Geraldine's
Obsolete Gamer Bigotry
RECEIVED Tue., Oct. 3, 2006
Dear Editor,
In his shallow and sloppy review of Saints Row [Screens, Sept. 29], presumably aimed at gamers who were considering buying this THQ video game, Jeremy Martin writes, "Ever want to implant your flabby gamer ass in the middle of a street gang? Here's your chance to make an eerily similar-looking – though infinitely more badass – digitized doppelgänger. There are no options for adding acne, armpit stains, or social awkwardness to your player, however, so he'll probably be an inexact copy."
Aside from the provable inaccuracy of this obsolete bigotry – I can introduce Mr. Martin to a hardcore gamer with a 60th-level EverQuest monk and a brown belt in kung fu, who can cream Martin's pasty butt three falls for three – this passage is interesting, in that both writer and editor decided it makes good sense to openly insult the target reader. Could you clarify why?
Will Jeremy Martin carry this unusual stylistic choice to, say, the Food section of the Chronicle? "You'll like the Kansas City strip at Ruth's Chris Steak House, assuming you can haul your football-shaped carcass from your Hummer and plant your obscene lardass at the table without shattering your chair."
What about music? "A memorial service for country music legend Don Walser will be held this Sunday for all the inbred, bucktoothed, yodel-happy hayseeds who couldn't find their way out of the trailer park in time for the last service."
And just imagine Jeremy Martin's approach to “The Gay Place,” Cinco de Mayo, and Martin Luther King's birthday!
Let us know how this career strategy works out for you, Mr. Martin.
In his shallow and sloppy review of Saints Row [Screens, Sept. 29], presumably aimed at gamers who were considering buying this THQ video game, Jeremy Martin writes, "Ever want to implant your flabby gamer ass in the middle of a street gang? Here's your chance to make an eerily similar-looking – though infinitely more badass – digitized doppelgänger. There are no options for adding acne, armpit stains, or social awkwardness to your player, however, so he'll probably be an inexact copy."
Aside from the provable inaccuracy of this obsolete bigotry – I can introduce Mr. Martin to a hardcore gamer with a 60th-level EverQuest monk and a brown belt in kung fu, who can cream Martin's pasty butt three falls for three – this passage is interesting, in that both writer and editor decided it makes good sense to openly insult the target reader. Could you clarify why?
Will Jeremy Martin carry this unusual stylistic choice to, say, the Food section of the Chronicle? "You'll like the Kansas City strip at Ruth's Chris Steak House, assuming you can haul your football-shaped carcass from your Hummer and plant your obscene lardass at the table without shattering your chair."
What about music? "A memorial service for country music legend Don Walser will be held this Sunday for all the inbred, bucktoothed, yodel-happy hayseeds who couldn't find their way out of the trailer park in time for the last service."
And just imagine Jeremy Martin's approach to “The Gay Place,” Cinco de Mayo, and Martin Luther King's birthday!
Let us know how this career strategy works out for you, Mr. Martin.
Allen Varney
