TIL: Doug TenNapel is Trump supporter and Anti-LGBTQ+

[watchful]

#10030

Just discovered that TenNapel is quite a character himself.

I’m going to pass on (re)buying a copy of EWJ from GOG, and take a step back from the game (for what remains of) this month.

[Tijn]

#10031

oh yikes, that’s a shame

[SpaceGameJunkie]

#10032

Oh damn, that’s sad.

[rnlf]

#10033

They can’t fucking not ruin everything, can they?
I say we leave him out of the section about how the game was made. Or the entire section. Let’s talk about the game but not boost this PoS.

Or just say he’s a terrible person and therefore we don’t talk about him.

[ainmosni]

#10034

I think acknowledging that he’s horrible and therefore not talking about him is the best course of action, as not mentioning it all might be seen as “white washing”.

[Tijn]

#10035

Yeah, that’s what we’ll do.

[dr_st]

#10043

This is not new to me. Funnily, I have played Earthworm Jim many times, and I had no idea who the creator of the character was, until I saw these columns talking about him as a horrible person.

In most cases I believe the artist’s political or social opinions are irrelevant to his work. Of course is one is very vocal about his opinions, it becomes hard to separate the art and the artist.

Has TenNapel been vocal? Has he been pushing his opinions agendas into his work? Believe it or not, I still have no idea what he actually said, as mostly all I see are secondary or even tertiary sources referring him, not his own words.

My experience has been that when politics is mixed with entertainment, and political discussions infiltrate hobbyist forums, the end result tends to be unpleasant. For example, the thread title almost seems to suggest that being a Trump supporter makes one a bad person. Do we really want to go there?

Thus I think it would have been better, if this topic had not been brought up, but once it has, there is no way to take it back. That is sad.

[sorceress]

#10044

I kind of agree with dr_st on this

this thread feels like:
– a knee jerk reaction
– bringing political polarisation into DGC
– bandwagony cancel culture

I’ll refer you all to this forums code of conduct also — https://www.dosgameclub.com/code-of-conduct/

“demeaning … anyone … publically… will not be tolerated”

several of you are clearly violating this rule :/

[tinybird]

#10045

Doug TenNapel is a truly awful person in my opinion, but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying/replaying EWJ and The Neverhood, even if I’m one of the people he hates the most. I don’t think his politics come across that much in his creative output but I’m not sure whether that’s particularly relevant.

I’m fine with DGC covering this game as long as it’s not blindly spouting “wow, this guy is great, right?”

That being said, I really did appreciate the decision not to platform David Murray for similar reasons back when his game was going to be on the podcast.

I guess another thing is that there were many people involved in making EWJ I think, it’s not a solo project and the way people glorify creative leads really diminishes the input of all the other people working on a given project like this.

[patrick_wd]

#10046

I agree completely, @tinybird. I sampled his political podcast (which I think makes this topic perfectly fair game, as TenNapel has made himself a public political figure), and it’s pretty dire.

That said, I also agree that EWJ was a team effort, and as a work of art on its own merits does not seem to project an inherent political view. How much a work of art can be said to be ‘part of” the author, or a distinct entity, is a matter of debate and personal opinion.

While DGC obviously isn’t a political podcast, I do appreciate that it has a clear stance on basic human rights and has a line that it won’t cross. It’s one of the things I like most about this community actually. Many tech focused communities are all too willing to look the other way for the sake of expediency.

[tinybird]

#10047

Yeah, if you try to include everyone, including nazis, then you just end up turning a space into a nazi bar. It’s not reasonable to act like nothing is beyond the pale and that literal fascism is merely a “difference of opinion”.

[watchful]

#10049

For folks concerned that I am trying to ‘demean’ him; you can hear directly from him on his YouTube channel, website, Instagram, Facebook, etc. They aren’t ‘canceled’ or hard to find.

TenNapel created the EWJ character and has continued to sell content for the franchise in the years after the games. He seems to be a pretty central part of the franchise, both then and now.

That said, everyone is free to decide for themselves. We all have a choice as to which creators to support, pass over, or loudly / quietly boycott.

IMO, creators who loudly call for taking away other people’s rights, and delight in the dismantling of the rule of law, shouldn’t be surprised to find their work is less appreciated.

[voxel]

#10050

Sorceress is completely correct, this thread clearly doesn’t follow the code of conduct (not sure why sectarian references are forbidden, but it’s right there in the CoC).

But more important is that when discussing a game where one of the creators is an outspoken bigot that publicly harasses LGBTQ+ people, the opportunity is taken to condemn that behaviour. I for one think that it’s worth potentially alienating a couple of listeners that share his intolerant values if it means being more inclusive of marginalised people.

[TigerQuoll]

#10051

For what it’s worth, I think Doug TenNapel should be mentioned on the pod, including basic biographical information such as the fact that he has some pretty rotten views.

Focussing on purging “bad” people, instead of calling out bad ideas, does nothing more than reinforce the toxic narratives that seem to be plaguing the planet at the moment. It just creates echo chambers and makes people double down on their stances rather than reevaluate them.

[dr_st]

#10066

>> Focussing on purging “bad” people,
>> instead of calling out bad ideas,
>> does nothing more than reinforce
>> the toxic narratives that seem to
>> be plaguing the planet at the moment.

I agree with this principle wholeheartedly, while holding the position that video game / technology podcasts and forums are not the ideal place to discuss such ideas, analyze people’s political/social views or attempt to define the acceptable range of opinions on various social issues.

There is just no good way to do that. By mentioning it “in passing”, you almost always take a stance, even if you didn’t intend to, and you risk defamation, just by accidentally getting a fact wrong. Deliberately avoiding it might get you under fire for “whitewashing”. It’s really a “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” situation. 🙁

[Tijn]

#10067

I don’t think bringing up our code of conduct is helpful or relevant in this situation, and I would appreciate if this was left out of the discussion.

The CoC is intended to protect club members from harassment, but that does not mean we can’t debate what to do with a problematic public figure we’re going to bring up in the podcast. I feel it’s inappropriate for people to drag the CoC into this as if the rules of DGC dictate anything on the discussion we’re having here.

Doug TenNapel is vocal about his anti-LGBTQ+ views on his own political podcast, which means this stuff isn’t merely his own personal opinion, he’s making them part of the public discourse. These are facts, and addressing them isn’t defamation. As a result of this it’s more than fair for us to debate how to deal with this, which is what’s happening in this thread.

I’m honestly impressed by the civility and thoughtfulness of the vast majority of the posts in this thread, especially given the extremely polarised and dire political climate of 2025.

The CoC is to make sure people here feel safe and treat each other with respect, which I think we can all agree is not in question here. So please don’t abuse it for other things than that.

[rnlf]

#10068

100% agree with Tijn. The CoC is obviously meant as “conduct *within* the community”. It does not mean we have to provide any tiny form of endorsement towards people like TenNapel who actively work towards hurting the people our CoC is intended to protect. Trying to use the CoC for that is cynical at best and malicious at worst.

Regarding anyone who advocates “keeping political debate out of entertainment”: This is a seriously privileged position to have that throws everybody under the bus who isn’t lucky enough to have an identity that isn’t under constant attack from people like TenNapel.

“Keeping politics out of entertainment” IS FUCKING POLITICAL.

Personally I’d welcome a topic like this to “divide the community” because it drives terrible people out and makes it a place where the people actually intended to be protected by the CoC can feel safe.

If this isn’t consensus among the community anymore, it’s indeed a sad day. It’s honestly a topic I’d reconsider remaining part of the community myself over.