Pride Month was a great time to reflect on the issues that currently affect millions of LGBTQIA+ individuals, especially with the discrimination of queer individuals in addition to the abortion bans and the emergence of an anti-trans movement gaining traction in the past year. Yet,Pride Monthwas also the perfect occasion for LGBTQIA+ icons like Elliot Page to speak up about diversity and inclusion, which Page did to an extent by talking about his journey of self-discovery. Although he was never mentioned by Page, clinical psychologist and YouTube personality Jordan Peterson shared a tweet toward the end of June that stirred controversy online.
Peterson deadnamed and misgendered Page on purpose, defining the medical professional who carried out thegender-affirming surgery that Page underwentas a “criminal physician.” In response, Twitter warned Peterson that he should delete his tweet because it violated the terms of service, which Peterson refused to do under the pretense that it was the truth, and that he would rather die on that hill. Peterson was then suspended by Twitter, and then shared a video on the topic calling out the “woke moralists” that banned him. However, the video backfired, and Peterson is now being turned into a video game villain.
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In one of these videos, Peterson’s video was turned into a Wallace Breen propaganda broadcast fromHalf-Life 2, becoming the face of the Breencast at the train station. Wallace Breen was the former leader ofHalf-Life’s Black Mesafacility during the first game, and then came back as a villain inHalf-Life 2. In this case, Peterson’s speech seems to fit perfectly the ambiance of the game.
Similarly, another short clip surfaced with the same extract from Peterson’s video appearing in aCommand and Conquer: Red Alertscenario, where the commander calls the players to taunt them after their success. The extract was also turned into a cutscene resembling those fromControl, where characters like the Director talk about the events surrounding The Hiss and Jesse’s investigation.
Even days later, Peterson keeps on appearing as a video game villain, with more and more people editing his speech into clips where the games' proper villains would talk. One appearance comes with aCrash Bandicootclip where the iconic villain Dr. Neo Cortex was replaced by Peterson, and another where Peterson callsMetal Gear Solid 2’s Raiden to once again warn moralists about the repercussions of cancel culture.
