DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

what'S WRONG WITH BEING SEXY? - by Mr Biffo

2/1/2017

45 Comments

 
Picture
I was watching Top of the Pops 2, or Sounds of the 80s, or Kiss My 80s, or some other BBC4 nostalgia fest over Christmas, when an early Christmas memory clicked into my head. 

It was Christmas 1981. My dad and brother-in-law were watching TV, while I was playing on the floor (well, I say "playing on the floor" - more like "rocking back and forth in my cage, clicking my fingers, and muttering facts about bagatelle"... amirite?!). The pop duo Dollar, comprised of highlighted cretin David van Day and the miniskirted Thereza Bazar, came on screen to perform their top hit 'Mirror Mirror'.

My dad nodded to the female singer, turned to my brother-in-law, and said "I wouldn't mind finding her in my Christmas stocking". In my head, he cupped his elbow pit, pumped his fist, and added a throaty "Phwoaaaar!". It's entirely possible that he also repeatedly stamped his foot on the floor, shot steam out of his ears, and made his eyeballs pop out on stalks.

Now... my father isn't exactly Sid James. Indeed, this is the only instance I can think of where he said or did anything remotely like this, and with hindsight it's strangely out of character. I can only assume he was trying to impress my brother-in-law, who was American and a bit alpha male-y, and probably intimidated him slightly.

Nevertheless, he did do it, and - y'know - fair enough. He was born in 1934, only six years after women got equal voting rights in the UK. You can forgive him the occasional comment along those lines. Although - again - I can't think of any others. And - y'know - is it inherently sexist to find a pop singer attractive? Isn't that rather out of everyone's control? I dunno.

I mean, I don't really recall him being particularly sexist in any other way. After all, my mother would've refused to cook his dinner or iron his shirts if he'd so much as even tried.

Nonetheless, were my father to have made a similar comment on Twitter in 2017 he'd probably never hear the end of it, and be chased out of town wondering what exactly he'd done wrong. He'd be labelled a sexist monster, when he's really just sort of a sweet old man, and completely harmless.

You know: rather like poor Shigeru Miyamoto and Steve Martin.
PICKLED OPINIONS
Just before Christmas, Super Mario Run was the subject of an opinion piece in the New York Times, which damned as sexist what everyone had - up until that point - believed was a fairly innocuous little video game.

Super Mario Run is not only sexist, claimed the author... but "not family-friendly" - something that perceived wisdom suggests Nintendo has always otherwise been. So dangerous was the game that the writer of the piece was keeping it well away from his six year old daughter, lest it lead directly to her one day working as a pole dancer, or secretary, or professional giggler, or something.

The idea of a game as unassuming as Super Mario Run being in any way offensive sounds extreme, and an idea that most of us with any sense would automatically dismiss as ludicrous.

But get a load of this - I actually think the guy who wrote the piece sort of had a point.

At the same time... I really wish he hadn't written it, because he's a massive, overreacting idiot, and I hate him and hope his fingers fall off and his eyes get pecked out by a crow, so that he never writes again.
Picture
CAKE-Y BREAK
Fundamentally, the Mario series is about rescuing a princess who wears pink, and offers Mario cake and kisses.

The default heroes are usually always male. Which is fine. I mean... even boys need role-models to look up to, and what better role-model can there be than a plumber who stomps wildlife to death?

But let's not pretend that, to a certain degree, the Mario series doesn't portray the female characters - of whom there are approximately two - as lesser or weaker than its male characters. Princess Peach is little more than collection of stereotypes - who is always being abducted and waving a parasol around...

The exact same complaint can be levelled at the Zelda series, where females are - again - princesses or fairies, and it's always down to the brave boy Link to save the day.

Thing is, these series were conceived in a different era, before political correctness took a stranglehold on society. Not only in a different era - but a different culture. Japan has a starkly different attitude towards gender to the one we're used to over here.

However, speaking as a father of far too many daughters, the strides we've made towards gender equality in my lifetime is a wonderful thing. And yeah... we've still a way to go, but female representation in movies and video games is more positive than at any point previously.

But for all that, I still have something of an issue with the whole Super Mario Run Is Sexist piece, because I believe it weakens, rather than strengthens, the move towards gender equality.

Picture
PC COLTRANE
See, I like the general idea of political correctness, if not the term itself; it has come to represent the worst right-on excesses of the liberal left. 

My friend, the comedian Chris Coltrane, says that political correctness is basically just about being nice to one another, and as a description of PC it's one that's difficult to take issue with. 

But... political correctness - or whatever you want to call it - is a tool that should be used with a degree of precision. In my opinion, it should never be employed as a sledgehammer, because then you risk destroying precisely what you're trying to create. There's a reason sculptors don't use baseball bats.

Indeed, you can take issue with me for this if you like, but I do attribute the rise of the alt-right in part to them pushing back against liberals who've gotten a bit carried away in recent years. It always stokes my ire when political correctness makes a big fuss about the wrong things.

