Swery has come out to apologize and to patch/fix things, right?
yes and this is adressed in the video
it is also adressed that how the hell will he do this since it is not simple as one or two lines and also a major plot point is super problematic.
Laura Kate Dale said:For context, I sent him three tweets, calmy explaining that for York not to come across badly as a character, he should probably use "daughter, sister, she, her" rather than "brother, son, he, him", even when talking about events in the past.
Laura Kate Dale said:So yeah, York is canon a character who parades himself as an ally, but hasn't actually done the research on how to properly talk about trans people. Yeah, sounds about right. Not traits I enjoy in a protagonist.
Laura Kate Dale said:Not every character in DP 2 needs to be trans positive. But it would be nice if the playable protagonist, if not anyone else, got it right.
Laura Kate Dale said:I mean, the YOUR implies he knows I'm trans and doesn't want to hear my opinion lol
He really should have someone handle his English language tweets if he's not a confident speaker because I get the feeling that Swery didnt understand the definition of propoganda versus opinion. That he corrected it says someone clued him into it otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to apologise and retweet.
his localised view of things might not realise how writing for LGBTQ+ characters are portrayed in western society versus in Japan, but he's definitely getting an education here. His publisher should be stepping up to help with that
Much like how he needed to vet his work through trans people, he really needs to vet his tweets through somebody who speaks english because jesus fucking christ.
Ignoring the obvious language barrier issues, the line about her opinion makes me worry. It sounds like he's deflecting criticism which I have seen too many times from people who don't actually know what they did wrong. I really, really hope that's not the case but I can't continue to be a fan of somebody who refuses to grow.
well said, i feel pretty much the same. regardless of the language barrier this has been a good opportunity for him to learn things so i don't think i can call myself a swery fan if this keeps happening in future games.Ignoring the obvious language barrier issues, the line about her opinion makes me worry. It sounds like he's deflecting criticism which I have seen too many times from people who don't actually know what they did wrong. I really, really hope that's not the case but I can't continue to be a fan of somebody who refuses to grow.
I agree here.Laura pulled a lot of punches in this video, which I can understand given how even bringing up these subjects can turn women into targets for harassment. That said, I believe it's very much fair to accuse SWERY of outright transphobia and bigoted views of trans women specifically considering the content of both Deadly Premonition games and SWERY's comments about MISSING. Calling the situation "a problem" is very much an understatement.
In my opinion, it's not enough for SWERY to just rewrite some parts of DP2 and call it a day. SWERY needs to explicitly state his mistakes. Explicitly state why they are wrong. Explicitly state his understanding of his own errors. To apologize sincerely. And to promise not just to ensure this never happens again in his words, actions, and video games, but also that he'll also personally seek remedy for himself -- through education/counseling/therapy or whathaveyou -- and for those he's harmed.
This is a major fuck up. That SWERY created MISSING does not excuse his words and actions. I hope more people expect more from SWERY as well.
I fear that some will just put the blinkers on and mark this down as simply his "poor English" when expressing himself. I don't think he's a bad person or anything and I really respect him being so quick to want to fix the issues, but this response is just... ugh...
What I find bizarre is that with The Missing he actually consulted with trans voices to have appropriate representation on that game. Did he actually thought "I got this now I can write this on my own" with DP2.Given his initial response to this, I have to imagine he would appreciate the translators correcting this mistake and informing him.