The Sarkeesian Effect (Film Goes Here)
Lovers of cinematic catastrophe, rejoice!
Facing accusations of fraud, douchebaggery, and skull abandonment in the wake of a split with his estranged “filmmaking” partner Jordan Owen, the formerly bald film auteur Davis Aurini has released a 38-minute “Rough Draft Preview” of his version of The Sarkeesian effect.
I have not yet had a chance to watch the whole thing, but from the brief bits I have seen it more than lives up to the hype, if by “hype” you mean “the general consensus that Davis Aurini cannot possibly produce anything but poop.”
In the first 4 minutes alone, Aurini uses narration and music from Owen that he clearly doesn’t have permission to use; the rest of the footage is also “borrowed” from others, and the much ballyhooed “Animated Title Sequence” consists of the words “Animated Title Sequence” over a still image.
Watching this, it is important to remember that this film was not edited by a 5-year-old on a budget of one juice box, but by an actual adult human being who considers himself something of a filmmaking pro, with a budget in the tens of thousands of dollars.
So let’s watch this together. I will offer more extended notes once I’ve had a chance to stop giggling and digest the rest.
EDITED TO ADD: Ok, I finally made it all the way through and, wow, it’s even worse than I expected.
Where even to start? There’s no real narrative; none of this will make much sense to anyone who hasn’t been following the whole #Gamergate thing already.
The “argument,” when it’s not completely incoherent, is thoroughly dishonest and (when it comes to criticizing Sarkeesian’s actual videos) ridiculously petty. The film makes repeated assertions about Sarkeesian (that she’s a “bully,” that she wants to censor video games) without any evidence at all.
When we finally get around to the interviews — there is no original footage at all in the first 18 or so minutes of the “film” — the argument is simply laughable. Essentially, Davis says “SJWs claim to speak for women and minorities, so here’s a … WOMAN (dramatic pause) who disagrees!”
It’s not explained why they’re interviewing a sex worker, much less this particular woman. In fact, she made webcam videos parodying Sarkeesian, but this is never mentioned. (Also not mentioned: the fact that she’s the wife of the “mediator” involved in trying to get the film made.) Why is she talking about Gail Dines? Has Sarkeesian ever spoke in favor of censorship?
And then we get the “Honey Badgers” complaining about “damseling,” followed by Paul Elam … damseling. (What relevance he has to a discussion of Sarkeesian isn’t clear.) Then Alison Tieman damseling.
Oh, and then there’s Davis complaining that when Sarkeesian gets threats, she gets money from it! Never mind the $30,000 collected by AVFM last year ostensibly to pay for security. Or that the Owen and Aurini are basically living off of people’s hatred of Sarkeesian, as are a number of bloggers and youtubers .
Other, er, highlights:
- Terrible fonts (an Aurini trademark)
- That stupid grid of YouTube videos that Aurini uses when he’s got no actual filmed footage or stock photos or anything else to use for a visual
- The terrible sound, with volume changing radically from clip to clip
- Terrible lighting in many of the clips
- The lengthy segments with no visuals at all, just a black screen
- Various people shown without introductions or subtitles to explain who they are
- Even when people are identified, no real effort to explain why on earth they would be relevant
Probably not a good idea to include so much footage of Owen, given that he. you know, has publicly said that Aurini is a fraud who doesn’t have permission to use any of the film footage
It’s striking how much more professional the clips from Sarkeesian videos are when compared with everything Owen and Aurini filmed.
Now, obviously, this is a rough cut. Real filmmakers often make rough cuts missing elements from the final film — music, cgi special effects, etc.
But they generally don’t release these to the public in advance of the film’s release, because they generally look terrible. The footage they use to promote the films prior to release are designed to make the film in question look awesome, not to prove, yes we have some footage.
The only reason Aurini has to release this is to “prove” that he actually has been putting in some work on the “film.” But what it really shows is how little work he’s done. I mean, take a couple of hours and clean up the fucking audio a little. At least make sure the volume is consistent within shots and from clip to clip.
The “quality” here is less than the quality of many unprofessional youtube videos that are slapped together in a day.
Also, it’s kind of amazing that he had no original footage at all to use in the first 18 minutes. Did they film nothing but the interviews themselves? Not even some footage of, I dunno, someone watching YouTube or pretending to type something on their computer?
“Why are you assuming I’m white just because I’m obviously white?”
Two off topic things.
Tatiana Maslany was finally nominated for an Emmy for Orphan Black!
