Daaaah Whoosh said:
lockgar said:
Or maybe make a female character that you don't want to fuck? Just a thought. Maybe have an actual person who happens to be female, and not an object of sexual desire?
All right, then. Why don't we talk about how the leading men in video games always look handsome and well-built, then? There are seldom any fat or ugly men in games, especially in many RPGs, where there is only one body type per gender for every human NPC. Normally, both sexes are portrayed in a way that makes them attractive to most people. I'm just trying to say that if it's going to be that way, it might as well be equal for both men and women in all respects. I mean, I'm all for seeing a bunch of non-attractive people in video games, as long as it's not just the women.
I agree with you regarding the fact that it has to be equal for both, though I wouldn't say that it's really the issue of being "handsome" or "pretty". In visual media, virtually all characters are good looking; after all, it's a visual media, and people need something nice to look at for hours. There's nothing wrong with that in my opinion. I like to look at nice people, men, and women as well. However, there's a difference between being handsome, pretty or just generally good looking and looking like you jumped out of a porn. And it's mostly women who look like they entered the wrong studio on their way to porn filming. They are not just good looking, they are exaggerated in such way that it's neither plausible nor does it make sense for them to be a part of that video game/movie/TV show/whatever.
A lot of people immediately mention muscled men, but to those men, muscles are an essential part of their job description and come from life-long training. Soldiers, warriors, policemen and similar types of characters
cannot perform their jobs without some amount of muscles (especially if they carry around unrealistically huge weapons). However, when it comes to women, they seem to have an unrealistic look that makes me think "She can't possibly do that" and breaks immersion; their bodies are in no way connected with their jobs, they do not benefit from it and they would actually be at a rather great disadvantage with such proportions. Huge boobs are not necessary for a woman to do any job, they actually pretty much get in the way, can cause severe back pains and don't do much for your agility. Huge boobs in combination with tiny arms is even more ridiculous (Lara Croft would be the prime example here I think, and no matter how much I love her, she is just plain ridiculous. Just look at her arms; she can't possibly lift her own body with them, let alone do all those acrobatics. It simply does not work and I don't care about it being just a game where you kill dinosaurs and mummies). If we include a really small waist and other silly proportions, women usually end up looking like they could not physically exist and
for no other reason than to be an object to look at. Exaggeration exists in male characters as well and it's equally annoying, but at least bigger-than-head muscles serve a purpose. You know, they make him fit for battle and I immediately do not fear that my character will snap like a twig if someone touches him (also, muscles are not in there for those men to be sexualized; comparing them to boobs makes no sense as most women do not find huge muscles as the object of desire. A man flaunting his muscles demands respect and shows how awesome he is, which are personality/ability traits. A woman flaunting boobs in a suggestive cleavage does not say "I radiate authority!", she says "I clearly want your dick!"). I also know that men are not a uniformed life-form, attracted to such silly proportionated women, but characters like that still exist. There are other things about female characters that go into the equation such as impractical hair and useless outfits. As Bob said, it's not even just how the outfit looks and the pose is much more important. Still, when I see some female outfit, I usually groan in annoyance because I immediately assume that the person who designed it obviously never saw a real woman or never left the house for that matter. Anyone who thinks it is easy or normal to do
anything but pole dancing and stripping in those kinds of outfits, needs to go out in the world and meet someone from the 50% of the Earth's population. Thongs, bikinis, cleavages, strips, see-through clothes, high-heels... Do they really have a logical, practical and useful possible usage for a game character that is supposed to be a human being with a brain and characterization, abilities and a personality? No (with the excuse of a character who despite that, has strong characterization and it's a part of their character. It can be done well, but it's mostly done because it's a cheap way out and supposedly, it brings profit because "sex sells").
Anyway, yes, I agree with the fact that characters in general, regardless of the gender and media, need to be slightly more realistic. I don't necessarily want them to be ugly or fat, I just want them to make sense and to be in tune with what the character does, which also includes the outfits to match that person's personality. If a woman is a perverted *****, let her have her cleavage (although, huge boobs and silly proportions are still not necessary to convey the message). If she's supposed to be a fucking awesome heroine that kicks ass, make her look like that. I wouldn't want Lara to be ugly and masculine, I'd just like for her body figure to make sense with what she does for a living. Same with men, really. No need to exaggerate with muscles, not even a heroic warrior needs to have arms bigger than his head. Handsome and pretty people can stay, they are not the problem, and handsome men are not the equivalent of ridiculously sexualized women.
Also, great episode, Bob!