Cerise Magazine

This isn’t just about the comic.

The issues that arose from the Jade Raymond comic incident (summarized and discussed here, here, here, here, here, and here) are about far more than just a misguided comic on the internet. The whole situation is symbolic of some of the overall issues that arise in the gaming community, most notably generally accepted misogyny, the idea of “a joke,” and what this situation means for women who are looking for careers in the industry.

As all the links above have covered these issues in depth, the focus of this piece will be on some interesting items I came across while sifting through the comment fallout.

The First Amendment

The first amendment was invoked constantly in this conversation. It’s the First Amendment! Freedom of speech! However, being skeptical and a little legal-minded, I decided to do a little more digging. After all phrases like “it’s a free country” and “it’s my freedom of expression” are often overused, and used incorrectly to boot.

What is not protected under the first amendment?

According to the First Amendment Center, the following items are not protected:

• Obscenity
• Fighting words
• Defamation (includes libel, slander)
• Child pornography
• Perjury
• Blackmail
• Incitement to imminent lawless action
• True threats
• Solicitations to commit crimes

Some experts also would add treason, if committed verbally, to that list. Plagiarism of copyrighted material is also not protected.

Pornography is protected, up to a certain degree. Thus far, the Supreme Court has reviewed all pornography challenges on a case by case basis. However, this is not pornography. It is a pornographically themed comic, straddling the lines between parody, industry commentary, and disgusting drivel.

While pornography is protected, obscenity is not. Obscenity would have to be defined by a court - normally a local one - but I think most people would imagine that a bukkake scene like the one depicted in the comic in question would meet the requirements. While I am not a lawyer, it is easy to see that the facts accompanying this issue are complicated and layered. The people who are brandishing the idea of free speech like it is a shield against all forms of criticism reveal a stunning lack of familiarity with the amendment itself. At the very least, if Ubisoft chose to prosecute, there would be a case.

To those whining that Ubisoft (or any other entity calling for website owners to moderate their content) was pushing for a violation of the First Amendment, save your breath:

Online services have the right to establish and enforce codes of conduct. When you sign up, you’re using a service that belongs to a private company, and you are subject to its rules. Because the online service is a private company, its restrictions do not constitute government censorship and, therefore, do not violate the First Amendment.

Would it have made more sense to go after the author of the comic? Probably. But Ubisoft’s legal team was apparently attempting to stop distribution of said comic, hence the cease and desist order to the server that housed the strip. Businesses hate lawsuits and seek to avoid them. Individual people slapped with a lawsuit become martyrs for a cause. (When will the RIAA learn that?) Sending the order to a business rather than a person was a reasonable move on their part.

Is Jade Raymond considered public property?

I saw a comment on one of the many comment threads surrounding this issue that basically stated that Jade’s image is public property. While she may have photos and biographical information available on the internet, these things are mostly for personal reasons or for business reasons. While she may be well known in gaming circles, Jade Raymond is not a celebrity. Therefore she is entitled to the same rights as any other private citizen. Most of the issues surrounding celebrity and privacy are complex; adding the internet and the idea of parody into the mix makes things even more complicated. Still, even if Jade Raymond was a genuine celebrity, she would still have the right to sue those who misused her likeness.

Whether or not she would win is another story, especially considering that most of the lawsuits that have set a precedent for celebrity privacy/publicity matters have been about financial gain.

Once again, I am not a lawyer, but the people spouting these baseless claims ought to do a bit of research.

Safety and Security on the Internet

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t

The netizens who claim that this is being blown way out of proportion are also amusing to me. See, here’s the funny thing about being on the internet - you can actually come to physical harm. While our identities are semi-shielded with anonymity on forums, it is startlingly easy to find out as much information as you want to about a person online. And while some people may be kidding around when drawing comics and saying things that are inflammatory, it only takes one person taking it seriously to change the course of someone else’s life.

Cyberstalking is a serious issue. It is so serious that Congress and individual states decided to take action, passing various laws to try to protect people from net violence (or even net violence trickling into real life). Yet, just like stalking in real life, it is notoriously hard to prove that cyberstalking is taking place, and even harder to get said stalker to end the actions.

Now, I am in NO WAY implying that the creator of the comic is a stalker. He’s probably just a jerk who was making a joke at the expense of someone better known and more popular than he is. The act of making a joke is not a punishable offense, no matter how crass or rudely it is done.

