Educational Media Reviews Online

According to a 2015 report from the Entertainment Software Association, 44 percent of gamers are women, but the gaming industry itself (particularly the design and development sector) is still heavily dominated by men. Shannon Sun-Higginson’s documentary GTFO (Get the F&#% Out) attempts to continue recent conversations in the media about the experiences of women in gaming culture. Interviews with women who are video game developers, journalists, scholars, and gamers reveal that many have endured harassment of some kind during their time in the highly competitive gaming community. As one female interviewee says, “Being competitive is socialized as a masculine trait, and a lot of games are about being competitive.” Todd Harper, a researcher specializing in game studies, is one of the few men interviewed in the film. He explains, “The way that women are treated in gaming culture is a reflection of how women are treated in any culture.” From the examples viewers are shown in GTFO, it is indeed dangerous to be a woman in the gaming community.

Sun-Higginson uses some clever video game transitions to introduce the various sections of her film (on marketing, characters, the boys’ club, online harassment, and the perception of female gamers). However, this technique comes off as cheesy rather than clever when, in the film’s final moments, the camera focuses on the perennial gamers’ question: CONTINUE? Beyond this, elements of the production quality for GTFO can be distracting. For instance, the volume levels for voiceover narration fluctuate widely, there is excessive background noise during a few interviews, and some of the camera work is unnecessarily unsteady. From a content perspective, GTFO clearly strives to give voice to the female gaming experience. Sun-Higginson achieves this goal, but some viewers may wish the filmmaker explored the incidents of harassment more thoroughly (for instance, by incorporating the male gamers’ voices in conversation with the filmmaker rather than by relying solely on archival footage).

Despite these drawbacks, GTFO would be a good resource in secondary schools, particularly to prompt discussion of issues of gender and educational/employment opportunities. (School librarians should be aware that profanity is widely used throughout the film.) GTFO would also be highly relevant in undergraduate computer science, sociology, or gender studies courses.