Kotaku: "Ronda Rousey Being In Mortal Kombat 11 Is Bullshit"

julia crawford · May 1, 2019

This was very disheartening to see frankly. I found out recently that Rousey was in the game, and though i have no interest whatsoever in the game or company, it's incredibly disheartening to see them disregard the trans community with such nonchalance. And that's on top of everything else Rousey can be accused of.

fontguy said:
Rousey's inclusion in MK11 has severely damaged my opinion of NetherRealm, and the reports of the company's poor treatment of its employees isn't helping.

Yep, that too...

Shogeki · May 1, 2019

unpopular opinion but I don't see her comments regarding the transgender fighter as being malicious. Unless there is more to it than what's in the OP.? If I was a female fighter I'd be like wtf too. The guys comments are unacceptable and I think she was dumb for saying she was glad he didn't get fired. He deserves way more hate than her imo. While I don't agree with her opinion on the sandy hook shooting, people are entitled to their dumb opinions. I'm sure a lot people in this thread think my opinion is dumb.

5taquitos · May 1, 2019

Shogeki said:
I'm sure a lot people in this thread think my opinion is dumb.

Well you got one thing right.

Liquidsnake · May 1, 2019

I'd like to get the opinions on Former Males fighting Women from women.

AllThingsPurple · May 1, 2019

Wish they would patch her out

Daniel Westlake · May 1, 2019

Shogeki said:
unpopular opinion but I don't see her comments regarding the transgender fighter as being malicious. Unless there is more to it than what's in the OP.? If I was a female fighter I'd be like wtf too. The guys comments are unacceptable and I think she was dumb for saying she was glad he didn't get fired. He deserves way more hate than her imo. While I don't agree with her opinion on the sandy hook shooting, people are entitled to their dumb opinions. I'm sure a lot people in this thread think my opinion is dumb.

Pretty dumb, yeah.

Daniel Westlake · May 1, 2019

Cladyclad said:
This is a issue lol
My lord. I don't understand this outrage at all

Piss off then

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric · May 1, 2019

I honestly don't think her comments about either are all that well known.

That said, I'm all for patching her out.

What's odd is that she was a Bernie supporter in 2016 which seems like a strange political endorsement given her transphobic and Sandy Hook truther nonsense.

Did she ever attempt to apologize for either?

Amnixia · May 1, 2019

Transistor said:
100% agreed. Fuck her. Fuck her and her transphobic, Sandy Hook truther, domestic abuser ways.

She's the main reason I'm not picking this up

She's an domestic abuser too? Wtf

But yeah they need to patch her out asap

Daniel Westlake · May 1, 2019

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric said:
I honestly don't think her comments about either are all that well known.

That said, I'm all for patching her out.

What's odd is that she was a Bernie supporter in 2016 which seems like a strange political endorsement given her transphobic and Sandy Hook truther nonsense.

Did she ever attempt to apologize for either?

Not a far as I know.

FHIZ · May 1, 2019

Sjay1994 said:
I genuinely wonder who at Warner thought having her involved was a good idea.

Not only is she an awful person, but she's a terrible VA.

I was playing through the game and just imagined the audio director being so mad at whoever above him signed the deal, because just from their point of view, disregarding all her bullshit, she just puts in a terrible performance and they had to know.

The Bombcast this week put it pretty well, the deal makes no sense, because her "promotion" for the game was minimal, her performance stands out like a literal sore thumb and on top of that there's all the bullshit baggage she brings. It's just a baffling move all around.

Transistor · May 1, 2019

Idolvo said:
She's an domestic abuser too? Wtf

But yeah they need to patch her out asap

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...sey-domestic-violence-autobiography/75652260/

bluehat9 · May 1, 2019

It was garbage from when it was announced, they're a little late. I honestly dont know how she's still relevant in anything or why you'd want her in MK either, but I'm just an idiot.

Budi · May 1, 2019

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric said:
I honestly don't think her comments about either are all that well known.

That said, I'm all for patching her out.

What's odd is that she was a Bernie supporter in 2016 which seems like a strange political endorsement given her transphobic and Sandy Hook truther nonsense.

Did she ever attempt to apologize for either?

To her transphobia I think definitely not, more like doubling down I think. For the Sandy Hook stuff there was, "just asking questions" type of defense or something, denying it was her own exact thoughts.

Gabbo · May 1, 2019

Can we start a gofund me to get Tricia Helfer to record the lines and put them in the game as a mod/patch? Remove the stain that is Rousey from the game.

