Izanagi009 said:
Yes, it's one of these threads again. No, I get no enjoyment from these threads because I ultimately want to smack my head on a desk or I feel like I need a whole lot of pills and alcohol to wash the pain away.
Anyway, I was prompted to write this thread after reading a post here [https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2881191&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=91] on the anime news network about SAO II episode 13. Basically, Sinon, the new female lead for the GGO arc, is attacked by a former friend who is in league with a serial killer targeting top players in GGO. He attacks with a syringe of poison but gets pushed by Sinon (yes, i know this is real world but I want to keep the name simple for reference). He then grabs Sinon, throws the syringe away and tries to rape her. Kirito then enters and punches the guy in the face.
Now, I am not opposed to using rape as a narrative device but you better use it well. People on the forums have talked about it some saying that it fits since the attempted rapist is very broken mentally while other argue that it feels too much like a hero fantasy and the fact that Kirito was the one to save Sinon not Sinon herself was what condemned the scene for them. To put it into perspective, Psycho-Pass has a rape in the first episode but the shot was from a distance and the intervention was ultimately not a heroic act but simply a matter of doing the job. It felt a hell of a lot more tasteful than what is described here.
Having read only the light novels and not either of the anime due to the reputation of them, the author does seem to use attempted rape a lot. First, the threat was on Asuna in ALO, then it's Sinon in GGO and later it will be two helpers to the main leads in Alicezation Online. To me, using rape as a narrative device is almost always a one-use item because doing it again may seem exploitative.
Regardless, my (probably invalid) point has been made so what do you think.
Ummm, well rape is a problem because as a general rule women can't protect themselves against a guy who is intent on forcing themselves on them. If there was physical equality and women could routinely fight off rapists we wouldn't be having this discussion or the various social issues connected to it because women able to protect themselves would view it as a non-issue. What's more as someone who has strong feelings on the subject as both a rape victim as a child, and someone who has escorted numerous women in dark parking lots and garages (I was casino security as I've said many times) I will say that I think this scene is healthy on a lot of levels because one of the worst things you can do in a realistic capacity is tell women they can fight guys successfully. Sure in some cases if the girl is in great shape or well trained and the dude isn't it can work, but in most cases when girls try and fight guys it ends badly despite what people think should have happened. This is why I have severe criticisms of self defense classes, martial arts studios, and other things that teach women they can become empowered and fight guys, some dude whose a foot taller and 60 pounds heavier than you is going to pretty much laugh off your kung-fu lessons especially if he too knows how to fight (and face it, most people who want to involve themselves in physical violence or overpowering people DO practice unlike the movies). I've been a big proponent of the "sexist" attitude that the best thing to teach women is just enough to run away and find help. As well as a frequent critic of making sure that certain places like stairwells, parking lots, and garages are a lot better lit and patrolled than most people do (basically when a rape or something happens people care for about 15 minutes then the bean counters stop spending the money). If a woman has any doubts, find an escort, most employees/security guys love to feel macho in escorting women (
), and the thing is that if the people your coming from know that person odds are they aren't going to turn around and rape you because even if your paranoid obviously everyone knows who it was that walked out with you.
That said yeah, protecting a girl from attackers is a pretty typical "heroic" thing, and let's be honest, this is an anime. Anime is directed at young adults, it's not setting out to be deep, the tropes come from this kind of thing. Sure the odds of the manly hero being around to defend the rape victim are minimal, just like he's not likely to be around ahead of the fire department to heroically rescue children from a burning building, but it works for heroic fantasy.
As far as rape goes, I don't mind shying away from the subject especially when it makes sense. Think of it this way, if your a creep whose out to murder someone to begin with, when your latest victim is a pretty girl your already sociopathic mentality is going to probably figure you might as well have some fun first. You'll notice that in real life when the victims of such scumbags show up they usually were raped and tortured before being killed. Face it, being at the mercy of a sociopath who has already decided to kill you probably isn't going to be fun. If there is nobody around odds are he's going to have some "fun" first. To be frank it seems like people who just kill in cases like this are comparatively rare, but then again that's also how a lot of them are caught because you leave more evidence behind in doing something like this, which is actually a good thing I suppose. Objectively speaking if someone did break into your house to kill you and they are a lot stronger than you, your going to die anyway if nothing else happens, if they rape you first there is actually a better chance that they will be caught and your death avenged. Not a pleasant way to see it, and not how people will think of it at the time, but it's a "bright side". See when someone acts quickly, efficiently, and decisively, they have a much better chance of getting away, and that's actually one of the things that in the real world serves as a sign of a professional killer, someone who just gets the job done (nothing personal) rather than having fun with it, robbing the place, or farting around trying to disguise the scene. In, kill, out, as quick and easy as possible. The guy doing that is probably a sociopath as well, of course, but a different sort, his reward typically comes from whomever is paying him (or the satisfaction of simply doing the job if it's personal but someone who acts like a professional).
That's also why if someone actually put a gun to my head and told me to go with them somewhere I'd say "no, shoot me here". Odds are I'm dead anyway if they know what they are doing, but I'd prefer to avoid giving them control to potentially do something more than kill me, as well as giving them less control over the evidence by knowing the environment, and having a convenient place to try and dispose of my body.
Too much rambling, but the bottom line is that it seems like a reasonable scene to me given the kind of work in question. It's sort of like some Conan type freeing a warlord's harem of slave girls and then getting lucky. We're by definition not talking a realistic situation (vintage style sword and sorcery) and of course it's a power fantasy, but heck, that's sword of why your reading that kind of stuff. You don't read stuff like Conan, or imitations there of because your looking for a lot of depth or enlightened consideration of gender dynamics. In the stories Conan's first great love as I remember was a pirate queen who commanded a crew of huge black dudes she freed from some barbarian country, but none of them were worthy of her. In attacking a boat Conan was hired on to defend (one he fled to at the end of "The God In The Bowl" I believe) her minions overwhelmed him, but she was so impressed by his might and raw sex appeal she just HAD to have this guy, so Conan started sailing around with her as a river pirate and her personal boy toy/bodyguard/strong arm before she was eventually killed by a monster in a ruin (which Conan then in turn killed, but went into mourning). The point is we're not talking politically correct stuff here, but it is manly fantasy of a sort. Exactly the same audience "Sword Art Online" is probably going for... If your analyzing gender politics in stuff like this your thinking about it too much to be the target audience. Put your brain into neutral and enjoy the ride, intellectual slumming can be fun.
