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(11/09/18 3:33pm)
by Matthew Yapp
Female employees regularly belittled at staff meetings. Women promised pay raises and promotions that were given to male coworkers. Women made fun of and sexually objectified. According to a lawsuit filed in early November, these and other more egregious claims are being brought against Riot Games in a class action suit alleging the company and it's top management created a workplace environment which fosters a culture of sexism and discrimination toward women.
The lawsuit accuses Riot Games, known for the hit game League of Legends, of not only creating and fostering a “bro culture” but also violating the California Equal pay act and failing to prevent harassment in the workplace. The case was filed on behalf of Jessica Negron, Melanie McCracken and other female employees of the company. Negron is no longer an employee of Riot Games while McCracken still works for the company.
In the more than 150 count suit, the women allege that the company allowed a culture where among other things an e-mail list of "Hottest Women Employees" was distributed that would rank the female workers. Jokes about masturbation, rape and defecation were common place. Any concerns brought to human resources were dismissed as "snobby."
The women are seeking back wages and undisclosed punitive damages according to the suit. Riot Games is a product of Tencent Games, a division of Tencent a multi-billion dollar Chinese technology company specializing in various internet services such as video games, social media and artificial intelligence. According to the company's financial report for Q2 2018 the company recorded revenue of more than 11 million USD.
This suit comes only three months after an investigation from Kotaku, an international gaming media network, that highlighted the company’s culture of toxic masculinity. That report claimed that women were prevented from being promoted due to the fact that they didn’t fit the “gamer” mold and that female hires were put under extreme scrutiny judging if they matched the companies culture, a hurdle male employees didn’t have to face.
After the report from Kotaku, Riot Games said there were changes made in the workplace. But the women in the lawsuit claim that many of the worst offenders at Riot Games faced no repercussions including a male employee who “was allowed to remain in a position of leadership despite regularly making sexual comments in the workplace and drugging and raping another ... employee.”
Maria Williams-Hawkins, a professor of diversity at Ball State University said that hypermasculinity has been ingrained in much of the entertainment world all the way back to her childhood with shows like Popeye. She said the case could cause a change within the company. She pointed back to the company revenue.
“Some things take a little time. I’ve worked long enough to see companies finally decide they have to hire black, they have to hire brown, they have to hire women. It takes a little bit of time and a little bit of pressure… If you’re a person who has the money you have the control," Williams-Hawkins said.
"If you keep hitting them in the pocket it helps, it takes a little pressure."
When asked for a statement by Polygon, Riot Games said “While we do not discuss the details of ongoing litigation, we can say that we take every allegation of this nature seriously and investigate them thoroughly. We remain committed to a deep and comprehensive evolution of our culture to ensure Riot is a place where all Rioters thrive.”
We reached Tyler Vanderpool, one of the lawyers representing Negron and McCracken in their case against Riot, and asked him a few questions on the case. When asked why he took the case in the first place, Mr. Vanderpool said, "Any good attorney is a storyteller, and I don't mean that we're hired to create fiction, but our job is to ensure that other people's stories are told in this situation. You had women who felt silenced and did not have the opportunity for their stories of having been wronged and subjected to retaliation, discrimination, harassment. Those stories weren't being told. And so our lawsuit is actually their lawsuits, and it's an opportunity for their stories to be heard."
In terms of how many women this class action case are being represented, Vanderpool stated, "It's hard to say. We're really, in the preliminary stages of litigation. We would estimate it in the hundreds because we're dealing with both current and former employees of Riot Games." Vanderpool was unable to say how this number may affect the amount of damages sought from Riot Games.
Sources: Scribd, Kotaku, Polygon
Image: Flickr
(10/30/18 1:55am)
Input 2 tackles another Halloween classic with the movie Scream. Through its iconic ghost face masks and authentic characters, the series has created a unique sense of style. However, what scary origins is Scream hiding? Tune in to this week’s episode of Input 2 to find out more!
(10/23/18 5:53am)
Input 2 continues to explore the deep roots of the Halloween film genre. More specifically, how the original Halloween movie created many of the horror tropes today. But how does the new Halloween sequel hold up to the first one? Does Michael Myers still strike fear into the hearts of viewers? Tune in to this week’s episode of Input 2 to find out more!
(10/04/18 5:29pm)
We're back witches, with another magical episode of the Coven Podcast. This week, we're looking at Serena William's meltdown during the US Open. What caused this meltdown? Was this a fair reaction? How will this effect Serena's career overall? All of this and more on this week's episode of The Coven.
(09/25/18 5:12am)
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board.
(09/25/18 4:30am)
by Matthew Yapp
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board.
