Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock with no access to Twitter or Reddit, you've probably heard of the Gamergate scandal that began a little over a year ago. In short, game developer Zoe Quinn, creator of DEPRESSION QUEST, was accused by a vindictive ex-boyfriend of using her relationship with Kotaku journalist Nathan Grayson to generate positive publicity for her game. That led to a massive outpour of rape and death threats, public posts of her personal information, and a wider awareness of just how sexist the game industry can be.
And here’s Hollywood, currently riding the feminist wave like it’s BIG WEDNESDAY, to come and put things in a proper perspective.
Former Sony exec Amy Pascal has bought the rights to Quinn’s memoir, Crash Override, and Scarlett Johansson is said to be eyeing the role of Quinn.
This is easily one of the most controversial subjects I’ve seen in pop culture over the past few years, with the opposition maintaining, steadfastly, that Quinn is an opportunist and a liar that used her sex for personal gain, and that the sexist overtones of much of gamer culture is thoroughly justified. Its an argument that, ironically enough, could only persist if the accusations against the state of the industry were thoroughly true, and has created a focus on what it means to be a gamer in the 21st century.
While I’m not crazy about a buxom sex symbol like Johansson playing Quinn, I’ll admit that she has both the star power and the street cred (partially due to her voice as a disembodied computer program in HER) to make this the big-deal movie that Pascal no doubt wants it to be. While Hollywood has had trouble getting the public to care about pressing tech concerns with their films (THE FIFTH ESTATE, STEVE JOBS), having Johansson in the title role and promising to tell Quinn’s story from her perspective could make this the hot-button item that may possibly, finally put this issue to bed for good.
I’m kinda scared to ask, but how do y’all feel about Quinn’s memoirs getting the A-list treatment?
