David Kocik
@davidkocik.bsky.social
🏳️🌈 Researching video games, sexuality, and transnational media circuits though a cultural studies lens | Percussionist and cat dad
I'll be at SCMS 2026, talking about Orientalism, placelessness, and queer readings of Sheik! I'm particularly interested in how the character's reception in queer communities reflects broader social, political, and economic shifts between Japan and the US in the late 1990s. See y'all there!
a video game character is wearing a mask and holding a harp in front of a starry sky
Alt: Sheik wears a mask while holding a harp in front of a starry sky
media.tenor.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:25 PM
I'll be at SCMS 2026, talking about Orientalism, placelessness, and queer readings of Sheik! I'm particularly interested in how the character's reception in queer communities reflects broader social, political, and economic shifts between Japan and the US in the late 1990s. See y'all there!
Three movies in three days. Feeling like a real cinephile now!
Oldboy and Virgin Suicides cleared btw
Oldboy and Virgin Suicides cleared btw
November 24, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Three movies in three days. Feeling like a real cinephile now!
Oldboy and Virgin Suicides cleared btw
Oldboy and Virgin Suicides cleared btw
So there's this masterpiece from 2003 that I just watched yesterday
November 23, 2025 at 1:40 PM
So there's this masterpiece from 2003 that I just watched yesterday
Great thread about why trust is like the most important thing you can foster in the classroom.
Also, this along with the Lepore media tour just reminds me that so many academics just outwardly hate the educational part of their jobs. No interest in pedagogy, learning etc.
Also, this along with the Lepore media tour just reminds me that so many academics just outwardly hate the educational part of their jobs. No interest in pedagogy, learning etc.
Since this article and its perspectives are generating a bit of buzz, I'd like to dig into what I find distasteful and, frankly, disingenous about it, particularly the ethical values it proclaims. 1/8
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Great thread about why trust is like the most important thing you can foster in the classroom.
Also, this along with the Lepore media tour just reminds me that so many academics just outwardly hate the educational part of their jobs. No interest in pedagogy, learning etc.
Also, this along with the Lepore media tour just reminds me that so many academics just outwardly hate the educational part of their jobs. No interest in pedagogy, learning etc.
Reposted by David Kocik
Hello everyone!
We hope you are all doing well! The VGSSIG board has two updates to share.
We hope you are all doing well! The VGSSIG board has two updates to share.
November 19, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Hello everyone!
We hope you are all doing well! The VGSSIG board has two updates to share.
We hope you are all doing well! The VGSSIG board has two updates to share.
I tried playing It Takes Two and this dialogue???? Yikes.
November 18, 2025 at 12:14 AM
I tried playing It Takes Two and this dialogue???? Yikes.
Reposted by David Kocik
People have a good reason to resist acknowledging the male loneliness crisis. They correctly perceive that women are being blamed and told to fix it.
But the real cause is predatory capitalists who profit on keeping men isolated and online.
www.salon.com/2025/11/17/d...
But the real cause is predatory capitalists who profit on keeping men isolated and online.
www.salon.com/2025/11/17/d...
Don’t blame women for men’s loneliness. Blame capitalism
There’s a lot of money to be made off angry, isolated men
www.salon.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:49 PM
People have a good reason to resist acknowledging the male loneliness crisis. They correctly perceive that women are being blamed and told to fix it.
But the real cause is predatory capitalists who profit on keeping men isolated and online.
www.salon.com/2025/11/17/d...
But the real cause is predatory capitalists who profit on keeping men isolated and online.
www.salon.com/2025/11/17/d...
Fantastic article about how even those seeking to recoup a less-toxic, more idealized masculinity (most often for profit) end up reifying gender essentialism and roles. It's not mentioned in detail here, but almost every modern economic crisis is accompanied by this kind of gendered hand-wringing.
It’s become conventional wisdom that America’s young men are in crisis. The reality is more complicated than that. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-did-men-do-to-deserve-this
What Did Men Do to Deserve This?
Changes in the economy and in the culture seem to have hit them hard. Scott Galloway believes they need an “aspirational vision of masculinity.”
www.newyorker.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Fantastic article about how even those seeking to recoup a less-toxic, more idealized masculinity (most often for profit) end up reifying gender essentialism and roles. It's not mentioned in detail here, but almost every modern economic crisis is accompanied by this kind of gendered hand-wringing.
Let's gooooooooo!
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC
November 5, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Let's gooooooooo!
Went to rotating sushi for my birthday! 🎂
November 4, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Went to rotating sushi for my birthday! 🎂
Saw Bugonia (2025) and thoroughly enjoyed it. Jesse Plemmons, Emma Stone, and especially Aidan Delbis did immaculate work. A bit surprised at derision of the final 3 minutes of the movie, which provides a fantasy of absolution to such an absurd extent that it turns into a mockery of itself.
