Cultural Wars or How you are manipulated into rage by investment firms.

Many people nowadays are getting drawn into this so-called Anti-Woke Wars without realizing they are just being manipulated or baited. They take part either as Woke-defenders and Woke-opponents and just play along benefitting the shadow cardinals of the entertainment industry.

You see, the Woke agenda was always present in most videogames or movies since 80s to present. Maybe it was more subtle, but it was there. In todays, videogames and movies is more present, but not on that scale and proportion the far right would make you believe. So, why we have this impression that is omni-present and so divisive nowadays.

Because most of the scandals in games and movies you are so mad about today were artificially created by investment firms. Wait, does it mean investment firms are far-right Trump supporters? No, they don’t give a flying f*ck about ideologies or your feelings, they want to make profit. And they best way to make profit is manipulating stock market by creating fake scandals that no one normally would give a f*** in regular circumstances.

How do they achieve that? You see, the hate and scandal content were always very profitable and drawing lots of attention in social media. There are now a ton of content creators that built their Youtube channels on the social media drama. You might me surprised, but most of the world population are extremely-extremely conservative assh*les. So, the far-right rhetoric resonates with them very well, creating big view numbers and therefore ad revenue.

Another interesting factor, most your favorite youtubers that you consider extremely objective are actually sellouts.

We have recently several artificially created scandals in gaming and movie industry: Assassin Creed Shadow and Snow White.

What unites these two products? They are not as woke as far-right rhetoric would make you believe. Furthermore, Ubisoft and Disney have experienced several commercial failures in a row, making their shares an appetizing piece for grabs. Especially Ubisoft rtn, being in a very vulnerable state. So, if you were an investment firm, how would you drive their share price even lower to make profit on its consecutive resale or even hostile take over? Right, you create a scandal. And what are the most viewed and clickbaited scandals nowadays? Anti-woke scandals. They create an impression that the target company is in crisis, it alienates the public into avoiding their new products.

And then come handy anti-woke social influencers and youtube trolls for hire such as Asmongold. The investment firms anonymously sponsor these anti-Woke videos; they also are not shy of using bot farms to generate divisive comment traffic. The hired influencers bring their respective crowds of far-right idiots, who clash with the woke crowd, and you know the rest: weeks and weeks of shitstorm in comments and social media, some politicians even get involved, etc.

As a result, you see these absurd scenarios, when a redneck from Florida, who couldn’t locate Japan on the map a few months ago, is now a fanatic defender of Japanese culture, history and royal family blood line purity.

Update:

There showed up an evidence on reddit that the investment firm AJInvestments was behind stoking a fire into Ubisoft and Assassin Creed Shadow scandals

https://www.reddit.com/r/Asmongold/comments/1ft55sl/aj_investments_rallies_10_of_shareholders_to/

Off topic is that-a-way >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> :P

If we work together, we can end racism.

First step - Add Davillain to your Steam list

I think Cultural Wars started to affect SW more and more nowadays, especially with AC Shadow release. I am seeing SW fellows to get emotionally involved into all this. So, I wanted to add my 2 cents into the defense of Ubisoft. And the SW fellows should be more cautious with social media and not fall so easily for unscrupulous business practices of obvious public opinion manipulation. Industry of uproar and rage arrived to stay, and is a part of corporate Game of Thrones now . So, SW fellow should prepare their minds and hearts to resist future onslaughts.

Investment firms? Weren't there hundreds of paid social media influencers taking money trickling down from GRU? Perhaps there could be discovered connection if Trump's pro-Russian administration didn't take over DOJ, but that happened.

Anyhoo, that's basic psy-op stuff. And no doubt companies hire their expertise for marketing in areas other than this anti-wokeness, just not being as sinister about it. GRU focuses on issues that drive a wedge in society, and they also play both sides.

Culture Wars are completely blown out of proportion from Both sides.........with the right being more butt hurt about it (which is insanely hypocritical but that's another thing)

At the end of the day the vast majority of people's favorite movies or games have a message or deeper meaning. That's why they are good movies, they have a story that is more than just face value.

