I agree with you completely. That is what I believe too. It shouldn't.Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan
But it does. I am saying that because it does, I think it's okay that they don't want to play the game. I'm certainly not saying we should pat them on the back and congratulate them for their homophobia -- but I think there are better approaches than going around calling people homophobes and telling them their reasons are stupid (particularly when said person does not want to admit, or is not aware of, their own homophobia).
Yep, never said knowing you would not enjoy a game because it had a homosexual character, is not homophobic. It definitely is. We agree on that.I don't like Sienfield because I don't find it funny and the character of George aggravates me. However, were I not to like Sienfield because Jerry Sienfield is Jewish, then that would be another story. That'd be considered racist, to a degree at least. Not playing knowing no more than the main character is gay shows a degree of homophobia, no matter how you spill it. Like you said, it is not so black and white and can be expressed in minor ways.
I understand. I'm certainly not pleading for sympathy for homophobes. I'm not trying to excuse homophobic behavior directed at homosexuals. I don't like homophobia. But it exists. Calling somebody a homophobe is not usually going to make them sincerely try not to be one IMO. A person certainly can--and should--choose not to act on one's homophobia, but while a person can try to not be homophobic in the psychological sense, it's not as simple as that IMO. There are reflexes and tendencies built up from spending years in a society that detests homosexuality that one simply cannot overcome in a day by willing them.However, what I said is still valid. Heterosexuals will not get sympathies from homosexuals because they are potentially being exposed to homosexual displays. We see heterosexuality displayed all the time, everywhere we go.
Admitting one is a homophobe, or racist, or whatever, and trying to recognize those reflexes or tendencies is one of the first steps to changing them (as I have been told in numerous conferences on the matter /shrug ). Accusing somebody of something tends to be a surefire way to get them to vehemently claim the opposite.
Agreed. There is a double standard. I would never say that a homosexual should enjoy the gazillion games out there with all heterosexual characters. Hopefully, some day, gamers, developers, and publishers recognize that the gaming community also consists of homosexual players.Furthermore, it is a double standard. Heterosexuality is taken as a given, a default that no one would really think twice about. However, that is not the case as soon as the character is not heterosexual.
Agreed. If somebody doesn't play vXIII (with a homosexual Noctis), and their reason is, say, because they don't like the Final Fantasy series. That's certainly not homophobic. That's what I meant when I suggested that "not playing a game with a homosexual character doesn't make you homophobic."Homophobia, as well, comes in many degrees and ways. Simply not playing a game solely because the main character is gay is homophobic. Not like those who say all gays should die, but homophobic nonetheless. Perhaps mildly homophobic would be an apt description. However, choosing not to play a game, for whatever reasons, that has a gay character is not homophobic in and of itself. There's a difference. A key difference.
And yes, not playing a game because of the presence of a homosexual character is homophobic (whether that homophobia is admitted to or not).
I understand that (many/most) homosexuals are (probably) angry for what they have had to put up with, in games and everything else. I just personally don't think that striving for some sort of "payback" or trying to shame people out of their homophobia is going to be good for anybody in the long run. (Of course, violent homophobes we should get rid of immediately).
