Anita Sarkeesian has disclosed what she has done with the Kickstarter money
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ITT people who think non-profit means no-one gets a salary. (how do you think people who work for non-profits get by?)
ITT people who think if she took even 1 dollar home from the Kickstarter or donations, she was runing some sort of "feminist scam".
Sometimes I think this forum is full for 12 year olds.
ITT people who think if she took even 1 dollar home from the Kickstarter or donations, she was runing some sort of "feminist scam".
Sometimes I think this forum is full for 12 year olds.
THIS. Non-profit organizations are not the same a volunteer organization. Non-profit means that all of the money that is generated goes back to the company to further efforts and not sitting idle as profit or paying dividends. FF is a non-profit, which means that everyone gets paid to work there.
If you have a problem with her work or use of funds, don't fund her. If you are still bitter about it, go find a more productive use of your time.
Anita is not beyond criticism, it just that there is no serious criticism being offered in this thread, or generally.
She is a "questionable character" and "worst of feminism", what in the world do those even mean?
I've ignored Anita's videos since looking at the lists of games she's covered, about 99% of them don't interest me. But the "Strong Female Characters In Games" sounds like it could be interesting, especially if it has Phantasy Star and Valkyrie Profile in it.
Gentleman Jack
Member
Haha what the fuck is this shit.
Palette Swap
Member
I always love how all the concerned citizens in these threads are the ones who'd never give her a cent anyway.
It's not "hate". It's hate. She definitely gets it. You don't believe me? Okay, take a look at this. Not enough? What about that "game" that you punch her face? Or the threat to murder students from a school she was about to give a presentation? I am sorry, but the majority of comments she gets are not about her work, but harassment.
I never hid the idea that I disagreed with some of her opinions. But I also continued to watch her videos and I admit she got a lot better. She addressed a lot of feedback and some of what I was bothered with included. What was her last video you watched? Because I believe that, to give an honest critique about her series, you have to watch every video and then question yourself if she got better or not.
That's fine and all, but I don't see how this constitutes "good research", which was what I was discussing.
LoV
Banned
Yeah don't compare FF to real work because it makes you look like you know nothing. But you don't anyway.
Metallix87
Member
Here are my issues on the matter:
1.) She is all about ignoring positives and picking out the worst of the games she discusses. There's allegedly going to be a video on positives eventually, but we'll see when she gets around to that. The fact that she took issue with Samus, of all characters, seems extremely bizarre to me, and honestly feels like reaching just to make her points.
2.) The fact that, after three years, she's used her Kickstarter mostly to put herself in the spotlight and less so to actually deliver the content she promised makes her a "questionable character" in my eyes.
I watched her first two videos and I was done with that.
I think fulfilling her Kickstarter goals should have been top priority before going to all the conventions and speaking arrangements. Two and a half years later and only six videos have been made. That's a bit unacceptable. I'm not saying this as a detractor of FemFreq or anything. I'd be annoyed with any Kickstarter in a similar situation.
LoV
Banned
If you don't think her arguments are simple then of course FF is for you.
I know Gaf is pro-Other M, but let's all agree now that it's story is crap and its depiction of Samus is incredibly poor.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
I don't know what's crazier. The amount of money she's raised making a small handful of videos (that to me aren't revelatory but are mildly interesting) or the fact that these 2 guys are getting $8,600 a month to make a documentary slamming her.
https://www.patreon.com/thesarkeesianeffect
What do they do after the movie comes out? Go back to working normal jobs? The internet is fucking bizarre.
https://www.patreon.com/thesarkeesianeffect
What do they do after the movie comes out? Go back to working normal jobs? The internet is fucking bizarre.
TekGryphon
Banned
It blows my mind that people don't understand this.
All the video games and other projects we've funded on Kickstarter are WAY higher than 44% salary and wages. When I funded FTL, that one-man indie game, I was well aware that almost every drop of that money was going to wages, either his or whoever he hired to do stuff like music.
Where do people think money is supposed to go if not wages paying people for doing the work?
Metallix87
Member
I'm not disagreeing with that, but her criticisms of Samus go beyond the one bad game, and I wouldn't call Samus's portrayal in Other M "anti-woman" or "sexist".
Samus is not untouchable, Other M really did a number on the character. Though the plot wasn't the worst thing ever.
She's already delivered 1.5 times the content (in minutes) promised in the original Kickstarter and promising to deliver the rest of the episodes which at this rate would be 3-4 times the content promised.