Our world is filled with heroes. Men and women in capes with god-like powers protecting the innocent from the clutches of evil. Unfortunately for us, all those heroes happen to exist on the pages of comics or on the big screen.
Far too often it feels like the real people we interact with are playing super-villains, egotistical maniacs terrorizing our life for reasons that we just can’t quite sympathize with. At least that was the case for me. Many of my early years were spent in anguish giving me a tragic backstory that would make even the likes of Batman feel bad for me.
I won’t bore you with the details; however, to lay the scene you need to understand that in my adolescence, I was crushed by a sense of doubt and self-hatred that was reinforced by my surroundings. This left me unsure about a lot of things; the main one, however, was always, “What am I going to do to not turn into the people who’ve hurt me?”
(09/14/18 7:01pm)
by Matthew Yapp
Well it happened again. An Apple press conference has come and gone, and with that we have three brand new phones that you could choose to spend your money on. Now I would recommend that you go with the new iPhone XR seeing as it’s decently priced and has the best battery life and you can get it in a variety of colors. That is not what we're here to talk about today though. What we are here to talk about is the iPhone XS Max and the fact that if you get its highest storage capacity you will be paying a grand total of 1449 dollars, and that’s before you start thinking about activation fees, screen protectors, and anything else you’d need. Now clearly that is pricey, however I am not going to tell you rather you should or should not buy it. What I will be tell you are the other things you could buy for this price
A Heart-attack Inducing Amount of Wendy’s
(04/26/18 2:36pm)
We're back witches, with another magical episode of the Coven Podcast. This week, we're looking at the issues surrounding Channel Awesome. From sexual harassment, rape scripts, mismanagement, and non-apologies for all this, it seems to be one of YouTube's many sinking ships. Is this a symptom of the greater issues with YouTube? With Hollywood? How did it get this bad? Is there any surviving this scandal? We'll examine the Channel Awesome Implosion as a what NOT to do when faced with such a wide-ranging scandal. Let's talk about the State of the YouTube: will it survive as a platform? Are we all just being nostalgic for the good old days? Are these issues just growing pains?
(04/23/18 8:39pm)
This week on Remixed we are discussing Nicki Minaj and her new song (also how much we love her), ZAYN and how we feel about him and thoughts on his music, and Bebe Rexha's new songs. All of this and more on this week's episode of Remixed.
(04/16/18 7:28pm)
This week on Remixed we are discussing the ever popular Drake and Cardi B's newest album, "Invasion of Privacy". Listen to our thoughts on the newest music and much more on this week's episode of Remixed.
(04/13/18 5:30pm)
On this week's episode of How It's Played we are discussing "Ready Player One." The movie, VR, Nintendo, technology in general, and the future of gaming will be talked about on this week's episode of How It's Played.
(03/23/18 10:34pm)
Ball State is known for its telecommunication program and the amazing artists it has turned out. With greats like Jim Davis and David Letterman behind us, it’s encouraging to see Cardinals still managing to produce well received content. One such student is Connor Keaney.
(03/23/18 7:55pm)
by Matthew Yapp
Ball State is known for its telecommunication program and the amazing artists it has turned out. With greats like Jim Davis and David Letterman behind us, it’s encouraging to see Cardinals still managing to produce well received content. One such student is Connor Keaney.
Connor Keaney is a 20-year-old sophomore studying video production here at Ball State. We were given the opportunity to sit down and ask Connor some question about his experience as a film maker and the process of creating his newest documentary The Red Road. The documentary depicts the struggles of Native American youth dealing with high suicide rates, self-harm and a legacy of drug use. The Red Road is currently a semi-finalist for Los Angeles CineFest.
In the past, Connor has also written for The Television Academy. He is currently and editor for SoapBox, an art magazine here at Ball State. In the future Connor intends to continue film making and is already in the process of creating his next documentary.
Video: Phil Akin, Michael Robb
Photography: Jeremy Rogers, Connor Keaney
(03/19/18 10:46pm)
This week on Remixed we are discussing Logic’s new album Bobby Tarantino II. Was it a flop or a banger? Which do you prefer, mixtape Logic or album Logic? All of this and more on this week’s episode.
(03/16/18 11:00pm)
TRIGGER WARNING: Pedophilia
(03/17/18 8:00pm)
Way back in the long-forgotten age of 2008, first-time director and writer Bryan Bertino created The Strangers, a film that stuck with many of the overused tropes of the slasher genre the film but still managed to innovate and feel fresh leading. This lead to it gaining a large fan following and achieving box office success. A decade later Bertino has teamed up with Johannes Roberts to create the sequel fans were craving, The Strangers: Prey at Night. Unfortunately, they may have held on a little too tightly to the formula that once worked for them. The concepts that felt exciting 10 years ago feel stale now, and everything that felt unexpected about the first movie screamed predictable in its sequel. That being said, the film does manage to capture a certain charm that many other films in the genre haven’t been able to capture lately. It also has likeable characters – well, likeable once you get through about half the movie.
