Network now...BLOG
Her Sex Is A Weapon
The boys are aghast. Male gamers the world over are totally tittering over Japan’s latest heroine export, the titular lead of Bayonetta. A tall splash of water in a skin-tight suit and high heeled boots, she winks at the camera, dollops lollipops and taunts the boys with, “You want to touch me?”
Bayonetta is sexy, for sure. But what I read from the commentary is shame. People are shocked by the sexuality on display. Over at our review, you guys called the game “tasteless and embarrassing” (woods_man) and said, “You should be embarrassed about the way it portrays us and what sells to us” (Rob). Scott Jones, over at the Crispy Gamer boys’ club, calls her “one of those terrifying videogame women designed to make heterosexual men feel terrible about themselves,” though he never says why. Bullet Witch, Dead Or Alive, those cosplay galleries that keep the game blogs alive – none has scandalized the boys like this game.
I’m not sure why so many guys are so aghast and even scared. (And I’m going to stick to the male perspective here, ‘cause that’s the one I have. For a different take, ask Tiff Chow or Leigh Alexander.) But I’ve gotta say, the men have got to chill. Because I’ve got a secret for you: she’s supposed to be sexy. She’s not a porn star: she’s a pop star cum supermodel.
Measure her character design against any of other pop, and you’ll be baffled what the fuss is all about. Is she really outrageous? Not if you spotted her next to Bjork at a movie premiere, or caught her on a runway at New York’s Fashion Week.
Bayonetta is glamorous. Her look makes a statement and draws the eye. She’s not a sex object, or not a helpless one – and if she were, there’d be no problem: we’re inured to all the schoolgirl-ish characters, or the women like Sonia in Ninja Gaiden II, who offer up their breasts like glazed hams at a buffet. The emboldened, the emboobened and the “wink wink, barely legal” get a regular pass, especially in Japanese games.
But Bayonetta commands the camera. She always knows where it is, and she always has a wink for it, even when she spots it in the reflection of a pair of shades. She’s putting on a show, and she’s the choreographer. This isn’t just for show, either. Her composure adds dramatic effect, because every time she loses it – say, when an old memory or an old friend presses her buttons – she can do it with nuance. She conveys a great deal with the smallest expressions.
As for her get-up, well, the form suits the function. Everything she wears either is, or echoes, her weapons. Her high-heeled boots smash her foes; her high-heel boot earrings serve as warning. The butterflies in her eyeglass frames go with the butterfly effect that takes her to safety. And the cat suit that covers her is also her deadliest weapon, flying off for fatal combo moves. Corny yes, but at least it fits the theme.
If this were any other form of pop, you wouldn’t think twice. The outrageous busts up the tedium of the acceptable. It fascinates us and fixates us. It feeds our lust for the new and surprising, for an image that punctures the everyday pablum.
You don’t need to be a supermodel. You don’t need a designer dress.
And here’s the real gotcha:
You don’t need to be a woman, either.
And of all the factors driving the men away from Bayonetta’s beauty, that last one is the key: men condemn her because they’re scared they’ll like her. Like listening to top 40, they’re scared their friends will find out. They dismiss this as cheese, the same way they dismiss Britney Spears’ first music video, the one they swear they’ve never watched straight through. Guys tell themselves they shouldn’t respond to fashion, and they’re terrified if they spend enough time playing as Bayonetta, being Bayonetta, and witnessing the power of her high-heels and endless tresses – well, at some point they’ll stop objectifying her; they’ll want to be her. She won’t invite our gaze so much as grip it, until she’s sucked us into a vortex of overpowering femininity.
But hey – that kinda sounds like fun!
Chris Dahlen writes about games, music, pop, and tech. You can find him online at @savetherobot, or drop him a line at chris [at] savetherobot.com.
Contact Us / About Us / Advertise With Us / BeltwayBlips / TechBlips / MassiveBlips / GamerBlips / FAQ
Subscribe To Edge Magazine / Corrections / Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Subscribe To Edge Magazine / Corrections / Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
>>It doesn't take Freud to notice that Bayonetta seems pretty lost without some sort of cock on her person
I wonder what Freud would think of God of War then
Riding up a one-eyed giant's back to peel back its eyelid as you thrust your mighty sword into it's taught muscle, penetrating it over and over again until spasms violently as its life fluids spill is one of the iconic pictures to market the game.
The intro is Kratos, his men lie lifeless on the ground, skewered by the weapons of the barbarians. Kratos lies vulnerable, his bald head hung limp in defeat, humiliated at the feat of the towering, muscular bearded man, feeling helpless he cries out for someone, anyone to save him, Ares hears.
Ares saves the poor boy, takes him to his bosom, but there is a weakness, the female in his life. Using Krato's flamboyant love of carnage, it is easily removed. So begins the spartan's quest to skewer the man who once saved him from being skewered himself by another man's hammer.
