@Fandabidozi This. It's been quite a stuffstorm considering the circumstances, and I really didn't want to take sides, as I elaborated in my post concerning this whole controversy in the first place, lest those for and against went into a vicious argument against me.
@LieutenantFatman Indeed. I do not tolerate racism in any way, shape, or form, and while I do feel I could've elaborated on that, as I said, I really don't want to dive into politics. The whole controversy with Playtonic is a whole 'damned if you do' situation: if they kept Jon, people would be put off by having a racist in the game, but by kicking him out, people have called Playtonic 'spineless' and 'immature' over the whole thing. They can't win.
The reason I brought up the Nori-P saga was because there was quite a similar reaction to the whole thing with a celebrity using drugs instead of spouting racist comments, which, as I said, the former is a huge no-no in Japan. People who've listened to songs like 'Otoko no Ko ni Naritai', 'Aoi Usagi' and/or 'Tomodachi Kinenbi' (all from Noriko's discography) will still agree that they are enjoyable songs, like I still enjoy Jon's videos. I just think Jon's views on immigration on the other hand deserve no such neutrality. They are indeed racist, and I do indeed agree we need to end racism for the benefit of us all.
Anyways, concerning my stance towards the whole JonTron racism scandal, and how Playtonic handled the situation, I am trying my hardest to keep a neutral stance on the situation.
On one hand, many people were understandably upset over what JonTron said over the matter of immigration. That is a whole other can of worms and I really don't want to drag politics into this, we could be here all day, all I want to say that they were pretty crazy, and maybe not the best choice of words to use on that matter. Associating yourself with a popular image who has spouted racist remarks about minorities and 'white superiority' will not look good on your PR. This is a business wide thing; people can and will get dropped from sponsorships for saying things like 'death to [minority here]' in a tweet, or joking about something like the holocaust, or admit to taking illegal drugs, like the case of Noriko Sakai, whom sponsors dropped like crazy for taking drugs, which is considered a cardinal sin over in Japan, as Pokemon blogger Dogasu elaborates on his blog, when he talks about the third Pokemon short (Pichu and Pikachu): http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/movies/pm_lord_unknown_tower_entei/lord_unknown_tower_entei_sakai_noriko.html
(tl;dr: Noriko admitted she used illegal stimulants, sponsors dropped her left and right, she left the music industry, and anything containing Noriko was softbanned; including the short for the 3rd Pokemon movie (where she was the narrator, and sung its ending theme, 'Tomodachi Kinenbi'), and she's basically a Persona Non Grata in Japan today)
On the other hand, a person and their work, lest they shoehorn their politics into it, are not the same entity. While JonTron may not have had... well... the best stance on the whole thing, this, in it of itself, does not degrade the quality of his videos at all. Harder to enjoy, maybe, considering the stance, but Jon is a really good content creator. His videos on 'Birdemic' and 'Pokemon Bootlegs' did crack me up in particular, and I do love myself some surrealism. Taking someone's voice out of the game (even in what could've been a cameo appearance, a la Shovel Knight) isn't going to add/subtract to the quality, but even if Jon was in the game despite the negative comments on immigration, this would've not hurt the game in terms of gameplay. I know it sounds obvious, but considering all the 'I'm cancelling my pre-order/demanding a refund on Kickstarter' comments flooding the internet en masse, I just had to put that out there for those who are tossing their expectations out because of this, and not over how the actual game is going to play.
So that's my 2 cents on the matter. I'm open to discussion about this, but keep this in mind: I still am planning to pick up 'Yooka-Laylee' - the Toybox demo from my pre-order did manage to win me over. This controversy has not changed my opinion on that. I will not be surprised if both sides of the argument jump down my throat over this.
With that said, thank you for reading this heavy wall of text, and have a good day.