(03/14/18 9:45pm)
by Matthew Yapp
Way back in the long-forgotten age of 2008, first-time director and writer Bryan Bertino created The Strangers, a film that stuck with many of the overused tropes of the slasher genre the film but still managed to innovate and feel fresh leading. This lead to it gaining a large fan following and achieving box office success. A decade later Bertino has teamed up with Johannes Roberts to create the sequel fans were craving, The Strangers: Prey at Night. Unfortunately, they may have held on a little too tightly to the formula that once worked for them. The concepts that felt exciting 10 years ago feel stale now, and everything that felt unexpected about the first movie screamed predictable in its sequel. That being said, the film does manage to capture a certain charm that many other films in the genre haven’t been able to capture lately. It also has likeable characters – well, likeable once you get through about half the movie.
A semi-scary story
The plot centers around a family staying at an isolated trailer park for one final family weekend before sending their rebellious teenage daughter Kinsey (Bailee Madison) off to boarding school because she is so incredibly misbehaved. Once they get there they find that a slaughter has already happened, and they seem to be the next victims on the literal chopping block.
The first 30 or so minutes of this film feel bland. It introduces you to some rather generic parents: Cindy and Mike (Christina Hendricks and Martin Henderson), the angry teenage daughter, and what family would be complete without the jock older brother who is unnecessarily rude to his sister: Luke (Lewis Pullman). The entire setup feels and sounds like something you’ve seen before and while it tries hard - like, really hard - to make you care about Kinsey being sent off to boarding school, you never can because it’s just vague discussion after vague discussion about how terrible her behavior has been lately. Past smoking and skipping a few classes, you never get a real answer as to what she has done wrong.
Once we get into what we came for though, that being murder of the innocent, the movie keeps a pretty steady pace. From here it’s what you would expect: family being picked off one by one by our masked killers. Is it a terrifying experience? No. That has to be the biggest loss for me, from the first film. Where its predecessor managed to answer the question “Why are you doing this?” with “Because you were home” this film answers the same answer with “Why not” which just doesn’t give the same spine-chilling effect. So while it doesn’t quite frighten, it does start to build up some really good tension and there are two or three really great jump scares. You won’t leave feeling shaken to your core, but it will certainly still get your adrenaline pumping.
Surprisingly likeable characters
Personally, I always think it is wise to take a page from The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and use a family in a horror movie rather than just a group of friends. It makes the relationships seem more realistic and their unwavering bonds and protectiveness towards one another make sense. This really comes through for our characters. The relationships actually seem natural and the dialogue less stagnant once we start to see them fear for not just their own lives but one another.
The parents shine the least. While you get to see some internal struggle from them not knowing if boarding school is right for Kinsey, and can certainly see them wanting to protect their kids, they do read as very one-note characters. Luke on the other hand gets some interesting and unexpected depth. Despite initially being the played-out athletic tough guy, he actually comes across as the most frightened in the movie and is often frozen by that fear. It was nice little turn to see a jock be two-dimensional in a film.
The star, however, is undoubtedly Kinsey. Our classic final girl here to save the day and our family. Is she the next Sidney Prescott of the horror genre? Absolutely not, but she is pretty fun to see nonetheless. While most these characters seem to fall into the horror trope of being an idiot and not knowing what to do in the face of danger, Kinsey is the T'challa of this film because she never freezes. Constantly making good decisions on the run and putting up a hell of fight against seasoned serial killers, Kinsey is by far the most likeable of our protagonists.
Confusing aesthetic
The visuals for this movie could be described as a lot of fun but very frustrating. It kind of felt like someone told Roberts what wide shots were and he said, “Awesome, let’s use those as much as possible, also toss in a few unnecessary zooms. Those are tense.” It is irritating because sometimes the shots are done well and getting the full scene adds to the horror, but other times it takes you out of it and leaves you wondering what on Earth they’re doing. The zooming in however never adds anything.
The film also paid a little too much homage to its ‘80s slasher roots by playing several pop hits from that time, like Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and Air Supply’s “Making Love out of Nothing at All.” I do see the appeal, there can be something unsettling about a normal song playing during something gruesome, but it felt a little heavy-handed. The use of neon however which was likely done for the same purpose worked well. There is a shot done in a pool filling with blood surrounded by neon palm trees and from a strictly aesthetic perspective it was gorgeous.