November 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Saw Bugonia (2025) and thoroughly enjoyed it. Jesse Plemmons, Emma Stone, and especially Aidan Delbis did immaculate work. A bit surprised at derision of the final 3 minutes of the movie, which provides a fantasy of absolution to such an absurd extent that it turns into a mockery of itself.
Reposted by David Kocik
If you’re just waking up from a late night double feature, don’t miss me in @metroweekly.bsky.social talking about the supreme midnight movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and fifty years of absolute pleasure and queer liberation.
🫦: online.fliphtml5.com/zzppy/jdov/#...
🫦: online.fliphtml5.com/zzppy/jdov/#...
November 2, 2025 at 4:19 PM
If you’re just waking up from a late night double feature, don’t miss me in @metroweekly.bsky.social talking about the supreme midnight movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and fifty years of absolute pleasure and queer liberation.
🫦: online.fliphtml5.com/zzppy/jdov/#...
🫦: online.fliphtml5.com/zzppy/jdov/#...
These spot the difference games are getting easier and easier
October 31, 2025 at 10:39 PM
These spot the difference games are getting easier and easier
So there's an episode of Cyberchase where Hacker, the bad guy, deliberately uses poor scaling and and another where he uses questionable sampling methods to spread misinformation. So my 3rd grade self could poke holes in all of the terrible methodology at play here.
October 28, 2025 at 2:53 PM
So there's an episode of Cyberchase where Hacker, the bad guy, deliberately uses poor scaling and and another where he uses questionable sampling methods to spread misinformation. So my 3rd grade self could poke holes in all of the terrible methodology at play here.
Reposted by David Kocik
Reminder: One week left to apply to the 2026 Critical Approaches to Black Media Culture Conference!
Critical Approaches to Black Media Culture Conference | Tulane University
blackmedia.tulane.edu
October 25, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reminder: One week left to apply to the 2026 Critical Approaches to Black Media Culture Conference!
Happy Friday folks! Wishing you the best Autumn vibes
October 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Happy Friday folks! Wishing you the best Autumn vibes
I live streamed some Ocarina of Time during a history of games lesson for my Media Industries course and got four compliments from my students on how fun it was 🥳
a man with a beard is wearing a pink shirt with the words slay and yass
Alt: a man with a beard is wearing a pink shirt with the words slay and yass (aka Pedro Pascal)
media.tenor.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:30 PM
I live streamed some Ocarina of Time during a history of games lesson for my Media Industries course and got four compliments from my students on how fun it was 🥳
Reposted by David Kocik
📣✨Call for Papers!📣✨
CGSA 2026 will take place at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec from June 11-14th, 2026.
This year’s chosen theme is “On Repeat”.
Submissions are due January 7th, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST
Full CfP here: gamestudies.ca/conference-c...
CGSA 2026 will take place at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec from June 11-14th, 2026.
This year’s chosen theme is “On Repeat”.
Submissions are due January 7th, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST
Full CfP here: gamestudies.ca/conference-c...
Conference // Conférence
Version française ci-dessous The 2026 CGSA/ACÉJ annual conference will be a hybrid event co-hosted by the Technoculture, Art and Games Lab (TAG) at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec&nbs…
gamestudies.ca
October 9, 2025 at 6:47 PM
📣✨Call for Papers!📣✨
CGSA 2026 will take place at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec from June 11-14th, 2026.
This year’s chosen theme is “On Repeat”.
Submissions are due January 7th, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST
Full CfP here: gamestudies.ca/conference-c...
CGSA 2026 will take place at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec from June 11-14th, 2026.
This year’s chosen theme is “On Repeat”.
Submissions are due January 7th, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST
Full CfP here: gamestudies.ca/conference-c...
Sat for One Battle After Another!
a cartoon says let 's all go to the lobby
Alt: Montgomery Burns sings to get ourselves some snacks
media.tenor.com
September 28, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Sat for One Battle After Another!
Me playing Silent Hill (1999):
Yo this fog is THICK
September 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Me playing Silent Hill (1999):
I've been routinely disappointed by popular press games criticism in general since AV Club got bought out. But the misunderstanding of the themes, plot, and gameplay of Silksong in the NYT review are astounding. Meaninglessness due to crushing political and religious power is essential to the series
September 23, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I've been routinely disappointed by popular press games criticism in general since AV Club got bought out. But the misunderstanding of the themes, plot, and gameplay of Silksong in the NYT review are astounding. Meaninglessness due to crushing political and religious power is essential to the series
Reposted by David Kocik
CFP: Black Cultural Futurism
September 9, 2025 at 11:38 AM
CFP: Black Cultural Futurism