Instagram banned curvy from their search results. Because on social media sites, racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and fat shaming are all perfectly acceptable free speech. But a shapely female body? The horror! I’m sure all the freeze peach bros who are totally against hate speech and just oppose censorship of any kind will react with the same furor that they did to reddit banning fat hate or Twitter making it easier to report harassment. Any minute now, I’m sure.
No one here was justifying or excusing anything, let alone the holocaust or other prejudice against Jews, simply because it isn’t called “racism.”
Likewise, your story about the false complaint that turned out not to exist, confusing as it was, does sound appalling. Saying it isn’t called sexism, because that term means something else, is not the same as saying we think it’s perfectly okay to treat anyone badly because of gender bias.
“Being accused of stalking someone as a man is TOTALLY the same as living everyday as a woman. Really, guys, really, no fooling. I mean, no, it turns out I was never being accused of stalking, but, I mean, obviously I would be treated like a pariah for the rest of my life as if I was. I mean, less than 3% of rapist actually get convicted, nor does it rarely affect their job or schooling, and you rarely see the survivor painted in a positive light as they are always asking for it and wanted it in the first place, but stalking is treated as a crime just as bad as rape, you guys, so obviously this stalking accusation that actually never happened is TOTALLY SEXISM YOU GUYS.
“It probably has nothing to do with the fact that I conflate a RUMOR ABOUT ME BEING A STALKER to the sexism women face or anything like that. I don’t trivialize things, especially when it comes to me.”
@weirwoodtreehugger
Aww, that really sucks… why Dave why!?!?
Megadeth was one of the last metal bands I still kept close to my heart since I was a teen…
I guess I’ll have to stick to the German who still remain on the list…
How about Blind Guardian? Or Rage? Nothing wrong with Peavy Wagner, right? Right!?
I’m guessing you haven’t either.
No, you speak as though you have no knowledge of what it’s like to be discriminated against.
Plus, if the complaint was dropped, doesn’t that prove that there’s no discrimination against men? Any complaint has to be taken seriously, so they looked into it. When they determined it was unfounded, they dropped it. So what’s the problem. If we take him at his word that it was false charge, then the system worked and it was an example of one person having a vendetta against other. Not an example of sexism against men. It’s not sexism against men, every time an individual woman is mean to an individual men.
Not particularly. When speaking anonymously on a subject that involves privilege, especially when one’s comments either reinforce that privilege or attempt to marginalize the voices of those not in power, the default is (as it should be) to presume the speaker has said privilege.
Also, I very much enjoy how the rest of your tantrum devolves into an appeal to emotion rather than addressing the pertinent arguments that others have put forth. Why are men so emotional that they can’t even do logic?
Never, ever get into a conversation about racism online and get indignant when someone correctly guesses that you’re white. Also, if someone tells you that the toupee you’re wearing is askew, don’t point at them and say, “YOU LIE!”
We don’t even know if it was a woman who was behind it all. He doesn’t say. His problem is that the convention staff didn’t show him the complaint because the complaint that never existed claimed that the woman was afraid for her safety, should her stalker read what she told the staff.
Which of course is very misandrist because we know that women have absolutely no reason to fear for their safety if their stalkers hear that they complained about them. In fact, men victimizing women is a “sexist stereotype”.
Right? Right.
Instead say “this is the classiest, most expensive toupee in the world. You’re just jealous that you can’t afford a toupee this plush and askew.”
No. But I have been the victim of a stalker. Way back in the early 80’s, before Rebecca Shaeffer was killed by her stalker and no one even called it stalking.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that being stalked and fearing bodily harm 24/7 sucks worse than maybe getting a legal slap on wrist.
@ weirwoodtreehugger
Oh, that is awesome! You can practically feel that toupee’s desperate yearning for freedom.
One can only imagine the horrors it’s had to endure. The soul-killing mixture of aggressive stupidity and melodramatically banal egotism rendered as quotidian fare would make even the wigs of the Sun King’s court wither in mortification.
Also, fuck you, you don’t own the fucking holocaust. I have branches of my polish family that we can only guess about, because they’re from tiny towns that were erased from the map during WWII. Hell of a lotta Poles died, and if you think that makes a Polish person living in America “not white” then you’re fraking deluding yourself.
On a lighter note! Re; steven universe-
There was a fan theory that onion was actually a secret gem.
That tape felt like Rebecca Sugar nuking the theory from orbit.
I’m just relieved Owen preferred to go back and forth, as opposed to releasing four hours worth of video.
@Binjabreel
Totes. Horribly totes.
Ohay, that’s me!
Because the only people who ever really complain about “reverse racism” are white, just like the majority of people who unironically complain about “misandry” are men. Also, I’m white, and can tell when one of my own people are being an inconsiderate jackass.
