Tiny Tina and The Bigger Problem

4Player-"This week Mike Sacco ignited a Twitter debate about a racist trope found in Borderlands 2 character Tiny Tina, which ultimately led him to quit his position as a creative developer at Cryptozoic Entertainment. After encountering Tiny Tina in his second playthrough Sacco wrote, “This character really bugs me. It's problematic at best and racist at worst. I should give the writer some feedback.” Unfortunately this didn’t end well for him."

[Godmars290]

I'm late on this. What's suppose to be the issue?

I get that the way society is, opinion has become unquestionable fact and you're a "hater" for having your own, but I'm really missing where this was so bad that the guy complaining about it felt he had to quit.

This is a problem race? Thought this has been about an autistic kid who was otherwise gifted with tools and weapon crafting and stuck on a planet full of crazed psychos.

[Kalowest]

"racist trope found in Borderlands 2 character Tiny Tina"

Basically something stupid about the way she talks(ebonies) being racist, WTF.
It's a very stupid debate.

[Godmars290]

Thanks.

And yeah, that's pretty dumb. Petty too.

[Bimkoblerutso]

It was a stupid comment, no doubt, but then people make stupid comments on the internet ALL THE TIME and are not consequently pressured into quitting their jobs most of the time.

The internet is rife with trolling and bitching and complaining, so why on God's green earth are we throwing so much power behind the voices of that vocal minority of asshats out there that can't cope with dissenting opinion?

[aliengmr]

Agree to a point. I don't mind consequences for posting idiotic things for the world to see. This case wasn't that bad and may not have warranted anything more than a /facepalm. But, live and learn.

You can say whatever you want and people can react how they want. Best to be careful what you say.

[Bathyj]

Theyre saying she shouldnt talk a certain way because of the colour of her skin.

Isnt that in itself racist? Think about that for a second. Shes not allowed to say certain words because shes a certain colour.

The whole thing can be summed up best by Dr Gregory House.
"People are idiots"

More damage and bad feelings are caused by the worry and stress of these things than the actual remark that sparked it.

[-Falaut-]

Right on the money brother. I find that a lot of people that call racism, either are wrong or are being racist themselves.

[joab777]

Its another example of PC gone crazy. I swear the racism is almost being made worse today, along with many other issues that we had made leaps and bounds in eradicating. How can we have an honest discussin when race is used for political points and a double standard exjsts that is so blatantly obvious that it is actually causing more harm than good. Last week Jamie Fox said that black ppl are the most talented ppl in the world. Imagine if mumford and sons had said the opposite last night. He did it on BET. Imagine if there were a WET. And a crazed man kills innocent ppl in LA and ppl actually come to his defense likening him to Rodney King. He killed an innocent woman!!!!!!! Now we r talking about a comical cartoon character on a video game. As was mentioned, shes a female kid prodigy on a psych planet. CMON!!! This isnt actually helping anything. Is it really good for us as a society to have so much pc? To put everyone in a box that tells us how to act, what to say etc.? I thought we were free ppl who could say and do what we want. And hence, our actions and words determine how others react to us. Not any longer. Now some ppl want to decide everything for us. Soon, they will decide what video games, books and movies can be made. We have gone way off track. Maybe we have become so bored that we have resorted to making mountains out of mole hills or digging up issues that were once buried. Its gotta stop. Move on to something productive.

[ZoidsRaven]

"Hey. I really like BL2's writing, but Tiny Tina's trope of "white girl talkin' like them urban folk!!" has got to go."

This is why I can never take the casuals who whine and b**** about games being 'sexist', 'misogynist' and 'racist' seriously. Their arguments are almost always stupid.

A white girl using slang means she is acting black? So...... A black girl NOT using slang means she is acting white...? So stupid.

It would be a shame if the dev changes Tiny Tina just because these casuals believe games should always have a representation of religion, race, sex, violence, ect.....

Gaming has too many problems for developers to waste time listening to these people who couldn't care less if a game is fun/good. 7_7

[MeatAbstract]

Gearbox shouldn't change a thing.

