So.. I skimmed through the thread since I table-flipped and gave up.. And.. Yep, I'm still pretty much agreeing with Lord Hosk.
Before I continue, I should also add, regarding the point raised that Anita "may not have actually played the games for compiling her own footage".. Wasn't that, y'know.. Part of the Kickstarter budget? Actually buying the games so she plays them (I assume for recording purposes?) I hate the term "fake geek girl" as much as anyone, but is there solid evidence that the footage is her own? One doesn't have to physically play a thing to "critique" it, simple research can do the same thing, but if the Kickstarter claimed she'd be playing them and have solid personal evidence to show for it (using valid context would also be stellar)..
Anything Anita
does say that I do actually agree with (for example, sexism being a very real society issue) is
fucking obvious, but the way she's delivering it is so backhanded and pretentious..
I also probably noted this major frustration before.. But it seems I may need to mention it again.
What the hell is the clear argument about any of this? I've literally heard
multiple different "reasons" for why this particular thing is an issue (and looking at future titles of episodes.. It's only going to get more irritating.. Because any "Oh, gender-swapping is okay if a female is rescuing a male!" is going to completely fall apart when it gets to all the "Men With Boobs" and "Fuck Toy" nonsense.. Honestly, where's the clear argument.. Because there seems to be an absolute cavalcade of contradictions all up in this business.
If I'm to understand the videos so far..
1. There's too many games where a male lead is saving a female lead from capture,
2. A female lead saving a male lead
isn't good enough damn it because swapping the genders doesn't make the one above stop (and if the point is NOT to make "male always saves female" stop, then what's the damn alternative!?
3. A female lead saving herself is clearly a 'male power/boner fantasy' because "women who kick ass are hot and it's so sexy lolololol", so we can't have
that either.
And
surely a female saving a male just isn't good enough either because, from what I've heard hardcore feminists argue, "men can rescue their damn selves, I'm not doing it!".. So
what's the solution?
This is what I was asking for months ago! Results! Less stating "there is a problem" and more non-contradictory solutions. If swapping gender doesn't help (because plenty of examples exist anyway), and male power/boner fantasy is a thing.. Then what? Everyone has to be genderless, right? If the "point" is not to abolish the 'women are always the ones being saved!' "trope" entirely, then what IS the point? Obviously people are still going to complain about it happening, even when there's plenty of alternative examples.
It's almost as if the argument is going like this:
"There is a serious issue regarding sexism against women in games and other media."
"I see, that really does suck!
What do you suppose people do to combat it?"
"THERE IS A SERIOUS ISSUE REGARDING SEXISM AGAINST WOMEN IN GAMES AND OTHER MEDIA."
"Yes, okay. We've established that. Solution please?"
"Th... I... Swap gende-- No that isn't good enough! Uh.. Hm.."
-Repeat Steps 1 to 5 over and over and over and over and over and over and over. And over.-
It's
abundantly clear that the issue
exists. But it seems to become even more apparent that there's legitimately no solution, because none of the alternatives are good enough, and apparently its existence "isn't the problem", just.. That.. It... Happens?
What the actual fuck? If.. Its existence isn't what people are trying to exterminate, then what IS? The ratio? Because I thought it was also established that "female saves male" isn't good enough because "replacing with another being to strive to protect, like a pet/dog" is also bad.
Maybe I've been doing video games wrong this entire time.. D.. Does it make it any better if BOTH Mario and Peach are
both kidnapped and Luigi and Daisy run off to save them? Y'know, get both genders in there, because equality? (Am I to assume the upcoming WiiU Super Mario 3D World is neat-o because Peach is a playable character (though she was also playable and totally overpowered in SNES Mario Bros 2)? Please. Enlighten me with your ultimate end result. This is all I want. A solution that doesn't contradict.
I mean.. Final Fantasy XIII supposedly gets beaten to death so much, but there's 3 (well, 4, kind of, Serah in XIII-2) lead female characters who progress and develop throughout the story. Lightning, Serah, Vanille & Fang. Fang (& Vanille) especially! They are strong, capable women who have done everything possible to protect their village of Oerba. Their mutual reaction when they actually return to the remaining wasteland shows how much it all meant. Hell, even the male characters "need saving". Hope loses his mother (I don't even want to hear "She was obviously just an objective" crap, a 14 year old boy watches his own mother (who willingly fought to protect
him) fall to her own death. He's going to feel
awful, as a human being.
Your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife/brother/sister/mother/father/dog/cat/favourite children's toy is taken from your life. The life you enjoy living with your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife/brother/sister/mother/father/dog/cat/favourite children's toy. (Circle that which applies) What the fuck else do you expect is going to happen? If there's no end goal.. Then is it just "*Press New Game* *Instant Credits/Game Over screen*"? Because nothing happened. Everyone's living their lives peacefully. What's the game entail? Something has to be the point of all those hours of gameplay!
Again with FFXIII, Sazh contemplates taking his own life because he believes his son turning to crystal means he'll never get him back, and the person he's been fleeing capture with is one of two people responsible. Using these examples, how exactly would changing genders "fix" anything? Because apparently, amid the contradiction of the contrary, that's what people seem to want.. What would be a better alternative instead of Hope watching his mother die and reconcile with his father he never speaks to, and Sazh's turmoil with his "enemy" son. I'm listening.
EDIT: Oh, and I also find it rather ironic that, as illustrated above.. Alix and Jade not only look "similar", but.. Does anyone else get the feeling there are dudes who say "Man, she's really hot" and make the objectifying statement themselves? Not that I did, but from my experience, I've known people who have taken that route (with other characters), instead of talking about the character as a person.
Also, "Why isn't damseling a minority element in games' stories?".. I don't know about anyone else, but to me that suggests that the opposite is somehow better, rather than none of it should happen.. But if none of it happens at all.. There's no games.
Also makes me wonder why the constant horde of samey shooters are supposedly okay as well. The multiple Calls of Duties, Battles of Fields, Halos of Chiefs, Killing of Zones.. But when you think about it.. That knocks out an entire genre of games (well, two camera varieties actually), because if shooting in games no longer happens, then there's little point in calling it a "shooter".