Lovecraft’s work is very important, despite his prejudices, for a variety of reasons. His materialist worldview, the deep history in his mythos that served as a horrific reflection of the developing understanding of deep history at the time, as well as the collaborative spirit he demonstrated in his borrowing and lending of ideas with his contemporaries stand out to me as worthy contributions that have remained influential despite his bigotry. The combination of elements in Lovecraft create a body of work that has been widely imitated, but remains unique and relevant today. Lovecraft’s unrepentant bigotry is on full display for all to see, and was understood by people at the time to be extreme, and today reads almost as caricature of bigotry with all its irrationalities. Lovecraft’s bigotry today is an ineffective, irrelevant bigotry that can be overlooked or read as descriptive of the views of the characters rather than read as a serious prescriptive ideology. Sandy Peterson is a figure of bigotry and exclusion in an ongoing movement of legal exclusion and eradication of trans people. His beliefs are meaningful, have an impact on the gaming community, and should be condemned in the same way that Lovecraft was condemned by members of his own circle at the time. Lovecraft’s work is vital but I doubt you would have someone with Lovecraft’s views on your podcast. In comparison, the only absolutely essential element contributed by Petersen is the Sanity mechanic. I’ve got to hand it to him, this system was and remains an innovative and relevant contribution to gaming. But as Lovecraft is far more vital to the world of Call of Cthulhu and we wouldn’t invite people with his views into our spaces, it’s unclear why the relatively less important and far more negatively impactful Petersen has been invited into your space. Is this a reflection of your own support for his views, or merely your lack of concern for those impacted by the ongoing movement to eradicate trans people from public life in all respects?
