Alright, I didn’t want to have to do this bit but considering what is swiftly approaching I think I better tackle this now before things get even more idiotic. Everyone and their mother has likely heard about Mundane Matt’s fall from grace as being found out as a false flagger, discovered on Ethan Ralph’s killstream. As such, a lot has come into question about Matt Jarbo over the past few years: His motivations, how much of what’s happened in his personal life is real, how much is a lie, even so much as to question if this could de-legitimize what positives concerning the ethical developments that #GamerGate helped foster.
Before we begin I want you reading this article to ask yourselves, “Have I ever made such a mistake?” or even “If I were to make such mistakes would I own them and apologize, and move on?” This is important because it addresses the nature of judgement and regret. Say what you will of the beliefs that bore this idea, but I do feel there is merit to not judging lest ye be judged. However, this often gets slightly misunderstood. The real reason for this isn’t so much to discourage people from judging others… it is to make sure you understand that you can be held accountable for any of your actions at any time. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve made my own mistakes, mistakes that have angered my father, and I atoned for those transgressions. My father and I have worked that out, so as such I hold no regrets, for I learned what that mistake had to teach. Now that we have that put forth Let’s Hammer This In!
So where to begin? Perhaps we should begin with what Matt tried to be before he became a commentator. At his core, I think, Matt always wanted to be like Kevin Smith, acting and directing in his own movies. This can be found in old self-made ventures that he has discussed in the past. As such, he also tried something similar to our own Dr. Randomercam in making “Poley the Polar Bear.” The only problem is, Matt’s vocal range pales in comparison to the doctor’s. This is where the offending video comes into play, the one where he uses the N-word with a hard R as an attempt to go full Avenue Q. Only one problem: His delivery was shit and he forgot to wipe the video off his channel after he gained a modicum of fame.
I’ve followed Matt a bit on and off ever since he was first brought onto ReviewTechUSA/ Richard Mancusi’s channel soon after the Gamers are Dead articles dropped. For a while he was just well and good. His delivery and approach to most stories was pretty sound until after the election. Then he started to get a little bit sandy when it came to Trump winning. However, this didn’t start to go out of control until his daughter was born. It was after this that some of his content did start to rub more people the wrong way and he got a little annoying about things, particularly when it came to pulling funding. What was just a silly meme of “Turn off that pesky adblock” became more him trying to push for ad-revenue and patreon support because now he has a daughter to care for. Granted I have my son to care for too but I have a paycheck I collect elsewhere. I don’t do this to get paid – I do this to help people.
Whether it’s about informing people of the truth about something, or trying to come up with some sage advice from my Tourette’s-laden mindscape, it’s all about trying to give men and boys something they can work with to get past the stupidity of this society, even possibly figuring out some way to try fixing issues men have in society through reasoned debate. Thing is in trying to become this well known personality that can live off his commentary alone, it’s had a negative effect on his mental state. This could stem from the fact that in any live interaction I’ve watched of Jarbo, he comes off as a little bit obsessive-compulsive. Obsessive-compulsives make some of the worst liars because they think out too many details for their own good when they do lie. This is because memory is imperfect. Even with some of my most detailed stories I hope most of you have taken with a grain of salt considering that my memory has its flaws. This is why you don’t see eyewitness testimony as important in the scheme of things any longer.
At the same time the people who held this false flagging against Matt aren’t the most moral people either. Take Ethan Ralph for example. While he has done some good work, he has for the past three years held a chip on his shoulder for Matt being more successful than him for a time. Mister Metokur I don’t think likes Matt due to how quick Jarbo was willing to come out with who he really was. At the time it could be seen as Matt having a sort of courage that Jim lacks. Lets also not forget who Jim has been willing to take advantage of for the sake of satiating his own grudges. Then there is Keemstar… he is a man who would profit off his own kid if he had one. In other words none of these people are paragons of virtue.
Does this mean that Matt was right in what he did?
No, not even close.
Was the reason he did it understandable, considering that the apparent justification for his actions was to erase essentially a heated gaming moment?
It could make sense that he would want to try to defend what he built so he could provide for his child.
Would I have done the same?
I don’t know. I don’t have that sort of embarrassment out there. Most of my embarrassing stuff comes from my sex life. However these are all things my wife knows about and has accepted as part of who I am and who I’ve been. If I were to determine the most embarrassing thing it would be the my dating history.
So THOT. Much crazy. Wow.
I would say this to Matt if he would listen: In the past year, we’ve seen PewDiePie go hard R and survive it for the most part, even after two to three hit pieces from the mainstream media. Dan Harmon was successfully defended by Adult Swim for his bad skit from nearly a decade ago. If you had reposted an edited version of it and explained Poley the Polar Bear when it was about to break as opposed to trying to bury it outright, you would have reclaimed perhaps support and respect from those who have drifted off from you.
Sure, its a bit late now. Now, as long as you genuinely apologize publicly for your negative actions – IN VIDEO FORM, not on Tumblr – you could survive this. You could have grown again, is all I’m saying. Do get therapy, do what you have to do to get back to where you could be comfortable. Just remember this: How you approach all of it from this point forward will determine whether or not you are reborn into something more, or just become a dead meme.
Granted, I’ve never been to the point where hundreds of thousands of people knew who I was, but I also have not been trying for that. If I had the time and energy, I’m sure I could, but that still isn’t my intention with these articles. If that sort of visibility occurs on its own then of course I’d be ecstatic with that but it’s not the end-all-be-all of what I want. Of course, with the way things are developing our visibility may be the least of our issues. So, to finish this up, this drama should be the last thing we spend our time and resources on. With a very overpowered mainstream trying to quash us from the internet in various ways, we have to work harder than ever to overturn not only false narratives but false judgements made of us and reality. If we don’t, then we might as well be in the anime Desert Punk. Believe me, that wouldn’t be the best environment for anyone.
I know I wanted to build up with something more positive but these were things that needed to be addressed before it went purely to the revelry of ‘owning.’ We who want to see the overturning of the true hateful core of society and its attempt to silence its dissenters need to come together and stop financial institutions from overturning human rights protections across the planet for their further gain. Considering that the most prominent financial institutional powers are seated in Saudi Arabia at this time… I think you can see where I’m going with this. With that in mind I’m sure you’ll appreciate that next time will be another #GamerGate 4th anniversary piece. I hope you look forward to it and Please Remember to Game Freely!
- Breaking the Narrative Episode 124: Nice Try Kotaku! This Won’t Work Though! - July 8, 2019
- Breaking the Narrative Episode 123: We Shouldn’t Go Straight to Mars! How Anime Got Space Right! - July 1, 2019
- Breaking the Narrative Episode 122: You’re Reviewing What Now? The Dissenter Web Browser! - June 10, 2019
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