So I finally did a bare modicum of research, and I just learned that, as it turns out, that
AlphaOmegaSin guy, the guy who has been showing up more and more in
Cinemassacre videos lately, is apparently a hardcore
GamerGate supporter. I tried to watch a few of the guy's videos on the topic, and I may try again later, but for the moment, I just couldn't stomach the horseshit. I'm not entirely clear yet on if he's another of the supposed "good guys" (such as, ostensibly,
TotalBiscuit) who unfortunately sucked down the lie of "Actually, it's about ethics in video game journalism," or if he's one of the scuzzier assholes, but it does appear, at least on the surface, that he's of the type to get super-buttwroth if someone dares to challenge Irredeemably Toxic Shithole, no matter what else. Whatever the case, like I've said in the past, it really doesn't matter either way, because if he claims to be a part of Irredeemably Toxic Shithole, then he's going to be tarred with the same feathers as the worst of the lot. That's just how ill-defined, amorphous "movements" on the Internet work, dawg.
In any case, what a damn shame. Guess I won't be watching any more Cinemassacre videos if he's in them (like how he was in the
most recent James & Mike Mondays video and their
Batman v Superman review, and in those he was pretty cringe-worthy already). And I really hope this doesn't mean that James and Mike and Bootsy and Ryan and whoever else are also Irredeemably Toxic Shithole supporters-by-association. As far as I am aware, none of the Cinemassacre guys have taken a stance on Irredeemably Toxic Shithole one way or the other, but the mere fact that they're hanging out with this guy at all is nebulously troubling to me, to say the least. If they ever do come out in support of Irredeemably Toxic Shithole... well... that will just have to be a case of "Nice knowing ya, Cinemassacre, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of my bookmarks list." On the other hand, I'm pretty sure
Doug Walker has come out against Irredeemably Toxic Shithole in the past, or at the very least he has come out against the anti-feminist bullshit that is part and parcel of Irredeemably Toxic Shithole, anyway, and he's friends with James as well, so maybe he's a good counterbalancing influence. (EDIT 2) But then, as it turned out, Doug Walker himself has a
bunch of problems, so maybe it's not such a good thing if he has or had any influence over James, after all. (/EDIT 2)
Anyway, speaking generally, acknowledging that there are indeed vast problems with the video game industry and the video game journalism industry on the one hand, and claiming to be a supporter of Irredeemably Toxic Shithole on the other hand, are two entirely separate things. You can do one without doing the other, and if you ever claim the latter, then no matter whatever else you may say or do, you pretty much lose all credibility in my eyes. The problem, though, is that whenever someone relatively Internet-famous like, say,
Pat the NES Punk[1] (another friend of James and Co.), speaks out against the problems inherent in the game industry and game journalism, you now have assholes from Irredeemably Toxic Shithole falling all over themselves to be the first to claim shit like
"This Guy Gets It" and
such, as though he had come out and explicitly said "I support GamerGate" or some shit. Pat Contri is absolutely correct in what he said in those videos. That, however, does
not mean that he by default also supports Irredeemably Toxic Shithole, despite dubious claims to the contrary by Irredeemably Toxic Shithole. Hell,
I have said
much the same things, but if you try to claim that I support Irredeemably Toxic Shithole as a result of that, I will fucking fight you.
But back to my original concern: I really, truly hope that Cinemassacre doesn't turn into yet another misguided supporter of Irredeemably Toxic Shithole based on its association with this AlphaOmegaSin guy. I mean, sure, they can have whoever the fuck they want on their site and in their videos, but that doesn't mean I have to watch it.
[1] - As an aside, that Ian Ferguson dude in that second link there is the one who
really "gets it," in my opinion. He was already aptly describing Irredeemably Toxic Shithole even way back then, when it was only just starting to becoming A Thing™. Pat's trying to be more... diplomatic... I guess, which is fine, but that Ian guy is simply telling it like it is. Also, in that particular video, they're talking more specifically about the
Quinnspiracy horseshit (which I've long since lost pretty much all interest in), rather than Irredeemably Toxic Shithole itself in general. That video was posted only a day after Adam Baldwin first used the hashtag #gamergate, after all. They do touch on it kind of obliquely, when Pat mentions "the fringe." Ian describes them more accurately, however, as Eron Gjoni's "personal army" (though they've long since grown way bigger than that, unfortunately, precisely because so many otherwise well-meaning people bought into the "actually, it's about ethics in games journalism" horse manure). To put it succinctly: Pat's right about video game journalism in general, whereas Ian is right about Irredeemably Toxic Shithole in particular. They're both right. (EDIT) Also note how so many of the comments under that video are going on about how that Ian guy is so wrong and "uninformed" and "indoctrinated" and whatever other bullshit. That's the typical responses from supporters of Irredeemably Toxic Shithole whenever anyone calls them on their bullshit, even though the guy was 100% correct in what he was saying. Also claiming that all of the threats made against Zoe Quinn were made by Zoe Quinn herself and her friends, and then citing goddamn Encyclopedia Dramatica of all things as "proof" of this. Go fucking figure. Seriously, the comments under that are so chock full of sad sack supporters of Irredeemably Toxic Shithole it's not even funny. (/EDIT)
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