Knights of the Old-fashioned Republic

My boyfriend and I have been playing KOTOR (well, mostly he plays it while I cook and bake in the adjoining kitchen- a very extreme role reversal around our apartment, actually). We had gotten about 16 hours into the game when I remarked upon the amusing dialogue choices available to his male avatar when speaking to female characters. My boyfriend then informed me that the suggestive lines of dialogue are available to the male main-character if you so choose to be male. When I inquired about the female avatar I was told that if you choose a female character you will get hit on.

Hold the phone! You mean the Old Republic of Star Wars has the sexism that we have here on Earth? Though the concept of such an element of male-character gameplay probably had the intentions of humor and fun, it was a bad decision to implement it in the game as it can only be executed poorly under the circumstances. Here are some reasons why it was a bad decision:

1) It reinforces the idea that suggestive language is acceptable and useful for men in any situation. Sure, a female character may quickly dismiss your suggestion that she feels "tingly" when thinking about all the ways you could "misuse the force", but you never get a light saber through the chest or even a force slap to the face. Hell, you are even encouraged to hit on women- one of the missions on the volcano planet requires you to tell a woman she's beautiful before she allows you to join her on a mission to retrieve an artifact to bring to the leader of the Sith Academy. Normally I wouldn't invite you to hit on a female warrior unless you wanted some vibroblade decapitation with your swift kick to the balls- reducing powerful women to sex objects denies them their position and accomplishments and can make then rather hostile. Why the women in this game put up with it so well is beyond me (methinks this is the fantasy of some Star Wars nerds who ended up planning this game and always wanted to engage in sexual innuendo with Princess Leia).

I also fail to see any consequences of choosing the inappropriate lines of dialogue, which is the real kicker. Such language is then insinuated to be acceptable because there is no backlash for making a bad decision about what you say to women in casual conversation (granted, what you say to a member of either sex can have bad consequences in places that actually relate to missions, though you can often just restart conversations if necessary and choose different options). This would be all fine and dandy if all people were sensitive to sexist language and the power/privilege that comes with being male in this society, but alas that is not so. I can't imagine this game makes people any more sensitive to such power dynamics.

2) It reinforces the idea that suggestive language is intrinsic to and expected of men. I don't know, but I might find it a little insulting if I were a man and learned that the male character would automatically be the one getting all the suggestive dialogue. It seems to suggest that men are the only ones who have such banter or that they are inherantly sex-crazed maniacs who can't have a conversation with a woman without making reference to someone's naughty bits at some point. Men are fully capable of restricting their language to reduce offensive comments, and indeed you are given that choice in the game, but isn't it a little unfair that only the men are allowed or expected to use the suggestive lines of dailogue? It's not a frat culture where all the male padawan learners are required to down a keg, sleep with women, and catcall outside the OWK house to become indoctrinated into the Jedi army, but there's a certain expectation that men are the only ones who can and will make snide sexual comments to women and treat them disrespectfully based solely on their biological sex and physical appearance.

3) The game does not show any affects at all of sexist attitudes, thereby removing all context of and responsibility for sexist behavior. Your female party members never talk about past sexual trauma, assault, or rape; being afraid to walk the streets of Taris late at night; the discomfort of gawkers and fondlers on the public transit system in Dantooine; or the conscious decision to wear their Jedi robes loosely around the middle and cover themselves up to the neck because they do not wish to invite unwanted advances. If we're going to make the Old Republic so much like sex relations here present-day America, why not go the whole nine yards? Deciding to include sexist behavior and language in favor of men without having any sort of societal context displaying the environment which results from and allows such behavior and language is irresponsible because it reduces and eliminates the concerns and grievances real women have about sexism in real life. If the people in KOTOR run around doing sexist things without the women having to suffer any repercussions from it, then what are all these real women complaining about? I know it's unfair to relate gaming behavior to the gamer, but you have to wonder if sexist people don't enjoy sexist media. We all know they do, and KOTOR doesn't do anything to change anyone's sexist inclinations because they still aren't forced to see the faults and consequences of sexism.