Comments 3
Re: JonTron's Yooka-Laylee Cameo to Be Patched Out by Playtonic
@Fandabidozi This. It's been quite a stuffstorm considering the circumstances, and I really didn't want to take sides, as I elaborated in my post concerning this whole controversy in the first place, lest those for and against went into a vicious argument against me.
Re: JonTron's Yooka-Laylee Cameo to Be Patched Out by Playtonic
@LieutenantFatman Indeed. I do not tolerate racism in any way, shape, or form, and while I do feel I could've elaborated on that, as I said, I really don't want to dive into politics. The whole controversy with Playtonic is a whole 'damned if you do' situation: if they kept Jon, people would be put off by having a racist in the game, but by kicking him out, people have called Playtonic 'spineless' and 'immature' over the whole thing. They can't win.
The reason I brought up the Nori-P saga was because there was quite a similar reaction to the whole thing with a celebrity using drugs instead of spouting racist comments, which, as I said, the former is a huge no-no in Japan. People who've listened to songs like 'Otoko no Ko ni Naritai', 'Aoi Usagi' and/or 'Tomodachi Kinenbi' (all from Noriko's discography) will still agree that they are enjoyable songs, like I still enjoy Jon's videos. I just think Jon's views on immigration on the other hand deserve no such neutrality. They are indeed racist, and I do indeed agree we need to end racism for the benefit of us all.
Re: JonTron's Yooka-Laylee Cameo to Be Patched Out by Playtonic
I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, am I...
Anyways, concerning my stance towards the whole JonTron racism scandal, and how Playtonic handled the situation, I am trying my hardest to keep a neutral stance on the situation.
On one hand, many people were understandably upset over what JonTron said over the matter of immigration. That is a whole other can of worms and I really don't want to drag politics into this, we could be here all day, all I want to say that they were pretty crazy, and maybe not the best choice of words to use on that matter. Associating yourself with a popular image who has spouted racist remarks about minorities and 'white superiority' will not look good on your PR. This is a business wide thing; people can and will get dropped from sponsorships for saying things like 'death to [minority here]' in a tweet, or joking about something like the holocaust, or admit to taking illegal drugs, like the case of Noriko Sakai, whom sponsors dropped like crazy for taking drugs, which is considered a cardinal sin over in Japan, as Pokemon blogger Dogasu elaborates on his blog, when he talks about the third Pokemon short (Pichu and Pikachu):
http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/movies/pm_lord_unknown_tower_entei/lord_unknown_tower_entei_sakai_noriko.html
(tl;dr: Noriko admitted she used illegal stimulants, sponsors dropped her left and right, she left the music industry, and anything containing Noriko was softbanned; including the short for the 3rd Pokemon movie (where she was the narrator, and sung its ending theme, 'Tomodachi Kinenbi'), and she's basically a Persona Non Grata in Japan today)
On the other hand, a person and their work, lest they shoehorn their politics into it, are not the same entity. While JonTron may not have had... well... the best stance on the whole thing, this, in it of itself, does not degrade the quality of his videos at all. Harder to enjoy, maybe, considering the stance, but Jon is a really good content creator. His videos on 'Birdemic' and 'Pokemon Bootlegs' did crack me up in particular, and I do love myself some surrealism. Taking someone's voice out of the game (even in what could've been a cameo appearance, a la Shovel Knight) isn't going to add/subtract to the quality, but even if Jon was in the game despite the negative comments on immigration, this would've not hurt the game in terms of gameplay. I know it sounds obvious, but considering all the 'I'm cancelling my pre-order/demanding a refund on Kickstarter' comments flooding the internet en masse, I just had to put that out there for those who are tossing their expectations out because of this, and not over how the actual game is going to play.
So that's my 2 cents on the matter. I'm open to discussion about this, but keep this in mind: I still am planning to pick up 'Yooka-Laylee' - the Toybox demo from my pre-order did manage to win me over. This controversy has not changed my opinion on that. I will not be surprised if both sides of the argument jump down my throat over this.
With that said, thank you for reading this heavy wall of text, and have a good day.