4. Feminism
As a man, whenever someone mentions feminism I reply with a bemused “oh that thing from the sixties?” – then I get back to wrestling bears and bench pressing an assortment of vehicles. You know, manly things that men do. Now don’t get me wrong, you ladies are great. I’m all for empowerment and equal wages and the such. Just don’t expect me to understand or care about feminism as a movement. I’ll be honest, I don’t care. It’s got nothing to do with me.
Therein though lies our problem. Within the games industry the majority of directors, producers and writers are men. It is still very much a male dominated area, some of them intent on creating the power fantasies of their teenage years. So right now, there probably aren’t that many people within this industry that understand the concept of feminism either. Just look at the majority of female characters in games. They’re busty babes that serve as a goal, i.e. save the princess, or eye candy in revealing armour that in no universe would be effective in protecting all of your vital parts. Developers can barely get your standard female character right, never mind tackling something like feminism, or portraying women as actual people. Samus Aran is perhaps one of the best known heroines in the biz, but that didn’t stop Metroid Other M trying its best to ruin everything about her.
I’m not saying women’s “stuff” shouldn’t be tackled in videogames, it’s just that we should probably wait until there are more women in the industry and for it to mature a bit further. If we don’t then we all know it’ll inevitably end in a wet t-shirt contest.
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27 Comments
man, you are squeamish. how dull a world it would be without any of those things, feminism aside. whats wrong with the 1st one too? why so bad? they’re just people. digital ones at that. that no russian thing i found it hilarious, 1st time ’round ! i agree about the no feminism bit tho. less female role models and more hot chicks please computer game making people xxx
How do you expect the video game industry to mature over time if you think these things should be removed from videogames? honestly, they are heading in the right direction.if we don’t explore these dark sides to video games, how are we gonna even WANT to play games that aren’t graphic, torturistic, or contain sex?
What an awful article. There is nowhere that any form of media should ever be prohibited from going within the confines of the law. This sounds like a list straight out of The Dark Ages.
The whole idea of video games is to escape reality. To do things you can’t do in the every day world. Who wants a game where you wake up at 5 in the morning, make breakfast, go to work, come home 8 hours later and drink until you spew and then pass out in front of the t.v. No. we want something different that we DON’T do everyday. Fantastic, extreme, different things to do to take our minds off our run of the mill, ordinary lives. If I was walking down Main St, Los Santos, and I saw a lady walking along with her baby, I would have no qualms about putting a 9mm into Lil Timmy’s face. Or mowing down a group of kids playing in a park in the car I just jacked from a sweet, little ol’ lady.
In the end it comes down to good taste. Could you imagine the amount of bad publicity Rockstar would receive if they did include that in the next GTA? It would hardly be worth the payoff.
anything in the news, movies, cartoons/animes, music, or any other forms of any media should also be in video games.
killing for the sake of killing? GTA vice city rings a bell, such a fun game.
rape? depends on the game, I mean they shouldn’t have it in something that is stupid… like COD shouldn’t have rape it doesn’t make sense, but GTA? makes sense…
Ism’s are stupid and irrelevant.
infantcide? why not. did you play homefront? the first mission you see a kid watch his entire family get murdered. It’s intense, but honestly, a mom watching her husband and children get beat up and killed would be more intense.
torture? what not??? its a video game not real people.
I completely disagree with you.
Your article assumes that all gamers are fools who will be easily influenced by being put in particular situations rather than be wise enough to simply ponder the event.
Video games allow us to gain wisdom through being put in a variety of situations which other forms of media cannot emulate. People will only learn kindness from being given the option to brutally torture and then refusing to.
Child killing is a similar concept.
I’m not saying that infanticide is a good thing, but we’ll only find out who we really are if given the choice. I like to think i’d be the one protecting children in most cases, but given a hard in game decision, would I discover I have inner demons?
The walking dead is a great game which really makes you feel like a guardian figure, but given the choice to simply leave the girl to die, i think i’d learn even more about myself, whether it be that i’m a danger to society and need to see a psychologist, or are as sympathetic as I believe I am.