You know: like forcing poor old Steve Martin to remove a tweet in which he called the late Carrie Fisher "beautiful". What's wrong with that? In her latest autobiographical book she describes her younger self as "a piece of ass". If I die, and someone writes that I was handsome when I was younger, I'd a) Be flattered, and b) Frustrated that they weren't there back when I really needed to hear it.

The article in The New York Times (written by Chris Suellentrop - whose parents were such big fans of the soap opera Dallas that apparently they changed their surname in honour of one of the characters) was seemingly cultivated to whip up the alt-right.

Whether he was trolling, or genuinely means it when he writes stuff like "Super Mario Run is not a family-friendly game — or at least not one my wife and I will be letting our 6-year-old daughter play", I dunno. Either way, he handed them a gift.

His rhetoric was always destined to be damned as the demented ramblings of a "Social Justice Warrior", rather than be taken seriously. Consequently, its message - as perfectly valid as it might be - nevertheless gets buried by his foam-mouthed indignation, and the cackling of the right.

Not only that, but it makes political correctness look stupid, when political correctness is - as previously stated - really just about respecting one another. What's most irritating is that when the left write crap like this, or go for soft targets, or get triggered by every last little thing. The right don't listen to the message - they simply laugh, and push back even harder.

Was Super Mario Run really the worst example of sexism in video games? Really?!?

PO!
The usual alt-right news outlets had a field day with piece in The New York Times. They loved that, once again, the "po-faced liberal elite" displayed its uptight inflexibility, its humourlessness, its determination to threaten cherished institutions.

And much as it pains me to say it, they have a point. Far too often the left have no sense of proportion. It's like they're just waiting to be outraged - as if there's a whole generation of Mary Whitehouses waiting to pounce on every last thing. 

Super Mario Run might be a bit sexist, but the question we need to ask ourselves is whether it really matters. Yeah, alright... it sort of does, I suppose. But if you're fighting a war you go for the big targets first. You secure the bridges, the strategic points... You don't fanny around in a field throwing handfuls of grenades at foreign cows to try and disrupt milk and beef production.

There are more deserving targets than Super Mario Run - targets which won't risk damaging the entire cause of fighting for gender equality.

If you allow yourself to be outraged by everything, if it's political correctness carpet bombing, then it makes everyone who believes in gender equality - in video games, in movies, in TV, in society - too easily dismissed by those who are entrenched against it. Worse: it makes them cling ever tighter to their beliefs.

Chris Suellentrop... you have messed up.
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
REVIEW: SUPER MARIO RUN (IOS)
NINTENDO: LIFE BEFORE MARIO - A HISTORY
SEGA: LIFE BEFORE THE MASTER SYSTEM - A HISTORY
45 Comments
RichardM
3/1/2017 11:02:43 am

I commented yesterday that I didn't think SMR was going to ruin my daughter's chances of being Prime Minister or whatever, but yeah. You're right: even a bit of sexism, like a bit of racism, isn't to be encouraged.

But actively witch-hunting men who hold doors open for women, who dress their daughters in pink and buy them tea sets and dolls instead of Action Man, etc. only dilutes that message. I hate that the Western world is becoming perpetually outraged and offended... can't we all just be nice to each other, accept and embrace our differences and try and get along? Our society really needs a focus beyond navel gazing before we all disappear up our own arseholes: here's hoping it's discovering aliens or something rather than WW3.

Reply
Mrtankthreat
3/1/2017 11:15:47 am

While I do think the reaction to Steve Martin's tweet was excessive and I didn't see anyone complain it about it in the way I'm going to, basically people had a problem with him mentioning her beauty first and personally I don't see why the order should matter so long as they're all compliments. The only problem I had with the tweet was the whole "turned out" aspect. To say that someone was X and then turned out they were also Y suggests that them being Y should come as some sort of surprise. Especially when there's a somewhat negative stereotype that it could potentially reinforce (in this case, women can't be smart and beautiful).

It would be like someone saying Mrtankthreat was a great video game player. Turns out he was also a well adjusted human being with social skills who didn't live in his mother's basement.

Although maybe I'm just over analyzing. And I definitely think you're right that political correctness can overstep the mark at times and has galvanized the alt-right.

On that end I though I think we have to be careful not to fall for their rhetoric. I mean Steve Martin wasn't forced to remove the tweet. No one was holding a gun to his head and no Governmental threat. He received backlash form people who didn't like it and decided it wasn't worth his while to keep it up. He felt a certain amount of pressure to remove the tweet but that's precisely how the Alt-right/Libertarian/Anarcho Capitalists believe the free market should work. That Government regulation isn't needed and the voice of public opinion will be enough.

Reply
burning elk
3/1/2017 12:07:10 pm

As the article sort-of suggests, public opinion is far too easily swayed by rabid opinion pieces and, let's face it, the press in general, to be left to its own devices. Especially as both sides are fond of 'voting against' rather than 'voting for'. This year's results are a prime example

Reply
Elvo
3/1/2017 12:36:37 pm

I think the tweet followed the order Martin formed his opinion. First he noticed he thought she was beautiful and then instead of turns out he probably meant discovered.

