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New RPG Company Casting All Women for Genesys
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5949793" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>Sure. But the gender of the protagonist is a loaded choice. I mean, for Tomb Raider, to a certain degree, it's not (Lara Croft is the protagonist!), but for any media object, it always, to a certain degree, is. That's just sort of the reality of the world we live in. Not that it should be, or has to be, or ought to be, but that it <strong>is</strong>, and someone making a gritty survival story featuring a female protagonist needs to be aware that this is a different choice than making a gritty survival story featuring a male protagonist, and they need to be able to responsibly represent that.</p><p></p><p>So the question is: "Why did you choose a female character to tell this story about someone going through this brutal physical punishment?" </p><p></p><p>I know that the reason probably has more to do with franchises and licensing than anything, but I also know that the target audience of the game is likely teenage to adult males, and that the franchise they're working with is steeped in cheap sexual appeals. Videogame characters in general aren't cast as weak and pained, but this Lara Croft certainly is, at least for a time. So why her? Why now? How many other similar videogame characters go through such finely-detailed, lovingly-crafted physical pain and suffering? I can't imagine we'd see Nathan Drake in a similar circumstance. Trying something new is great (I certainly applaud most of what they seem to be trying to do), but because this is not a neutral choice, they need to prove their good intentions. They need to show where they can that they are not choosing to put her through this brutal physical punishment BECAUSE she is female. That her femininity doesn't allow them to play with a male player's psychological fears and dreams and insecurities more. </p><p></p><p>The game might totally vindicate that perspective. Or it might not. But whether or not it does, SquareEnix needs to walk forward with an awareness that it is a tight rope to walk. People are going to ask: "Why did you choose a female character to tell this story about someone going through this brutal physical punishment?" People are going to ask: "Some of those scenes in the preview remind me of scenes from 'torture porn' films like <em>Hostel</em>. Why did the influence of the series change in tone here from an action-movie, Indiana-Jones feel?"</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's not that such protagonists shouldn't exist, it's that such protagonists automatically have a different audience reaction, and you can't avoid that, so you need to be aware of it. The reality of the world makes it so that you need to be more careful in doing a videogame about a tormented woman than you need to be when doing a videogame about a tormented man. You can do it. You just need to take extra care to do it well, because if you do it poorly, it's not just bad, it can be DEEPLY wrong. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If one assumes the genders can be swapped without consequence, that's a symptom of privilege as I understand it, no? The choice of gender matters, right? So why did Lara Croft's story need this gritty, brutal chapter about her origin? Why did her Indiana-Jones Action-Adventure story need this hard-knocks origin? Why change the tone? Why does she need to be grittier and more realistic? </p><p></p><p>It's entirely possible that it's fine and fun and it'll be harmless. But that trailer didn't reassure me. I don't look at a woman going through suffering for two minutes and say, "That's an experience I want in my living room!" </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>We can. We just have to realize that in the world as it exists now, hitting a woman is not the same thing as hitting a man. </p><p></p><p>I mean, in the <em>Hitman</em> (ha!) trailer, there's a lot of women getting hit in all sorts of ways. But because the tone is more action-movie ridiculous, it carries less impact. Yeah, okay, take out those nun-assassin-prostitutes that tried to blow you up. Whatever?</p><p></p><p>In the <em>Tomb Raider</em> trailer, because it's closer to "realistic," and because her suffering is more a part of the experience, it's iffier. She's not a nun-assassin-prostitute trying to kill a guy. She's a very human woman in very lovingly-depicted pain. I have to ask, "What purpose does this serve?"</p><p></p><p>The game might have a good answer. It might not. But it's going to get the question.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 5949793, member: 2067"] Sure. But the gender of the protagonist is a loaded choice. I mean, for Tomb Raider, to a certain degree, it's not (Lara Croft is the protagonist!), but for any media object, it always, to a certain degree, is. That's just sort of the reality of the world we live in. Not that it should be, or has to be, or ought to be, but that it [B]is[/B], and someone making a gritty survival story featuring a female protagonist needs to be aware that this is a different choice than making a gritty survival story featuring a male protagonist, and they need to be able to responsibly represent that. So the question is: "Why did you choose a female character to tell this story about someone going through this brutal physical punishment?" I know that the reason probably has more to do with franchises and licensing than anything, but I also know that the target audience of the game is likely teenage to adult males, and that the franchise they're working with is steeped in cheap sexual appeals. Videogame characters in general aren't cast as weak and pained, but this Lara Croft certainly is, at least for a time. So why her? Why now? How many other similar videogame characters go through such finely-detailed, lovingly-crafted physical pain and suffering? I can't imagine we'd see Nathan Drake in a similar circumstance. Trying something new is great (I certainly applaud most of what they seem to be trying to do), but because this is not a neutral choice, they need to prove their good intentions. They need to show where they can that they are not choosing to put her through this brutal physical punishment BECAUSE she is female. That her femininity doesn't allow them to play with a male player's psychological fears and dreams and insecurities more. The game might totally vindicate that perspective. Or it might not. But whether or not it does, SquareEnix needs to walk forward with an awareness that it is a tight rope to walk. People are going to ask: "Why did you choose a female character to tell this story about someone going through this brutal physical punishment?" People are going to ask: "Some of those scenes in the preview remind me of scenes from 'torture porn' films like [I]Hostel[/I]. Why did the influence of the series change in tone here from an action-movie, Indiana-Jones feel?" It's not that such protagonists shouldn't exist, it's that such protagonists automatically have a different audience reaction, and you can't avoid that, so you need to be aware of it. The reality of the world makes it so that you need to be more careful in doing a videogame about a tormented woman than you need to be when doing a videogame about a tormented man. You can do it. You just need to take extra care to do it well, because if you do it poorly, it's not just bad, it can be DEEPLY wrong. If one assumes the genders can be swapped without consequence, that's a symptom of privilege as I understand it, no? The choice of gender matters, right? So why did Lara Croft's story need this gritty, brutal chapter about her origin? Why did her Indiana-Jones Action-Adventure story need this hard-knocks origin? Why change the tone? Why does she need to be grittier and more realistic? It's entirely possible that it's fine and fun and it'll be harmless. But that trailer didn't reassure me. I don't look at a woman going through suffering for two minutes and say, "That's an experience I want in my living room!" We can. We just have to realize that in the world as it exists now, hitting a woman is not the same thing as hitting a man. I mean, in the [I]Hitman[/I] (ha!) trailer, there's a lot of women getting hit in all sorts of ways. But because the tone is more action-movie ridiculous, it carries less impact. Yeah, okay, take out those nun-assassin-prostitutes that tried to blow you up. Whatever? In the [I]Tomb Raider[/I] trailer, because it's closer to "realistic," and because her suffering is more a part of the experience, it's iffier. She's not a nun-assassin-prostitute trying to kill a guy. She's a very human woman in very lovingly-depicted pain. I have to ask, "What purpose does this serve?" The game might have a good answer. It might not. But it's going to get the question. [/QUOTE]
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