I thought I'd
surprise you today with a topic I haven't talked about in a long
while. While most of the buzz surrounding Women in Games has died
down quite a bit, the clickbaity nature of this topic raises it's
ugly head form time to time.
I consider myself
to be part of the camp that values freedom of expression higher than
any kind of political agenda and I can accept if a game is not meant
for me. Sadly it seems that I'm the minority in this case. But I
don't want to go on complaining about the more and more self centered
nature of todays society.
Instead let us
talk about something positive. There are many ways to approach the
topic of women in video games. Many choose the route of complaining
about things they don't like, which often ends in simple uninformed
bashing of a character.
I want to talk
about positive examples. Or at least examples, who I deem positive.
Now you may disagree with me on this and that is your right to do so,
but I hope we can keep this whole thing civil.
As I said with my
post on Bayonetta and why she is a great character I'm pretty sex
positive. That's why I don't have a problem with female characters,
who openly live their sexuality. I don't think they are devaluing
women nor harm the picture of women in any way. But I also think that
such a behavior needs to fit the character. In other words I don't
think that a shy girl should wear slutty clothing, even if it's an
optional costume, but when Bayonetta rocks her High Heels I don't
have a problem with it.
So in that light
today I wanted to talk about another cool female character, who is
great, interesting, sexy and integral to the games plot. So let's
talk about Sylvia Christel from No More Heroes.
Unknown, Arrogant and Amazing:
For anyone who has
never heard of No More Heroes before let me quickly recap the plot.
One night after the brutal murder of his family Travis Touchdown is
approached by the mysterious Sylvia Christel, who tells him a way out
of his grief. She convinces Travis to try becoming the Number 1
Killer in Santa Destroy and then sweetens the deal by promising to
sleep with him if he achieves that goal. What follows is a great and
surreal Story about School Girl Assassins, Magicans, Irish Twin
Brother and Killer Grandmas among others.
And tieing all
this madness together is Sylvia Christel. She is your motivation.
Your goal. And she is an awesome female character. If you only look
at her appearance and don't delve deeper into her character, you'll
probably get the impression that she is a standard fanservice
character. I mean just look how she dresses. That's horrible and only
serves to attract the male gaze. Am I right?
Of course not.
While there is no
arguing that Sylvia is a very sexy character and is often seen in
situation, where she serves as eye candy, she is also much more than
that.
Yes Sylvias look
is designed to appeal to horny men because that is exactly her goal.
She knows that men like Travis are easily manipulated by a beautiful
women. Her appearance is empowering, because she deliberately uses it
to her advantage. She knows that men, who think with their penis, are
easily controlled and she uses her looks to achieve that. That is
also the reason the camera often pans over her jiggling breasts or
ass. Travis is a pervert. A likeable pervert, but still a pervert,
and as the games protagonist the camera mimics his gaze.
By criticizing
Sylvia on the basis of her looks alone you remove her character from
the equation and, in the end, only devalue her and reduce her to an
object. Yes Sylvia is a very sexy and sexual character, but again
there is nothing inherently wrong with that.
Another thin I
truly like about Sylvia is that she is no saint. She lies, cheats and
steals for her personal gain. Still she manages to remain likeable. I
like such grey characters and find it refreshing if a women is
allowed to have such a character. This still happens too rarely,
which is a damn shame. As long as we don't stop labeling characters
instead of looking at the whole picture this won't stop.
Sylvia Christel is
a great character, she is intelligent, sometimes ruthless and always
sexy. And she uses her looks to her full advantage. And yes she often
wears revealing outfits, but it's justified via her character and the
games story.
She is a great
female character in video games and if you don't like her I would be
happy to hear your arguments. But if it only boils down to big tits
on a fictional character harm the self worth of women, then there is
not much self worth to begin with.
And if you don't like such characters and feel like they hurt you in any way or form, the solution
is simple. Don't buy games with big breasted women and instead let
the rest of us ''perverts'' enjoy them.
While the ending
maybe was a little harsh, I still would like to hear your opinions on
Sylvia Christel or the topic in general.
And as always
thanks for reading
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