Reply
Dan Whitehead
3/1/2017 01:28:14 pm

The really depressing thing about the Steve Martin situation is that HE KNEW CARRIE FISHER IN REAL LIFE. He was paying tribute to an actual friend, whose personality he clearly knew better than anyone complaining about his tweet. That's the crux of the issue - all context was erased, and we were just left with outrage that the wording was wrong (or perceived to be wrong). That doesn't bode well for nuanced debate in the future.

Reply
Keith
3/1/2017 11:53:22 am

The counter argument would go something like "it's OK to take issue with little things as we'll a step big things", and there is some merit to that, but in practice, it's far more useful to pick ones battles - looked at analytically, Mario games do of course contain sexism, using a reasonable definition of the term.
But look at it in a wider context and publicly claiming that something as innocuous as Mario is sexist is guaranteed to invite ridicule.

The most useful thing to do if one sees sexism in Mario is to talk about that sexism to one's own children when they play it; contextualise it. Say to your kids "this game is interesting, because when it came out, almost every adventure story or game seemed to believe that women always needed to be rescued by men - do you think that's true?"

Reply
Keith
3/1/2017 11:54:51 am

Argh, autocorrect messed up my first sentence: "its ok to take issue with little things as well as big things", it should read

Reply
burning elk
3/1/2017 12:13:13 pm

What a sensible and level-headed approach. I wanted to point out that Mario is 'referencing' the sexism inherent in fairy tales, and this seems like a useful way of addressing that

Reply
Paulvw
3/1/2017 12:55:39 pm

Political correctness is just showing a bit of empathy really isn't it?

Never too sure why it's such a loaded phrase.

Considering others is a good thing isn't it?

Reply
Kara Van Park
3/1/2017 01:02:03 pm

Why is a portrayal of a woman as anything other than a rival to a man negative?

Reply
Spanky Tatworthy
3/1/2017 01:28:07 pm

This suggests she is not equal to the task of a man, it's nothing about being a rival

Reply
Peach
3/1/2017 05:06:43 pm

You know why I make the cakes? Last time he tried, we all got the Super Mario Runs.

Rawce
3/1/2017 01:09:08 pm

[quote]If I die, and someone writes that I was handsome when I was younger, I'd a) Be flattered, and b) Frustrated that they weren't there back when I really needed to hear it.[/quote]
I'd be flattered but think it's all about personal perspective. For example, have you spent your life being judged more on your looks than your actual capabilities/personality/career highlights/etc? I haven't. Have you had to put up with catcalls and a media that seems to think women should be judged on looks over their achievements? Not me. I work in engineering and it's so disheartening to see how things are still stacked against women in our industry (even though I work for a very progressive company that I feel is helping to challenge these stereotypes). I can't help but feel a lot of the reason for this has been ingrained from a very young age for all genders and the message continues throughout life.

Somehow, we still live in a time of glass ceilings and a significantly higher incidence of sexual assault against females than males, so (paraphrasing) 'us being better than others' doesn't really cut it for me when we still have so far to go before we get genuine equality. All this is part of the narrative that highlights we still need to improve, we still need to change. There are the big ticket battles ("Grab her by the...", etc), but it shouldn't mean we can't keep on message that the every day stuff is also not OK.

I do agree however, that the ability to debate has effectively ended online. There is no grey, no in between, no seeing things from the perspective of others - you're either with us or against us. And that is what does not help either side of an argument, that is why we find ourselves in such a polarised situation. That's what I find frustrating and something that transcends sexism and all other isms.

Reply
Keith
3/1/2017 01:20:09 pm

Keeping on message about the little things is good in theory, and when talking to like minded individuals probably seems quite productive.
In a broader context though, if trying to actually change anything, then it's always worth bearing in mind that it's people who aren't starting from the same mindset that you have to convince - when you're doing that, it seems reasonable to say that it's worth prioritising rather than highlighting everything, because the smaller issues are so easily turned into "LOL look the SJWs are even saying Mario is sexist now!"

I mean, if people make an issue about Mario, what do they actual;y want? Do they want a whipped up load of nothing resulting in the next Mario game featuring the princess as the playable character? Which would in itself lead to more "SJW's forced Nintendo to do X"?

Can't we just look at it, work out for ourselves that the trope of Mario rescuing the princess is a bit dated, see that as what it is: a mixture of a quaint retro charm and a product of the times in which the series was shaped?

Reply
Duncan
3/1/2017 02:52:21 pm

You could play as the Princess in SMB2 though that turnip-themed game was all kinds of weird. Ahead of it's time!

