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Tropes vs Women in Video Games

Started by Bludshot, December 06, 2012, 11:48:46 PM

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Blackthorne

This girl makes Forest Gump look like Goethe.


Bt
"You've got to keep one eye looking over your shoulder
you know it's going to get harder and harder as you
get older - but in the end you'll pack up, fly down south, hide your head in the sand.  Just another sad old man, all alone and dying of cancer." - Dogs, Pink Floyd.

LadyTerra

Something interesting I noticed about this last video: when she talked about how you could change out the damsel in Spelunky for a dog or a guy in a speedo and bowtie, did anyone think that maybe she's overlooking that having that guy dressed like that as a damsel is encouraging a bad stereotype of gay men?  I mean, when I see gay guys in a lot of media, they're usually portrayed like that.
I have my cake and eat it too, until it's gone.  Then I can't do either.


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Neonivek

#442
Ok this video... is actually REALLY good for Anita... It actually is much better then her first two.

Yet the only part that actually ticks me off is that every single time, since the very first video, she talks about subverting her trope it is always "The Damsel picks up the heroes clothing and weapons and kicks butt".

Why is it always that the damsel can NEVER be the hero unless she becomes exactly like the hero?

Actually it REALLY ticks me off... I've actually found myself going into a rant. To the point where I call it: Anita Land.

Rosella

I thought she did a much better job of anticipating counter-arguments in this video. I also cheered when I saw Perils of Rosella but I do that just about any time I see King's Quest in an unexpected place. :P

The main thing that really bothered me was that she insisted at the beginning that damsels in distress were a trope and that Tropes Were Not Bad, but in here she acts like she has proven that the trope is innately harmful.

But yeah, I totally agree that her example of a game subverting the trope does very little to subvert anything. The premise being that she breaks out of her own capture doesn't challenge all that much when it plays like a standard....uh...stealth...action...RPG...? Oh, I don't know. My point is that the narrative didn't sound like anything relevant aside from the initial bit.

Also, it amuses me the points she made about Thomas Was Alone. Yes, the characters in the game all have personalities and gender, but you wouldn't really get that from watching a bunch of quadrilaterals interact. :P
I'm a princess even if my kingdom is pixelated.

Official Comfort Counselor of the TSL Asylum © ;D

It's funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive.

LadyTerra

Well, this video did get me thinking about a game idea about a damsel protagonist that doesn't involve him/her turning into a hack n' slash hero: you're captured by some villain or other, but you can use diplomacy to get the guards to be sympathetic to you, or you can manipulate them to thinking that their boss will betray them, or you could gather other prisoners to help with an escape plot, or a combination.
I have my cake and eat it too, until it's gone.  Then I can't do either.


Aww!  You have the Sword of Hugging +3!  All of your attacks deal affectionate damage!

GrahamRocks!