Base premise that VGs can have better writting is not wrong. But her arguments and methods are retarded and filled with factual errors.
If you wanna talk about absurdity, start quoting right: "Which is not, because I can name 10 VGs that are neutral to positive towards women for each you can mark as 'problematic'" A overwhelming majority receives the same light that is dealt out to most of the characters be it male or female.
Alyx from Half-Life, Chell from Portal, Jill Valentine from Resident Evil, Nilin from Remember Me, Luciana from Laxius Force, Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite, Liara from Mass Effect (Half the female cast would suffice actually), Yennefer from Witcher, Leliana and Wynn from Dragon Age are for starters.
Also you have lost this argument even before you started it ... You asked for Females Positive Portrayals but professed that you are going to pick them apart .. which means you are going to criticize the depth and screen time or lack of there of etc. In case I am right I would like to inform you that positive portrayal and good writing are the same thing. In that note I will also like to challenge you to name 10 Male characters that survive the standards you have for female one's.
Yes you should be more concerned with your reading skills. The exact quote was: "But I have some issues with that statement: why would you find in any media that there are always scores of women willing to 'objectify' and most of then happen to be strong willed and independent women? "
It was clearly a question to present your explanation of a fact after which we can proceed.
Are you implying that in the case of analysing living breathing person everything from their clothing to their mannerisms doesn't count?
This is your headache and co-relates to this matter in sense that women finding a character 'empowering' means that there are other interpretations than the one you are trying to push.
In case you are both retarded and partially blind I will quote myself on Quiet: "I will be clear about Quiet: Quiet IS more definitely and 100% guaranteed fanservice charachter, its clear."
Presentation (Quiet does not represent anything btw representation and presentation are different things) goes beyond gameplay but does not exclude it. In fact in game presentation is the most vital part ... you know shockingly its a video game.
If you actually were a gamer you would know that MGS is supposed to run on a wacky and over the top plot combined with WTF mechanics with occasional depth and feels thrown in that leaves a lingering taste. 'Shockingly' you treat as a Shakespeare play.
Ok I will show you the stats, but lets make it fun tell me how many games can you name that have problematic content or have negative portrayal of women?
VG content that is idiotic or panders to lower denominator of tastes.
No she is wrong because she presents factually wrong data and willingly cheery picks. For example:
1. In her video of the about Hitman she focused on one single level at a Strip Club ignoring every other setting. Described in a way that implies that the game encourages killing strippers while the game clearly punishes for civilian kills. Explained a common game mechanic of hiding dead bodies as something negetive when dont to a female npc.
2. In her review of Beyond Good and Evil Anita praised Jade as non-violent type where in truth Jade actually beats up plenty of people including previously thought extinct species.
Ok ... Lets just say you are right, can you provide the evidence for your argument other than 'listen and believe'? I mean hard statistical data that you demand of me.
Can you kindly pick out the relevant material and not reply to each and every paragraph by breaking it up into two or threes? This isn't Kidgamer's debating session.
I am really baffled if you believe that you typed one thing and I understood it as another. But whatever you say, man. Coming back to the topic: what kind of errors? This is nothing but an opinion. I don't see anything wrong with her arguments and out of me and you, I actually have taken up gender studies and critical thought as subjects. But, who is talking about facts here?
Out of the ones you have listed, Remember Me is a terrible game. The box art has her ass as a selling point. But, obviously you are going to bring out someone absurd to justify this. Jill Valentine is passable as a character. Her RE 3 outing - my favourite in the series, by the way - had her in a freaking tubetop. But those were the PS1 days, so I am not that perturbed. RE is also hardly considered a quality franchise that pushes boundaries or something. Its trashy stories are only meagre props.
Witcher's storylines are borderline trash and that carries itself through very nicely through the supposed relationship building. The dude screws women left and right (along with the whores, mind you) and that is, somehow, taken as a relationship building experience. If you really were up for 'maturity' and sexuality, then at the very least, you could have highlighted Wolfenstein: The New Order or Silent Hill II in depicitions of sexuality. Those examples are cookie cutter showcases of garbage. Never played Portal and Mass Effect is not of cup of tea. I will only give you Elizabeth.