Dirty Barry
3/1/2017 04:13:15 pm

I'm so utterly relieved I've never had to face the abject horror of receiving a less preferred compliment at a time I didn't feel like being complimented. I'm sure that being subjected to devastating hate crimes such as catcalling and portrayal in the media would have destroyed any interest I had in the sciences and left me running towards other degrees and careers. After all I'd be a lickle lady, a feather in the wind, subject to influences with no autonomy.

I'm absolutely sure that all the neuroscience/other scientific research on gender roles and preferences is wrong and those lovely postmodernists in the gender studies department have got it bang on.

Reply
Pepper
3/1/2017 01:51:41 pm

Speaking of PC and the like, I found it amusing (?) that Tesco recently caved in to pressure from women to make women's razors the same price as men's; 'sexist pricing' apparently. In the feminists' desire for some kind of presumably meaningful equality, rather than say saving literally a few pence, I couldn't quite figure out why these particular people weren't advocating the questioning of the absurdness of gender razors anyway. What is a 'woman's' razor and how is its function different to a man's? Why couldn't they just buy the cheaper razor if it was about money? There's a reason why these people are called the *regressive* left. They marry so well with the aggressive right. And they share one great core commonality: being think-challenged (note, that is not necessarily the same as being uneducated). The complex, often symbiotic relationships between the think-challenged, regardless of what particular colours they wear, whether it be political, religious, etc., is fascinating to observe. I call it human safari and it is both apt and depressingly entertaining; I could talk for hours about it in all its guises.

Reply
Super Bad Advice
3/1/2017 03:25:44 pm

Ah, now the razors thing. While every news story shows some poncy multi-blade affair, the actual items in question were your bog standard 2-blade disposable thing. They were identical items for men & women aside from being pink or blue, only with a honking great extra mark-up for women's ones: rather than a few pee, it was literally twice the price. So yeah, women could buy the cheaper item, but clearly there's some shenanigans going on there. So while the effect was about the money, the principle was not charging one gender more than another for the exact same thing based on whether you're a chap or a lass. And even dafter still, the ideal solution would be to literally sell the exact same item, in some neutral colour scheme.

Which goes to show half the problem is quite often the media making out an unreasonable fuss has been made, when actually it's perfectly reasonable.

As for SMB, I can also see the point - it is a bit old fashioned to have Mario rescuing a princess, but elsewhere the big N (and even other Mario games) are far better, if not well ahead of their time (I'm thinking of one S. Aran, or Pokemon trainers). It's also an absurdly easy fix - just have Peach in as a playable character from the start and make it about beating Bowser, not rescuing a damsel in distress. Or have them rescue Toad or something. I dunno.

That said, I think we're well overdue a Zelda game where Zelda herself is the lead character.

Reply
RichardM
3/1/2017 03:40:28 pm

Willst thou get the girl, or play like one?

Pepper
3/1/2017 06:02:33 pm

I just found it interesting that those complaining about the price difference were simultaneously inherently happy that gender-neutral items could be marketed such as to effectively foster gender separation. To complain about the price difference is to inherently accept the different capitalist marketing façade that there’s such a thing as a ‘man’s’ razor and a ‘woman’s’ razor. Looked hypocritical and as though they didn’t quite notice their failure to adequately fulfil their moral philosophy. Apparently, their efforts and interests are only wallet-deep.

David W
3/1/2017 03:57:03 pm

Articles like this are too rare. Welcome back, Mr. Biffo.

I don't think there's much problem when political correctness is about being excellent to each other. What annoys me is people dismissing that approach as inadequate, rather than using it as a foundation for building knowledge of the fine details.

In fairness to Nintendo, they released Metroid in 1986, made Luigi their joke character, and confounded everyone with Tingle. There is room for improvement, though it won't do much good for the cool kids already playing GTA.

Reply
Jim Davidson
3/1/2017 04:36:44 pm

Last year you posted a link to a sweary chap all upset about liberal nazis; he talked about bullying and dialogues. I think you're expanding on that with this piece.

Like you and more than likely many here, I'm a fan of Bernard Manning, Chubby Brown and folk of their ilk... they're just funny men and their jokes, if anything, are about our struggles for acceptance. More than that, they're about celebrating our own identity and tolerance for others.

Jeff Koons (when he's not moonlighting as an artist, he's arch nemesis to The Batman) said that all any of us really want is to be accepted. Undeniably, Jeff's played it safe with that one, but if we see past the superficial wetness of that comment then we arrive at something more funny. Jeff likes telling people what they want to hear; it's good bidness. I like it when Jeff speaks because he smiles a lot. Unlike Jony Ive who makes a living being profound about chiclet keys. But both men are very successful at talking something up - they're amazing at it.
You won't hear them chuckle at women parking a car or at men multi-tasking - a lesson to us all.

Speaking of lessons - my daughter recently brought home some homework which involved writing about why it was important to respect the religious beliefs others may hold.
I told her that if I believed that an octopus with 9 arms could play 5 violins that I would be an idiot because:

1 - who taught it to play?
2 - how could it 'chin' them all?
3 - it'd need 5 pairs of arms... or a really long 'wand', which is just absurd.