If games want to encourage generosity and goodness among their player base, they must allow for the dark path in addition to the noble one.
Now I absolutely disagree with games which force you to do anything indisputably malicious, but as long as there is a brighter path present, gamers will feel proud of themselves for taking it.
As far as sex is concerned – imagine the most blunt scenes in the most restricted non pornographic movies. That’s as far as games should go, because it works in film and once graphics get better in games it’ll work there too (provided an appropriate situation). Sex only doesn’t work for those who are too desperate to see it’s relevance to the plot or for non-PC gamers who have the threat of anyone waltzing into the living room out of nowhere.
Historically in Christianity, marriage had to be consummated for it to be legitimate, and this has trickled through to our views today on legitimising any bf/gf relationship, hence why Bioware’s use of sex allows the character to feel that Shepard and his/her partner are truly a couple, which is immensely important to the plot. I would have personally liked to have seen very similar scenes to ME 1/Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy)/Heavy Rain but to have seen ever so slightly more exposure, just so that it seems a little more loving and less passionate; but obviously a pair of breasts would had sent American news companies, parents groups and politicians up in arms (sex isn’t as much a big deal here in the UK in films/games).
The most important thing of all is handling topics like these with maturity. I consider myself to be a mature gamer, and I would love more mature experiences tailored for adults like me and not immature 16 year olds who have never seen a real girls boobs.
There are kids games (Nintendo Wii), there are teenagers’ games (PS3/X360) and there are adults’ games (PC). I hope the distinction becomes clear to previously mentioned pressure groups in future.
Your being a namby pamby
If memory serves, the No Russian level in MW2 was he basis of the game’s plotline. Someone plans an attack on the airport – while speaking in English, not Russian – and leaving your character’s (undercover American agent) body behind just as they make their getaway. Seems to me like that level is pivotal to the story…
My point was we didn’t need to be directly invovled in the event. It would have worked as well as a cutscene, but Infinity Ward decided they wanted some extra publicity.
@Corey
You didn’t need to be, you could have opted out and skipped that part….
That new game called “Lucius” came to my mind when reading this article. I don’t agree that these things shouldn’t by used in video games at all ever, but I think they if they are included, they should be done a little better then is being done in the examples given.
im sorry, but that MW2 was vital to the story. It was the reason for the war. Did you even bother to play the game?
While there are certainly dark subjects that most developers should stay away from (not because of the subject matter, but because of the developer’s inability to properly handle mature themes) I can’t think of anything that should remain completely off limits. It all has to depend on the context of the subject matter.
Take for example child pornography. It is NOT something you as the player should be involved in. It is not a subject that should be treated with any sort of glorification. It is, however, a theme that works as a plot device. LA Noir used it in one of the cases where an underage girl was almost killed. When used as a “this is a bad guy doing bad things” situation, it adds to the game.
There are plenty of things that we, as a whole, do not like. They are bad things that any rational person should completely despise. That said, films and TV use these things all the time, and when they are used to add to the plot and help invest the viewer in the story, they are great additions. I think video games, as a progressively mature form of entertainment, should not be restricted by things that make us feel uncomfortable or things that we are against, so long as they are additions to the story, and not just used as fluff.
I have nothing against any of the points raised being used as plot points in mature ways, I just don’t think the player needs to take a direct and active involvement in perpetrating them and glorifying such actions for entertainment.
I thought the article had some good points. A little good taste goes a long way. And I for one don’t want Human Centipede: The Game.
I would absolutely love a game that combines all these aspects into one!
So nr.1, I don’t know about you but the interrogation in Splinter Cell Conviction was about torturing your target to get information.
Interesting article. I don’t think these points should necessarily be removed completely from games but I don’t think it should be just thrown in for shock value. This, seemed to stir a lot of debate. :)
That comment could probably have written a bit better, but there are only a handful of development studios who might be able to do feminism justice.
I’m 17 these types of games appeal to me. Games are mostly meant for teens, kids and people with active and open minds, Unlike most “everyday” routine adults like yourself, without these “immature” games and developers as your making them to be, games would be BORING, and since games are mostly meant for the type of person I mentioned earlier, it wouldn’t be as successful and would be pointless to do.