Kratos goes on his journey, the gods promise him "serve us, and the memory of loving a Woman shall be erased from your being!"
On his way, he encounters females. Whores, shallow, vapid whores, only good for Red Orb. What do they understand of the struggle of men? More satisfying getting Red Orb from skewering helpless, caged men.
Out of the churning seas rise great dark serpents, their long, thick, powerfully muscular necks crowned by a mighty head that lusts for the taste of Kratos. The bald spartan strains his mighty opaline muscles as the great serpent tries to swallow this mouthful of manhood.
Fighting a giant man, a giant of giant men, far far larger than any man you've handled. Can your puny sword penetrate a man this colossal? Zeus tells you, enter the man, go inside of him, put all your godly-man power into your sword, and thrust deep inside the colossus and he shall be penetrated.
Confronting your Father, who's sword is much bigger than yours (outright puny in comparison!), But then you gain the upper hand, Kratos seizes his father's sword, his two hands can barely grip the sheer girth of its handle, but the towering blade fits. The energy of wielding such a titanic sword in his two hands fills Kratos with tantalizing power, and so with the mighty sword, he penetrates his father clean through.
I'd say the issue is, if you don't like Bayonetta, it's 'cause the game didn't have enough bald men penetrating other muscular men heh.
The reason I'm scared of Bayonetta is because she has this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histrionic_personality_disorder
Girls like this are super high maintenance, super narcissistic and super fu*king annoying.
The best girls are like Yorda from Ico. Or some tweeny like Lightening from FFXIII. You dont want some gobby chav.
or real ones
The same basic principle applies in real life mate. Bayonetta is like an emotional trainwreck... i.e. pretty but avoid. U dont want some femail trauma ruining ur life.
But an emotional trainwreck is fun!
Aah, girls with 'daddy issues' - is there nothing they won't do?
An example of confident sexuality (and something to be proud of, by this articles feeling), from Sasha Gray, pornstar:
"I probably asked Rocco to punch me in the stomach that day because when you're having sex, all the wind gets knocked out of you, and that's a really euphoric feeling for me. Rough sex sometimes hurts, but that's the point--that's when the endorphins kick in and I feel good."
Sasha Gray, ladies and gentlemen, inimitable and pushing that bar higher by the minute.
*spice girls high kicks*
I'm a big fan of Anime, I particularly enjoy seeing empowered and strong female characters like Major Motoko Kusanagi of Ghost in the Shell, Elektra Ovirowa from Cowboy Bebop or my all time favourite Revy "Two Hands" from Black Lagoon. It's cool to see girls kicking ass.
Attraction and sexuality is only half the story, I think we are focusing too much of her appearance and what effect that might cause on men. Bayonetta has been designed is to be appealing to both sexes alike. Obviously from the fickle male lads magazine perspective aesthetics will always win some of us over before intellect and personality and maybe that why there's been a little controversy, because we are fearful that we’ll descend into male chauvinism. It's all a bit strange if you ask me, we're all supposed to be these modern men that can accept woman as our equals and yet as soon as they slip into a cat suit or short skirt our opinions change and we're unable to control ourselves, what's up with that ?
From a female perspective this is a girl who's been ostracized by her peers for being different. Could this be the story of thousands of young woman? Those who feel pressurized by the need to fit in or be popular, needing to be beautiful or fashionable. Just as in reality is it not plausible to suggest that the swan was once an ugly duckling? And is this not paralleled with our much loved Witch who is not only is a very attractive women but also a savage combatant that can match the strength of warriors and demon many times her size, if this isn't female empowerment, I really don't know what is?!
I have been to a few conventions were I've seen lots of female cosplayers dressed as their favourite anime and computer games heroines and Bayonetta is no different, so what does that tell you? It not corrupting at all and certainly nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about, I believe its empowering for young men and women to embrace it! So, is there a need to worry? we are sexual beings and it is just human nature to be titillated by such things.
Through Bayonetta's dialogue and body language, I get the impression that she knows exactly what she's doing and knows what she wants, she an freethinking, intelligent woman, she's certainly no airhead. She's a Lioness, beautiful and deadly, Sure her dialogue is over the top, but does that matter? Surely some of her traits cross over even if there are satirical. At the end of the day Bayonetta is just a healthy fantasy that has been brought to life through the computer games. She's not the first heroine to cause controversy and I doubt she'll be the last.
[Chris, bluecat, John_Teti and michael_sylvain : THANK YOU!]
i feel the game, like many others, was about getting rid of fear and replacing it with a kind of idea of love. i felt it's also a game about trying to be more articulate and really 'waking up' and becoming aware of oneself and feel how good it is to be completely uninhibited. so yeah, in a way it's about getting rid of ideas of sexual immorality and saying "sod it, this is who i am".