Overall The Strangers: Prey at Night is not the sequel fans wanted. In terms of scares, uniqueness, and cinematography it falls short of its predecessor. It is far from a complete flop though, it finds strength in its characters and manages to be an entertaining ride. While it’s not something viewers will want to add to their DVD collection, you will likely come out of the theater having had an all right time. You don’t necessarily need to run to the theater to watch it, but maybe take a leisurely stroll there on your own time.
Featured image from 10z
(02/27/18 1:33am)
This week on Remixed we are discussing the ever incredible Kendrick Lamar and his soundtrack for Marvel’s new Black Panther. Join us in the lively discussion over this stellar album release.
(02/23/18 5:35pm)
The world is a stage, and while some are content to perform on that stage in everyday clothing there are many who would prefer something with a little more flair. That’s where drag comes in. Drag has been a staple of the queer community from the very beginning; drag performers going all the way back to Stonewall have been trailblazers for the LGBTQ+ community. We still see this today, with some of the most prominent and vocal names in the community doing drag, but what exactly is drag? While many see it as men dressing as women, it goes far deeper than that. We got the opportunity to speak with a Muncie-based drag queen, Aura Aurora, and learn what drag means to them, their drag experience, and the changes they’ve seen in the drag world.
(02/23/18 2:30pm)
by Matthew Yapp
The world is a stage, and while some are content to perform on that stage in everyday clothing there are many who would prefer something with a little more flair. That’s where drag comes in. Drag has been a staple of the queer community from the very beginning; drag performers going all the way back to Stonewall have been trailblazers for the LGBTQ+ community. We still see this today, with some of the most prominent and vocal names in the community doing drag, but what exactly is drag? While many see it as men dressing as women, it goes far deeper than that. We got the opportunity to speak with a Muncie-based drag queen, Aura Aurora, and learn what drag means to them, their drag experience, and the changes they’ve seen in the drag world.
In our interview Aura discusses how she has seen anyone from transgender women to straight men doing drag which comes as a shock to many. Two of the most prominent queens of all time are the legendary Divine, known for Hairspray and Pink Flamingos, and RuPaul, known for her music career and talk show in the late 90’s. Both queens are cisgender, meaning they identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. Because of well-known names like theirs and other queens held to the same caliber, it became the standard that a drag was just a gay man dressed up as a woman.
Generally, during a drag show people get on stage in over-the-top clothing: giant gowns, huge hair, and dramatic makeup. The act itself can be anything from stand-up to dancing, but the vast majority of drag performers find a way to incorporate lip-synching one way or another. While men usually choose to perform songs by women and vice versa, drag isn’t necessarily about performing as the opposite gender. Drag is just about performing gender by taking societies perceptions of what a man or what a woman should look like and turn that into a show. In fact, Marsha P. Johnson, one of the biggest names to come out of Stonewall, was both transgender and a drag queen. While cisgender men are still considered the norm in drag, great strides have been made in getting away from that idea with huge names like Peppermint, the RuPaul’s Drag Race season nine runner-up who came into the limelight to represent trans queens.
Another thing we were able to discuss with Aura is drag's new push into the mainstream. Aura credits this to societies acceptance of queer people. Societies’ very, very, VERY, slow adoption of the LGBTQ+ community, specifically drag performers, into conventional society can be seen just by looking at your television screen.
RuPaul’s Drag Race, which has been on for nearly a decade now, works in the same way that shows like Project Runway or Masterchef do. The show starts with 13 or so contestants and every week a different drag-based challenge is thrown at them. At the end of every episode a queen is eliminated until we are left with one, America’s next drag superstar. RuPaul’s Drag Race has brought over a hundred different queens, all of whom fall into the queer spectrum in one form or another, into the living rooms of families across the country. Not only that but many stars from the show have moved onto shows like America’s Next Top Model, and Scared Famous. Most notably, season six finalist Courtney Act won the most recent version of the UK’s Celebrity Big Brother. This was especially surprising to some because the winner is chosen by audience vote, meaning that the average family sitting at home was open-minded enough to not only enjoy seeing a drag queen on tv, but to pick up the phone and vote for her. The times they are a changing and it’s beautiful to see.
With drag becoming increasingly common in society one must think about how many more drag queens will be inspired to move onto the stage in the future. Imagine a child being able to turn on the tv and see someone like them be unashamedly queer and not only be accepted, but celebrated. It’s incredible to think what that will do for their confidence and allowing them to come to terms with who they are. For many queer people life is a drag, but with society embracing the idea that not everything has to fit into the spectrum we’ve grown accustomed to, hopefully things will improve.
Images: Billboard, Radio Times
