friday flash fun - throw rocks at boys!

February 6, 2004 10:33 AM

throw rocks at boys! silly friday flash fun
posted by eatdonuts (41 comments total)

throw rocks at eatdonuts!

I'll start: silly, yes; friday, yes; flash, yes; fun, no. Shots that should've missed hit anyway. Lost interest after about five rocks.
posted by soyjoy at 10:40 AM on February 6, 2004

Not to mention, there was a thread about these shirts a couple of days ago. The other side of the debate, but still...
posted by starvingartist at 10:50 AM on February 6, 2004

Those boys are really easy to hit...it's fun being a girl!!
posted by eastlakestandard at 10:56 AM on February 6, 2004

ah well, you can't please everyone. i thought it was good. i apologize for the double link. i promised i did a search.
posted by eatdonuts at 10:57 AM on February 6, 2004

not a double link. the thread dealt with the clothing made by the company that created this flash toy.

but its still a piss poor flash game which additionally encourages throwing rocks at someone based on their demographic.

Marginally better than 'slap that ho' and 'egg the darkie'
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 11:25 AM on February 6, 2004

For a minute I thought this game was a result of the Mefi thread from the other day. (wishful lazyweb thinking, I suppose)

Phlash Physics Query: Why do the clouds slow down the rocks?
posted by shoepal at 11:27 AM on February 6, 2004

What FUN! Maybe they'll put up a beat-your-wife game next!! How many times can you hit a woman in 40 slaps?!! Woo-hoo.

What a revolting game and concept. Fun? No. Mean-spirited? Yes. Capitalizing on the fact Todd Goldman's shirts got dropped by over 3000 stores? Yes.
posted by hurkle at 11:31 AM on February 6, 2004

Is there anybody left alive who can take a joke?
posted by keswick at 11:35 AM on February 6, 2004

Sure.

Q: What do ten thousand battered women have in common?
A: They didn't know when to shut up!

Ha ha ha. Ho ho ho. Hee hee hee. Wow! Just as funny as the t-shirts and the game, huh? No? Why not?
posted by hurkle at 11:44 AM on February 6, 2004

keswick - it's still an interesting question.

If someone said "ha! ha! Why can't you people take a joke?" about a "throw rocks at girls" game, people would get up in arms.

Not so, this game.

Why not?

Probably because there's no historical precedent of women abusing men, when it happens it's pretty exceptional. But, whatever. It's too easy/simplistic to be very fun.
posted by kavasa at 11:45 AM on February 6, 2004

Marginally better than 'slap that ho' and 'egg the darkie'

You have links?
posted by biffa at 11:49 AM on February 6, 2004

I dunno about rocks, but a girl in grade school used to kick the shit out of my shins with very hard soled shoes. Said she thought I was cute, but frankly I tried to stay away from her.
posted by tr33hggr at 11:49 AM on February 6, 2004

[ses link]
[runs off and buys t-shirt]
[open's link]
posted by thomcatspike at 11:50 AM on February 6, 2004

Actually, kavasa, there IS a historical precendent of women abusing men. In fact, most DV studies over the last ten-fifteen years have shown that women initiate physical violence equally with men. Here's a bibliography of close to 200 studies/papers discussing the matter. Further, according to the US Department of Justice, in 1999, mothers were the primary abusers in over 65% of all child abuse cases, more than all men in those children's lives combined. So don't give me the party line that women aren't violent or that their violence is an exception to the rule. People are violent, unfortunately.
posted by hurkle at 11:51 AM on February 6, 2004

[voiceofreason] I took the game as a funny commenttary on how little girls always seem to beat up on the little boys they think are cute. Like Susie from Calvin & Hobbes and the Peanuts characters...

not real grown up people throwing actual rocks at each other [/voiceofreason]
posted by maggie at 11:53 AM on February 6, 2004

oh. my. god. has this seriously happened? i'm completely awestruck by this ridiculous reaction. check out the big brain on hurkle. fyi, i'd probably find a similar obvious light-hearted game 'throw rocks at girls,' just as funny - and i'm a girl. i mean, can we ever get one thread where everyone stops grinding their axes? it was meant as a fun diversion on friday, something i thought was cute … not a post-modernist comment on gender bashing. and not everyone was expected to like it, but doesn't anyone else think the reaction here has been a bit over-the-top? this is exactly why i lurk 99.99% of the time. everytime i post or comment, i get incredibly rude, morality judges emailing me, or incredibly evil comments. i wasn't trolling, i but maybe some of you others are.

