Original post date: September 20th/2008
After reading the title you may have a very particular idea about what this rant is going to be about. Well, it’s not, it’s about video games, and not that there is no subtext to the fact that I like musical theatre.
A certain female friend of mine who will remain nameless (wink, spiky hair, wink) is fond of making the same character in every game she plays. She tries to create a girl who’d just as soon kick your ass as consent to wait around to be rescued (or end up in a refrigerator…look it up). She cackles madly as her female avatar bludgeons her enemies to death or burns them with magic fire. Then she gets a confused look on her face when she looks over at my computer, and sees roughly the same thing.
Many friends have asked why it seems I play as women in most RPG’s (Role playing game for anyone over 35 reading this) I’ve played that give you the chance to choose genders. This unnerves some of my male friends, and to explain (sort of) this I’d like to offer the following long and annoyingly introspective rant.
One thing I think is different about how I play games is the fact that in role-playing games, I’m not trying to re-create myself. Now, I’m not saying everyone goes into a game trying to create an avatar that could be mistaken by their own family members as being them, I just think there is a general assumption that many try to create an idealized version of what the player would hope to be in their chosen game world.
The thing is, I don’t see it this way most of the time. I’m not trying to create Orc matt, or undead Matt, or even buff human Matt. To be honest, I’m trying to make a cool, action figure really. Eons ago in my innocent youth, before I had computer games to help me make imaginary characters kill each other, I had X-men and spider men action figures, and I made them kill each other (Snikt FTW Bitches!) I play more of a god figure in these fantasies than a participant. That’s why I probably enjoyed RTS games so much; I liked being a faceless general directing my legions of cool guys. RPG’s are just this on a smaller scale. My character is my badass minion, no me.
Though does perhaps suggest a disturbing fact. Does the fact that I primarily create female characters mean I have some deep-seated, frighteningly Freudian desire to bend (poor choice of words) women to my will? I say nay! I may be a slightly disturbing shut in with a smiling façade in place of social skills, but I don’t subscribe to this certain questionable quirk.
The real reason lies in aesthetics. I am something of an artsy snob when it comes to design and character creation. My taste runs contrary to most male targeting games, which either have male hairy burly hulk Hogan like heroes who could crush a puppy with their pecks, or female heroes with watermelons strapped to their chests and more skin showing then statue of liberty if you stripped her naked (consider the comparative surface area, then you’ll get it).
I can’t, and thus won’t try to explain what exactly my ascetic taste is (I have things to do, as I’m sure you do) but I can state it does not seem to be aligned with the general populace (I sound so pretentious even typing that). It’s different, and we’ll leave it at that.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not so divorced from my humanity that I don’t enjoy a little pit of skin on my female characters (young flesh makes it’s own demands, sigh) I would just like it to be tasteful. Hell I’d be happy to have my sword-slinging heroine disemboweling monsters wearing a burka if said Burka had some cool fabric and neat patterns. I just like them to look pretty, and I mean; beautiful gorgeous, not hot or damn fine, but pretty, like art. This could mean sexy, may not, may only be sexy to me, but there’s no accounting for taste, even mine, so I’m not going to try.
To sum this whole train wreck of a rant up, I want to create a female minion, because, and who looks like, a piece of human art in the bizzaro art gallery of my mind. I want her disemboweling her enemies to be as artful and inspiring as she is, and if this is wrong, then tough.
So there. Bleh!
p.s. If anyone thinks this whole whole rant essential ends up saying I see women as objects(of art) i would remind you I’m talking about a video game character and I would then go on to suggest you go suck on a railroad spike.
p.p.s. Too verbally abusive? It’s a rant, deal with it!
