It is virtually that point of 12 months once more, when each company entity briefly provides its emblem a rainbow makeover and publicly reaffirms its dedication to inclusivity. However earlier than we get to Pleasure Month, we now have to get via 4/20, which Call of Obligation is celebrating with a pair of skins depicting Thurgood Jenkins, the fictional character from 1998’s Half Baked, performed by comic and famous transphobe Dave Chappelle.
“There’s one thing happening at Frankencense & Burr Pharmaceutical, and Thurgood Jenkins is correct in the course of it,” reads a recent Activision blog post asserting the upcoming collaboration. “The grasp of custodial arts takes his likelihood to have some enjoyable and save a buddy, memorialized on this Bundle impressed by the 1998 hit comedy, Half Baked.”
I am sufficiently old to recollect the times when Chappelle was recognized for being humorous moderately than being a bigot. I grew up watching Chappelle’s Present, and like many comedy followers, genuinely loved the man’s work till he began making unfunny jokes concerning the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, with a considerable amount of vitriol aimed at the trans community and female sexual assault victims particularly.
Yearly in June, Call of Obligation celebrates Pleasure Month. In 2021, Activision added eight new Pleasure flag Calling Playing cards to Warzone, and final 12 months, it was a free camo pack. I am certain Warzone and Black Ops 7 will add a brand new set of rainbow cosmetics this 12 months, too. Nevertheless it’s onerous to take Activision’s alleged help of its LGBTQ+ playerbase severely when it is celebrating 4/20 by celebrating the legacy of a transphobe.
GameSpot reached out to Activision for remark concerning the Chappelle skins, however didn’t obtain a response.
I lately wrote a few examine that exposed one thing most of us are already conscious of: Regardless of making up 48% of gamers, feminine players are underserved by the trade, with the largest limitations to entry being:
- A wrestle to search out video games that swimsuit their wants
- Reluctance to have interaction with poisonous participant communities
It is no secret that the Call of Obligation franchise would not precisely have a pristine repute relating to participant conduct. A 2024 examine revealed that Call of Duty has the most toxic player community across all platforms, with 45% of gamers saying they encounter poisonous in-game conduct steadily, and solely 2% saying they by no means encounter it. In faculty, my friends and I jokingly referred to the franchise as “Slurs with Buddies,” and true sufficient, the 2024 examine cites intense aggression through voice chat as one of many franchise’s greatest poisonous traits.
As a bisexual lady, the addition of Dave Chappelle skins for 4/20 reads as a poorly disguised try and let the Call of Obligation playerbase know that, though Activision will proceed to advantage sign with Pleasure Month celebrations, the sport remains to be a spot the place you and your (straight, male, cisgendered) buddies can squad up, chug soda, and name everybody you encounter a gendered slur with little repercussion. As for LGBTQ+ gamers like myself? Nicely, I suppose we must always sit down, shut up, and be pleased about our free rainbow skins.
I’ve heard loads of humorous “homosexual jokes” in my lifetime, however most of them come from LGBTQ+ folks themselves, not straight guys punching down whereas acting at a state-sponsored Saudi Arabian comedy festival as a result of they’ve run out of each materials and cash. (Curiously, comedians who attended the aforementioned festival–including Chappelle–were reportedly forbidden from making any jokes concerning the Saudi Arabian authorities, the royal household, or faith.)
I am a fan of “420 humor,” too, and I loved watching Half Baked in my teenagers. However what’s most mind-boggling to me about this entire state of affairs is that the addition of the 2 Dave Chappelle skins is the solely manner Call of Obligation is celebrating 4/20 this 12 months, and I’m removed from the one one who finds this both baffling and disappointing.
“We all know lots of gamers take pleasure in them, however we have scaled again the 4/20 celebrations this 12 months to a single bundle for followers of the Half Baked film,” Activision shared via a post on the official Call of Obligation X account. “No occasions or LTMs this time.”
Critically? You could not do one other Cheech & Chong pores and skin pack? A Grandma’s Boy or Towelie collab? Flip Nuketown again into Smoketown like in final 12 months’s huge 4/20 celebration? You are telling me that every one you have to provide your stoners is a pair of skins glorifying a singular, unfunny transphobe? Really?
As a 420-friendly bisexual, I am upset. The Dave Chappelle skins aren’t simply dangerous to the franchise’s LGBTQ+ community–they’re a lazy, uncreative, half-baked try at profiting off of Call of Obligation’s stoner fanbase, too.