The absolute master at promoting social justice themes in popular media was Gene Roddenberry. Unlike McIntosh and Sarkeesian, Roddenberry did not fight or criticize the media of his day, nor did he criticize politics as it was. Instead, he showed alternatives. Here's his perspective:
There's a way to talk about social justice well and a way to do it not-so-well. The way to do it well is how Gene Roddenberry did it with Star Trek. Here's a clip from YouTube which talks about Uhura as a subtle, yet powerful statement on civil rights:
We need more people like Roddenberry, and less people like McIntosh, in gaming today.
__________________________ "Its sad when people use religion to feel superior, its even worse to see people using a video game to do it." --Arcken
"...when it comes to pimping EVE I have little restraints." --Hellmar, CEO of CCP.
"It's like they took a gun, put it to their nugget sack and pulled the trigger over and over again, each time telling us how great it was that they were shooting themselves in the balls." --Exar_Kun on SWG's NGE
Originally posted by Enbysra Without even reading beyond just the question, "Should games make political statements?" Yes. MMORPGs especially should present real world subject matter, issues and even taboos. They do not need to directly or outright present such subject matters, but can easily show subjects such as prejudice, for instance. They could easily have some part of a land whose society is gender biased (both ways in different parts of the world even) and could be constructed based on historical and current facts, without needing to outright state, "that group of people X from the real world." Such could be done with respect to politics, religion, racial bias, etc. MMORPGs hold the ability to literally educate players about ANY subject, and to even be utilized for real studies which by necessity, have to have massive amounts of participants interacting (economics for instance). MMORPGs can and should absolutely be utilized for messages which educate, without specifically needing to say, "today's lesson is about..." Scientific studies have shown that people have certain portions of their brain becoming active IF some event is happening to them... AND, those same studies have shown that when a circumstance happens to someone that person cares about, their brain becomes active in a manner as if it were happening to them too. However, when such events occur to someone they do not know, their brain does not respond in the same manner. The importance of this with respect to MMORPGs, is that these "games" can provide first hand experiences (or at least as close to first hand experiences as possible) that these people would have never otherwise experienced, and thus educate them in ways that only real life experiences could provide. Place the players in positions of ending up on "that end of the stick." This I do believe is the future of MMORPGs. Even those religious groups within the real world that are completely opposed to "Roleplaying Games as being the devil's work," they too could educate those of their beliefs and scriptures better through an MMORPG than any book. Personally, I see no scripture of any language as any sort of "divine message." To me, if there is a divine creator then nature is the only scripture we have been given, as it is written not only in no language but also for every language. I only state that last part to show that although I personally would be opposed to religions using MMORPGs in that manner, it too could be done. That is the educational power that MMORPGs truly hold, the ability to truly educate. Of course, all such messages of every and any subject should be done properly and respectfully.
ARE YOU KIDDING??
The last thing i want in my game is some companies political spin and agenda, i play them for fun.
If political etc statements are fun for you, may i suggest the news?
When jesus creepers come knocking at the door, i tell them i am into satanism and close the door as they go to find someone else, if think that won't work then a fast 'no, not interested, bye'
If a game starts going the 'teach the masses' route, i'll give it to some other poor ***
News, internet .. lord knows how many other ways people can get news or politics
Whenever i see stuff like that on forums or ingame among players, it generally turns into a huge arguement.
The only polticial statements the games should make are those to do with the in-game fantasy world, these might mirror or parody our own, considering our values and ideals often creep into the art we create but the game should never be the canvas to demonstrate real world views. To do so is immersion breaking and if I am honest a little bit hokey.
The thing I see as completely ass-backwards from some of these comments is that I know a lot of you wouldn't even think about it if a game depicted your hero as having a straight sex relationship, yet as soon as there is anything related to a same sex relationship it instantly turns into "I go to games to escape reality" (apparently your ideal reality is no gays?) or "The publishers are trying to push their political views into this game" (because apparently a publisher can't just treat people like the human beings that they are without it being about politics).
