" @dvorak: For starters every AUG has a foregrip, its key to the design of the AUG so the barrel can be quickly removed. Secondly, control and accuracy of the weapon would be terrible because there is know way to get a firm grip on the barrel. I have fired the AUG and know of the impracticality of his pose, it is just a developer oversight. "
This is very, very sad (if it's all true). Beyond Good and Evil was certainly unpolished in spots (and I have no idea how it holds up, as I haven't played it since it came out), but that was truly a game that was greater than the sum of its parts. I can't really say how (again, it's been awhile) but something about it just WORKED. It worked really well. There were parts where my brain knew it was sorta janky, but the rest of me was having so much fun it didn't matter. That game really sucked me in a way that only the Zelda and Half Life series have managed to do. It absolutely deserves a sequel, and this news is troubling, to say the least.
Even if that's true it doesn't apply to the male gaze. If you can point to me where in "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" there's anything to suggest that it would, by all means, show me.
How do you expect me to take your argument as "purposely good humored as to reflect the tongue-in-cheek nature of Bayonetta" when in the same post you're making weird personal attacks comparing me to a televangelist?
And I'm not saying the game is going to lead ot rape. In fact, I said it wouldn't. The point I was trying to make was that it contributes to a mindset in which people are more permissive to rape, and of course, it follows logically that it would make them more likely to do it. It's absurd to say that Bayonetta is going to make you go out and rape someone, but Bayonetta in combination with the hundreds of other similar depiction across a wide range of media one might consume could certainly make it much more likely that the person consuming all of that media would have a mindset that would make them more likely to rape someone if in certain situations. It's not like I'm pulling these ideas out my ass. It's pretty basic media effects theory shit.
I mean, it's absolutely debatable. Communications researchers have been debating how much the media effects our attitudes and behaviors for years. I could be wrong about all this, but it seems plausible, and seeing it as a possibility means I'm not going to like it. That sort of thing bothers me anyway. As I've said, I don't think the game should be banned or anything, I was just saying that that aspect of is something that turns me off about the game, which is what this thread is about.
And don't tell me I'm using their experiences as a prop for my arguments. That's just flat out wrong, and a cruel thing to say. I said it so that a) you might have an idea of where I'm coming from, and how my experiences might have shaped my view of this issue, and b) because you called my knowledge of the issue into question.
And I didn't really realize why you'd try to hide that. It seemed odd to me, I figured you made a mistake or something. And then I commented on it because it seemed to me to be highly relevant to the discussion.
Words aren't designed for anything. They mean whatever the vast majority of people accept them to mean.
Bringing up Borderlands is just dumb. A RAKK HIVE isn't and cant be a sexual object because it's not a human (or something closely resembling it. Avatar might be a good example of that, not that I think it's too gratuitous there). I was under the impression that you knew what concepts like "sexual object' and "male gaze" and etc meant. Either figure out what they mean or stop making pointless diversions.
As for what I said about rape, you're just nitpicking my choice of words. Trust me, I know rape isn't really a sexual crime. i've spent too much time working with rape victims to not know that. I'm not sure where you got that I was making that connection. I was just referring to the idea of a sexual object again and trying to not be too repetitive in my choice of words. Perhaps I sacrificed clarity there, and that's my mistake.
Also, don't start attacking me. Attack my argument. And try reading what I said. Here I'll quote it again:
@JackLumber said:
" @SeriouslyNow said:
" @JackLumber said:
Perhaps what this argument comes down to is whether or not you view the game's depiction of women as a tounge in cheek, jokey sort of thing, done on purpose for the sake of parody or what have you, or if you view it as a shameless attempt to appeal to a young male audience. Personally, it seems to me to be more of the latter.
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