UPDATE 01/26/2011: In the third paragraph of this post, the target for the link on, “recent marketing decisions,” now leads to a 404 Error on Penny Arcade. That link originally pointed at the page where one could buy a Dickwolves t-shirt. That t-shirt is no longer for sale on Penny Arcade. Even if Mike and Jerry don’t want to acknowledge it (the shirt appears to have been removed without comment), it deserves to be acknowledged. Thank you, guys. Thank you for listening to whoever you listened to, and thank you to whoever that was who spoke up and managed to convey what I, and a lot of others, have been trying to convey for months. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
UPDATE: Why I’m Not Speaking at PAX East 2011
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So, as this whole issue was stemmed from a simple indirect, albeit inappropriate joke, I can assume one of two things.
a) Everyone who has ever experienced a death (accidental or otherwise), an assault or attack resulting in personal injury, or any of the array of horrible crimes one human can inflict on another has the full right to complain when anyone anywhere says anything in poor taste related to said crime until they are reprimanded, censored, or otherwise punished to the degree seen fit by said individual. Such an outcome would see to it that all communication of anything more violent than a foul word would cease indefinitely. Moreover, all movies, books, music, comics, radio broadcasts, blogs, home movies, and stone carvings depicting such acts would be banned immediately.
or b) People no longer realize that the world does not revolve around them. Inappropriate comments will be made regardless of subject matter; such is the way of the internet, of comedy, and of life. I’m not trying to defend rape or any other profane and inexcusable act, nor am I trying to bash those who live to tell of such crimes; I am simply saying that shit happens. The world cannot suddenly fall silent because one out of 6 billion of us sees it proper.
Please read the responses of every single other person who put out the exact same comment about people who have issues with death and how that differs to rape jokes.
This has quite possibly been said 150 times already but my favorite argument ever ever ever is this:
“It’s just a SHIRT! It’s just a JOKE! It’s just a COMIC! IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL, LIGHTEN UP, STOP TAKING IT SO SERIOUSLY.”
followed (hilariously without a trace of irony) by this:
“Fuck you you ruined everything omg CENSORSHIP they had to take the shirt down BECAUSE OF YOOOOUUUUUUUU”.
Stop taking it so seriously indeed, amiright?