She said that I'm stupid. And if you think about it, that's a lot like Jesus.

Back on message: Maybe if Peach didn't go around dressed like that.... She'd look rubbish in dungarees, though. Even pink ones.
I think she dresses for HER. Not supposed to be pink to make Bowser wink.

I should probably delete all of this....

Reply
Dirty Barry
3/1/2017 04:37:50 pm

Let's look at this rationally. Princess Peach is a dainty member of the aristocracy while Mario is a working class, immigrant plumber who has spent the last 30 years in the same pair of dungarees, crawling around in pipes, fighting off all manner of monsters. Which of these individuals has higher value as a hostage and who is more likely to do the rescuing in said hostage situation?

I hold certain Left wing views but Socjus/third wave feminism/Idpol has become so outlandishly ludicrous that it's become destructive and divisive.

It really would be best if people kept their puerile sociology homework out of and away from entertainment. Let people create freely and play the games they want to. Many Thanks.

Reply
Spiney O'Sullivan
3/1/2017 05:16:24 pm

Good point. At a moment's notice, the noble proletariat is expected to risk life and limb for his unelected tyrant. If he survives, his only reward is literally to be told "let them eat cake" before getting back to work. This game just gets more and more offensive.

Reply
S Hawke
3/1/2017 07:28:02 pm

The thing about Princess Peach is that she doesn't seem to have any parents of family members, so presumably she is ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Instead of being a damsel in distress she could therefore be seen as an authority figure in distress. Think how many films have been based around the premise of rescuing the president?

Of course, if she is ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, she's clearly totally inept. There seems to be constant civil disorder, a breakdown in national infrastructure and completely unchecked enemy incursions. All in all a sorry example of female leadership.

Reply
Spiney O'Sullivan
4/1/2017 05:49:13 pm

Are you a bad enough plumber to rescue the president?

Reply
Monkey Head
3/1/2017 08:13:35 pm

Dollar were great, their best song was O L'amour. Such a wonderful blending of their voices.

Reply
Chris
3/1/2017 08:34:05 pm

If anything, I don't think the sexism in Mario goes far enough.
Until he's re-cast as a German, and goes round to the palace to fix Peach's shower, I'm not interested.

Reply
Chris
3/1/2017 10:11:52 pm

Seriously, though, what if the roles were reversed?
The dashing, handsome, Prince Mario has managed to get himself kidnapped. Oh no! How did that happen? Surely he has guards, and as a man he should be able to fight off the likes of Bowser with his bare knuckles.
But do not fret! A working-class Polish immigrant by the name of Peach is coming to his rescue (it's her day off plumbing). Ugh! Rescued by a girl? Oh, what shame will be brought upon the kingdom!

Is that any more or less sexist? OK, it's more sexist because of my remarks. Overall... it's the same. The difference is this scenario isn't as stereotyped.

The plumber has still set out to rescue the person of their dreams. A person who has foolishly managed to get kidnapped despite all the palace security.

You could argue that having Plumber Peach as the playable character is more empowering for women. Playing Mario is more empowering for men.

There's no difference!

The only way it can stop being "sexist" is if you can play either Plumber Peach or Mario and you are rescuing someone of the same gender. But then maybe you're pandering to the LGBT crowd and therefore excluding 95% of the population... or you're being sexist because lesbians wouldn't go around getting themselves kidnapped or stand around looking pretty.

This has just reminded me of t.a.t.u (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mGBaXPlri8). Sorry, got distracted there for a minute.

Basically you're screwed whatever you do, so why not have a love interest? 50% of the population will want to rescue a beautiful princess. The other 50% would be happy rescuing a handsome prince.

Just because Nintendo has opted for the old-fashioned fairy tale version (as noted by somebody earlier) doesn't mean it's sexist. Or if it is, then all fairy tales are sexist and should be banned. That's basically Disney shut down then, isn't it?

Yes, close down Disney and Nintendo. Two of the world's companies which still have old-fashioned values. That'll teach 'em.

Reply
TY
3/1/2017 11:16:21 pm

This sort of social justice is used by rich people with no real excuse to call themselves oppressed as a way of engineering themselves into an oppressed position. It's a tool for rich, white Harvard graduates and Hillary Clinton, to blame their troubles on gender and detract from their extremely privileged positions.

Reply
Mr Hedgehog
3/1/2017 11:25:39 pm

I haven't even read the article in question. However, I shall now add my excellent and correct opinions.