Are you saying Neil Degrasse Tyson should just stick to running his planetarium?
Relaxed Muscle
Member
Not that I don't agree, but I think his argument is that Samus has been a positive figure for years and Anita only talked about Other M.
Not that Other M is a disgrace for Samus character and female representation on a game.
LoV
Banned
Because I'm a waitress?
Hold on a sec, this has nothing to do with the complexity of her arguments. This has everything to do with the work that goes into producing the videos, from playing the games, to writing (even if you feel her arguments are dumb), to filming, editing, etc.
Don't back off of your premise. You just sound salty. Defend your assertion if you feel that there is no real effort that goes into producing the work FF has done.
And, BTW, this is what a legitimate criticism of the FF series looks like:
EDIT:
And if you are, then yes, very hard work. I understand. But the work is totally different than content production.
Dude, Samus is probably my favorite video game character of all time, but that doesn't mean there aren't certain aspects of her portrayal that could be better.
I feel like people don't understand that you can still like and enjoy something while criticizing aspects of it that are bad or don't work.
Metallix87
Member
Did you really just compare Anita Sarkeesian to Neil Degrasse Tyson? Imagine if Tyson stopped midway through "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" and didn't return to the series for three years because he was busy promoting himself. People would likely be pissed.
Also, a promise to deliver the content is meaningless until she actually delivers. Thus far, she's failed to deliver on her promises, and arguing that the episodes are a good bit longer than originally promised is meaningless. It's been almost three years. The videos aren't of such a high production value that they should take so long. Be honest with yourself: The reason she's taking so long is that she's too busy promoting herself.
That's the issue, though: Sarkeesian wasn't a gamer before going into this, so she approaches all games looking to further her agenda. It's impossible to know what games she likes or enjoys, because she never had a chance to truly experience them before trying to use them to further herself in the media.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
I feel when you criticize a job or a work, both positive and negatives should be analized and studied to reach a proper conclusion.
Point taken.
Not a fan of Anita's method of making her points or the use of 'tropes' without context as a tool for investigating attitudes towards gender in creative media, but this (an account of what's going on with the money) is all I wanted from her.
Why does it matter? Because she's holding herself out not as a 'business' kickstarter (which are just there to make money), but more as a 'public good' service, and as such her standing in that regard would be undermined if she just pocketed the money. Because she made so few videos after receiving the money, it was hard not to imagine that that might have been what happened.
A breakdown like this puts those fears to rest. She's obviously working at this, she has set up her own non-profit with staff, and she has a structure in place to work towards her goal of gender equality in gaming, which is great. She also clearly has a decent person tracking stats and a decent graphic designer.
So while I may not have liked her videos, I'd say I'm cool with her now and wish her every success in the future. This kind of thing was all I wanted/needed to see. Looks like the money did eventually go to a good cause. Well done Anita.
Why does it matter? Because she's holding herself out not as a 'business' kickstarter (which are just there to make money), but more as a 'public good' service, and as such her standing in that regard would be undermined if she just pocketed the money. Because she made so few videos after receiving the money, it was hard not to imagine that that might have been what happened.
A breakdown like this puts those fears to rest. She's obviously working at this, she has set up her own non-profit with staff, and she has a structure in place to work towards her goal of gender equality in gaming, which is great. She also clearly has a decent person tracking stats and a decent graphic designer.
So while I may not have liked her videos, I'd say I'm cool with her now and wish her every success in the future. This kind of thing was all I wanted/needed to see. Looks like the money did eventually go to a good cause. Well done Anita.
LoV
Banned
Someone brought up research why is that not part of the argument? I already stated that her editing and production is that of a 1998 electric playground episode.
Why would you be annoyed? You're backing vidoes that have the sole goal of spreading a feminist message. Why would you be mad that a few videos would be delayed after the first few achieved more success than anyone ever felt possible for a short video series? I mean, that's the entire reason for these videos to be made. They've worked and then some and it's not even a finished product yet.
Well, there you go. I am sorry, but that doesn't make your criticism honest. You are bashing her whole series based on the first two videos. She improved a lot since then. And you point her as a questionable character, but forget that the majority of the comments she gets every single day are from harassers. Do you think she enjoys that? If you believe that having security behind you for every presentation, having to move from your own house because people found the address and making threats are ways her life improved, I wonder what do you think is a living hell.
