File Under: Gaming Culture, Everybody!
Via The Escapist:
“In terms of her body type, I think certainly people on the Internet have spent way more time thinking about Elizabeth’s chest than I have. It’s something I’ve barely thought about,” he said in an interview in the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine.
“It’s disappointing when [Elizabeth’s chest] becomes a focus for conversation because that was never my intent and it’s sort of a disincentive – I’d much rather talk about what she’s going through as a person, but whatever, they have the right to shout out whatever they want,” he continued, suggesting that he’s thought about it a lot more than he’s letting on. Furthermore… hey. Hey! My eyes are up here, jerkwad.
Let’s look at Elizabeth, shall we?
Really? You give her a disproportionately ample bosom, put it up on display in a corset, and then you’re surprised and offended that people comment on it? Seriously?
Please don’t try to escape blame here. If you didn’t want people to comment on how sexualized she is, don’t fucking sexualize her. Plain and simple. Look at the average proportions of women with her approximate frame, render that shit, and then you might have a leg to stand on.
Best comment, from Kirill Cirillo:
Wow it’s almost like unnecessarily sexualizing a female character takes away from their dramatic impact among an audience composed largely of teenage males.
There’s no problem with sexy characters, but there’s a real problem with unnecessarily sexualized characters. Subtle but important difference. I hope I’m not talking too fast for you, Levine.
I find it interesting that this happens. I wonder how much of this is unconscious versus conscious. Since there are designers who rate the fuckability of their characters, there have to be some who actively try to make sex objects out of their female characters, but his comments seem to imply that he just hasn't thought about it. Not to forgive him, but in the case where we're just not aware of the message of our work, there is immense possibility for education.
I also would love to see someone like Aaron Diaz (Dresden Codak) go into depth about how to evoke a period with highly gendered clothing without sexualizing or diminishing the people in it. When I look at Elizabeth, I see the corset for what it actively communicates (that she's high society and that she's shielded from activity as follows from her role in the semi-victorian society?). The question I ask is whether 1. it would be okay if her chest size was dimished? and 2. whether allowing the language of fashion to work is acceptable if the characterization beyond her clothing is up to the task?
–P