I've seen people say Star Wars used to be good because it wasn't political or Woke....which is completely untrue because both the Original and Prequel Trilogy are anti-fascist, and warn of rising fascism. You can argue the message is more subtle or hidden by a good and engaging story for sure, but to deny it's existence is just wrong. You have to have some media literacy skills to dissect the meaning in some cases.

Which brings me to another point.....media literacy. This is something that isn't really taught before College today, with it only being taught in Highschool just a few decades ago. Movie makers know this....and since there is a deep drop off in media literacy today writers and film makers will make the message more clear and less nuanced.....which results in not as strong of a story and an appearance if virtue signaling that puts movie goers off.

And before anyone asks.....Yes I have a Master's Degree in Mass Media and over 15 years of Television experience.....but please tell me internet strangers that I don't know what I am talking about

There showed up an evidence on reddit that the investment firm AJInvestments was behind stoking fire into Ubisoft and Assassin Creed Shadow scandals

https://www.reddit.com/r/Asmongold/comments/1ft55sl/aj_investments_rallies_10_of_shareholders_to/

Asmongold was definitely paid by them.

Also I wouldn't be surprised into finding out that Netflix is secretely sponsoring anti-Disney content lol.

Media wars is just a part of corporate wars now.

I don't think any objective and educated person would disagree with what are you saying. But I can already see you are already emotionally invested into this. Just be careful, not to waste your time trying to convince a chat troll bot. Most of those anti-woke trolls online are AI anti-woke-trained bots that can have back and forth with you for hours without tiring or sleep lol

With the advent of AI, you never know if your argue online with a real person or bot. They can even simulate grammatical errors and have human-like discussion, using ChatGpt-like paid AI models.

All this shit is stupid, but this actually made me laugh. It's clearly not just social media noise. Games are getting pretty goofy these days

I think this is why I prefer Nintendo first party games.

I don't particularly want to see two girls kissing. I don't particularly want to see two guys kissing.

Apparently, this makes me fascist.

My approach to gaming is rather simple. If I like what I see, I play it. If I don't like what I see, I avoid.

Broken folks, spend insane amounts of their time hating on things they allegedly have no interest in while wasting others' time in the process. The discourse has become downright racist, misogynist, xenophobic and homophobic. These folks simply are the echoes of whomever voice they decided to adopt. This sketch reminds me of those folks.

Culture wars attract the most insecure groups because they lack self-value, and it shows with every response.

Isn't this optional?

Like, in general?

There is an easy fix. Don't play. 🤷🏽‍♂️

I don't.

Then there isn't a problem.🙃

Well, I used the word "particularly" because, after all, CP 2700 is one of my favorite games, like ever. My character was a girl and I even romanced Judy, lol. It's just sometimes that kind of thing feels contrived. But it didn't feel that way in Cyberpunk, at least not to me.

Then your initial statement is inaccurate since you purposely wanted two girls to be intimate. Gaming as a whole is filled with contrived scenarios. It is a staple of gaming.

Yeah, dunno. It's just a narrative feeling, I guess. If it feels natural (in games, of course), I go with it. It felt that way in Cyberpunk, but so often it doesn't feel like that in other games. It's the latter that I avoid. Just personal preference. If somebody else likes those games, it's no problem by me. AC Shadows is a good example. Some people hate it, others love it. I'm over here just shrugging. I don't want to play it, but it's fine if somebody else does.

I feel like these terms have lost all their impact and meaning. Their overuse applies to that Key&Peele sketch you shared. Folks just call people those terms instead of countering opinions. Like you said, just don't play the games with the stuff you don't like. I agree with you there. But I'm not gonna run around calling over dramatic, uninteresting people on message boards racist because of their tired takes. The discourse isn't any of those things you listed. It's all laziness from both sides. Buzzwords being thrown around when folks get backed into a corner...

when people become dogmatic about this stuff, it always gets ugly. but it also generates traffic/clicks so of course there are lots of "influencers" who are going to delve into it because its easy money and exposure.

definitely something I try to stay away from.

