“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”
~ Gandhi
Troy Baker in ‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’
Troy Baker, the man behind the voice behind virtually every male protagonist in video games these days, has quit Twitter.
His exit from the social media platform follows what appears to be a scuffle between Baker and his detractors on Twitter following a humorous tweet he made which references Caitlyn Jenner.
The tweet in question, which was actually a quote of writer Brian W. Foster’s original tweet, landed him in hot water with critics.
The tweet and its reactions have now been deleted. Here’s what it said:
“Brett Michaels looks like Mickey Rourke tried to become Caitlyn Jenner.” - @BrianWFoster
— Troy Baker (@TroyBakerVA)
Baker responded to critics by tweeting, “It’s a shame when there are people who would much rather choose to be offended than laugh.”
His next tweet: “I quit Twitter.”
And it is a shame that people can’t take a joke, especially one that’s pretty obviously not malicious. Nobody should be above a little ribbing.
Humor is the great leveler, after all. It’s part of what makes us human, regardless of gender or race. If you can’t joke about a particular demographic, you’re basically saying that demographic isn’t equal. I don’t know about you, but I find that pretty terrible.
I also find the ferocity of our current online outrage culture rather frightening at times. People should be allowed to make bad jokes. They aren’t necessarily bad people because of it. We’ve all said off-colored things in private; sometimes those things slip into public. Sometimes we must tame our urge to rage against something, anything, someone, anyone who offends us. Being outraged, shaming others—are these really the tools of progress and change?
As I’ve said previously, internet mob justice isn’t justice at all.
Baker has voiced a litany of roles: Joel from The Last of Us, Booker from BioShock Infinite, Pagan Min from Far Cry 4 and the list goes on. He’s also a really talented musician and fascinating speaker. So long as he continues doing what he does best everywhere else, I think we’ll survive his retirement from 140 characters or less. and if he comes back, that’d be fine too.
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