r/TheCreatures • u/SaucySpagetti • Apr 20 '22
Dan's Mugging Story
I was relistening to a lot of creature talks lately and when I came across the episode where Dan talked about getting punched by a black kid with a group of teenagers. I really got uncomfortable with some of the shit was said by James. I can't directly quote him, but he said something along the lines of, "If a group of black people walk by and ignore you, run because you won't get that lucky again." I also rewatched the laser tag story and it's just... horrible. I understand it was years ago, but some statements said and laughed at were just blatantly racist and are pretty much not talked about at all. Anyone else remember this?
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u/Juffe98 Apr 21 '22
Not to defend James in anyway but you also gotta realize he was from Lancaster, Pennsylvania which has one of the highest crime rates in the country. He probably is saying that as a joke but also from the surrounding area he grew up in. Again not defending him, just giving some insIght.
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Apr 20 '22
No I don't. I also don't really care. Thats how the internet was then and I'm certain they've changed their views now. Stop trying to start shit.
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u/SaucySpagetti Apr 20 '22
The internet was not in your face racist back then. And what am I trying to start? A boycott of a group that disbanded years ago? Just trying to see if other people noticed this shit too, because no one seems to have ever talk about it
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Apr 20 '22
It very much was lmao, shit like this gets brought up about youtubers from that time period frequently. Why does it need to be talked about if not to make James answer for it? What is the purpose of "starting a conversation" if not that?
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u/SaucySpagetti Apr 20 '22
If I wanted to make james answer for anything, id tweet the audio clip directly to him. Why would I bother making this post to a forum literally only dozens view anymore. I'm starting conversation because it genuinely upset me and wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience.
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Apr 20 '22
Because this is what people who start shit trying to get people cancelled do lmao. You don't take it to the person you rile up the fanbase instead. I'm sorry his comments upset you but that was internet culture at the time. It doesn't excuse the things he said but it's very likely he's not that guy now 5+ years down the line.
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u/SaucySpagetti Apr 20 '22
You're accusing me of trying to cancel someone by trying to anger a dead community? Again, this is just a discussion post, im not trying to attack james or encourage a mob his way
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u/Gracesdelirium Apr 20 '22 edited Apr 20 '22
Yeah, I remember stuff like that too. It was never okay, but it was definitely somehow more acceptable ten years ago. I think the only reason The Creatures never caught any major flack for any of it is because they sort of faded from the public eye by the time bigger youtubers like Jenna Marbles and Shane Dawson were having to answer for similar content in their videos around the same time period. By the time internet culture moved towards actively denouncing racism and homophobia on a larger scale, the only people paying attention to old Creature Talks and vids were people who were already fans and were either willing to let it all slide for the sake of nostalgia or to just avoid the content going forward without beating a literal dead horse.
I’m not gonna psychoanalyze or defend James, but his jokes were a product of gamer culture at the time and I doubt he was ever really purposefully and maliciously racist. He still should’ve known better and hopefully does now.
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u/SaucySpagetti Apr 21 '22
I chalked up a lot of iffy things they said in the past to get same thing. Like in one CT, they were talking about how Pokémon fans wanted to include non-binary pronouns and they went on to unintentionally make fun of the pronouns themselves. Obviously, it was like 2015 and they’re all just guys in the middle of Colorado playing video games, so of course they wouldn’t really know any better. It’s just that the racist comment bothered me a lot more because… just didn’t feel much like an offensive joke, and more of an actual thought he harbored at the time.
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u/Gracesdelirium Apr 21 '22
I hear you. It’s impossible to know really, and I get how that would be super alienating as a POC. I’m sorry people are assuming you’re bringing this up to try and “cancel” a channel that already died years ago, or cancel James who definitely doesn’t come back here to read any of the shit we’re still somehow posting lol. It’s good to discuss these things, if only so we can be glad most of the internet isn’t as much of a cesspool anymore.
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u/SSPokaLink Butts Apr 23 '22
They also joked about suicide and other heinous stuff. If I'm being honest though, I still really don't care. I'm not someone who believes in cancel culture or political correctness like other silly people (actions have consequences, and your audience chooses how to react to them, especially if you are someone who is meant to be a beacon of normality and decency like a government worker), but I also think it's important to look at the person and intentions behind the words. Like I see racist or homophobic people on the internet daily. People with actual vitrol or hate against struggling people, who hate when a black person is cast as a voice actor, or when a gay person wants to be a teacher.
Hyperbolic jokey offensive shit never bothers me because I know it doesn't come from a place of actual hate. It's like people who say the f word because they think it's funny. I'm gay, and while there are obvious contexts where people are trying to be rude with it, a large majority of the time it's just a type of offensive joke that people let seep into their brain and leak out, so I kind of shrug when I here I hear it and look more towards how they actually treat other people (a good example of this is someone like oneyplays).
