Why are people making such a big deal of out of Quiet from MGS 5?

[KayeFaye]

Because the design is silly. Well, that's why I don't like it. It's silly. It's also not really my definition of sexy, because I like more teasing designs and I also don't think "dumb" is sexy and a sniper, or any soldier really, wearing little to no ballistic protection is dumb. Shame because other aspects of her design are quite nice, I especially like her eyes. I've always liked women with powerful, piercing eyes. Her hair is nice too.

But that's all just me and I'm not really sure if I'm the best person to speak out on the matter. Despite having been a gamer for nearly all 35 years of my life, I'm only just now dipping my toes into the gaming community and I've found myself in a political warzone and I'm not sure where I want to set up camp yet. On one hand, I'm a minority as a Lesbian woman in her 30s who *does* understand the point of having feminism in games and feel that there are those in the community who are clearly sexist assholes but on the other hand I'm quite open minded and sex positive and am tired of hearing feminists who act like men (And Lesbians. Seriously I've had feminists come down on me for being sexist because I'm sexually attracted to women. LOGICS) aren't allowed to have any sexual fantasies at all because sexual escapism is bad and only leads to objectifying women, not to mention while there are a lot of hooting sexist assholes in the community I've found more level headed guys that just want to have a good time than anything. *shrug*

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Well again, now you're just nitpicking exact scientific accuracy of a game series that has psychics, ghosts, a man that fights with bees, a nanomachine vampire, and a cyborg ninja that can throw around multiple 14 foot tall cow mecha like they were nothing simply by break-dancing.

None of those exist in real life. Photosynthesis does and we understand how it works.

Which is why "Nanomachines, Son" and "because it makes my willy feel good" are both better explanations!

 

[Metalix Knightmare]

Actually, I'd say the tiny, armless, Robot person stopping the giant battleship and not dying is the more obvious example, but a lot of people here tend to get offended by the very idea of sexy women so who am I to argue?

Hell of a strawman you've built there. Takes talent. I congratulate you.

You call it a strawman, I call it like I see it. No one gave an inkling of a crap about the stupidity in this series and it's magic science for god knows how many games now, but the moment it involves a scantily clad woman everybody just loses their minds at "how stupid it is".

 

[Mental Cosmas]

I?ll throw in my personal opinion on the subject. For starters, as far as the tweets are concerned, why not both?

Everyone seems to think that Kojima was "defending" his action in making Quiet erotic by saying we?ll feel sorry for her, or backpedalling from saying he made her more "erotic" for cosplaying purposes, why is that? Is it possible he wanted to do it for both reasons? Calling his reasoning an ?excuse? makes it sound like he was defending his decision, frankly I think it?s more likely he simply misjudged people?s reaction to the story-related reason behind it, and I think it?s a rather cynical and pessimistic view from the people who say "at least ADMIT to it", seriously if you?re going to take a tweet seriously, take them all, he damn well did.

That he wanted to give it a reason as well like he does with most aspects of the game doesn?t mean that wasn?t his desire. Not to mention a character can be fanservice AND have an interesting character without being devalued, look at Eva (admittedly Eva had a far more organic merging of the two aspects, but you better believe people got fanservice out of her).

Many aspects of Metal Gear have had thinly veiled reasons one either fools themselves into believing or simply accepts to get to the awesome aesthetics. Take Sahelanthropus, it is given a reason by Huey why it is a bipedal war mech despite the mountain of flaws such a design would add waaaay outnumbering any possible strengths. Suspension of disbelief, and it looks damn cool in my opinion. I understand in some cases no answer may actually be stronger than a handwave one (is there any explanation for the exploding rock thing it does?), but they both have a place in stories.

Honestly I?m not a fan of Quiet?s outfit, apart from maybe the torn leggings being a nice touch as I can imagine them getting damaged from speed-running through underbrush. I certainly wouldn?t call it ?boring? though, gives a distinct silhouette. I mean, people are saying the XOF uniform looks good? Its dull grey military garb, *yaaaawn*. Give me something like Mantis' bondage suit and gasmask or Ocelot's cowboy outfit with a shotgun bandolier anyday (no offense meant, that?s my personal opinion and I understand some people might really like the look, I?m just being a tosser giving a counter-opinion here). That being said, I've heard some design choices from people against the outfit I honestly do think would look cooler (and probably sexier, but ho hum).

