Agree... (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Thursday, December 10, 2020, 16:40 (1533 days ago) @ Kermit

On the other hand, maybe shitty jokes are just shitty jokes and we don’t have to accept “but it’s art!” as a defense.

On the third hand, saying the shitty joke should stay in isn't the same thing as debating whether the joke is shitty. The presence of a shitty joke may be more instructive about and reflective of its time than any high-minded abstractions about the bad old days. Include, if they must, a disclaimer that everyone is forced to watch like they now do with Blazing Saddles, if they think their audience requires it.

I'm not saying that anyone who dislikes the shitty jokes (I would guess I'm in that camp) or is offended by them is wrong. I am saying that sanitizing history to preserve a state of non-offense is a bad trade--one that infantilizes us.

I think that’s a silly way to think, honestly. If changing a couple of jokes to reissue a game can let a modern audience enjoy that game mostly intact without actually making people feel bad, we lose absolutely nothing by doing so. This isn’t sanitizing or erasing history—it’s the opposite. It’s recognizing past mistakes, owning them, and making sure not to make them again.