Fever_Discordia: I... I've put a lot of words in your guy's mouths there, sure, but I'm sure you'll let me know which parts you refute and where my logic is flawed...
Rusty_Gunn: you don't challenge the
content of the Rexxion articles as you see them from an SJW/radfem perspective so you see them as MRA slanted even when they're not.
OK as I'm having a 'Quiet' (Ha!) Sunday and in the vain hope of making Warehall happy lets DO this thing
*clears throat*
On 13th May,
Cain Clayton, writing for 'Reaxxion' exposed to the world, the latest nefarious scheme of those dastardly SJWs who wish to crush "creative liberty" in the name of "political correctness"
He asserts that there has been a mass outpouring of outrage at the way sniper character 'Quiet' from Hideo Kojima's upcoming 'Metal Gear Solid V' game is portrayed and is dressed, particularly in relation to the action figure with its use of 'soft materials' in the recreation of the character's ample bosom.
He mainly cites an article written by
Vlad Savov for The Verge that begins
"It's 2015, and we finally have female action figures to play with. Only they look
like this"
This comment is to be seen against a background of articles
like this that lament that the action figure version of the 'Black Widow', character, the only female Avenger character in the feature film version of the superhero team, being swapped out for other members in the recreation of scenes from the film in which she was the main focus in Disney's playsets, denying girls the opportunity to act out their heroic fantasies with a female figure they can relate to and educating boys that male and female character don't always have to fall into the 'hero' and 'damsel' stereotypes
So, to begin with, by implication, Savov is harking back to earlier laments about the lack of presence and exposure of a female action figure, who is admittedly more 'covered up' than Kojima's 'Quiet' but, lets not forget that that covering is a figure hugging spandex jumpsuit, unzipped to the sternum covering a body that is directly modeled on the physical form of actress Scarlett Johansson, hardlythe prudish 'Quakerdom' of Clayton's accusations
Not 'Quakerdom' and, furthermore, hubba hubba So if the sexualisation of 'Quiet' does cross the line for Sovov's personal sensibilities that line is far closer to where 'Quiet' stands than Clayton is representing, moreover, we can find evidence of Clayton's own prejudices and prudishness, this time in the realm of cross-dressing when he describes cosplayers and artists who have satirically
dressed male characters in their female counter-part's attire as 'disgraceful', he also displayed a marked lack of a sense of humor about the trend, seemingly missing the funny side when he says that he believes that those involved believe themselves to be striking a " a decisive blow for “equality.”" and not simply finding an amusing way to make a point about the way female characters are portrayed.
No, the main theme of Sovov's piece (something Clayton is keen to obfuscate when he says "Really, there’s no need to read the rest of his article") is not so much representation but audience, he is saying that it is sad that, in the wake of Black Widow's expurgation, when a female action figure finally comes along it is not designed for the heroic power fantasies of girls but, especially telling from the 'soft materials,' for the sexual fantasies of grown men.
Sovov may stray slightly into the realms of 'otakuphobia' at this point but, I would certainly agree that, from the outside at least, the thought of adult males devoting themselves to the near-worship of animated female characters and their action figures does seem a little... unhealthy to me also. Although, it might be a might be a important first step for those males who are on the autistic scale towards forming a relationship with a real woman, who knows?
On the subject of Kojima himself, it may be wide-eyed optimism on my part but, as both articles attest, he has repeatedly hinted that Quiet is not merely a overly sexualised female character but there are things, yet to be disclosed that will reveal her to be a
comment on the over-sexualisation of female characters in video games and the media in general. Remember also that Kojima has a history of playing almost Kauffmanesque practical jokes on his own audience, such as in
Metal Gear Solid 2 where Snake was swapped out for Raiden and Kojima went to such lengths as "Preview footage even inserted Snake into sequences that, in the game, were actually played by Raiden."
Quite what the 'joke' will be with Quiet remains to be seen, personally I would speculate that maybe the most obvious jape would be if it turned out that the whole reason Quiet IS so quiet is that if she talked 'she' would reveal that 'her' voice was the deep baritone of a pre-op transexual! Kojima would obviously be treading on treacherous ground if he DID take that route as he could end up being accused of the same transphobia that led to the censorship of the Pillars of Eternity 'amusing' rhyme but for sheer switch-er-roo chutzpah and for duping a legion of 'alpha males' and 'otaku' in to championing him and drooling over a 'chick-with-a-dick' I would have to say, as one troll to another, 'Well played sir, Bravo, Bravo!"