Yet I know for a fact, that some of you who spout this nonsense wouldn't care two sh*ts if it was a straight relationship being depicted in a game. You know why? Because a large percentage of games have a straight relationship, have you saving the girl from the bad guy (Zelda), have you building relationships with girls (Persona), and etc.
So I call bull on all of those excuses. You just don't want your games to show the reality that everyone is getting their fair share of the pie now. Because you don't want everyone to get their fair share of the pie. You're a little piggy, and you want all that pie for yourself.
I really think people are more along the lines of upset that these kind of agendas are being pushed on them. How many people honestly care about so and so's taste in men/women? Or if they believe in equality for gender? People play games for a various degree of reasons. When I see people parading around trying to push the LGBT envelope in an mmo I roll my eyes. It's like one of those weird double standards. If you try and push being straight onto people you're a monster. If you try and push something else all of a sudden you're an internet hero.
Games will always have an agenda to them in some way or another. At the very least though could we keep it out of the media and just play happily? I see very little reason for people to just threaten women for wanting to have a different venue to play. With the vast amount of games out on the market as of now.... There is pretty much something for everyone. Hell I wonder if pong had these kinda problems.
I really think people are more along the lines of upset that these kind of agendas are being pushed on them. How many people honestly care about so and so's taste in men/women? Or if they believe in equality for gender? People play games for a various degree of reasons. When I see people parading around trying to push the LGBT envelope in an mmo I roll my eyes. It's like one of those weird double standards. If you try and push being straight onto people you're a monster. If you try and push something else all of a sudden you're an internet hero.
Games will always have an agenda to them in some way or another. At the very least though could we keep it out of the media and just play happily? I see very little reason for people to just threaten women for wanting to have a different venue to play. With the vast amount of games out on the market as of now.... There is pretty much something for everyone. Hell I wonder if pong had these kinda problems.
No one is pushing anything. Being tolerant of other people is not an agenda. It's a big deal because there are a lot of intolerant people out there still.
It's like when Captain Kirk kissed a black woman on screen. It was a big deal in the 60's.
No one is pushing anything. Being tolerant of other people is not an agenda. It's a big deal because there are a lot of intolerant people out there still.
It's like when Captain Kirk kissed a black woman on screen. It was a big deal in the 60's.
Tolerance is usually based on personal perspective. Getting mad at someone for speaking out against a white man kissing a black women could be seen as being intolerant of said individual's views or vice versa. The only thing that makes the difference is if your opinion is in the majority (or thought of as being in the majority) on: insert trending issue. And to say agendas are not being pushed in games that tell a story is foolish.
The code of the pessimistic loner: "We unpopular loners are realists, who follow the three non- popular principles: Not having any (Hope), Not making any (Gaps in your heart); And not giving into (Sweet talk)".
I really think people are more along the lines of upset that these kind of agendas are being pushed on them. How many people honestly care about so and so's taste in men/women? Or if they believe in equality for gender? People play games for a various degree of reasons. When I see people parading around trying to push the LGBT envelope in an mmo I roll my eyes. It's like one of those weird double standards. If you try and push being straight onto people you're a monster. If you try and push something else all of a sudden you're an internet hero.
Games will always have an agenda to them in some way or another. At the very least though could we keep it out of the media and just play happily? I see very little reason for people to just threaten women for wanting to have a different venue to play. With the vast amount of games out on the market as of now.... There is pretty much something for everyone. Hell I wonder if pong had these kinda problems.
No one is pushing anything. Being tolerant of other people is not an agenda. It's a big deal because there are a lot of intolerant people out there still.
It's like when Captain Kirk kissed a black woman on screen. It was a big deal in the 60's.
That's not the issue here. Back then we did not have agendas being created online and liked at the touch of a button. This is about the instruments being used to forward issues as much as the issues themselves.
In the decades to come people may become more online wise, they will not click every 'cause celebre' because there is a pop star who has advocated it. They may come to realise that Twitter and the like have become the toast of campaigning groups everywhere, allowing them to set up crusades on a weekly basis. Or maybe not, my faith in humanity may be misplaced.
