Maiev Shadowsong said:
Murder is alien to most of us. It's removed from our reality. We only see it in movies and we don't comprehend it. But sex is natural. We all have it and almost all of us want it. Rape poisons that. Rape takes away something we all feel and understand: choice. Free will. Power. It's personal. It's horrifying. And it's relatable. You can't ever imagine being murdered. Most of us will never be affected by it. But you can imagine being pinned down, your clothes taken off, having someone on top of you, stealing from you, touching you, hurting you. You can imagine the screams. You can imagine the crying. It's painfully human.
I disagree.
Nay, I call bullshit.
Murder is merely an extremity of violence, and violence is not alien to us at all. No, none of us have experienced what it is like to be murdered because then we'd be dead. No, none of can imagine what it is like to be murdered because none of us know what it is like to be dead. However, there are plenty of people alive today that have witnessed murder. There are plenty of people who have been on the receiving end of
attempted murder (hi!). There are many people who have been in violent situations where murder was a distinct possibility (hi again!). There are plenty of people who have had someone they know be murdered. These can all be intensely traumatic experiences.
You could argue that these people aren't "true" murder victims since they weren't actually killed, but that would be like saying that someone isn't a "true" rape victim unless they actually underwent full unwanted penetration, and I suspect you would take exception to that.
I would say there's a good chance that these people could be reminded of their experiences by witnessing violent media and become distressed as a result. In fact, I know for a fucking fact that they can. I personally know an aged ex-soldier who had PTSD and gets distinctly uncomfortable around some warfare themed video games. (It's the sounds that get to him, not the images. Some modern military shooters have very authentic sounding gunfire.)
If we're so concerned about the feelings of victims, then where is the concern for violence victims? Where is the "intensely profound" treatment of violence in video games and media in general?
...
All that said, I should make it clear that I am neither for nor against the inclusion of rape scenes in this game or any other. If the developers wished to include it, then I would say that is their choice. If they wished to remove it, either for fear of provoking unwanted controversy, upsetting victims or because they felt the criticism was valid, then I would say that too is there choice.
What I am against is the notion that the creators of media should avoid certain subjects or only approach them in a certain way because it might upset people who have had horrible experiences with that subject matter. Quite frankly it's on the victims to avoid it. I have nothing against helping them to do so. For example, I would be fine with games/movies/etc carrying warnings for 'sexual violence' or whatnot, same as they do for violence/drugs/etc.