1. Yes, hysterical commentary is annoying. But we live in an age where clickbaitiness is something of a financial imperative (apparently). So, "not a family friendly game" is indeed an annoying exaggeration/simplification. But if it was a sensible, lengthy, balanced article on "why I'm increasingly annoyed by the subtle and yet utterly unnecessary gender cues embedded across modern society, and concerned at how they will shape my young daughter's thinking and opportunities, in a society that is better than it was, but still contains many ongoing institutional prejudices; and how I'm going to try and stand up to them in my own sphere of influence" - would it have got as much attention? Would you have heard of it? How thrilling, succint and provocative is this nuanced and overly long paragraph? Not much, huh? Therefore, we need to give SOME leeway to the style of such articles, and concentrate more on the underlying substance, IMHO. And, in this case, there's actually no excuse is there? Selectable/random characters would have been utterly trivial to introduce 25 years ago. 25 YEARS Nintendo have had to get round to this! How long does he need to wait before he's entitled to get a bit pissy? Maybe until his daughter's about 40?

2. "You've brought this outbreak of fascism on yourselves by being too whiny" is a very dangerous argument to make. The "proportionate" response would be to (eg) lobby for more "Top Gear: Ruddy Great Blokes" games, and free WD40 for men, and stuff; not violence, harassment, discrimination etc. The extra irony, of course, being that the alt right should be quite happy to simply laugh at any stupid wishy washy hand wringing, and then just let everyone do what they want to do, ignoring what they don't agree with. Given they're meant to be reject all forms of snowflakism. Sadly, "trying to be nice to people, even if they're a bit different" seems to be quite triggering to them. To use the tedious vernacular. Seems oddly hypocritical.

In summary: 1. Yes but he's right, really, isn't he? 2. False equivalence.

Reply
Trippy Drippy Stopcock Bros.
4/1/2017 01:31:54 am

Firstly, let's call out the elephant in the room - Mr Hedgehog... Sega fanboy eh.... pfffft.

In the latest Mario game (the one with cats in) you can play as Peach.

Peach did have her own game and indeed did rescue the two hallucinogenic tradesmen. Maybe we don't see more of that because people didn't buy it in significant enough numbers. I dunno.

Miss Croft has a less ample décolletage now. Male characters still have the body of an Adonis, though... apart from our beloved Mario. He's ahead of his time.

And then we have Samus...

I can't think of any black characters in Mario games, though.

Reply
T-Wigs
4/1/2017 01:38:54 pm

Bullet Bill, Bob-omb are 2 examples....

Shakira
4/1/2017 01:56:57 pm

Bullet Bill.

Trippy Drippy Stopcock Bros.
4/1/2017 03:30:10 pm

I stand corrected!

In my defence, I hadn't really thought it through.

Kendall9000
4/1/2017 10:40:48 pm

In this case I have to say that I agree with Chris Suellentrop, no matter how "PC" that makes me. It's deeply problematic for Princess Peach to so often be rendered helpless - objectified as nothing but a trophy for the game's mustachioed male patriarch.

Fortunately, there are a few fan made indie games that give Peach back her agency as a character; putting her into the role of the rescuer, rather than the rescuee. Showing that Peach isn't just a "damsel in distress", but is in fact a strong and empowered young woman with a unique set of skills that she can use to save the day.

Rather than just condemning the blatant sexism of Miyamoto's mainstream Mario series, I think it's worth celebrating more intelligent and emotionally mature games such as Mario Is Missing: Peach's Untold Tale: http://www.aedler.com/Mario%20is%20Missing%20PUT%20AS3.swf

Reply
dolt
5/1/2017 02:10:26 pm

In Super Princess Peach you have to rescue Mario, i remember enjoying it quite a lot. Also in 3D world, Mariokart, Mario Party, the sports games, Peach is just a playable character alongside the rest - rarely these days is she portrayed solely as the 'damsel in distress'. Plus in their scripts nintendo frequently make jokes about how tired the 'rescue the princess' trope is.

Reply
Craig Grannell link
7/1/2017 10:50:51 am

" But if you're fighting a war you go for the big targets first. You secure the bridges, the strategic points... You don't fanny around in a field throwing handfuls of grenades at foreign cows to try and disrupt milk and beef production."

I agree about strategy, but not the notion of (solely) going for big targets first. The important thing is to go for the right targets, and not to lose your shit the second something appears in the market that doesn’t do what you want.

I quite often get criticism for calling out the manner in which shops face toys and other goods that are split along gender lines, in a stereotypical manner. On flagging such items (notably via Let Toys Be Toys and similar campaigns), I get crap from all kinds of people, who argue this kind of thing doesn’t matter, and people should spend their efforts trying to stop all wars or something.

Yet when I saw a friend’s daughter visibly upset at a barbecue last summer because she had blue nail varnish, it becomes clear that even these small stereotypes do have a major effect. (She was upset because she thought her nails were “weird” and said pink “wasn’t for girls”. We all tried to reassure her that her nails were cool – because they were.) And this kind of crap continues through into adulthood, too. (Blokes may not notice how often women’s products are more expensive for basically the same thing – or even less, in some cases.)