Back then a black woman got kissed, before that there was not an online agenda pushing for a black women to be kissed. It was a big deal after the fact, not before. Today campaigners are trying to formulate a code, governed by them, which all writing be it in games or elsewhere conforms to.
They want to see their view of society stamped on everything. Historical setting? Races which are not human? Cultures which have never actually existed in the world? That does not matter, they have to reflect our current ideology on race and gender. But it does not stop there, what about tolerance, social justice, not being 'judgmental', the list just keeps getting added to.
Star Trek was a series where the writers were trying to show their vision of a more tolerant society. Today there is no choice, you have to follow the rules as set out by campaigners or risk online censure. And these rules which march forward under the banner of 'tolerance' expand every year. 'Tolerance' like 'social justice' is just a label to put your latest political idea into to get a 'like' from those who do not think about the issues.
The way to distinguish ethics from politics is the every changing nature of politics. 'Tolerance' 'justice' and so on were once ethical, now there are just a vehicle for this weeks campaign.
That's not the world I want to live in, nor do I think the majority want to live in the ideological prison that is being created.
Comments
Games which tell stories have no choice but to be political. Even if you sit down and try to write a non-political story it will still be shaped by your biases, culture and prejudices. This is true of every author ever. You seem to be confusing "politics" with "propaganda". A well written game is usually not going to be so unsubtle with its politics as to devolve into propaganda blatantly trying to convince you of some idea or belief system. The game is going to portray society in a certain way with certain power dynamics though and thus be inherently political.
Propaganda is usually just bad writing (although there are some people who can do it well).
Some games are making "life style" statements with :
-same sex marriage
- homosexual npc
are specific examples
a person's politics are tied to their view of the world as a whole, you really can't expect politics (or philosophy) to be completely absent from games.
Bioshock, famously, was presented as an incredibly scathing critique of ayn rand's philosophy. I didn't know that when I played it, but i enjoyed it. When a friend pointed it out to me, i was like, wow, makes perfect sense, what a great platform for commentary.
You can find conservative-leaning dialogue in Firefall; makes sense because orson scott card has a lot of conservative views. I don't agree witth him but i didnt feel they detracted from the game just because i didn't agree with him. I would have drawn the line if he had included any homophobic content; politics are one thing, hating on people because of who they are is another. But he (wisely) didn't let any of that seep into the game. I actually recommend playing the game even though i firmly disagree with the game's primary writer.
Obviously there is a difference between alluding to your philosophy or political leanings and beating your players over the head with them. It's foolish to think we can completely remove ourselves from our work, especially creative work where the creator puts a bit of themselves into the product.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
Good games are about meaningfull choices.
Meaningfull choices have no objective right or wrong only subjective right and wrong.
Subjective choices are based on oppions.
Oppinions are the very fabric of politics.
Good luck making good non-political games...
What's wrong with making the choice to be inclusive?
Let me answer that: nothing.
Not all games "should" make political statements. But those that want to do that should most definitely be able to.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
Should they?
It depends on how many people you want to alienate.
All games should be able to make political statements.... As long as it ADDS something to the game. That's where most forms of media get into trouble. The authors/directors/artists get so worked up about making some crtitque of the human condition it makes the end product rubbish.
It's like anything else sex, violence, profanity, all SHOULD be allowed in games as long as it's for a reason other than just to have it. As long as it's to develop a part of the story... that's fine.
If you preaching gender inequality because it's vital to explain the story or the characters then great. If your doing it because your trying to make your platform shoot-em up game have "depth" than you need to stop.
There is a place for everything..... It all depends on what your trying to accomplish and how your going about it.
You don't have to alienate many people if you do it subtly and in ways where it's not immediately obvious to everyone. I still say it's nearly impossible for games not to make a political statement. When people talk about "non-political games" they seem to be usually talking about games which reflect the politics of the majority and the status quo (Straight relationships are not political Gay relationships are political.) (Heroes are not political. Heroines are political.) This is blatantly wrong. All those things are making a political statement.
