Portal 2 Hates Adopted Children

Newsworthy

Did you hear about the guy who complained that Portal 2 insulted adopted children like his young daughter? And did you hear that a North Carolina news station reported it* not only as "news," but as a "controversy." (Watch the video on their site. You won't regret it!)

The line in question was spoken by Wheatley: "Alright, fatty. Adopted fatty. Fatty, fatty no parents."

I'm generally a defender of "political correctness," if only for the fact that I've never heard a sentence begin with "I know it's not PC, but..." that didn't end with something blatantly racist. I also don't believe that it's my place to tell someone that they're not offended by something.

Having said that...this guy is nuts. Parenting is going to be a long road indeed for him if this sends him whining to the local news. And the tone of somber outrage from the local news-mannequins? Priceless.

By the way, you know who else likes adopted children? Erik Wolpaw, the lead writer of Portal 2:

Part of it is that Chell doesn't really have much of a character, so GLaDOS, if she's going to needle you, has to do it with things that are relatively absurd. She's got the adoption thing. I mean, nobody really thinks adopted people are lesser than anybody else.

He recorded that interview about a month before this "controversy" broke. Watch the whole thing—it's fascinating stuff.

So are we okay here? It was meant to be an absurd insult, from a character who had run out of clever things to say.

Orphans who don't get adopted totally suck, though. I think we can all agree on that.

* * *
*In retrospect, the funniest part is how the newscasters contacted Sony for comment, who directed them to Valve. They accused Sony of passing the buck. A commenter on their website had to point out that Sony has nothing to do with Portal 2.

(hat tip: Game Politics)