They have not lost their impact or meaning. Folks have chosen to subvert the meaning because they don't like facing the reality that their behavior falls into those categories. When folks target individuals as not being qualified and talentless because of their race, gender and sexual orientation those words that you claim have lost their meaning directly apply.

The "feel natural" is nebulous in application. It doesn't feel natural that a military humanoid robot would be dressed like a blindfolded French maid, but it exist in gaming and is overlooked. Yet, real people being included in a game is viewed as not feeling natural/forced. There is a disconnect happening there.

If the general stance was "I don't want to play it, but it's fine if somebody else does" was actually applied then we would not be having this discussion or problem.

I feel like a lot of this is just bad products, cut away any of the social messaging stuff and wind back to story/technical elements etc. and you're left with a lot of very poor to average products, so the social messaging becomes prominent and people think it's forced which is not an unfair takeaway and various companies have leant into that which hasn't helped.

A great case in point is TW3, plenty of potentially "woke" story points 0 culture war backlash because the quality of the underlying product is that high.

I respect your take, yeah. Just like I would anyone's in this case. For me, though, that natural feel is a craft element, admittedly. I do tackle it from a technical standpoint, though not technical in the sense of existential juxtaposition, or anything like that (such as plastic vs. organic thematic components, whether arbitrary by design, or wanting discipline). It's an internal register, a chemical reaction of sorts, which we all have, whether we utilize it in discipline, or unconsciously, as it were. This inherently applies to plot elements, just as it would to the mundane world. And that's a fascinating thing, at least to me. It boils down to what one would call NPC (in the organic), but I don't look at it that way. I see threads, some held by one's own hands, many not. This plays out in all scenarios, to varying extents, regardless of where the viewer stands, before the looking glass, or inside of it (not literally). If a writer can convey that struggle accurately, which is to say without excess effluent, the paradigm of "I will do this thing" vs "I will do this thing, because of this ordination" becomes as natural as breathe in, breathe out. I like that kind of thing.

I think it's a pretty funny video. I think it's ok to enjoy and laugh at some anti-woke reels out there. I think it's ok to enjoy some Asmongold's shenanigans, I mean, sometime the dude has funny reactions. Or other anti-woke bloggers for the matter. It think it's also ok not to belong to either woke- or anti-woke faction. Actually it's the sanest attitude, not to pick sides in Cultural Wars. I think it's healthy not to take oneself too seriously and allow oneself a certain degree of self-satire. I think extremes of wokeness and anti-wokeness are what is actually unhealthy and dangerous. And I also think one must understand that wokeness itself is not bad, social justice isn't bad, diversity isn't bad, etc. We don't want to return to the times of segregation and oppression, when, for a bad opinion, police could disappear you. No one would want to live in "far-right utopias". Far right are populists, they mostly sell you some popular ideas that you can wholeheartedly agree with, but, as well, they have a full baggage of hidden not so pleasant agendas that no one would ever want to bring to life.

It's like you're halfway there...

Folks don't like facing the reality that their beliefs may be bigoted, sure. But on the other end, folks don't want to admit that entertainment (movies, music, games, TV) have gone a little too far off the deep end. Everything has a LGBTQIA+ theme. There's fuckin' in every AAA video game now... We have to be aware of ethnic representation everywhere. Acknowledging these things doesn't make a person racist, sexist, homophobic etc. Those terms have turned into buzzwords for folks too lazy (or disingenuous) to have a real discussion.

Refusing to buy games with black characters is a bigoted/racist stance. Questioning why the 2 protagonists in an AC game are a bi female and an African American, non-binary samurai is worthy of a discussion. A silly one, sure. But it's not as ridiculous as some try to paint it to be. I left it alone for the most part because I don't care about AC games or the topic. But calling everybody racist or misogynistic for pushing back seems just as silly.

That's the problem... alot of people are just " not playing " and the franchises they once loved are dying along with the studios that created them.

No, not really. People generally have no idea how it works, their superficial opinion formed by the lack of information and refusal to learn. What they perceive as woke, is as a matter of fact, isn't woke at all. Btw. that goes for both clown shows (Left-Right) of course.