Are you saying homosexuals actually don't exist? Or are you saying an ideal world wouldn't have them, therefore they shouldn't be represented?
Some games are making lifestyle statements with:
- man/woman only relationships
- heterosexual only npcs
- male dominant/female objectified only
----------------------
If you think about it, having lgbt elements is actually a reflection of reality. Like it or not they exist in every corner of the globe.
Wouldnt the most accurate game have them - and have some cultures accept them and some reject them?
But you will alienate people. It may be a small group or a large group depending on how charged the issue is and that could determine how well you meet your population goals that keep the game running.
Subtlety has no effect. People aren't stupid and they will see issues that get them riled up no matter how subtle you try and portray them. Hell, people see political statements in things that don't even have them when they're overly sensitive about the issues.
A game which portrays the world in a certain way is making a political statement (i.e. any game with any kind of story and game world). The fact that you don't really notice or get offended proves that most do it subtlety and it does work. As I said earlier in the thread making a subtle political statement is different from outright propaganda. If you make a world which is suffering from the effects of global warming, that is a subtle political statement. If you have an NPC lecturing the player about environmentalist talking points, that is propaganda. The first probably won't piss many people off, the second definitely will.
Sorry iridescence, but your central premises is a load of bull.
Having a setting does not make it political, and it most certainly does not make an excuse to actually add full-blown political propaganda just because "hey, it's already political. And if you don't find it such, it just means you haven't been looking hard enough.".
I've been playing torchlight II. Please tell me the political statements in chasing a demented alchemist across desserts and rainforests.
I want to try GW2. Please tell me what political statements does the world of Tyria hold, as a whole?
Cabal Online? What influencing propaganda does a generic korean MMO make?
I want to try Star Citizen because space battle games with shiny graphics are fun. Irrelevant settings based on late roman empire politics are inconsequantial to the real world.
I played Mortal Kombat 9 with friend a couple of days ago. Couldn't care less about the story, but X-Raying Reptile was fun.
Heroes of the Storm? I really want to know the political biases in a game who's entire premises is half-assed.
These things are not political, they are just fun.
There probably is political stuff in all those settings. I don't know them well enough or really feel like taking the time to analyse them but everything has some politics in the loosest sense of the word in it People find political messages in things like children's fairy tales all the time.
Also I wasn't arguing that "it's already political so just put a bunch of propaganda in it!" I was actually saying the exact opposite. "Politics" isn't bad but blatant propaganda is.
I'd like to think that games which rely heavily on narrative make philosophical statements all the time, and should continue to do so. The best games in this regard have to be the Metal Gear: Solid series and the Mass Effect series.
The absolute master at promoting social justice themes in popular media was Gene Roddenberry. Unlike McIntosh and Sarkeesian, Roddenberry did not fight or criticize the media of his day, nor did he criticize politics as it was. Instead, he showed alternatives. Here's his perspective:
There's a way to talk about social justice well and a way to do it not-so-well. The way to do it well is how Gene Roddenberry did it with Star Trek. Here's a clip from YouTube which talks about Uhura as a subtle, yet powerful statement on civil rights:
We need more people like Roddenberry, and less people like McIntosh, in gaming today.
__________________________
"Its sad when people use religion to feel superior, its even worse to see people using a video game to do it."
--Arcken
"...when it comes to pimping EVE I have little restraints."
--Hellmar, CEO of CCP.
"It's like they took a gun, put it to their nugget sack and pulled the trigger over and over again, each time telling us how great it was that they were shooting themselves in the balls."
--Exar_Kun on SWG's NGE
Yes, and I meet intelligent people all the time.
If all you see is stupidity, then that says more about you than the people you encounter.
ARE YOU KIDDING??
The last thing i want in my game is some companies political spin and agenda, i play them for fun.
If political etc statements are fun for you, may i suggest the news?
