So let me bring you up to speed. Over the weekend, one of Destructoid’s writers, one Ryan Perez, took it upon himself to not only confront an issue seeking answers, but to get them, as I’m sure he would put it, straight from the horse’s mouth.
It had apparently been plaguing Mr. Perez as to why Felicia Day, of all people, was popular. He tweets (which as much subtlety as an ostrich attempting to tweet), “Does Felicia Day matter at all? I mean does she actually contribute anything useful to this industry, besides retaining a geek persona?” This apparently offered him no satiation, and his next action was to repeat these allegations directly to Felicia Day herself.
“@feliciaday, I keep seeing everywhere. Question: Do you matter at all? Do you even provide anything useful to gaming, besides “personality?”
…followed by this greatest hit you know and love from the 50s…
“@feliciaday, could you be considered nothing more than a glorified booth babe? You don’t seem to add anything creative to the medium.”
Drama ensues, the Internet erupts into a Ragnarok-like frenzy, and blood is spilt, metaphorically speaking. At the end of the day, only one casualty lay on the battlefield: Ryan Perez himself, the lifeblood of his career spilling from his now bereft-of-employment shell. Destructoid had cut loose the instigator, to which he replied:
“I should have been smarter and just made a comment against God or the Catholic Church…”
Beautiful! Le pièce de résistance! Mwah!
So now that the dust has cleared and the blood squeegeed off the walls, where are we left? Olive branches are offered and exchanged, excuses of alcohol-inspired foolishness made, and the world returns to normalcy. But two questions still remain:
- Was Destructoid justified in firing someone for comments made on his personal Twitter account?
- DOES Felicia Day matter??
To answer question #1, yes. Absolutely. I’m not saying this because I think he “deserves justice” or is a “terrible person” or anything like that. He did, however, show a severe lack of judgment. As industry vet J. Eckert pointed out to Mr. Perez on Twitter, “Dude, being drunk is *NO* excuse. Industry professionals handle themselves with candor regularly while drunk.” Like it or not, Ryan Perez represented Destructoid, being a public face for Destructoid as a writer. It would have been one thing if he had said such things on an anonymous account, but he did not, and his claim to fame, at that time, was being a Destructoid writer. Even his Twitter description at the time proclaimed so (albeit accompanied by a statement regarding his love for “the smell of busty women”… whatever that means).
Statements opined in such a fashion draw attention, and they draw it to all things the opinion-maker says to all they represent. Ms. Day has a rather sizable amount of influence in the industry, not only by virtue of her waves of fans, but by the friendships she has made with various notables in the industry through her work. Her word carries a lot of weight, and if she publicly declared a boycott on Destructoid, many would potentially follow throughout the various strata of the gaming industry and populace. D-toid can ill afford such an effect, and so a punishment was meted out whose severity matched the severity of the offense. One and done. To not do so would have been a silent salvo fired into the mire of the Opinionverse; many would have seen it as tacit compliance with Mr. Perez’s actions or statements, and it would have established a potentially poisonous precedent for any other Destructoid staffer thinking of repeating with a similar episode. There is no way Destructoid comes out on top if they don’t let Perez go. End of story.
As for the question of Ms. Day’s relevance, Mr. Perez’s statements only really come off as ignorant, if one knows or researches the facts. She has written numerous original works, from episodic webshows to music. The Guild was her own original creation, and she also received screenwriting credit for Bioware’s web series Dragon Age: Redemption. She has created her own premium YouTube channel, Geek and Sundry, which has been praised for its broad spectrum of content and forward-thinking. So, does she “provide anything useful”, function as “more than a glorified booth babe”, and “add anything creative to the medium”? You be the judge.
I myself would not consider myself a real Felicia Day fan. I enjoyed her work in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, but apart from that have not found myself one of the hordes who worship the ground she has trod, nor pine for her as a self-appointed “waifu”. I found the first few episodes of The Guild to be horrific as much as funny, and have never turned back since. Truth be told, ya know, she’s just not my type. But you don’t see me going on drunken attack tirades, right? (Hint: This is because when I am drunk, I am also a ninja, and nobody sees me.)
The trick to life, especially if you are in a position that is in the public eye, is to be responsible, polite, and mindful of yourself. Sure, you have a right to be otherwise, but those who pay your wage have a right to take away your red stapler if you make them look bad. That’s life.
Deal with it.
(Author’s Note: This article is not directed at Ryan Perez, but at the asshole-apologists who seem to think he was right, justified, or that Destructoid done him dirty. Wake up and smell the real world, you over-inflated wastes of space. Even Mr. Perez has admitted he was in the wrong and would not have done it had he been sober. Remember kids: beer and liquor, never sicker.)