For example the Shawshank Redemption. In the book the character of Red is Irish, in the movie he is played by Morgan Freeman. Many oblivious people believe this makes it "woke" because of the supposed race swap. Anybody who knows US history and how the Irish were treated back in the days doesn't make this mistake.

There was no woke agenda, because there were no institutions advocating and enforcing an agenda. Do you know the defintion of "agenda"? Nobody was activiley working to make games more diverse, less sexist etc. There were no game/movie awards dictating DEI criteria. No social justice warriors and radical feminists like Anita "I'm not a fan of videogames" Sarkeesian...

https://youtu.be/HiOS8dkSXMg?si=sw3KkdAURfRKGndS

No consultant companies like Sweet Baby Inc. who like to terrorize and burn things down...

Sure, the others are the problem, not ideological indoctrinated nutjobs. Are you on crack?

Why is it a bad thing? I know it can be annoying for some, but is it actually a bad thing? We live in a global diverse world today. With the internet, most country borders have been virtually erased. Entertainment is now made for the entire world, not just a few countries. Just tell me, knowing how f*cked up and cruel humanity have been for a few centuries in the past, knowing that we do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, what would you teach the new generation of kids? Would you pass them the values of the Old World, or would you teach them new values that carry more hope?

If you had a 5-year old girl for a daughter, what content would you show her? That she can be anything she wants or that she belongs to the kitchen and must find a good husband?

If you had a disabled boy on a wheel chair, would you show him Disney woke movies that disabled kids might have superpowers or let him ingest all the online hate on how useless he is?

What's wrong with the ethnic representation? The white population is getting smaller and smaller. In Canada, it's what, 30% only now. So all the color actors should stay out of job then? Why? It's not practical or fair from the economical point of view. No one will let 30% to discriminate the remaining 70% of the population. You can not say brown kids in your country to f*** off because of historical accuracy. I mean they are kids. They want to see themselves represented as well.

What agenda would you choose for your own kids and loved ones?

@ivangrozny: Do you honestly believe that the Anti-Woke outrage is completely manipulated? Or do you think it's possible that since 2015 progressive activist have continued to throw in their agendas with no subltely and the general audiences has taken notice?

Snow White and the Little Mermaid reboots didn't fail because angry YouTubers told everyone it sucked. They general audience simply saw the casting and had no desire to see it. Most people do not get on forums and bitch about a product. That loud obnoxious anti-woke crowd speaks for a much larger silent majority that's simply not going to buy the product.

It's manipulated. I address you the same question i had made to @ghostofgolden : What agenda would you choose for your own kids and loved ones?

If you had a 5-year old girl for a daughter, what content would you show her? That she can be anything she wants or that she belongs to the kitchen and must find a good husband?

If you had a disabled boy on a wheel chair, would you show him Disney woke movies that disabled kids might have superpowers or let him ingest all the online hate on how useless he is?

It's easy to judge and project the woke message on yourself. But it's not directed at you, it's directed at newer generation to make them a bit more tolerant and better than we were.

And don't get me wrong, I don't advocate for a extreme Woke-ness like gender-changes on kids. I am talking about moderate wokeness such as social justice and equal representation.

You know who are anti-woke? Isis, Taliban and other Islamic fanatics who rape girls at young age, who stone to death gay people, who burn books, destroy art, architectural monuments, etc. Should we be like them? No. Neonazis are anti-woke. Not very pleasant type of people either. And I can go on and on. I bet you wouldn't want to live in their countries, watch their movies or play their videogames.

The concept that entertainment has gone too far off the deep end is a distortion of reality. The words you claim as lacking meaning has become the reality for the discourse in gaming. The idea that certain groups were included in excess is a rather silly notion that is objectively false. However, it is due to folks magnifying every and anything that included some groups. So, I am not buying what you are trying to sell in your first paragraph.