In video games? No, they are not. Positive portrayal can occur in a game that has little to no story. Kindly look at the list down below, as other than Boss, Olga and Bonnie, the rest of the characters are so terribly written that it's nauseating to even defend them. Ellie barely passes the okay-ish mark. But, their portryal is positive. VGs can work around storylines. That is the beauty of this medium. Also, what kind of deep personality analyses would you generate about, let's say, Jill? She was in STARS. She was tough ... and ... err ...???? What can you tell me about her life? Her quirks etc? Why are you even connecting real life individuals to VG characters? It makes no sense to me.
Eh? Representation means to 'Present' something/somebody in a particular way; sth that shows or describes sth, to be precise. That is just one of its meanings though. But thank you so much for that pointless English lesson.
Really, you didn't even imply it? V
You for example find nothing of value in Quiet beyond her fanservice values, but to me Quiet despite being balantly hamfisted fanservice is a excellent in game support and one of the best fighters possible.
May be, you should work on how implicature works, sweetheart. You pretty much began your absurd take on gender studies with a leeway that she has some kind of representational value, by pin-pointing that fact that I am unable to find it. That creates a problem for any reader. If you didn't mean that, then show some damned courtesy to reconstruct your flimsy replies.
Right, I just love these imbecilic assumptions that I don't play VGs based on my criticisms. It's hilarious how you are so stupidly eager to assume it. I have played all MGS games, bar Peace Walker. Sons of Liberty is excellently written, actually. The rest of your outburst? What does it amount to, exactly? You just can't seem to handle any criticism directed at VGs, can you? That oversensitive bullshit, kinda proves it.
No body claimed MGS games to be well-written. In fact, in my very first post, I openly declared it that VG stories are trash. Then you go around, screaming comprehension and whatever other nonsense that suits your little trigger happy fingers. Screw your head on straight or drop this argument. You clearly never had any to begin with.
Jesus ... do you understand the word 'isn't wrong' doesn't mean I consider
all her words to be 'gospel'? Yeah, she isn't right all the time; no one is. But is she right most of the times? Yeah, she is. Your Jade argument makes zero sense, by the way. Hitman argument can be spun in anyway. Stippers usually belong from poor families and killing an already stigmatized part of the society isn't exactly decent.
For example, I didn't like it when Kratos threw a helpless girl chained to the wall by Poseidon (a god who was infamous for raping women) under a damned lever; a girl who is not a warrior, a mere *** slave shamed and humiliated and then is killed just like that. Heck, turn that girl into a boy and I would have been just as disgusted. Why? Because the implicature is of killing an individual who is already exploited. When I have zero problems with him killing female and/or male enemies. It depends upon the scenes and the implications behind it.
As for Anita, whether she liked it or not is her concern. That is what being a gamer is about. She criticized that hitman incident; she has the right, given that when you pick up something from a social setup, there are a plethora of societal and cultural constructs and connotations behind it. Strippers being already stigmatized being one of them. All you are doing is looking at things superficially, when they can be dissected in a number of ways.
You calling it black and white is preposterous. She is wrong ... and that's all you have to show me, when you know little about implicature and the gender studies that go behind media representations etc? Did you know that there is checklist that is created for writers these days to make sure they avoid tropes, cliches etc? Bet you didn't know that.
Bet you also missed the line where I literally said that 'representation and presentation' are a slippery slope in regards to political agendas and creativity, as they DO clash with eachother. But Anita ..., you seem to idiotically hate her that you felt the need to spew this for no reason at all in an attempt to be some righteous VG defender. But, comprehension, I suppose ... I seem to really need it. I gotta chuckle at this, sorry.
@bold: Did no one see the list of positive female characters I posted? I'll post it again so you can "pick" it apart.
The Boss. MGS3
Olga Gurlukovich. MGS2
Faith. Mirror's Edge
Jade. Beyond Good and Evil
Elena Fisher. Uncharted
Ellie. The Last of US
Elizabeth. Bioshock Infinite
Bonnie Macfarlane. Red Dead Redemption
Fixed.
