I like the idea of a structural analysis of the type you suggest in addition to what Sarkeesian is already doing. How much a game leans on a given trope for momentum is going to affect the gaming experience for sure.
You know, you are free to start your own âTropes vs Men in Video Gamesâ video series or blog posts.
Sarkeesian has created a series on Tropes vs Women in Video Games. That is her focus. Calling her out for not talking about things that fall outside the focus is facile and dishonest.
The problem I have with this situation is that ALL criticism of Anita is dismissed as âmisogynisticâ, âhatefulâ or âthreatsâ. Anyone who is familiar with academic papers, the scientific method, and polite debate knows that being critical of ideas or the way they are presented can actually be a good thing. The fact that all of Anitaâs intangible ideas and commentary (there is little to no science or data behind her opinions, it is pretty much all intangible commentary) must be accepted at face value is unfortunate.
I think gender issues in gaming should be discussed, explored, and dissected. However there needs to be an open dialogue where criticism of ideas is accepted. While itâs unfortunate that Anita was threatened and harassed by online trolls, it doesnât necessarily mean her ideas are 100% correct and should never be criticized, especially with gender studies / discourse being such an intangible, rapidly evolving, and difficult to define subject.
Sigh. This is not true. There are several criticisms of Sarkeesian on this very discussion board which have not received the âyou are just a misogynistâ treatment.
As for the lack of âscienceâ in Sarkeesianâs commentary⊠Itâs cultural criticism, not science. Science is a great and wonderful thing, but it is not all-encompassing. If it were, weâd still be stuck at Pong in video games.
(For the record, I still like Pong. But Iâm glad there are now games with, you know, storylines and cultural tropes in them. Even ones which need to be called out and critiqued for how they use different tropes.)
Come, now. This is officially the most silly belief in this discussionânot as bad as the actual misogyny, of course, but nearly as pathetic.
If only I could speak out without being lumped in with the manbabies, who, in their debased nature, so unfortunately agree with me.
Out with it, gentlemen! If criticism is reasonable and in good-faith, it will be respected by enough to make it easy to ignore snipers.
Ok, I have got to ask, why is this such great critique if she gets so much information about the games wrong? I only watched her âDamsel in Distressâ video and to start off she misuses the word âtropeâ (it should be âmotifâ), gets details about games incorrect (Zelda is the hero, not Link in the game and Bayonetta was designed by a woman), and doesnât properly cite any of her sources. While Iâm no feminist pop culture critic, I had to keep pausing the video asking, âWTF?â every few minutes as she made huge, glaring mistakes. I think itâs intellectually dishonest to misrepresent facts to make your point.
I get that Sarkeesian focus is on Tropes vs. Women in Video Games and I think itâs by and large a legit set of criticisms and overdue.
However, it does disturb me a bit that weâre seemingly ok with - or at least can tolerate ignoring - the overall gratuitous and horrific nature of these games. That women in these games are, for example, are raped and disemboweled for fun and/or shock value is repulsive, sure, but isnât there a bigger issue that has less to do with gender and more to do with human carnage in general?
This is highly reminiscent of the typical evangelical Christian philosophy towards movies wherein tits are bad, but ripping out somebodyâs spleen with a rocket launcher is just clean fun.
Does it bother no one else that weâre desensitizing a massive swath of our population to horrific violence? Be it man or woman on-screen, should we be ok with the traumatic imagery that passes for fun now but that would have brought (and may continue to, for all I know) soldiers home from the front lines with debilitating PTSDs a decade ago?
Again, not to detract from Sarkeesian focus, but shouldnât we be rebelling against not only the glorification of gratuitous violence again women in videogames, but all people, regardless of gender? Isnât there some chance that Gen-Z could really benefit from us doing so?
Some folks seem to think âcognitive biasâ means âyou think youâre so fancy.â
Yes - despite loving the Tomb Raider franchise I was upset enough about this to not give them my money. I got it for free as an âadd inâ for another purchase that I had no control over - so loving the game I played it - Iâm aware some part of my video card purchase went to buy the key that I received - but Iâm also aware I couldnât âunbundleâ the code or request a refund for the code either - I didnât pout and pirate the game - I didnât pout and refuse to play it - I did refuse to give them my money (which at launch and full retail price would have been much more than whatever the bulk key purchase the video card vendor paid them). Pragmatism works.
Yes - you should honestly - thatâs the point of noticing the sexism in games. My question to you - what about any previous Tomb Raider made Laura into a woman who worried about sexual assault? Why did that have to be her point of evolution? Why is it that female characters in books, cinema, and video games get thrown the âshe was assaulted and that made her growâ angle time after time? Itâs tired.
When was the last time you played Call of Duty (story mode) and the main protagonist had to fight off sexual assault to grow as a human being? When was the last time you played any game where the man had to fend off a sexual assault to grow?
Trope. b : a common or overused theme or device : cliché
Seems she got it correct.
Nintendo (the creators of the game) disagree with you. [quote]Some of Linkâs most famous accomplishments include rescuing Princess
Zelda on multiple occasions, saving the citizens of Termina from certain
demise, as well as freeing the island of Koholint from savage monster
attacks. Humble to the end, Link is known not merely as a hero but as a
symbol of courage, strength and wisdom as well. [/quote]
Beyonetta was designed by Hiroshi Shibata and Masaaki Yamada, only one of those two is a female - so half right.
You donât say?
Valid but separate point - the argument that there is too much violence on âinsert media hereâ is pervasive and not questioned as being âinvalid.â Or is your argument that people can not critique more than one facet of something at a time?
malindaâs post reads like satire, especially with the inclusion of the last line. Not sure it was supposed to be though.
Gave you a like for that, but in fairness, you had it pretty easy 
OK, if it was satire then it was fucking awesome.
New members appearing and disappearing so quickly this thread needs a photosensitive epilespy warning.
Oh look!!! @Yiuhiio_Hgoiuiiu is totally into what @hurmuzlus1 is saying!!!
I like the way Snrub thinks!
(Not apparently smart enough to log out, then log back in and return the likes though).
Please, youâre better than this.
Funny, my dictionary defines the word âtropeâ as âa significant or recurrent theme; a motif.â