And going to second someone else that being Jewish is religious oppression, and you are white passing, so you benefit from white privilege.
So, the point of this little story was one, “feel sorry for me because of the Holocaust!”, which is a jackass move, and I could point out that queer folk like myself were killed, so Jewish people weren’t the only ones killed during the Holocaust.
However, you still get better treatment than I do, as a queer person. I only just got the rights to marry someone of the same gender as me a few weeks ago.
And the panic defense is still valid in almost every state in the US, so if I get murdered or assaulted, all my murderer or assaulter has to say is “Your honor, I freaked out because I found out she was queer.” and BOOM, defended.
Yup. You are so discriminated against.
So, you’re not discriminated against? Weren’t you just trying to prove that you were with your little aside about the Holocaust above?
Do you know what your chances of being attacked by a shark are? 1 in 3,748,067.
Do you know what a woman’s chance is of being raped? 1 in 4.
Do you know how many reported rapes (of all genders) had a male aggressor? 93.7%
And yet, it’s “misandry” to be afraid of men, but logical to be afraid of sharks?
I’ve never been the “victim” of a “false complaint”, but I have been a victim of rape. I have walked home with a can of bear mace tucked up my sleeve, and my keys poking out between my fingers, balled up in a fist. I have had men decide that their “right” to talk to me was more important than my right to be left alone. I have had men decide that it was more important that they turn me into a sex object rather than just leave me alone.
The worst part? I was blamed for my own rape. And if it happens again, it’s very likely I’ll be blamed again. Any time a woman is victimized, someone finds some reason to blame her.
Christy Mack, a woman who was dating a MMA fighter and later broke up with him was beaten almost to death and almost raped by her ex, but everyone found a reason to blame her for it. “He’s an MMA fighter, what did she expect?”, “She’s a porn star! She deserves it!”, “She was stupid, so this is all her fault!”, “She must have done something to provoke him!”.
And yet, ESPN writes an article with the title “The Tragic Love Story of Christy Mack and MMA Fighter War Machine”, after he beat her and she had to escape, naked, to her neighbor’s apartment to call the police.
Or how about all those news stories of when women told a man no and were assaulted or murdered because of it?
Yeah, men have it so bad, don’t they? Women are afraid of them, and it’s not like it’s their fault, right? It’s not your fault that women are afraid of men! Women should drop all their defenses and just allow you in because you’re such a Nice Guy! You’re not a bad person, you just want women to give you a free pass because your feelings should override their desire for comfort and safety. [/sarcasm]
Exactly. Too bad “racism” against white people isn’t a thing. Discrimination and prejudice against white people are, but racism it is not, and you can try to define that away with all your “professional writing experience”, but it’s not going to fly.
Really? I don’t think the Jewish people were murdered because the Third Reich believed that they had more “power” than anyone else.
Hitler blamed the Jewish people for Germany losing WWI, and many people believed him. That’s not “paranoid justifications of them having more power”, that’s Hitler saying that they cost Germany a war, and made Germany into the way it was, bowing and scraping to every other country and the like. This was built upon antisemitism that already existed at the time. Hitler didn’t invent antisemitism, but he used it effectively.
You don’t need power to be a scapegoat.
Also, Hitler believed that the Aryan race was the most powerful and worthy, so that also pokes a hole in your little theory.
Says the guy who thinks that being falsely accused of something is just as bad as living your life in fear of it.
Misandry isn’t a thing. It never has been, and it will never be, unless men are somehow put in the same position women are in now. You can be discriminated against, and people can be prejudiced against you, but there is no system in place in our society that keeps men down through power and prejudice.
Yup, I’m sure we won’t be seeing you again. [/sarcasm]
Your type rarely sticks the flounce. You love the attention.
@Binjabreel
That’s true that many Poles died, but there are still many antisemites here in Poland who like to use this argument against Jews. No to mention that they want to totally forget about pogroms in Jedwabne and Kielce. So please don’t turn this into contest who suffered more because it isn’t helping and this discussion is already a bit uncomfortable.
And BTW not all Jews are white – http://www.bechollashon.org/population/north_america/na_color.php – “a little over 7% of America’s 6 million Jews say that they are African American, Asian, Latino/Hispanic, or Native American or mixed-race, for a total of about 435,000 individuals.”
Robert Marks,
How did we know you’re white? Pattern recognition. People who wail for the poor white man and how no one understands how hard racism and sexism are on him are almost always clueless white men. You being Jewish does not remove your white privilege just like being gay or female would not negate white privilege.
You are whitesplaining and mansplaining. Self awareness: Get some.
@Paradoxical Intention:
That was most excellent. I am in awe. I’mma bake you some biscuits for that.