People getting offended by stuff and demanding it be removed cause they've taken offense. Grow up and get over it. I've done the Tiny Tina stuff and yeah, forget that she ties a guy to a chair and tortures him because he murdered her parents. Nah, the way she TALKS is what offends the guy. Please. It's a fantasy world, I see plenty of middle class white boys that think they're some black kid from south central in real life and I live in England.

This isn't some grand quest this guy is undertaking to make the world a better place, he's making mountains out of mole hills and it's really quite pathetic .

[generalthadeape]

Leave Tiny Tina alone.

She is a very interesting and memorable character from Borderlands 2 and part of what makes her unique is the way she talks.

She's fine just the way she is.

Not everyone can speak the Queen's English with great skill, me included.

[RE_L_MAYER]

Never even thought anyone in this game was offensive-now jack was a d*ck for sure but tina cmon man she was cool

[Mutant-Spud]

Wasn't there an audiolog which had the sound of Jack torturing and killing someone's Gay husband to make him talk? I'm sure I remember hearing something along those lines...but to these stupid hipsters who play video games once or twice a year just to be "edgy" Tiny Tina is "offensive"? Yeh fersure.

[eZJrg6ur]

You're probably thinking of when he tortures the female scientist's wife - it was pretty difficult to listen to. Though Sir Hammerlock is also gay and it is inferred that his lover was killed by Jack too, iirc.

Regardless, any white guy getting bent out of shape over a white character using colloquial slang is effing stupid.

[Sp1d3ynut]

Serves the guy right. When will people learn to keep their private thoughts off Twitter? So many people, from movie stars, to pro sports players (and even some from college sports), have gotten themselves in a pickle for tweeting things out to the world, that should've stayed in their heads. This guy was being a grand-standing, pompous ass...and it blew up in his face big-time. Maybe he'll learn to focus on HIS work, rather than publicly criticizing that of another. That is, when he gets another job, of course. Dumbass....

[ClintEastwood]

If people would check the mature rating on the game box before screaming racist, this would never have been an issue. Movies and books have all of these things people are bitching about in them as well. And they put the proper rating on it to let the consumer know ahead of time. It's a mature game dealing with mature content.

[Orionsangel]

The character of Tiny Tina is only a product of her environment. In the same way Eminem is a product of is environment. No one calls Eminem a racist.

[kma2k]

sorry couldnt resist...

http://answers.yahoo.com/qu...

[CaptainPunch]

Are we still talking about this? I thought we were passed this.

[Godmars290]

Meh, I'm just now paying attention to it. Never really cared for the series, not a FPS fan which means I've largely been SOL this gen, but I've only been hear good things about the game.

[Godmars290]

If she comes from an underprivileged, shanty village background, what is she suppose to sound like for her skin color? The droll of a Southerner? The accent of someone off the bayou? Wouldn't that be just as racist?

Really, how should some kid who's been surviving on her own on a lawless desert planet sound like?

[wheresmymonkey]

LEts not forget the fact that she's also batshit insane and more than a little but inspired by ED from Cowboy bebop who also a tech genius that speaks in riddles.

Kind of people who call tiny tina racist are the kind of people secretly pissed that most poeple dont give a flying fuck about race anymore.

Get over it, she speaks funny because shes mad, that is all. Its not a jibe at black people. Surely thinking people of certain races having to speak in a certain manner is more racist.

[csreynolds]

This subject doesn't need to be brought up again. Sacco's opinion is/was idiotic, and as soon as he was made to realise it he ejected himself from the debate, stating "I no longer want to talk about Tiny Tina" like the internet was 'ganging up on him'.

Serves him right for Tweeting to get attention.

[ElementX]

Tiny Tina is one of the most annoying game characters ever.

[badjournalism]

Good thing no one noticed Salvador...or Mordecai....or the Hodunks...or the Zaffords...

[Megaton]

Anthony shouldn't have even responded to those racist idiots. Designating slang words as "unintelligent black talk" says more about you than Tiny Tina or Gearbox.

[BuffMordecai]

Fuckin' PC police always looking for something to offend them.