Atolm · May 1, 2019

I don't agree in the slightest. Violence and gore porn readily available to minors is the problem here, as well as it's normalisation between adults.

Amnixia · May 1, 2019

Transistor said:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...sey-domestic-violence-autobiography/75652260/

The fuck man, I mean he shouldn't have try to stop her from leaving but that is just fucked up.

Budi · May 1, 2019

Idolvo said:
The fuck man, I mean he shouldn't have try to stop her from leaving but that is just fucked up.

Yeah especially being a trained fighter, it's really fucked up.

Kalentan · May 1, 2019

Masked Devil said:
Can we just Nolan North this and have her re-recorded with Tricia Helfer?

I'd pay for that.

Fitts · May 1, 2019

Just patch her out. Nobody would be upset but many would praise NRS for it.

AustinJ said:
I'm no fan (of the woman or her performance), but it makes sense for marketing reasons - particularly to the MMA/WWE crowd.

I'm part of the "MMA crowd" and have been actively avoiding things Rousey is associated with since she was an active fighter. She's always been insufferable, (and anyone who followed the sport knew she was overrated af) but the UFC did generate casual buys through promoting her (and women's MMA) as a freak show.

udivision · May 1, 2019

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric said:
I honestly don't think her comments about either are all that well known.

That said, I'm all for patching her out.

What's odd is that she was a Bernie supporter in 2016 which seems like a strange political endorsement given her transphobic and Sandy Hook truther nonsense.

Did she ever attempt to apologize for either?

That's a bit naive, heh. Not everyone is on the same page in progressivism.

Squishy3 · May 1, 2019

Atolm said:
I don't agree in the slightest. Violence and gore porn readily available to minors is the problem here, as well as it's normalisation between adults.

It's not readily available to minors unless you're a parent who provides no supervision over what media your children consume.

A person under the age of 17 can't walk into a store by themselves and buy Mortal Kombat 11 without an ID. If a parent buys it for their kid without properly researching, that's on them. The ESRB rating system exists for a reason, other people exist, etc. My generation is more in tune with the internet than my parents' generation and should have the ability to find the knowledge of what's okay or not for their kids.

TERFs and Sandy Hook Truthers have probably caused more mental damage than Mortal Kombat has at this point, just a hunch.

TheChungusAmongUs · May 1, 2019

Capcom does what WB don't by almost immediately announcing they were going to replace the old vocalist of Subhuman in DMC5 after his pedophilia allegations were brought up...

WB kept Rousey on, despite people bringing this stuff up when she was announced as Sonya's VA... and her performance was terrible.

Is Rousey even that big of a draw?

Deleted member 19066 · May 1, 2019

Atolm said:
I don't agree in the slightest. Violence and gore porn readily available to minors is the problem here, as well as it's normalisation between adults.

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric · May 1, 2019

udivision said:
That's a bit naive, heh. Not everyone is on the same page in progressivism.

I don't know too many progressives who are transphobic and also subscribe to School-Shooting-Truther bullshit (which is indicative of somebody who leans pretty hard to the Right) but regardless, I just found it surprising that she publicly endorsed a hard Left candidate given her history and thus I was curious if she had attempted to retract her previous statements.

I don't see that as 'naive' but whatever.

Polyh3dron · May 1, 2019

AzerPhire said:
Nothing in the article tells me why this article had to come out now and not 2-3 months ago. Waiting for other people to speak up before you do is not a good enough reason.

If the press spoke up about this sooner this could have been a bigger issue and potentially force Warner Bros to act and make changes. We certainly had threads speaking against this why didn't the press?

Yep. This is a legit question that the OP and the linked article don't sufficiently address. Only thing that comes to mind for me is that the legal departments of these sites fear her powerful representation in CAA and elsewhere?

StrappingYoungLance · May 1, 2019

They don't even have the idea of separating the performance from the person behind it to fall back on (a flimsy concept in this day and age anyway) because she's AWFUL. Just an all around horrible decision on NS/WB's part.

Atolm · May 1, 2019

BuddyDharma said:

Bait is the whole thing about Rousey. She's a celebrity only in the US. No one cares about what she thinks or does outside there and guess what, many videogame outlets aren't from the US so it's like Ronda who? for them. The world doesn't revolve around you guys.

Mr. X · May 1, 2019

Fuck TERFS
Fuck truthers.
Rousey is terrible, why she getting forced on pop culture so hard?

udivision · May 1, 2019

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric said:
I don't know too many progressives who are transphobic and also subscribe to School-Shooting-Truther bullshit (which is indicative of somebody who leans pretty hard to the Right) but regardless, I just found it surprising that she publicly endorsed a hard Left candidate given her history and thus I was curious if she had attempted to retract her previous statements.