[Opps sorry - Got slightly carried away]
"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice."
- Gandhi
well i'm a guy, and i love bayonetta. i love being bayonetta and i'm not afraid of admitting it. i was pretty much sure a lot of gamers on gamespot (my regular gaming haunt) were not going to go anywhere near bayonetta, simply because you play as a girl, and a powerful one at that. what i love is her character is funny, tongue-in-cheek, delicate and feminine in a sexy, but also child-like way (the way she jumps), and furthermore embodies male characteristics as well like the deep voice, the large shoulders, and some of the stances. it's like they tried hard to get a strange balance and mixture.
a really big problem with men in general is their public shyness about sex and sexuality. it's difficult i know.. on one side there's the typical heterosexual male, and then at another extreme really camp gayness. it must be difficult for guys to express their feminine side without appearing too much like a woman, or too 'gay' as they perceive it.
anyway, you're right. i believe games can change personalities, feelings and ways of thinking. hopefully bayonetta will tell guys it's okay to embrace femininity without it being all about sex objects. and if it is about sex, so what? i think people miss out on a lot of things, and ways of thinking by being a prude.
anyway, as bayonetta says, "bring it!".
Unlike John_Tati, I think it's fair that Chris has focussed on the prudish responses to Bayonetta's version of sexuality - there is a line of response where people have been getting all squeamish about this character, and it's a bizarre response given that many of these same people will see no problem in the jiggling breasts of any other generic, but passive female game character.
And I think something John is, if not missing, then certainly underplaying, is that all the 'phallic symbol' 'subjugating male gaze' arguments ultimately defeat any real discussion of the character. It's a game. There's weapons. She's a woman. Lazy Feminist critique bingo full house - not that I'm saying that his points are lazy, just that the line of argument about how her sexuality is subjugated and configured to male desires is a false full stop. It's actually the playfulness of the sexuality being acknowledged, of it being almost a fourth-wall breaking device that threatens some men and is the interesting difference to the Hentai - the shapes may be similar but their roles are different..
The game encourages you to gawp at her abilities just as much as her assets - it's all part of the spectacle. Bayonetta comments both on how the character is playing up to that gaze as much as it gives her a voice to express her own playful, aggressive and often camp sexuality. That's not the same as being made safe and scripted by men, it's something entirely more overt, knowing and interesting. You could argue that working against the dominant attitude to women in games only means it acknowledges them, and therefore it's defined by its limitations, but that, like all the cod feminism, is just one of postmodernism's little tricks for going round in circles and talking about itself.
With possibly the exception of Beyond Good and Evil, (she uses a camera! imagine that! but you control her aim while she is under your gaze! it's just male objectification through a woman! that's worse than prostitution!) there's very few games with female characters that cannot be (mis)appropriated by that kind of criticism. And it's undeniably challenging to have this kind of character usurping a lot of what we expect - a challenge that most games don't even realise they haven't met.
It's actually my girlfriend who has the most objections to Bayonetta's shape, and she (as did I) thought it more likely to be a male-designed objectification rather than a well designed shape. But then, people have these kinds of conversations about LadyGaga too - and at least it is different to the Pamela Anderson Barbies that populate so much of gaming.
Lastly, my male friends are not frightened by Bayonetta's sexuality, per se. They're far more scared of her passing resemblance to Sarah Palin. Which just makes their brains do somersaults as they try and reconcile someone overtly and deliberately sexual with a Republican harridan. They're all scared they might secretly fancy her, not Bayonetta. Bayonetta is far more fun - and far more challenging and interesting - than clapped out right wingers. Although, for that matter, Bayonetta also upsets liberals by not being drearily feminist or dismissably generic - which is another reason why the game's so much fun.
For me Bayonetta represents a certain kind of pulp quality that the art house Japanese developers have mastered, whereas the western developers are still chasing their golden cinema. A great example is the wonderful No More Heroes. It throws around pulp imagery from star wars to tarantino (who looks conventional in comparison) and unities it all with a wonderfully ridiculous plot, a t-shirt obsession and insane blood fountains. Bayonetta does the same; the first time an enemy appears they are accompanied by a classification scene in a giant library, bayonetta's shadow shows invisible tattered butterfly wings, her strange fantasy outfit is accompanied by Armani styled classic glasses. In the same way that Suda 51's insane experiments in postmodern videogame craft are not extensions of japanese pop culture but reactions to it, Bayonetta lies on the other side of that important boundary, a reaction to the hentai, sexualisation and sub-pornographic material that people want to place it alongside.