In gaming and media in general, I do think there’s still a big problem, even though things are slowly improving. Protagonists are generally male. This is the case in the vast majority of books we’ve been given for our daughter, most children’s television, and a great many games. And, again, this continues through to adulthood. The new Ghostbusters was slammed by idiots for having the audacity to cast four women as leads; but why should that really be unusual? And why is it remotely a big deal when a game is released with a female protagonist? (An indie did this on mobile a year or so back and got stick from blokes who didn’t want to play as a woman. They couldn’t understand why the dev wouldn’t add a male alternative. He dug his heels in in the end, in part to highlight the point.)

Mario is a trope and a format. The question is whether it’s harmless fun or whether we’ll look back on it in a couple of decades in much the same way as Golliwogs. Which all sounds massively humourless, I’m sure. My take is that Super Mario Run _isn’t_ going to bring down the world, and nor is it something I’d keep from a young girl. Nintendo is family friendly, and Super Mario Run is a fun, clever, interesting mobile take on a long-running series. But Nintendo could nonetheless start thinking a little more about the content it’s putting out there, and the stereotypes infused in its products. (And why not reverse Super Mario Run, at least as an _option_ to play as Peach rescuing Mario? And why can’t Peach have a little more spark, or Nintendo try a bit harder to balance gender across its products?)

Reply
Dirty Barry
7/1/2017 03:00:07 pm

https://youtu.be/p5LRdW8xw70

Reply
Craig Grannell
7/1/2017 03:07:51 pm

Er. Your point being?

Barry White
7/1/2017 03:06:56 pm

Interesting points all well made!

But it's all about business - consumer demand defines the market place.
Business will catch up eventually but only when it's absolutely prudent to do so. Ghostbusters is quite a set-back in that regard.
Star Wars Rey and Jyn prove that maybe I'm talking (about) bollocks.
My son loves both those films. My daughter is MEH about 'em.

I'm not a woman but I have a daughter, wife and mother and I can honestly say that if Peach rescued Mario it would make ZERO difference. They'd still think it was shit.
Games that involve coloured bubbles going 'POP' and correctly identifying company logos...I'm not being a dick, that's genuinely what they like! My mum likes solitaire and that's it.
My son, however, would hate running around as Peach.

So..... Forgot what I was going say.

Reply
Craig Grannell link
8/1/2017 01:54:03 pm

“But it's all about business - consumer demand defines the market place.”

Yes, but then what people want and what they need are different things, and marketing has become increasingly cynical. Head back to the 1980s and you had gendered toys, but it was rare to see split-gendered toys for toddlers. Back then, toy kitchens, say, were usually realistic in colour or in primaries. You got _a_ version of any given toy. Now, pretty much everything is in standard and pink/purple, the inference being one is for boys and the other for girls. The aim, natch, is for people to buy more, rather than to have kids share. And this followed through, to some extent, throughout our lives, with women often being charged more for basically the same thing.

Worse, I still see an awful lot of bullshit aimed at girls. No-one 20 years ago was freaking out because girls didn’t have boardgames to play – they played the same games as everyone else. Now, you have pink plastic Jenga (with ‘gossip’ suggestions), and Monopoly for girls, based around a mall/make-up, etc. It’s reductive and depressing. Arguably, businesses need to be pushed into making changes, because otherwise they will keep using the old “we’re just doing what we’re asked” after years of extremely clever and manipulative marketing. (Shops, too, are guilty of this, notably in how toys are arranged and faced. Fortunately, Let Toys Be Toys has had a lot of success in the UK and elsewhere in encouraging stores to face toys by subject matter and not by gender.)

“Ghostbusters is quite a set-back in that regard.”

I just found it astonishing how many blokes threw their toys out of their prams. I saw so many people saying “they could at least have split the team 50/50” and being infuriated by the Hemsworth character. Yet how many clamour for such changes when the genders are reversed? How many films do we still see where there are no women as leads, or one having to perform almost every role (such as Black Widow in Avengers)? The double standards are staggering.

“I’m not a woman but I have a daughter, wife and mother and I can honestly say that if Peach rescued Mario it would make ZERO difference. They'd still think it was shit.”

I’m not suggesting things will change overnight, nor that there’s not an inherent split in genders preferring certain activities or types of activity. But I do wonder how much is nature and how much is nurture. Since the dawn of videogames, we’ve had everything more or less designed for men. Things are slowly changing, but even now I’ll play dozens of games every month for coverage, and almost none will have a female lead, nor even the option for one. (Some are even worse: a male lead by default, but a female one via IAP.)

“My son, however, would hate running around as Peach.”

Fair enough, but hence my suggestion that where possible – and it should certainly be possible for a company as wealthy as Nintendo – choices should be offered. (I rather liked that indie title Boson X realised this quite rapidly. Initially, you were a scientist belting along a hadron collider, and _of course_ you were a bloke. So they just added another character a bit later, who was a woman.)

Barry White
8/1/2017 05:20:34 pm

There's no doubt that marketing can be and indeed is perceived as being cynical - I love Bill Hicks take on people that work in Marketing...
'Kill yourself. There's no joke coming...'

But I don't see it like that. My take is that it's like maths - if that equals that, then this means this.