I don't see that as 'naive' but whatever.

The only measure is what they believe, not the mostly binary voting system. I'm just saying beliefs vary a lot even on the same side of the spectrum. I guess I'm just really jaded in that area.

Mesoian · May 1, 2019

Atolm said:
I don't agree in the slightest. Violence and gore porn readily available to minors is the problem here, as well as it's normalisation between adults.

I mean, you're free to make another thread about over the top cartoonish violence in video games, but that's not what we're talking about here.

Atolm said:
Bait is the whole thing about Rousey. She's a celebrity only in the US. No one cares about what she thinks or does outside there and guess what, many videogame outlets aren't from the US so it's like Ronda who? for them. The world doesn't revolve around you guys.

So...let me get this straight, because you don't care about who Ronda Rousey is, you'd rather just...talk about something else?

HiLife · May 1, 2019

She's a garbage actress for an otherwise super fun to use character.

AdversaryOne · May 1, 2019

I don't know how she feels about trans people overall but I agree that she's putting her life in even greater risk than usual, fighting someone who still has the bone structure and the similar strength as a man. I don't blame her for declining the fight with a transgender fighter.

As for her MK11 role. She was a publicity stunt and I hate that companies trade in the integrity of their product just to get a big name on board. The MK franchise is bigger than Rousey and really didn't need her help to market it. I hope more people complain about her performance as Sonya Blade for years to come so that they never make this mistake again and for it to be a lesson to other game companies out there.

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric · May 1, 2019

udivision said:
The only measure is what they believe, not the mostly binary voting system. I'm just saying beliefs vary a lot even on the same side of the spectrum. I guess I'm just really jaded in that area.

I don't disagree with you, it's just that Sandy Hook Truther bullshit is Alex Jones NRA lunacy you generally associate with the hard Right and Alt Right. Her pivoting to somebody like Bernie - who is very clear on his stance regarding guns and trans-rights - just struck me as a bit shocking. I was curious if she had perhaps come around on those issues but as others have already pointed out, she really never bothered to retract either statement and/or apologize.

Okabe · May 1, 2019

Quick Mustard said:
I wasn't being shitty, just thought I'd point it out.

I'm glad U pointed it out

JuicyPlayer · May 1, 2019

It's crazy because Mortal Kombat didn't need a celebrity to sell their game. The game sells millions by itself.

Reinhard · May 1, 2019

I don't understand why NetherRealms even kept this stunt hiring after hearing her performance. Should have replaced her because she is a horrible actress as well as being a bad person.

Atolm · May 1, 2019

Mesoian said:
o...let me get this straight, because you don't care about who Ronda Rousey is, you'd rather just...talk about something else?

No, Kotaku and users around here have complained about the Rousey gate hasn't made it into the big news. I explain why. Why would websites like Eurogamer take notice? It's not important to them.

The violence thing is because in my country anyone can go in freely and buy it, as they can in most of Europe since PEGI isn't a law enforcement agency but a guideline of recommendations.

Lifendz · May 1, 2019

She also shouldn't be in MK11 because she did a terrible job with the voice over. Hopefully they can replace her.

Tabaxi · May 1, 2019

Let's not forget:

- Rousey defending her husband's own past of domestic abuse
- Rousey shilling for Saudi Arabia.

nasirum · May 1, 2019

HiLife said:
She's a garbage actress for an otherwise super fun to use character.

NRS has some money on the table here. Get Cassie's VA to redo Sonya's lines and let me buy it for $2-3.

Phellps · May 1, 2019

Atolm said:
I don't agree in the slightest. Violence and gore porn readily available to minors is the problem here, as well as it's normalisation between adults.

OR, they can both be issues and you can stop with the what-about-ism.

Deleted member 18161 · May 1, 2019

Rousey (aswell as McGregor and Lesnar) are some of the biggest draws in UFC history. It's no surprise when they get what amounts to endorsement deals.

GSP should get more work. He also seems like a decent person going on his Joe Rogan Podcast appearances.

Tabaxi · May 1, 2019

Mesoian said:
Wrestling fans, unfortunately.

Annoyingly, disappointingly, Ronda Rousey is a draw. And that sucks.

She isn't though.