These things are by no means limited to KOTOR, or video games in general for that matter. Honestly, though, the game is fun despite my beefs with the character personality stereotypes that got attached to the player-character in the design of the game (and trust me, that isn't even the beginning to my list of grievances with the Star Wars mythos). It still irks me that I can't play the character I want because KOTOR gameplay doesn't offer enough of an escape from the sexism that I experience in real life, but, then again, wielding two light sabers at once....

Gamers by Numbers

Every gaming article in mainstream media sources that I've had the displeasure of reading lately has inserted numbers to make a point. Percentages, averages, ranges- all meant to support their argument and color their article with the indisputable truth that is connoted by the presence of numbers. Would you believe that newspaper writers are 400% more likely to die by choking on rubber chickens than anyone else? Why wouldn't you? I put numbers in there! And because the number is so high there must be a rubber chicken choking epidemic, right?

Lately, in all the hubbub surrounding GTA IV, some writer for the newspaper here in Minneapolis (I won't even link to it, for fear of encouraging more traffic for their site) used the statistic that the average gamer is a male between the ages of 29 and 32. Wow, that fact is just tinged with all sorts of fun. Firstly, "average" does not equal "predominantly". If other statistics are to be believed, males aren't much more than half of the gaming audience and I doubt that they all fall in the 29-32 age range. Secondly, that statistic is used for that article because the author wants to make women and men of that age feel guilty for either being that guy playing GTA IV or being married to that guy playing GTA IV (doubly ashamed if they have children) and she doesn't make any mention of women playing the game (because women gamers don't exist for her purposes). She uses numbers to make her illogical and self-righteous point about GTA IV being morally corrupting garbage ruining the men and general youth of America. (Coincidentally, she pretty much argues that patriarchy, sexism, and violence are having ill effects on our culture, but instead she chooses- poorly -to focus on one piece of media which can hardly take all the blame she flings at it.)

There was a study I ran into as well that said teen girls who played "a lot" of M-rated titles were up to three times as likely to say they had destroyed property just for fun. I am extremely skeptical of this "fact" because they never say what type or amount of damage would be seen from the most violent of these girls who supposedly play these M-rated titles. Perhaps the worst thing any of them did was carve in or write on their school desks, but who's to know that if the writers let you assume that they make bombs in their garages and spray paint crude words on ambulances. In the next paragraph, the researcher reminds the reader that "...the actual number of kids who do these things is pretty low", which attempts to put these numbers into perspective without giving away exact calculations or insight. I can still see how people would take the "facts" from this article and use it to speak out against teens playing video games though the incidents of violence are very few and there's nothing in this study that says video games influence or cause this 'property damage'.

It's bothersome to see numbers being thrown around. Statistics like those above are naturally misleading if no context is given as to the sample size or other factors of the study. Personally, it's very annoying to have averages and percentages used in a way which is disproportionate and exaggerated, making the numbers work toward some motive which they do not necessarily support if examined properly.

Just wanted to say a quick word about that.

Monster of the Week

Welcome to Monster of the Week, a Monday feature that looks at a monster from a game we really love. Whether you have to shoot at it, knock it out of the park, punch it in the face or RUN AWAY!, it'll be in this column if it impressed us. There might be spoilers in here, so if you haven't played the game, you have been warned.

Week 2: Green Grass and High Tides (Hard or Expert), Rock Band


Well this week's monster isn't really what you might consider a true enemy in a game, but it's evil enough.



Here's a video of a really great band playing in expert, which is something I and the members of the F# Belles are completely unable to do. The song is quite long, so you don't have to watch the whole thing. It has some amazing guitar solos in it though, so if you want to have a better idea of what I'm talking about, it might not hurt to watch a minute or so after the singing starts.