If he comes back, let’s all say he’s being antisemitic against Gentiles.
Top class rant there, Paradoxical Intention. Let me send over some chocolate milk to go with EJ’s biscuits.
Hey, I’ll go against the grain here and say that you guys are all wrong! I’ll have you guys know that this preview of an upcoming documentary was a true masterpiece in film-making, with utterly perfect cinematography throughout. The people interviewed were superb, the script was dynamite awesome, some truly great special effects used, and overall a fine effort from Messrs Aurini and Owens.
Now granted, this impression only became possible after going through a couple kilos of cocaine, but level with me here.
Also first comment here, hi!
Uh oh, Matt Forney has weighed in against Jordan Owen in his latest podcast:
http://www.donotlink.com/fy68
I haven’t listened to it as it’s Forney and I don’t have enough brain bleach to get through listening to one of his nasty little hatewanks. But I’m guessing major trigger warnings would be appropriate.
If Forney’s on Aurini’s side, then Aurini is in trouble.
…Jon9, I salute you. You actually had me giving your post a “what the fudge?” look till I got to that last little bit. Good job.
To any lurker’s wondering how to properly sarcasm, there you go! Excellent job. 🙂
*Note: I do not endorse the usage of mind altering substances in order to make awful special effects and scripts seem wonderful.
WHY WHY WHY do these idiots begin with a sequence that makes their ‘enemy’ seem extremely appealing and forward thinking? They did it in the trailer, having serious newspeople discuss misogyny followed by grimly lit interviewees who dismiss it, the first one in an odious fashion. If you have a subjective documentary, unless it’s meant to be a ‘GOTCHA’ type with a twist, you need to establish the negative aspects of your subject and provide emotional engagement like testimony from his or her victims. But of course, emotions totally beta.
watched a few seconds, scrolled ahead to see how long this thing is and…OMFG he used PAPYRUS?!?!?!
Bwaaaaaahahahahaha
Sorry to come off so harsh, that’s just what I was trying to say- that it’s callous as hell to whip out a connection to as big a tragedy as that because it’s presuming that others might not as well.
*might not have one, that is.
NINE MILLION CANADIAN US DOLLARS
I’m mostly disappointed that I couldn’t hear their arguments, because the sound in that version is so terrible. Aurini couldn’t even type up some close-captions before throwing up that awful thing.
I just found this great takedown video mocking The Sarkeesian Effect: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_OtqTPR2Q0&w=420&h=315%5D
Wait, these guys wanted $15,000 a month to do this thing? Here’s the trailer for another crowd funded documentary made by an acquaintance of mine with a $10k budget: http://takingmyparentstoburningman.com
Granted, it’s a very different format of documentary, but it’s a good illustration of what the production value *should be* in that budget range when handled with any measure of competence.
https://twitter.com/alexlifschitz/status/622000913641799680
I got as far as “The Outright Lie, the Lie by Omission, Manipulated Evidence, and The Double-Bind” and promptly keeled over and died from irony overdose. I’m typing this from beyond the grave.
Some of the comments seems so very odd, this fellow has a brief dialog with Aurini that seems as disconnected with the subject matter of the Tropes videos as much of the TSE’s rough draft content.
Laser Reloaded ponders:
+Davis M.J. Aurini Have you considered making your side of TSE into a series? You could point out how Ms. Sarkeesian has many allies in academia and traditional mass media, and how she has virtually NONE in the areas of precision manufacturing, robotics, financial services, engineering and medicine. Have you also noticed how certain groups, such as the NRA, and hedge funds are not only successful in avoiding Sarkeesian, but basically give her and her followers the middle finger. A series would be needed to broach these subjects. Just saying’,……my two cents.
Davis M.J. Aurini replies:
+Laser Reloaded You’re bang on; it’s merely a question of how much can I say without losing people in philosophy? Ultimately I want people to walk away with a firm resolve against the sort of manipulators that are all over the place, for whom Sarkeesian is merely a stand in.
I am a molecular biologist but I have no reason to follow any feminists work from a professional viewpoint nor does the research department of the company I work for, even though I do as a person. This attempt to connect various technical fields with critical analysis of the content of any media (video games, literature, art) makes sense only if the media reflects relevant social attitudes towards those fields.
Does anyone else wonder if he was able to type that with a straight face?
I don’t think he’s capable of taking himself less seriously.
Well, I was always curious what Beavis and Butthead would do when they “grew up”.
freemage:
You mean, if you chop off one ass, it grows two asses, and will gleefully display them to you?
Watching that Owen response video…
Oft MRA will doth MRAs mar indeed!