Besides, marketing adds a little pizzazz to everything and makes the ordinary seem that bit cooler or, in the case of Apple, 'MAGICAL'.
But that's not what all this is about (I don't work in marketing, btw).

Pink Jenga and pink Nerf guns or what-have-you are interesting...
It's like Diet Coke or a Cadbury's Flake - they're both things that I'd be almost ashamed to consume in public!
I also feel a bit 'shameful' having a secret place to keep my Galaxy chocolate in.

I think you're quite right, there's no reason why people shouldn't be given the choice. Seems too obvious and yes, I agree, high profile companies like Nintendo really should know better. I don't think Nintendo are 'BAD' or anything but sure, they could do more.
Fifa added woman's football this time, for instance.

This argument also applies to different races, sexualities and the differently abled, and why do the male protagonists do for males, what Barbie has been doing for females for years; have we learned nothing! I don't have a gym-bod or a sexy tattoo on *my ripped torso.
Where do we draw the line, do you think?

Nintendo did come under fire, come to think of it, for same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life.
I don't know whether they patched that or not but one thing's for sure, they hopefully learned that the World notices and that they're expected to be more inclusive.

An update on the Peach situation - I take what I said back:
My son completed the game (Mario Run) and now plays as Peach because she makes it easier to to get all the coins, as she glides after jumping.
That can be interpreted as being patronising or empowering.
Anything Mario can do, Peach can do better!

*Not so much ripped as stretched.

Craig Grannell link
8/1/2017 05:40:05 pm

This is a reply to your 8/1/2017 05:20:34 pm, because apparently this site's software is running on a VIC-20 and won't allow you to reply to twice-nested comments…

“Besides, marketing adds a little pizzazz to everything and makes the ordinary seem that bit cooler or, in the case of Apple, 'MAGICAL’.”

There was a Lego ad not that long ago. It specifically separated the genders and had them play with stereotypical content. All entirely deliberate and forced, with the intention of increasing spend. Things become more sophisticated for adult fare, but there’s a lot of cynicism in marketing. And, yes, I used to work in marketing.

“Pink Jenga and pink Nerf guns or what-have-you are interesting... It's like Diet Coke or a Cadbury's Flake - they're both things that I'd be almost ashamed to consume in public!”

I just find it abhorrent that we’ve ended up in a place where it’s assumed girls just want pink stuff – and are peer-pressured into only wanting that. I’m not sure where this colour-coding bullshit came from, but it certainly wasn’t there to nearly this degree when I was a kid in the 1980s. Now, walk into almost any store selling children’s clothes and you get walls of pink and walls of blue (the latter offering a little extra variation). You also, helpfully, see boys being told to be BAD and do ACTION THINGS, while girls should sit there and be pretty.

“This argument also applies to different races, sexualities and the differently abled”

Yep.

“and why do the male protagonists do for males, what Barbie has been doing for females for years; have we learned nothing! I don't have a gym-bod or a sexy tattoo on *my ripped torso.
Where do we draw the line, do you think?”

The difference, crudely, is that games are often designed to have the male figure as one you want to be, and the female ones to be ones men want to fuck. It’s not about body-shaming for men, but aspiration (albeit a knuckle-headed version of that), although I don’t doubt for some people this results in the same feelings of inadequacy some women get when seeing stick-thin catwalk models.

I’m not against exaggerated fare in games or other media, but they should work within their own internal realities. A good example is the Dredd movie. Anderson’s uniform was basically the same as Dredd’s. By contrast, we often see women in fantasy stuff with ‘bikini armour’ while men are fully dressed – or superhero fare where men are muscle-bound hulks but women are more like catwalk models. (Quite why artists don’t thing, say, She Hulk wouldn’t be seriously ripped, I’ve no idea.)

“That can be interpreted as being patronising or empowering.
Anything Mario can do, Peach can do better!”

I just think that’s pretty cool your kids having fun regardless with the game. That it does offer that particular variation is great – how difficult is it to unlock?

Barry White
8/1/2017 10:32:36 pm

Hey again, Craig -

There may very well be a lot of cynicism in marketing but it's everywhere; some people at some laundrette somewhere probably have some fairly off-colour ideas. I don't think marketing is inherently cynical, is what I'm getting at.

With you on the pink, though. It's crazy and, you'll know this, isn't there a marketing term for 'pinking' something? 'Pinked'?
I heard a while back that our gender assigned colours ran opposite in Victorian times... it's all a bit vague, but we probably owe a great debt to Barbara Cartland for this!

All very well put, you're taking a very reasonable and intelligent approach to all of this. I've got a sense it's an area of particular interest to you.

Peach is somewhat difficult to unlock. You need to pass all the stages and one or two of them could be a bit taxing for a non-seasoned player.
Once unlocked, though, she's really great and aids enormously in collecting all the coins - some which really challenge the limits of what can be described as fun.

It's been a pleasure, Craig!




Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