Columns

That was a bit embarrassing wasn’t it, Canta? A dumb decision to print it and even more embarrassing that you paid for it. For those who missed the piece that Canta has got in a wee bit of trouble for, “The Epidemic of Virtual Butt-hurt” was written by a Queen B who has a rant at someone who wrote an article about “virtual rape” on Grand Theft Auto and how “even in video games, women can’t escape rape.”

Queen B ranted on about what a “dense bitch” this woman was and refers to her in several other unnecessarily horrible ways. Better that I don’t spread the bad taste.

I nearly said that I think a blank page would have been better. But that’s not true; I actually think the topic of that article should be something that is discussed. The fact that a game allows you to do that sort of weird shit is exactly that … fucking weird.
But neither the original writer or the author of Canta discusses the pervasiveness of the rape culture. Or the fact that the assaults happen just as much (on the game) to guys — it’s not just towards women on this game.

A few people defended the article on freedom of speech grounds. I’m all for that, but say something productive. Or be a dick, but expect to be slammed for it. Expect to lose the support of the students you’re supposed to be giving a voice to.

In 2005, Critic made an even bigger stuff-up. In a 2005 issue, now banned, there was an article published called “Diary of a Drug Rapist”, intended to be satirical. Satire is meant to be funny. I’m yet to see someone successfully make rape funny, so how about we just don’t even try?

It’s pretty hard to offend me — yes, I have my opinions on what is gross (the Canta article was), stupid (again, the Canta article was, but so are shitloads of other articles) or just plain unnecessary.

But people make mistakes — own up to it. Make sure it doesn’t happen again, hope that there hasn’t been too much damage, and then hope that the backlash dies down.

When Critic screwed up 10 years ago, a lot of things were put in place to make sure it didn’t happen again. We now have an ethics checklist, enhanced employment agreements … and a lesson learnt. A lesson we won’t forget.

Part of saying sorry is asking what you can do to fix it and it might pay to do just that this time. Actions will always do more than words...and that’s coming from an aspiring writer.