You wouldn't? That game is absolutely atrocious on gender issues.
Doesn't she say as much at the beginning of most of her videos? I recall a lot of repeats of the message (paraphrase), "Critical analysis is not condemnation of the entire production. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a game while at the same time discussing its more problematic areas."
D
Deleted member 126221
Unconfirmed Member
An Anita Sarkeesian thread full of shitty messages... Why am I not surprised?
Abd why do I get the feeling that all those of you complaining about late episodes, low production values, "not her footage", etc. never gave a cent to the Kickstarter, and don't even have any interest in the series?
Abd why do I get the feeling that all those of you complaining about late episodes, low production values, "not her footage", etc. never gave a cent to the Kickstarter, and don't even have any interest in the series?
It's nice to see the breakdown of where the funding went since I know some of her detractors where claimed that she spent the money on luxuries for herself. While I do wish the videos in her current series would come out faster, I'm very much looking forward to the futures series.
They aren't even filming until they hit 15 gs. Wow.
LoV
Banned
That's like saying if you didn't vote for Obama/Bush you can't criticize them.
For all the crap she has put up with? Absolutely. The public conversations the videos have spawned have shown their value IMHO. I would imagine her backers are convinced they've gotten their money's worth and that all the "show us the salary breakdown" posts are from people who wouldn't dream of funding her work.
1) "I'm doing a study about the failings in the prison system" -- sorry, not valid because you ignored the positives. See how stupid that sounds?
2) It hasn't been three years, yet -- it's been 2 1/2 -- and, in that period, she's produced videos, been targeted for violence, been interrupted by a terrorist threat, and more. Let's see how much shit you get done when your life is in turmoil like that. She's in the spotlight because people are threatening her and other people's lives. That is not something you have control over. Furthermore, you have the choice when people threaten you to cower or to stand up to them. If she were a man, people would be applauding her for getting out ahead of this. They'd call it drive, or gumption, or ambition -- but she's a woman, so they call her a bitch.
She's a questionable character to you because you don't agree with her -- you've made no other substantive argument other than that.
Pennywise83
Banned
She expanded the initial scope of the KS, as already said and proved. She is still working on the project, and she raised awareness on the issue to the point that most key figures in big companies acknowledged her works and the debate she brought up. Even if she stops doing videos like right now, her KS is nothing but a huge, huge success.
Metallix87
Member
Okay, let's do this:
1.) Let's assume, for a second, I want to get into a new TV show. I have three choices, which we'll label A, B, and C. I decide to watch the first few episodes of each, and then decide from there which I want to follow. I quickly realize that A and B are sub-par and not worth my time, while C has a lot of potential. I obviously watch C. Now, months later, I mention to someone that I thought show A was outright shit, and they respond with "Well, it gets better as the season goes on!" Who cares? Why would that invalidate my criticism? So I now have to watch entire seasons / series of shows before I can make a valid criticism? No. I gave her two episodes to convince me that she was producing something worthwhile. I went into it with an open mind. She failed to convince me. I feel that gives me the right to criticize.
2.) How does her getting bashed by ignorant people make her not a questionable character? 1 + 1 does not equal 5, sir.
3.) "Living hell". She wouldn't be making a name for herself if not for the attention she gets, both positive and negative, and she certainly wouldn't be doing speaking engagements and presentations. It's the curse of fame.
First time I'm hearing about Anita. Didn't know she was Canadian and went to the party school of Canada 
. Reminds me of a roommate I once had in College. Girl was a staunch feminist on campus, wrote a feminist newsletter, etc, but in the end, left the scene upon graduation. I think Anita, should take a break and kinda do other things then continue. Even her kickstarter campaign seemed to have faced some questionable backlashes in response to some users. Sometimes fighting the good fight needs a break or too.
. Reminds me of a roommate I once had in College. Girl was a staunch feminist on campus, wrote a feminist newsletter, etc, but in the end, left the scene upon graduation. I think Anita, should take a break and kinda do other things then continue. Even her kickstarter campaign seemed to have faced some questionable backlashes in response to some users. Sometimes fighting the good fight needs a break or too.Bobby Roberts
Banned
It doesn't. It's acknowledging your criticism and tacitly agreeing with it, while letting you know the quality of the show improves later on. It's a way to address the fact your opinion is both valid, but formed on an incomplete viewing experience, and that said opinion might change if you continued watching the show.
That statement isn't invalidating at all.
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