Jason Scott slammed the film King of Kong for being “loaded with falsehoods” (and, incidentally, causing him to lose access for his own arcade documentary).
When shown that some of his assertions were wrong, he took time for further research.
In a short follow-up, he said that King of Kong is generally accurate.
In a long autobiographical follow-up, he talks about objectivity in documentary film and how King of Kong makes people feel.
Well… okay.
But viciously attacking a film for being packed with falsehoods “like the last Japanese subway car before they have to shut down the line” is just a tiny bit different than speculating about how Billy Mitchell might feel.
And when you’re following up on a rant where you blast people as liars and whores without any corroborating evidence, calling for thorough objective research and universal empathy sounds a little insincere.
Jason Scott is a good historian. But this isn’t quite history yet, and he has admitted his own tangential stake in this series of open controversies. Which makes his self-interested declaration that King of Kong is “fraudulent” hard to reconcile with his sermon on the respectful construction of a complex and nuanced Truth.
Comments
Tim Sczerby
On August 12, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I have a copy of the VHS tape I sent to TG in 2000 of my record braking score at the time. I think this is all the proof one would need to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the premise of KoK is false with no historical accuracy.
zota
On August 26, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Tim, I’m sorry I caught this comment so late. Thank you for responding here.
Halco
On May 21, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Tim, remind me of the crime you committed that landed you in prison and made you unwelcome at Funspot.
zota
On May 28, 2009 at 1:50 am
Halco,
In case you didn’t read the dates, Tim left that comment more than 6 months ago. It’s very unlikely he’s going to see what you wrote, so this looks more like an anonymous attack than a genuine question.
I don’t know you or Tim or anything about what you might be referring to. But just on general principles of discourse and etiquette, allow me just state for the record that you, sir, seem to be a douchebag.