So I just finished Arkham City- and yes, I am well aware that I am way behind on my video games, but studying for the MCAT and taking nasty classes rather puts a damper on video game time. Arkham City was an entertaining game, complete with a surprise ending (albeit a depressing one), and I definitely enjoyed playing it. But I'm afraid the time has come to pick some nits with both this game and its predecessor.
Now let me preface this by saying that I have been playing video games since I was seven, and I am well acquainted with the role women usually fill in video games. Granted, when I was seven, I didn't quite see to Lara Croft's torpedo breasts and what they represented the same way that I see them now, but that didn't stop me from playing Tomb Raider: Anniversary for nostalgia reasons.
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| Man, I thought those were the best graphics ever in 1996... |
I'm not trying to pick a fight or start waxing poetic about feminism. I mean, I get it. Most men like breasts. Some women like breasts. I understand that breasts are an important marketing tool in an industry where the majority of consumers are men. And that's fine. But there is a point beyond which the character design just becomes laughably absurd. Case(s) in point: Arkham City and Arkham Asylum.
So let's take Harley Quinn for starters. The first time she appears in the Batman universe is in Batman: the Animated Series in 1992. As a "harlequin" (oh ho, DC, you've just got me in stitches), her costume is reminiscent of a jester's outfit. Completely form fitting, but also completely covered from head to toe.
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| They did keep the voice actor and the thick Brooklyn accent though, I will give them that. |
And then she shows up in Arkham Asylum in this. I can't possibly imagine what was going on in the mind of the costume designer... Oh, wait. Yes I can.
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| NEED MOAR PROPORTIONS NOT OFTEN SEEN OUTSIDE OF PORN |
There was a slight costume adjustment in her role reprisal in Arkham City. And while I don't like her costume by any means, it still looks a far sight better than that nurse mess from Arkham Asylum.
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| What? At least I've got pants this time around. |
But this is nothing new to the video game industry. It's just one of the more recent egregious examples that I could have chosen to use, although probably one of the worst in recent memory. And of course I'm not the first to notice it - the minute the game came out it was getting flak for sexism left and right (and rightly so). Yet this isn't even the part of the game that is bothering me the most. What is really disturbing is how these female characters walk. Just take a look at this video of catwoman walking away from the camera. Go on. You know you want to.
Look at that hip motion. Now for us women (most of us, anyway), we look at this and cringe. Do you have any idea how much it hurts to walk like that? That hip movement is not natural by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it looks more like a sign of severe hip dysplasia than anything else. Now it's true that women tend to sway their hips more than men, partially due to a wider pelvic bone and the valgus position of women's knees. But this is just absurd. I just tried walking like this in the mirror. SEVERE PAIN ENSUED.
And the thing is, as graphics get better, this sort of thing is only going to get worse. We've already gotten to the point of pseudo-realistic breast-bouncing physics, and while I can't imagine how many hours of programming were put into perfecting the movement of the female breast in motion (nor do I necessarily want to), I can safely assume that it was a lot.
I have no delusions that the video game industry is going to drastically change the way that women are portrayed any time soon. But sometimes, it would be nice to be able to play a game without being so disturbed by the hip motion of the female characters that I am compelled to rant about it.
~Kathryn