Its hard to say we shouldn’t tackle certain issues in gaming when there are games that destroy entire cities/planets/races/etc. Genocide is okay but infanticide is cruel? We’re way too far down the rabbit hole already to say what can or can’t be covered. I will say that “feminism” is laughable as one of your “weird places”. Your lack of understanding as to what feminism is (which you admit to being ignorant about) showcases exactly why it SHOULD be covered. Saying you don’t understand it and therefore don’t want to see it only makes you more ignorant. I usually shy away from making direct insults IRL and on the interwebs but seriously man, you look like a fool when you say feminism has no place in video games. You’d rather learn about a fake world with fake populations in a fake society in a video game that carries no weight to real people than educate yourself about that other half of the country and what they are all about? Step it up, you’re making men look bad – and this is coming from a man.
Grizzly fate? Only if I kill them with my bear hands!
*rimshot*
I agree mostly with what you say but…
About sex…
The problem is that people are usually pretty much hypocritical about sex. It’s generally accepted that sex has to have meaning, more than enjoyment, but we all know that a lot of people have sex only to enjoy itself. It is the same with sex in video games. If you have a dirty feeling after a sex scene in a video game, maybe you are the one who – I’m not sure – either doesn’t understand the reason for the character(s) having sex on that particular scene, or just cannot accept the need of that scene. Or – as lot of people do – you cannot handle sexuality as a normal act amongst humans. Honestly it’s none of my business, it’s an intimate problem you should talk about with friends or on therapy (no offence!).
I don’t want to see sex in a video game because I masturbate on it, I want it because sexuality is part of a normal human’s life, and people should not act as if it weren’t.
Does it look weird? Yes. Does it look sometimes disturbing? Yes. Does it look pathetic and out of place sometimes? Yes. But only because it makes someone feel dirty to watch a sex-scene, should we exclude sexuality from video games? I sincerely hope not.
Perversion like S&M? Yes, it should be excluded. But comparing intimacy to something that actually offend someone in his/her human dignity like torture, rape, or any kind of violence against children. I think it is a bit harsh.
For some reason that scene in Skyrim where the kid gets eaten by the dragon comes to mind.
Oh but wait, we’re not killing the kid so it’s okay.
Upon doing a google search for feminist themes in video games, I came upon this article. I normally tend to just say to myself, “This person is ridiculous,” but this is absolutely ridiculous. Your complete ignorance and lack of wanting to even understand what feminism even is is astounding.
Now is one of the most important times for feminism to be an active and important theme in video games. The only way for people to grow up and step outside of their comfort bubble is to present them with something that will shock them. Something that will actually teach people. And no, I’m not talking about those “games for social change” where you have some stupid mobile game that has graphical elements that relate to “saving water” or “global hunger” and doesn’t do anything to truly educate people. I’m talking a means of educating people through story, narrative, interaction, and gameplay. Taking the real elements of a game and using the medium to its fullest to promote global awareness of real issues.
Empowerment and equal wages and stuff? There is so much more to the feminist movement(s) than simple things like this. Feminism has a lot to do with both you and well over 50% of the world’s population. Calling it women’s “stuff”? You should be ashamed of yourself for placing this in your list.
Love the above poster, one man absolutely schooling another man on feminism. Doesn’t matter if it doesn’t affect you, it still exists and is still important. If it bothers you that much just don’t buy the game that has those themes in it. Also like you shouldn’t buy the game with torture. Or senseless killing. Or infanticide. In fact, I’d recommend the Sims to you but there’s sex in that and I think you might find it a bit too icky.
On a more serious note I’m a large fan of open non-linear games, and content like rape and torture wouldn’t bother me in the slightest if it was an option. Take Dishonoured for instance, one of the few stealth/assassin type games where you can get 100% completion without killing a singe person, which is pretty amazing. Or if you want to just act out your rage you can just kill them all innocent or not, it’s the choice that gamers truly appreciate.
TL;DR The author is a moron who needs to proofread after he’s done trying to be funny.