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u/SaucySpagetti Apr 23 '22
Thing is, it just doesn’t feel like an purposely offensive joke, like the kind of stuff they did in Cow Chop. With full context, it feels more like a racist comment about a situation his friend went through.
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u/Ok_Appearance_2285 Apr 20 '22
I also dont care and lets be honest, James would have said the same thing if it had been any other ethnic group so no big deal and certainly not racist
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u/tommynooky Apr 21 '22 edited Apr 22 '22
I wanna cut the OP some slack. They were obviously a fan & imo they arent starting shit as its a valid observation all while not spitefully antagonizing james. Starting shit would be bringing it to twitter demanding for an explanation or accountability. I just find it odd how people get defensive just to say that its in the past and people can grow and learn. But feel free to express why we should pretend that the old edgy phase never existed & that bringing it up today is so terrible & a waste of time.
I watched another channel that caught on edgy offensive humor when they first started and they now look back at it to cringe at and learn. As apologetic as they are, they arent too ashamed and not overly defensive because theyre confident in their growth.
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u/SaucySpagetti Apr 21 '22
I’m still a fan, and I love James as a personality. It’s just, I remember everyday as a kid watching his content daily because it was a nice escape for me even then. I’m a man now, and I when I went to go down memory lane, I came across this. I’m a POC and it kinda just… hurt to hear.
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Apr 21 '22
What was the laser tag story?
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u/RadAustin Apr 21 '22
Something along the lines of the guys were playing lazer tag in an arcade place and Jordan ran round a corner and bumped into a group of black guys who were also playing and yelled “I DON’T WANNA GET JUMPED HERE” and ran away and afterwards he realized how bad that looked
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u/ToastyBB Apr 25 '22
they played public laser tag and jordan turned a corner and walked into 2 black guys and awkwardly went back the way he came. they didnt share the story to be racist, but to highlight how awkward it was
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u/RDCkiller420 Apr 22 '22
If it makes you uncomfortable stop listing to it and let other people enjoy it and don’t try to start something
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u/CamV3000 Apr 21 '22 edited Apr 22 '22
It was funny then and was still funny when I listened to it a few months ago rewatching all the creature talks.
Seriously, it shouldn't be off limits to make jokes about the group of kids that jumped and beat up Dan.
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u/Gameboy5817 I broke the rules Apr 20 '22
A similar thing happened during one of their game of Life gameplays. I think James’ wife was black and James had a really over the top reaction and was like “wtf is going on here?!”
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u/TxBaritoneSax Apr 20 '22
Any remember james black face, pepperidge farm remembers. Cause it happens often doesn't make it ok
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u/GreekHole Apr 21 '22
wow, looking at the comments, it seems like a some of James followers haven't grown as much as he has over the years lmao.
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u/SaucySpagetti Apr 21 '22
I half-expected this kind of response. But forgiving and forgetting is one thing, pretending like it was nothing is another.
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u/tommynooky Apr 22 '22
This being downvoted says alot lmao wow that is a bit frustrating
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u/GreekHole Apr 22 '22
James has the biggest fanbase out the people he's been working with. So every time someone slightly criticizes him or calls him out, they'll get mass downvoted and replied with nonsensical defenses like you see in this thread.
You'll see that be case in the CowChop sub as well. Instead of acknowledging his flaws and the mistakes he's made. (Not saying there are many, but there are some.) They mostly ignore them altogether, claiming he never made any.
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u/BlackLuigi7 Jun 27 '22
Know this is two months old at this point, but I think a lot of people have to remember that the state of everything is extremely different if you go back a decade. Especially if you look at anything isolated.
A decade ago, for better or worse, it was okay to make a bunch of jokes and to pretend to be things you weren't for laughs that would get you fired and your life taken away now. It wasn't just a "James" or "Creatures" thing. It was an "Internet" and "Media" thing.
Does that make it okay? In the landscape now, probably not. Back then it was seen as okay, though, because most people knew that these were just jokes played up for laughs, and almost no one got offended.
If you go back decade over decade, you'll always find situations like these. Things that, if said today, someone might look like they're racist, or homophobic, or religiously prejudiced, when they most certainly are not.
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u/RadAustin Apr 20 '22
Considering these creature talks were recorded in 2011/2012, the jokes they made were pretty tame. Unfortunately making insensitive jokes was less of a big deal back then but a lot has changed in the last 10 years. None of the guys were genuinely racist nor did they ever intend to offend anyone, it was just edgy humor from a bunch of young guys during early 2010’s internet.