Honestly, I think it?s mostly just rotten timing, fanservice and female characters in general are a hot-button topic right now, and it?s a lot easier to suspend your disbelief for things you actually like or don?t think about too much. I suspect an engineer might struggle believing Sahelanthropus' design more than someone else. Is it a bad outfit? Well, I?m sure there?s an audience who enjoy it at the very least, and I wish I was a part of it. But aahh well.

 

[Dr. Crawver]

Might be off-topic, but I've been a week ago to a con, and it had some Mass Effect actors and for some reason they did a shitty snide remark at MGS5's Quiet while saying how Jack is better (because they live in a world that Mass Effect has better writing and characters than a Kojima game), and people cheered, isn't Jack just as bad character for wearing what amounts for a belt for no reason?

One major difference is Jack was a violent rebel who was pretty much doing it to reclaim what little agency she had. That and the camera didn't exactly ogle at her (not that bioware are immune to that, we all remember the ass shots of miranda. Just Jack was spared of this).

Now look at quiet. She's forced into this. She's victimized because of this. We're told that it's basically "she wears clothes, she dies" (even though there are unlocks that are full body suits, but whatever, unlocks. Guess they are non-canon). It's in no way empowering to her, but rather is quite the opposite.

 

[Dr. Crawver]

It'd be the same as Big Boss constantly shoving his giant bulg in the camera, because look at what huge dick he has. No seriously, look, look, it's so floppy and tied to the laws of gravity.

This is just beautiful.

Never change Shinji. Never change.

 

[Don Incognito]

So basically; "Why is quiet half naked literally all of the time?" "parasites."

Except that, too, falls down on its face. Fine, she has parasites. Having her torso and abdomen--home to all of her vital organs--exposed, while covering her legs and one arm, still defies all logic.

If she breathes through her skin, then the exposed surface area is what is important. As a rough estimate, the surface area of your torso is roughly equal to one of your legs, or both of your arms.

It would make much, much, much more logical sense for her torso to be covered with body armor, leaving both of her legs exposed. Her vital organs would be protected, AND she'd be able to "breath" better.

Again, the lack of internal consistency is the problem.

 

[The Lunatic]

... I mean, technically within the lore, it's entirely possible for her to just be entirely naked.

She doesn't actually need clothes for anything besides modesty, something she seemingly doesn't much care about.

Just putting it out there.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

It's there to stir controversy and generate buzz because everybody is offended by everything today. The character does its job perfectly, it causes a zillion "I have a solid snake in my pants" comments and it is GLORIOUS.

Internet just needs thicker skin, that's all. Kojima doesn't give two shits about political correctness, gender equality and what have you. And it WORKS

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

Pure fantasy? MGS isn't pure fantasy. It tries to establish itself as being in the real world with some changes. It has internal logic and rules that must be followed.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like the people who don't mind Quiet have a lower opinion of MGS than people who do mind her. The people who don't mind her keep saying that MGS is pure fantasy where anything apparently be thrown in and it's ok and "what do you expect". Kind of feels like it's selling Kojima short. I think the guy can do great stuff when he sets his mind to it, but the people around here defending quiet seem to mainly be saying he only makes stupid stuff.

 

[Coreless]

I say just we call this design the one bad apple and move on, it doesn't make the MGS games or Kojima any better or worse off then before, its just a missed opportunity that could have been more. If there is one take away for me with Quiet, its that she was easily the most interesting character in the game and really helped make the game all the more memorable after its all done and I'm perfectly cool with that.

 

[Dr. Crawver]

Again, it's a case of creatively working backwards, because this explanation actually makes it even worse.
She dresses like an idiot because she breathes through her skin.
She breathes through her skin because she hasn't got any lungs.
She hasn't got any lungs because a villain burned them all up.

Is there an explanation for how her lungs can get burned to a crisp, but her skin is able to remain pristine and perfectly serviceable?

Apparently her parasites gave her new skin or something.

Why skullface didn't get the same treatment? Who knows.

Seems contrived.

 

[Lightknight]

Eh, America is a surprisingly repressed society where it comes to sexuality. That's why it's a big deal. Perhaps we can blame Christian roots steeped in Augustinian anti-sex rhetoric in combination with a movement to desexualize women even though sexuality is hardwired into humanity.

Either way, it's a game, big deal. Do these people know about porn and the internet? Who am I kidding? The same people who are complaining about likely have a huge folder of porn hidden away on their computers featuring far more degrading actions and actual nudity. Like the classic Baptist that condemns someone for drinking a single beer while trying not to be recognized in the liquor store one town over.

