Using beloved puppets from a children’s show to shield you from criticisms of your bad behavior feels icky in about 30 different ways. That’s what The Game Awards did when it trotted out famed Muppet Show critics Statler and Waldorf. Critiquing and insulting are what these elder grumps are all about. It’s been the heart of their comedy since Jim Henson first stuck a hand in their felt innards almost 50 years ago. Last night, The Game Awards weaponized the entire artistic premise of those two characters as a PR shield. It did so multiple times and in front of a live audience, and we need to talk about it.
Theater Grumps as Propaganda
The Game Awards used the muppets’ jokes as propaganda. The organization has a cause. If it felt at all uncomfy using puppets to fight its battles, that didn’t stop it. Gamers and journalists like myself have criticized TGA for its downplaying of layoffs and its blatant favoritism for ads and trailers over devs. We’ve called out its inclusion of DLC for GOTY consideration and much more. You can draw a straight line from Geoff Keighley’s repugnant comments during 2021’s Activision scandal to the appearance of Statler and Waldorf in their balcony box. When given the chance to speak for himself, Keighley’s been known to whiff hard, so he’s tagging in muppets.
When Statler and Waldorf quipped that “It’s like ‘The Game Commercials’ with award interruptions,” they weren’t roasting TGA. They were minimizing its controversies by reframing them as a joke. I love those rude muppets, but I’m not laughing. I’m not holding space for the puppet defense. It’s 2024, and I am a dour 30-something with hands gnarled from Rainbow Road glitch attempts. I understand snark and coping. I simply refuse to accept them when what we should be hearing are explanations and apologies. I can’t wait until next year’s Game Awards, at which I assume Big Bird will explain why microtransactions are actually good and fun.
