Does a sexist protagonist make a game sexist? It's a difficult question, complicated by the fact that Duke Nukem is such an in-your-face character, and it's difficult to separate him from the goals of the game itself. A foul-mouthed bad*** Duke might be, but he also treats women almost exclusively as objects for his own satisfaction, even if that could almost be said about pretty much anything he does, including exploding pig-cops with an awesome gun. Some will argue that the games are a satire of the muscled-up action hero, and to an extent that seems to be true, though the recent Duke Nukem Forever really dropped the ball in this regard. It featured a "Capture the Babe" mode which raised a lot of eyebrows, and begs the question: is the satire defense really adequate? More to the point, the failure to update Duke for the contemporary era was hugely disappointing, and instead of subverting the ways in which the gaming arena has changed over the years, Duke just feels like an old pro-wrestler stepping back into the ring well past his prime. It's just a bit embarrassing as a male gamer these days: we want the medium to be taken seriously (while still entertaining a satire that actually works), and games like Forever just hold us back. What do you think? Is it all a bit reactionary and non-sensical? Or should men stand up for their depictions in video games more? Let me know in the comments!
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
