I enjoy Jim Sterling’s writing and I enjoy his Jimquisition video series. He is certainly a smart man, albeit foul-mouthed and irreverent. He makes a lot of good points and has certainly had one of the more interesting careers as a critic.

He now has a YouTube channel where he plays and commentates on games and uploads additional topical videos. The first one I checked out was the top ten games of this generation. I do not expect to be subscribing to his channel any time soon.

It left a foul taste in my mouth because the snark was familiar. It reminded me of how I once enjoyed MovieBob’s videos, blog and opinions. However, MovieBob always had a sense of snark, and it eventually grew and morphed until the very sound of the man’s name caused me to wince. I visited The Escapist recently, and all over the front-page I saw columns and articles written by MovieBob. It gave me a shudder, and I closed the window immediately.

This response is likely irrational and unfair. I don’t really know MovieBob personally, despite having been in his physical presence. Yet every time I met the fellow it felt as if he was less interesting in speaking with people and much more excited at the opportunity to speak at an audience. It only fueled the sense of conceit I felt emanating from the man, an over-confidence in his own opinion and value that led him to lack a visible sense of humility.

Watching Jim Sterling’s video, I felt the same sort of feelings cropping up. I tasted dirt, and felt the need to spit it out.

The line between confidence and conceit is more than paper thin, and anyone whose renown relies on their opinion must be confident in what they say. Yet the problem with snark is that it suggests an elevated station. “Oh, you pitiful plebeians. Look at you with your differing world views than my own. How sad and pathetic you are. Allow me to mock you and your ways!”

It is a dangerous position and style of humor to have. Ending each episode of Jimquisition with “thank God for me” is the joke, including the conceit of it all. It’s not just the irreverence, it is the notion that his opinion is somehow divine that is a gag, and he “takes the piss” out of any who would insult for perceiving him as conceited.

Yet his YouTube video was not making a joke at his own expense as well. It was simply making a joke of a trend to create lists of subjective material and trying to make them appear objective without actually saying anything meaningful. The delivery was nothing short of trolling, designed to frustrate those not in on the joke. There was nothing on offer, however. No benefit, no lesson learned, no ideas shared.

It was an insult with no greater purpose than to insult people, ideas, and the games he referenced.

I ponder now if I will view Jim Sterling as being no different than MovieBob one day. A man so certain of his opinions that every word he speaks echoes with the resounding ring of conceit and self-congratulation. It won’t matter if, in truth, these men are worried about what other people will think or believe. It is not how they would choose to act, and as a result they instead become dangerous. There are a lot of people out there that don’t do a lot of thinking on their own, relying on others to think for them.

If they latch onto the wrong person, then they are now pawns in a set of idealogies carried out by someone lacking humility, and therefore unable to question their own ideas or conclusions. I find humor in knowing MovieBob has actually recently written an article declaring Anita Sarkeesian as the most dangerous woman in the games industry. Yes, she is, because she has a devoted and fiercely loyal fanbase willing to accept everything she says at her word and eager to stomp out anyone that would question her. It is possible that MovieBob and Jim Sterling have a similar following, people that think of themselves as enlightened individuals raising human beings to an idol status without realizing it.

When you’re in such a position, humility is the most valuable character trait you can possess. For now, I do think Jim Sterling possesses some level of it.

Unfortunately, he relies so heavily on snark. The worst thing about snark is that it treats he target as less than human, as beneath you, and as a result automatically incites an angry response. An angry response will just generate an argument, and two people will continue to shout at each other, neither yielding.

And thus thing will be just as horrible as they ever were with no positive change.

Snark is dangerous, and it is even more dangerous when people in a position to share their opinion wield it freely and without control. I fear that, one day, I may find the very name of Jim Sterling foul and odorous. I can only hope that his past experiences are enough to keep him humble and ever introspective enough to keep from being truly full of himself.