Location: If you sort songs by difficulty.... IT IS AT THE BOTTOM.
Audio: The Outlaws (and eventually a booing crowd)
Kill?: Myself and Amy of Thwomp Factory make it a point to attempt this game at least once a week (including a bassist and a drummer--I sing) with everyone playing on at least Hard. I've probably played this song a total of 15+ times, and have only seen it to its end once: during the 58-song marathon, when all played on Medium. We're not really the kind of Rock Band-playin' folk who are all hard-core and extremely dedicated. [Failing] this song sort of exemplifies our mentality--fail a couple times, lose some fans, then give up. The song is something like 9 minutes long and has at least three guitar solos within. Suffice to say, I'm sure once this song is successfully beaten, it won't be played for a long time.
Other: Just thinking about this song's length, the ridiculous rate at which it speeds up and the irritating random "Awesome" for singing is enough to make me hate playing this song forever. I will admit, besides the pointless tamborining and the very sparse star power (or whatever it's called) activation windows, the challenge gets a teeny bit easier every time. I believe when we first started, we were lucky to get 50% of the way through...now we're getting into the 70's or 80's before someone craps out and takes us with them. In-fighting!

The Good, the Bad, and the Lovely: April Ryan (The Longest Journey, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey)

"The Good, the Bad, and the Lovely" puts female characters under the microscope and then injects a healthy dose of feminism.

April Ryan is perhaps my favorite video game heroine. Oh, let me count the ways... (*spoilers to follow*)

In The Longest Journey, April possessed a power called "shifting" which allowed her to travel between two twin worlds as the balance between them was threatened. During the game she travels around both worlds and beyond to restore the balance and ensure the safety of the peoples and creatures contained within.

April is the everywoman: She goes to school, has a job in the local cafe, hangs out with friends, and even has an obnoxious neighbor who hits on her constantly. The first part of the game is almost solely devoted to showcasing April's life and concerns. She worries about avoiding creeps and finishing her homework until she discovers the very world could fall apart without her help. April is endearing to the player because of these real-life struggles and also because she's practical, witty, smart, self-reliant, and caring. Not only is that the sign of a good producer or writer, but also much credit needs to be given to April's voice actress, Sarah Hamilton (who you will hear for hours during gameplay and not tire of).

Notice that nowhere above did I mention a love interest or a beloved family member (in fact, she has all but abandoned her family) or picking up the mission of the game just on a whim. April takes on the adventure because of the powers and talents she possesses, but most importantly because she is the only one that can, not because she's fighting for a certain person or for her own self gain. There is no personal gain in her adventure at all- in fact she has to let go of all her ties to her life and herself to complete the journey (making her personal one "The Longest Journey"). It's a selfless act which exposes her pain, her passions, and her insecurities (and, thankfully, none of her naughty bits).

But, she discovers that she was not destined to fix the balance after all.

She played an integral role in restoring the balance, yes, but she was not destined to end her journey there as its Guardian. Suddenly she is abandoned by fate and left without purpose. She discarded her life, her friends, her world, and her very soul to restore the balance only to find out that the role she was to take was destined for another. Relieved of the responsibility she had prepared for, she felt lost.

Enter Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. We learn that, since the last game, April has lost her shifting powers and can't return to her own world, confining her to the twin world she discovered in TLJ. Since then she has struggled to understand what her purpose is, if not to maintain the balance. However, the world in which she now lives has troubles of its own and she creates a resistance to the forces who are beginning to seize control. In Dreamfall she becomes disillusioned, but still has the will, strength, and independence she gained in TLJ and continues to do what she believes is right, regardless of the consequences.

April is a great character who is relatable and realistic in almost all aspects. She's very strong-willed and thoughtful (and sensibly dressed). Her purpose is to fight for the greater good and to improve the lives of others without compromising herself or falling into the pitfalls of other female protagonists (love interests, sexualized image, etc.). Most of all, April is great because she embodies the aimlessness and helplessness we all feel about our purpose while she struggles to make a difference and follow her heart and mind. Her struggles can be epic, but she also has personal and universal troubles we can all relate to.

April Ryan, you're my hero.