(*shakes head in disbelief*)

perspective... perspective... perspective..
posted by eatdonuts at 12:06 PM on February 6, 2004

i'm with you eatdonuts. it's silly, it's friday, AND it's fun. woohoo!
posted by gomez at 12:10 PM on February 6, 2004

everytime i post or comment, i get incredibly rude, morality judges emailing me, or incredibly evil comments.

it's because you're a girl.
posted by eastlakestandard at 12:11 PM on February 6, 2004

hurkle, child abuse is different from spousal abuse, which is what I was referring to. I think Gavin DeBecker stated reality pretty well: "Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them." And of course there's the occasional abusive female spouse, but it's far more often the case that the man is the abuser, due to the simple physical reality that men are bigger and stronger on average.

Which was all an explanation as to why it's more socially acceptable to have this game than it is to have a "slap as many bitches as possible" game.

Anyways. I think it's wack to claim that anyone that doesn't get offended needs to get a grip, and I also think it's wack to claim the opposite.
posted by kavasa at 12:13 PM on February 6, 2004

eatdonuts - I thought it was silly too. Frankly, I have much better things to be outraged about. Now how about that iced coffee?
posted by tr33hggr at 12:20 PM on February 6, 2004

Some peope just lurve being outraged.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 12:30 PM on February 6, 2004

Hey. I realize it's just a game. And it's not the game that I was talking about.

eatdonuts: If you thought I was judging you or complaining about you personally, I wasn't. I think you ought to be proud for spinning up a thread that gets comments.

kavasa: I don't think you checked out that link I posted, or you would have seen that it refers specifically to adult female-male violence. I threw in the child abuse because it indicates that females are capable of violence. But the facts of the matter, that is - if you look at the facts - is that females are just as abusive in relationships as men are. Which runs completely counter to the prevailing view in western civilization, that men are the abusers and women are the victims. Women tend to start the physical violence slightly more than men do, and are way more likely to use weapons to equalize the bigger, stronger aspects of men.

And if you don't believe any of the 200 articles in the bibliography I posted, you can check the 1999 numbers at the Department of Justice website, which shows that about 28% of all DV victims were men - less than the 50% I claim, but a lot more than the "occasional abusive female spouse" you claim.

Further, the fact that it is socially more acceptable to hurt men than women as you specifically point out is what really chaps my hide. I'm just anti-violence pure and simple. Why should it be socially acceptable to hurt men and not to hurt women? Aren't men and women supposed to be equal? How come there isn't a female draft? Oops. Sorry. Didn't mean to throw that in there and start another tangent.

Finally (snorts to stop ranting), it is wack to claim that the extreme viewpoints are the correct ones. I, personally, was offended by the "Boys Are Stupid" line of products, and don't mind saying so. However, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
posted by hurkle at 12:31 PM on February 6, 2004

Terrible, but less offensive than the suicide bomber game.
posted by bobo123 at 12:31 PM on February 6, 2004

While I think it is ludicrous to make the link between this companies products and advertising and spousal abuse, the argument that women don't hit men is increasingly one that skates on thin ice. The historical difference may only be that female on male abuse doesn't get recorded where male-female abuse does (or at least is more likely to).
Estimates vary as to how much female on male spousal abuse goes on, crime statistics suggest more male abusers are charged for their crimes. Academic studies suggest more female abusers than generally accounted for.
Stats here, here, here. There are some academic studies of this but these tend to be subscription only and I'm dubious as to linking to them for copyright purposes.

On preview: I guess I agree with hurkle on something.
posted by biffa at 12:37 PM on February 6, 2004

incredibly evil comments

Now who's overreacting?

hurkle & kasava can discuss the deeper social meaning all they want. Point is, it's just a weak post: The game is pointless and lacking in challenge. Its offensiveness is just the icing turd on the cake.