In terms of actual evidence, the best you could say about Rousey is that she is an above-average house show draw in 2019. Which, considering how bad WWE house shows are doing, isn't saying much. In terms of live/PPV attendance, Network subscriptions, merchandise, ratings, and mainstream attention, Ronda hasn't been much of a draw at all.

She was one of the key reasons WWE landed the Fox Deal. But, again, that decision had little to do with her drawing power in 2019, and more to do with clueless suits thinking they could leverage her former popularity.

Mesoian · May 1, 2019

Tabaxi said:
She isn't though.

In terms of actual evidence, the best you could say about Rousey is that she is an above-average house show draw in 2019. Which, considering how bad WWE house shows are doing, isn't saying much. In terms of live/PPV attendance, Network subscriptions, merchandise, ratings, and mainstream attention, Ronda hasn't been much of a draw at all.

She was one of the key reasons WWE landed the Fox Deal. But, again, that decision had little to do with her drawing power in 2019, and more to do with clueless suits thinking they could leverage her former popularity.

I'd say that fox deal was enough for them and the concept of Rousey before she...did anything...was high and popular. People were excited about "a real fighter" joining the ranks in a league where most of the talent was hurting one another, if only because she could take and give bumps without possibly putting someone in the hospital.

And then she...did things...

I would agree with you in saying that the Rousey gamble has not paid off and I sincerely hope she does not return.

Watching Enzo was often more entertaining...

Str0ngStyle · May 1, 2019

BIGLukas said:
Oh you're absolutely right, and that's her point.
Articles like this should've been coming out from everywhere since her inclusion was announced and not solely from trans or queer journalists.

It shouldn't always have to be on queer people to speak up about queer issues.

Piggybacking off of this, the same situation happens when it comes to issues with other minorities as well. Kapernick for example couldn't do what he did without getting heaps of shit and eventually being blackballed from the NFL. Now if Carson Wentz or Eli Manning, or Tom Brady had done the same thing, now people pay attention. Or if we want to go back further than that, during the Civil Rights era, activists helping people get the right to vote were regularly lynched. It wasn't until some white activists got lynched in Alabama that people really started to pay attention. A Trans person saying shit is Transphobic, people ignore it. A Straight Cis Male saying that shit, the conversation is heard more.

PontyfaxJr · May 1, 2019

She reads her lines like someone with brain damage. And those are the best takes they got, too.

Driver · May 1, 2019

I'm no fan of Rhonda and there is a lot not to like about her but I don't understand how her comments about the physical advantages of trans women over their cis gendered opponents are transphobic. Is this just something that we are not allowed to discuss because it's uncomfortable? Just today there is an article:
https://www.aol.com/article/news/20...regory-smashes-womens-world-records/23720231/
about a trans woman dominating a weightlifting competition breaking 4 world records in the process. There are competitors that feel like they don't have the ability to compete with her and are considering dropping out of competition because of this trans woman's unfair advantage (she competed in male competitions for 9 years before her transition). I strongly believe in LGBTQ rights and I am anti discrimination of anyone but it definitely looks like bulking up as biological male for a decade has given her a serious unfair advantage. Am I transphobic for thinking this way?

BluePigGanon · May 1, 2019

Driver said:
I'm no fan of Rhonda and there is a lot not to like about her but I don't understand how her comments about the physical advantages of trans women over their cis gendered opponents are transphobic. Is this just something that we are not allowed to discuss because it's uncomfortable? Just today there is an article:
https://www.aol.com/article/news/20...regory-smashes-womens-world-records/23720231/
about a trans woman dominating a weightlifting competition breaking 4 world records in the process. There are competitors that feel like they don't have the ability to compete with her and are considering dropping out of competition because of this trans woman's unfair advantage (she competed in male competitions for 9 years before her transition). I strongly believe in LGBTQ rights and I am anti discrimination of anyone but it definitely looks like bulking up as biological male for a decade has given her a serious unfair advantage. Am I transphobic for thinking this way?

I don't think you are. I think Rousey might be, and how she talked about it was shitty/ugly but I mean... she's a meathead, what do you expect.

The Sandy Hook thing is way more incendiary to me.

Deleted member 274 · May 1, 2019

Kthulhu said:
No offense to the people writing about this, but this isn't exactly super new. Why did the author of this piece and the waypoint one wait so long? The waypoint one talks about the performance so it kinda makes sense, but just mentioning that Rousey is a PoS seems like it should've been said after the announcement, not a week after the game is out.

No offense but you didn't even read the article before posting, the author mentions why it took her a while to write about it

Kotaku: "Ronda Rousey Being In Mortal Kombat 11 Is Bullshit"

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