When jesus creepers come knocking at the door, i tell them i am into satanism and close the door as they go to find someone else, if think that won't work then a fast 'no, not interested, bye'
If a game starts going the 'teach the masses' route, i'll give it to some other poor ***
News, internet .. lord knows how many other ways people can get news or politics
Whenever i see stuff like that on forums or ingame among players, it generally turns into a huge arguement.
The thing I see as completely ass-backwards from some of these comments is that I know a lot of you wouldn't even think about it if a game depicted your hero as having a straight sex relationship, yet as soon as there is anything related to a same sex relationship it instantly turns into "I go to games to escape reality" (apparently your ideal reality is no gays?) or "The publishers are trying to push their political views into this game" (because apparently a publisher can't just treat people like the human beings that they are without it being about politics).
Yet I know for a fact, that some of you who spout this nonsense wouldn't care two sh*ts if it was a straight relationship being depicted in a game. You know why? Because a large percentage of games have a straight relationship, have you saving the girl from the bad guy (Zelda), have you building relationships with girls (Persona), and etc.
So I call bull on all of those excuses. You just don't want your games to show the reality that everyone is getting their fair share of the pie now. Because you don't want everyone to get their fair share of the pie. You're a little piggy, and you want all that pie for yourself.
Smile
I really think people are more along the lines of upset that these kind of agendas are being pushed on them. How many people honestly care about so and so's taste in men/women? Or if they believe in equality for gender? People play games for a various degree of reasons. When I see people parading around trying to push the LGBT envelope in an mmo I roll my eyes. It's like one of those weird double standards. If you try and push being straight onto people you're a monster. If you try and push something else all of a sudden you're an internet hero.
Games will always have an agenda to them in some way or another. At the very least though could we keep it out of the media and just play happily? I see very little reason for people to just threaten women for wanting to have a different venue to play. With the vast amount of games out on the market as of now.... There is pretty much something for everyone. Hell I wonder if pong had these kinda problems.
No one is pushing anything. Being tolerant of other people is not an agenda. It's a big deal because there are a lot of intolerant people out there still.
It's like when Captain Kirk kissed a black woman on screen. It was a big deal in the 60's.
Tolerance is usually based on personal perspective. Getting mad at someone for speaking out against a white man kissing a black women could be seen as being intolerant of said individual's views or vice versa. The only thing that makes the difference is if your opinion is in the majority (or thought of as being in the majority) on: insert trending issue. And to say agendas are not being pushed in games that tell a story is foolish.
The code of the pessimistic loner: "We unpopular loners are realists, who follow the three non- popular principles: Not having any (Hope), Not making any (Gaps in your heart); And not giving into (Sweet talk)".
That's not the issue here. Back then we did not have agendas being created online and liked at the touch of a button. This is about the instruments being used to forward issues as much as the issues themselves.
In the decades to come people may become more online wise, they will not click every 'cause celebre' because there is a pop star who has advocated it. They may come to realise that Twitter and the like have become the toast of campaigning groups everywhere, allowing them to set up crusades on a weekly basis. Or maybe not, my faith in humanity may be misplaced.
Back then a black woman got kissed, before that there was not an online agenda pushing for a black women to be kissed. It was a big deal after the fact, not before. Today campaigners are trying to formulate a code, governed by them, which all writing be it in games or elsewhere conforms to.
They want to see their view of society stamped on everything. Historical setting? Races which are not human? Cultures which have never actually existed in the world? That does not matter, they have to reflect our current ideology on race and gender. But it does not stop there, what about tolerance, social justice, not being 'judgmental', the list just keeps getting added to.
Star Trek was a series where the writers were trying to show their vision of a more tolerant society. Today there is no choice, you have to follow the rules as set out by campaigners or risk online censure. And these rules which march forward under the banner of 'tolerance' expand every year. 'Tolerance' like 'social justice' is just a label to put your latest political idea into to get a 'like' from those who do not think about the issues.
The way to distinguish ethics from politics is the every changing nature of politics. 'Tolerance' 'justice' and so on were once ethical, now there are just a vehicle for this weeks campaign.
That's not the world I want to live in, nor do I think the majority want to live in the ideological prison that is being created.