An analytical exploration of an observed phenomenon where creative professionals experience a significant decline in the quality of their work after gender transition, examining case studies of the Wachowski sisters (Matrix series) and Dragon Age: Veilguard. This video explores potential biological, psychological, and social factors behind this pattern, including hormonal changes, creative adaptations, and social dynamics.

[00:00:00 ]

Malcolm Collins: Hello, Simone. I am excited today to be talking to you about a phenomenon.

that I call the Wachowski effect, because it is something I have noticed in media. And we will be using two prominent examples of this. One is the Matrix series and the other is the Dragon Age series and, and Veilguard specifically as a particularly prominent example of this. In which a previously really talented creative or writer becomes really, really terrible after undergoing a gender transition into a woman.

And when I say they become really, really terrible, I don't mean conservatives start hating their work. I mean Like, everyone starts hating their work. And I want to explore both the timelines of this, so people can see, like, okay, so for example, with Veilguard, oh my god, I [00:01:00 ] was just watching some scenes from it, and it is so painful.

But we will go through them. You don't even know, like, it's not bad. It actively hurts to consume where, like, I'm not even going to play the clips because if I play full clips of these scenes in this episode, People will stop watching this show just because of the pain it's delivering to you, the viewer.

Speaker: Oh, um. Ah, s**t. They, they're still holding it. Sorry. What are you doing? Pulling a barv. Oh, okay. A barv? There's not always time for big, drawn out apologies. So, when one of us screws up and we know we've screwed up, we do a quick ten to put it right. Pulling above.

Speaker 6: It is a reminder that through struggle you find what you are. And you have never done so. Evatash has. They Are stronger than you will [00:02:00 ] ever be!

Simone Collins: Yeah, like even, even an ally would find this painful and not something they want to watch. Yes and to

Malcolm Collins: understand the effects of this, because we've seen a lot of woke games fail this year. This isn't quite as bad as something like, oh, what was the last one that we talked about?

Concord But like just a horrible failure that we talked about.

But it, it was bad and people knew it was going to be woke and this was a successful franchise before. So we've got different estimates of sales for this.

Microphone (2- ATR2100x-USB Microphone): Since recording this, we've gotten more accurate numbers in,

Microphone (2- ATR2100x-USB Microphone)-1: It looks like it's pulled in about 63 million in earnings or about one fifth of what it needs to break even.

Malcolm Collins: it's it's current player count for peak daily is around 36, 000 players. There, so. Only, like, three episodes. Honestly, based

Simone Collins: on the footage you shared with me, even just the character design, which honestly super yucks my yum, but just the, I, it's impressive that people [00:03:00 ] can work through that.

Speaker 2: So, I'm non binary.

What does that mean?

Huh, I have big fingers. That

Speaker: means I don't feel like a man or a woman. If you are neither a man nor a woman, then what are you?

Speaker 2: Non binary. I just said, and I'm going to use they instead of she from now

Microphone (2- ATR2100x-USB Microphone)-2: Just a note here. Okay, this is a mistake I had made throughout the recording. I assumed that this individual, from the way that they looked was a non passing trans woman, but they are actually a non passing , non-binary individual that looks and codes male.

Microphone (2- ATR2100x-USB Microphone)-3: But was born a woman.

Microphone (2- ATR2100x-USB Microphone)-2: , I suspect the reason for this is that the writers of this are non passing trans women and they identifying more with a biological woman who is non passing nonbinary.

So they are basically attempting to write themselves into the story as if they had been born a woman.

Simone Collins: Like they're [00:04:00 ] really trying this feels like I there was that year when I just had norovirus like three times in a row and I was just constantly at food poisoning, but I'm the kind of person who just eats through food poisoning. So I don't not eat and just like that feeling of, like, you're incredibly sick.

You are constantly vomiting, but you keep eating the food. That is what I imagine playing this game is like, like, you, you are like, you're still. It

Malcolm Collins: is eating vomits level appetizer. Yeah, actually it is worse than Concord or even Dustborn.

When I was watching it, because I, I watched like video playthroughs of Dustborn and I found it cringe in like a funny way occasionally and like the main character was super hateable and manipulated all her friends and everything. And that's another thing about. The characters in this is the characters that are supposed to be woke representations are genuinely awful, awful, awful.

Yeah. What is this? [00:05:00 ] I will play like a bit of a scene here so you can understand how disconnected these people are from reality. Where the character that's supposed to be trans representation her mother tries really hard to be accepting of her and she's just a complete b***h about it.

Speaker: Under the Qun, the term for one whose gender does not match the one given to them at birth was a Qunothloc. Perhaps you are like that. Why do you have to keep picking at it? Why can't you just be happy for me? Ebra. So I'm supposed to struggle with who I am? Even if I don't feel like I fit?

Speaker 2: Even if I feel wrong?

Speaker: No. You've misunderstood.

Speaker 2: Then say it better! Why am I never enough for you

Malcolm Collins: And then, After her mother dies, she takes her mother's horn.

So like part of her bones and wears it as like a thing, even though she knows her mother would disapprove of this. And this is one of the things that her mother really hated was her adopting these practices that were of [00:06:00 ] a people in a culture she did not identify with.

Speaker 8: You're her mother's horn.

You wear it as jewelry, like the Rivaini do.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Ravaini, where are their stories?

Speaker 8: She would

Speaker 2: like it. She'd be so pissed. She would.

Simone Collins: Well, and didn't one of the clips that you'd sent to me, perhaps my memory deceives me?

But the player selected the option of just don't say anything. And yet the character then came on to someone else in a really aggressive, creepy way.

Malcolm Collins: Oh no. Yeah. So if you're like a female character, this is actually like, to me, it shows how blind. So I think for a lot of lesbian women, the absolute horror.

Is some non passing Six five woman pressing them against the wall and putting them in a situation where they feel super threatened and this woman doesn't realize this person is not recognizing them as a woman at [00:07:00 ] all that they look like a giant man to them. And there is a Scene in the game where she's supposed to be hitting on someone and she puts what can be a, a petite woman in this scenario really aggressively without them actively consenting.

Speaker 12: Are you trying to have sex with me? Wow, you know, in my daydreams this is where you lean over me and slap the wall. Quick think about us having sex.

Speaker 13: So now we need to figure out if it's cash lock or tomlock Tomlock is serious. Like you want to grab that and taste its neck right by the collarbone

Simone Collins: No, but specifically in the gameplay. And if memory serves, the players like recording this demo selected the option of say nothing, like basically don't escalate this further. Yeah. And then the character nevertheless, like despite the players non consent escalates the situation further. And you're like, no,

Malcolm Collins: no, no, no, no.

Everything about this is written by [00:08:00 ] somebody who seems to have no idea how flirting works. So there's another scene where they're like, Oh You gave me this gift and they're like, yeah, I like, really like you for like your talents and your other talents and you smell really good. Like, I love that's

Speaker 33: We had a request for the defense to the Joe Biden hair snip. So, if you have some creepy dude, it doesn't have to be Joe Biden, alright? If you have some creepy dude who comes up behind you and it's like, you know, making you feel really awkward touching in a way you don't really think is cool and kind of sniffing your hair, it's kind of weird, right?

It's a little weird. okay? So, what we're gonna do is, well, one thing you could do is you could just, boom, headbutt him, right?

Simone Collins: The scene I'm talking about where the to say, don't say anything more.

And then it selects that option. And she says more and it's like,

Speaker 3: I got you a thing.

Speaker 5: Oh, [00:09:00 ] Tosh. It's gorgeous. The stitching.

Speake