(Personally, I would consider this comic outside of the realm of a simple joke - Jade Raymond could be negatively affected in her business life because of it, since she works in the gaming industry. Nothing like meeting a new coworker and realizing that they beat off to a porn comic of you… But that’s just me - again, it would take a court of law to determine whether or not this is truly damaging to Jade Raymond’s career.)

However, I would like to illustrate a point. What would happen if, at the next game convention she attends, Jade was abducted and assaulted by someone looking to recreate what happened in the comic?

No, no, no, cry the gamers, that would never happen!

Umm, why not? It happens in real life all the time. I personally know two women who were victims of stalking. Women are often seen as physically weaker, and for some men, weaker equates to prey. So while the average message board frequenter probably is just killing time online before going back to work or making a sandwich in real life, the commenter who posted above them may be jacking off into a bag he is going to drop through someone’s mail slot.

So, imagine if Jade Raymond was assaulted by someone who wants to blame their actions on the suggestive comic. What would the response be?

From seeing how my friends were dealt with in real life, I would estimate that Jade would be told one of two things. Before the assault happens, Jade Raymond would be asked why she was taking things so seriously. It’s just a joke. Relax, he doesn’t mean it. If she went to the authorities, they may tell her that there is nothing they can do until something actually happens.

If Jade did take this as a joke, and only a joke, and was caught unaware by the assault, the rallying cry would change a bit. Then, people ask why she didn’t take this situation more seriously.

See why I titled this section the way I did? It is the catch-22 that women live with every day. If you run away from men trying to talk to you on the street, you could be called everything from mean to frigid to bitch - simply because you don’t want to talk to a man you don’t personally know. However, if you do talk to this man and something happens to you, people will ask why you didn’t exercise common sense. It’s a lose - lose situation.

Kotaku commenter Tim Sama -in reference to the Something Awful debacle - said:

Ok, I know that here at Kotaku we all get a good laugh or two from the somewhat creepy articles posted here about Jade (and the fact that she smells pretty), but I hope that if Jade ever does read our comments, she knows that most of us are not actually creepy pervs, we just play them on the internet.

That’s great Tim. The problem is that some of these people aren’t playing. And we don’t know who they are until it is too late.

The Silence of Our Friends

I had to lift this phrase when I saw it on this blog because it was just so applicable to so many online situations.

Mainstream gaming blogs said nothing about the situation beyond bare reporting of facts. Not a damn thing. So while blogs like Kotaku have a lot of fun using Jade Raymond as comment fodder, talking about smelling her hair, or pretending to be upset when she didn’t notice them at a gaming conference, that friendly tone evaporates when something serious goes down.

I mean honestly, gents, not a comment? I saw a couple blogs showing support (in addition to the ones linked at the top of this post) but several of the usual suspects reported the facts clinically, with some sense of removal. Where’s the trademark snark? Not one person had an opinion on the comic? On the nature of the gaming industry? Not even a “damn, that’s fucked up, yo” tacked on to the end of the post?

Nothing?

Silence perpetuates the cycle of ignorance. It is because people do not speak up in the mainstream gaming community against this type of behavior that it becomes so prevalent. Attacks on someone else’s character are so ingrained that commenters have come to expect it as a kind of tax. If you’re on the internet, someone is going to harass you and act like an asshole.

Which, I suppose could be fine. Some people don’t mind dealing with a couple tools here and there. But this is Jade’s job. What she does for a living.

Isn’t she entitled to a work environment with a minimum of harassment?

What is the Solution?

So after going through all of this discussion, what is the solution?

Unfortunately, there is not a clear path. The law is frustratingly vague when it comes to the internet and lawyers are constantly crafting new laws and interpretations of existing laws. Can we ban all people acting like asshats from the internet? Not likely.

Unfortunately, in this case, Jade Raymond will probably take her lumps and move on. It sucks. It’s embarrassing. But homegirl has a job to do and she will probably continue on.

And the rest of us? What can we do?

Take jobs in the industry and provide balanced perspectives?

Become more vocal with our buying power and boycott communities and companies that promote this type of behavior?

Continue to create and support online communities like this one?

Engage with the people supporting the cartoon on their turf, asking them why they think the way they do?

Or, maybe, all of the above?