While refusing to buy a game because of a black character is bigoted, it is their money and they can do whatever the hell they want with it. I don't care and nor should I care. A character being bi in a game is not worthy of a discussion. If you want the character to be straight, they are straight. If you want them to be gay, they are gay. If you want them to be bi, they are bi. What is there to discuss?

I actually have a 5 year old daughter. I also have 2 boys, 10 and 7.

My wife and I set the examples we want our children to follow. I'm half black, half white, my wife is white so my children are mixed race. They currently go to a very racially diverse school, but will soon be going to a predominately white school. (So things could get a little interesting) Things like homosexuality, religion, race ect. have come up and are addressed in a respectful manner. Respect for others is probably the biggest theme we push. Representation is not. My daughter has pretty dark skin for only being 25% black. She LOVES dressing up like Disney princesses. (Something she organically started doing. We had only raised boys to that point and my wife was never "girly" like that) She doesn't only dress up as characters that share her skin color, and her color is never a factor when she's playing. She's 5 ffs... She'll put on a Ninja Turtle costume or dress like a dinosaur, too. She's very creative and imaginative. Something we encourage and wouldn't want to pollute with themes of race and gender. My boys are VERY different from one another, and we do our best to support all their different interests and academic strengths. Parenting is very tough. But we sure as hell aren't looking for movies and video games to help raise them.

My children will be exposed to entertainment, and pick up things from friends at school. But they won't need to search for representation in movies and video games. They are surrounded by many strong role models and people that love them. Folks from all races, sexual orientations, religious beliefs and political leanings, etc. They won't need to find their purpose and identity in media. And if they don't like what's being produced, I won't tell them to protest others art, but to go make what they want and be the change they want to see.

So long answer less long... No, representation isn't a "bad" thing. You can look up to, or be inspired by characters without sharing their skin color or other traits. Would it hurt? No. But I can enjoy watching a movie or playing a game without there being a 40-something, straight, biracial guy as the lead.

I'm not gonna locked this thread as it has no place in SW but I am gonna move it to Games Discussion as it's more fitting for this topic to be on that platform. So move to Games Discussion it is.

Well then you're misguided. As I said before most people don't look for Youtubers to tell them what to like. They simply saw the overabundance of this trash and took a stance against it. 5 years ago this so called outrage was from a loud irrelevant minority. Now that these entertainment companies lost billions of dollars they are having to take notice.

If I had a 5 year old daughter I would not fill her with the delusions that she can do everything a man can do because reality is going to hit her hard eventually. I actually saw an example of this first hand through the years.

A good friend of mine was a high school and college wrestler. He always wanted a boy but ended up being a girl dad of two girls. He put one of his daughters in wrestling and helped train her over the years and she was actually very talented. He was proud that his daughter was able to beat the boys.... she continued to compete with them until she was about a sophomore in high-school before she started losing just about all her matches. Her father was gutted but finally understood what he once knew. They seperate genders in most sports for a reason. This idea that somehow masculine traits are a positive in women is misguided and leads to more harm then good and is generally held by delusional " woke" activist who are somehow surprised when one man can easily beat up three female cops.

And it's funny you call these terrorists groups anti woke yet it's " woke" progressives who are protesting for terrorists organizations such as Hamas. The left has a hard time identifying any one as a villian unless they're a straight white man.

I think once you go to far in one direction that it becomes a bad thing and unfortunately for now the progressive activism in gaming has got a little to far out of hand.

I think you’re right for the most part. You can’t just throw around words. “You’re a woke person!” “Cancel culture” “DEI”. I get the feeling we’re really just talking past each other at this point.

Yup, culture war is nonsense.

I'm happy to have been raised in the 90's (born 84) before the internet. The critical thinking skills and pre-internet era got instilled in me. I'm not saying I am a genius, but a lot of really bad shit happened around the turn of the millenium and I am happy I was more or less done with my formative years at that point.

No, it doesn't.

You're entitled to your opinion.

You're not entitled to judge people and dictate policy based on that opinion if it takes their rights away. That would make you a fascist.