Why? Because it's human nature to find things sexy and to want to be perceived as sexy. The argument simply isn't consistent. They want things to be sexy when it benefits them and their desires but complain at anything else that other people like.

 

[The Material Sheep]

Snip

Pure fantasy? MGS isn't pure fantasy. It tries to establish itself as being in the real world with some changes. It has internal logic and rules that must be followed.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like the people who don't mind Quiet have a lower opinion of MGS than people who do mind her. The people who don't mind her keep saying that MGS is pure fantasy where anything apparently be thrown in and it's ok and "what do you expect". Kind of feels like it's selling Kojima short. I think the guy can do great stuff when he sets his mind to it, but the people around here defending quiet seem to mainly be saying he only makes stupid stuff.

My issue with Quiet purely extends to this. We were promised a super dark secret for why Quiet dressed the way she did, and we got... she breathes through her skin. I don't care about the sexualization stuff, I just thought the explanation was dumb. Also the boob physics are really annoying to look at.

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

No kidding. I was expecting something dark, like she got raped and this was her trying to take control of her sexuality (Which happens a lot) and instead, she got hurt, so she needs to breath through her skin. Wot?

 

[Zhukov]

Either way, it's a game, big deal. Do these people know about porn and the internet? Who am I kidding? The same people who are complaining about likely have a huge folder of porn hidden away on their computers featuring far more degrading actions and actual nudity. Like the classic Baptist that condemns someone for drinking a single beer while trying not to be recognized in the liquor store one town over.

Y'know, disapproving of contrived sexy character designs and watching porn isn't mutually exclusive, nor is it hypocritical.

A person can enjoy ice cream and still turn their nose up when someone starts pouring icing sugar on their pizza.

Hell, the availability of porn just makes me wonder why fanservice is at all necessary. I mean, there is literally more sex and nudity than I could watch in a lifetime a mere five clicks away. Hell, someone's probably already made MGS5 themed porn. So why do I need my video games to be making fumbling attempts at sexiness that only result in shitty character designs?

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Okay, look. I like porn, I like Baseball. However, I'm not such a big fan of the two things mixing. Not really interested in the Seventh Inning Gangbang, know what I'm saying?

Same thing with games. Is it possible to not like an aspect of a game where the only female character of note is A) optional, B) mute, and C) dressed like a video game parody image while not being some kind of game-hating, hypocritical, anti-sex crusader?

Is there even a middle ground here?

 

[Erttheking]

Okay, look. I like porn, I like Baseball. However, I'm not such a big fan of the two things mixing. Not really interested in the Seventh Inning Gangbang, know what I'm saying?

Same thing with games. Is it possible to not like an aspect of a game where the only female character of note is A) optional, B) mute, and C) dressed like a video game parody image while not being some kind of game-hating, hypocritical, anti-sex crusader?

Is there even a middle ground here?

People have a tendency to...oversimplify the viewpoints of those who disagree with them. Just kind of an easy way out, to have the people you disagree with think horrible things.

 

[Coreless]

"The availability of porn just makes me wonder why fanservice is at all necessary. I mean, there is literally more sex and nudity than I could watch in a lifetime a mere five clicks away."

I'm having a hard time understanding this, for me fanservice has always been nothing but harmless teasing and never gratuitous, while full on porn can encompass anything from typical sexual behavior to hardcore niche fetishism. Do people really consider seeing a character bend over in a tight outfit (which at best might make someone roll their eyes) the same as full on porn because that seems like quite a stretch.

 

[Zhukov]

"The availability of porn just makes me wonder why fanservice is at all necessary. I mean, there is literally more sex and nudity than I could watch in a lifetime a mere five clicks away."

I'm having a hard time understanding this, for me fanservice has always been nothing but harmless teasing and never gratuitous, while full on porn can encompass anything from typical sexual behavior to hardcore niche fetishism. Do people really consider seeing a character bend over in a tight outfit (which at best might make someone roll their eyes) the same as full on porn because that seems like quite a stretch.

Besides the point.

I'm saying that if I want sexy images on my computer screen, regardless of whether we're talking cutesy or gratuitously hardcore or anything in between, I can make that happen. Easily. I don't need video games to provide that.

And I especially don't need it when the result is otherwise pretty good games fucking up their character designs in service to my theoretical boner.