Better luck next time.
posted by soyjoy at 12:44 PM on February 6, 2004

Tastefulness of the game aside, I simply fault it for lack or reality. Everyone knows girls can't throw.
posted by thomascrown at 12:48 PM on February 6, 2004

Is there anybody left alive who can take a joke?
Is there anybody left alive who can MAKE a joke?
posted by wendell at 1:00 PM on February 6, 2004

By "MAKE a joke, I mean making a joke that is actually FUNNY. Do I have to explain ALL my jokes? (okay, I just noticed the Homeresque ironic dumbness of that pair of sentences... Nevermind. Move along. Step away from the Wendell.)
posted by wendell at 1:09 PM on February 6, 2004

Better luck next time.

Is that the culture of Metafilter, Soy?

You condescending prick.
posted by mcgraw at 1:56 PM on February 6, 2004

Is there anybody left alive who can take a joke?
political correctness has killed humor.

but on preview.. calling a girl a prick is truly humorous!
posted by stbalbach at 2:01 PM on February 6, 2004

You had to bring up the battered women joke... I think you got it wrong though.

I thought it went:

Person1: "I've heard that there are over 10,000 cases of battered women a year"
Person2: "That's funny.... I'm still eating mine plain."
posted by kookywon at 2:06 PM on February 6, 2004

Is there anybody left alive who can take a joke?

No.
posted by moonbiter at 3:15 PM on February 6, 2004

You'll hit more boys if you aim just a little to the left.
posted by Cyrano at 3:28 PM on February 6, 2004

A lot of these flash games aren't really games, they're jokes. Playing the game is like hearing the joke. The game is playable once, maybe twice if it's a good joke. And as a joke, this one made me chuckle. Thanks, eatdonuts.

The characters remind me of Lucy and Charlie Brown from Peanuts, a similar "nasty little girl" and "wuss boy" humor dynamic.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 5:00 PM on February 6, 2004

The historical difference may only be that female on male abuse doesn't get recorded where male-female abuse does (or at least is more likely to).

Only in the last 30 years or so. Before that it was not spoken of, or even socially acceptable for a man to "discipline" his wife. It's taken a little while for battered men to step forward, but they are now, and I think it's being taken seriously.

But there is still a simply physical difference that can't be ignored. That quote about being laughed at vs. being killed is sharp. I notice in sparring exercises (in my martial arts training) just how different it feels to fight someone smaller than me than it does to fight someone larger. Even when the smaller person is fast and strong, I have a simple natural confidence that I'll be okay (it may be misguided, but it's my gut reaction). When the person is significantly larger than me, I experience an equally uncalculated sense of fear or anxiety. I mean, these are practice fights, so it's not a real fear, but still, the size of a person has an immediate impact on my visceral reaction to the situation. Men abused by women, or large women abused by small men, are not living under the same kind of constant terror that women abused by large men experience - imagine a complete loss of control, a sense of impotency, a desperation. I mean, that's a generalization, and maybe a little unfair, but I still think the point needs to be recognized...
posted by mdn at 7:13 PM on February 6, 2004

So the seriousness of your spousal abuse situation needs to be evaluated based upon the size difference between the two of you?
posted by ODiV at 10:35 PM on February 6, 2004

eatDonuts: How dare you. I mean -- this isn't a proper flash game like the catapulting cat game, or the one where you beat up your boss, or the one where you threw santa as far as you could, or any of the games where you shoot people. now they were funny, but this is sick. how can you condone this when real girls might actually throw rocks at real little boys. that's awful... etc, etc.

get a life people.
posted by seanyboy at 2:00 AM on February 7, 2004

The male that is easily victimized by a violent female is the one who has had it hammered into him that he must NEVER behave violently towards females.

I've also watched while a man was systematically abused by mother and grown sister. Took me awhile, but I got him out of that situation.
posted by Goofyy at 4:25 AM on February 7, 2004

Sorry, eatdonuts, but given my own history I find this sort of game pretty horrifying, and I can't laugh at something that makes light of violence based on gender. Boys don't have it easy these days.
posted by tranquileye at 5:01 AM on February 7, 2004

seanyboy nails it.

Maybe with a rock.
posted by Space Coyote at 5:17 AM on February 7, 2004

Joke: why did the woman cross the road? does it matter? point is: what's she doin out the kitchen?

Ha ha ha.

Joke: what do you tell a woman with 2 black eyes? nothing. you've already told her twice.

Ha ha ha.

Just having a harmless, frivilous joke at the expense of battered women.
posted by SpaceCadet at 9:19 AM on February 8, 2004