I sometimes get a bit alienated by the stuff they put in games, so I get it. I see two guys kiss in a show or game and I sort of roll my eyes. But that's more or less the end of it; I move on with my life. If something like that is more than you can roll your eyes at, if it actually alienates you to the point you have to stop playing the game or watching the show and it actually upsets you...then yeah, you're kind of a bigot. Sorry dude.

I doubt you're that bad, though; so just do what I do, roll your eyes, shrug, and get on with your life.

This is all more or less true, by the way.

We see it in games now, too. Black samurai, oh that's DEI

Woman developer? DEI

Gay or Lesbian character? DEI.

I don't particularly want to see men and women kissing each other, either. Sometimes, when it just goes on and on, it does put me off so much I just turn off the movie, game, whatever. What does that make me? A prude?

Not at all.

And neither do I. Not a big fan of "public displays of affection" to be honest.

But, again, not dictating policy based on that. I just accept that it is my opinion and it should not be the law of the land. YOu just have to sort of remove yourself from the equation sometimes and think objectively. "Are they hurting anyone?" is usually a good place to start when you're uncomfortable.

Yesyes, we started at "there is no agenda", went to "there has always been an agenda" - which is evidently false -, to "it's good for everyone, it is good to accept the lies and support the ill intentions of radical activists."

You can not say brown kids in your country to f*** off because of historical accuracy.

I'm a "brown kid" and i really like historical accuracy, resp. historical authenticity, resp. authentic world building, meaning when there is actual artistic vision behind, not cheap corporate pandering. No, i don't mind Kingdom Come Deliverance bursting with "white people" (in non-black-white-thinking terms: historically accurate ethnic population composition) and depicting the world as it once was. But thanks for your racist concern. A good example of the indoctrinated mind, thinking because you're good and virtuous you can speak for people, who in your mind define themselves by their skin color and nothing else, and therefore must be of the same shallow perspective.

And don't get me wrong, I don't advocate for a extreme Woke-ness like gender-changes on kids. I am talking about moderate wokeness such as social justice and equal representation.

There is no "moderate wokeness". Woke is the radical progessive. Failing to understand that and conflating one with the other is making you advocate for it. It is evident you're unable to differentiate, since you don't even want to acknowledge that there is a difference between a unique artistic vision of someone like Gene Rodenberry (Star Trek) and political ideology that is demanded to be injected mindlessly into everything present or past. And inlcuded in this agenda is "gender changes on kids".

A verse from the oscar nominated Emilia Perez

Changing the body, changes Society

Changing Society, changes Soul

Changing the Soul, changes Society

Changing Society, changes it all

"Gender is a social construct". We all heard that little slogan, and i know you agree with it, because you don't even realize what is happening.

I came across a video about people being manipulated into rage here:

Sounds like a lot of people are being manipulated to waste their time and energy on things that don't impact their lives, while ignoring things that actually negatively impact them in a way that could affect their economic stability and quality of life.

@ivangrozny: Grifting is as old as the hills. For every Fox News, an MSNBC. Exploiting emotion is a great way to make a buck, and as the games journalists learned in 2015, culture war poison can be used to mask all sorts of ethical breaches.

That said, I don't think you can sit here and say that the sort of inorganic pandering that we've seen in Snow White, Assassin's Creed Shadows, et al, isn't detrimental. I think reasonable people here would agree that a game or movie with a good story is a good thing, regardless of the gender, race or sexual orientation of the characters involved, but the obviously political push that we've seen in recent years (and a lot of the rhetoric coming from people inside the entertainment industry) has done much more to foster racism than to stop it. While actual bigots will object to any depictions of women, minorities or people with non-traditional sexual orientations outside their harmful stereotypes, what we mostly see is people who just want something well-made and worth our time and money, and the industry calling those people every -ist and -phobe in the book. This not only devalues the entire entertainment industry as audiences walk away, it grants an opening for some horrific people (Andypants Gaming and Synthetic Man come to mind immediately), people who believe that the problem is the mere presence of characters who aren't the default white guy as opposed to insincere pandering, to lure people with their poisonous siren song.

At the end of the day, just make a good game, don't make it about partisanship, and you'll do well. Everything else is division.