This combination of garish flair and intelligent design is what makes the few great art house Japanese studios an asset to gaming, they understand that at their base videogames are a flamboyant and tacky medium, filled with cheap tricks and flashing lights and to this end they build games with aesthetics that take this and run with it. And what lies beneath this shell of kinder surprise plastic? a beating heart of pure unadulterated gameplay.
I sent this in an email to my friend Chris, who I think does some of the best game writing on the web -- scratch that, in any medium -- but who I took issue with here. He invited me to post it in the comments, so here it is, slightly edited.
--
Chris,
Your reading of the game is smart (even if I disagree with it), but I believe your characterization of differing views is somewhat unfair. I reject the notion that if a heterosexual male finds fault with Bayonetta, he's probably "scared." That strikes me as intellectually dishonest.
I was disappointed with Bayonetta the character, not because she scares me, but because she bores me. You compare her to a fashion runway model, which is an interesting line of thought, and a compelling one. I think another, perhaps more direct aesthetic lineage, is that of hentai figures, those 18" idols whose impossible physiques populate the display cases of countless Tokyo anime/manga shops. Browse the hentai figures section at play-asia.com and you will encounter any number of Bayonetta's ancestors, including a whole sub-genre of impossibly long-legged sexy witches. And just like Bayonetta, you can make their clothes come off, too! I'm bored with this.
The commenters who you quote in your article don't seem so "shocked by the sexuality" to me. You glossed over an important insight in Rob's comment. Note that he's not talking about how the game portrays Bayonetta, but rather about the way the game portrays "us." This is an astute and essential observation. The game DOES implicitly portray the viewers by way of, among other devices, its cinematography, and it portrays us as a leering, pubescent bunch. You cannot tell me that when the camera lingers over Bayonetta's ass that she's not a sex object, that we are witnessing a triumph of female assertiveness in the HD rendering of her glutes.
Whatever power the Bayonetta character has is made "safe" by its systematic subjugation to a heterosexual male gaze. Far from being in danger of overpowering femininity, we are constantly reminded that she is an object of hetero male desire. Case in point: The first cutscene to feature Bayonetta has her screaming at her burly male cohort for "Guns! Guns! Guns!" -- he just can't hurl those explosive phalluses at her fast enough! She needs them so much that she ends up strapping them to every appendage, and shoving a lollipop in her mouth whenever she gets the chance, for good measure. But hey, she also winks and sashays and tosses off a bunch of one-liners, so yeah, girl power!!!!!
It doesn't take Freud to notice that Bayonetta seems pretty lost without some sort of cock on her person, which is why she is almost never seen without a phallus at the ready. But maybe this just symbolizes her exciting power of sex, right? Sure, just like Circe and her magic wand were the Greeks' way of saying that female sexuality is completely awesome and not terrifying at all.
And there's the rub. For the most part, I don't think that those who are criticizing Bayonetta are so fearful of her sexuality. Rather, they perceive that the game espouses a testosterone-centric theme of female sexuality as fearsome, and they recognize how tired and oafish that is. That's not to say that this ancient theme can't be reappropriated in interesting ways (as per your examples from pop), but Bayonetta does little more than combine it with a worn hentai aesthetic that is designed to placate sexually frustrated boys. The game's story is laughably incoherent, its single-entendre innuendo is ham-fisted ("CLIMAX attacks!" Clever!), and its action is a well-executed but unalloyed power fantasy. Yes, it is intended as camp, but it's not very clever camp. Intentions matter little if they're not carried through with success in the execution.
Returning to your essay, I think it is a mistake is to cast critics' embarrassment and disdain as fear of sexuality. Though it is convenient to drape oneself in the vestments of sexual progressivism, it's unfair and a bit bully-ish to cast other interpretations as the fearful protests of sexually repressed prudes. Not only am I unafraid of Bayonetta's sex, it is my very desire for full-fledged female sexuality in games that makes me put off by her (or, more specifically, her overall presentation in the game).
In sum, it's not our disagreement that bothers me, as your interpretation is engaging and thoughtful, as usual. My only real objection to your piece comes in with the armchair psychoanalysis bit, the "men condemn her because they’re scared they’ll like her" angle. I just don't know how an earnest straight-male interlocutor is supposed to respond to that. Sure, sometimes you have to analyze the broader audience, but this type of broad accusation undermines the potential for an honest conversation about the game. I mean, I could tell you how awesome I think sex is (very awesome) and how important I think it is that games are allowed to explore sexuality with the same depth as any other medium. But if my viewpoint has already been discredited as that of a prude, what I say doesn't much matter. My protests only serve as further evidence of how sadly closeted and repressed I supposedly am.
Anyway, this column was still more worthwhile than much of the gaming stuff I read, but hey, I perceive you as working on a high standard, and I wanted to say my piece.
P.S. Bluecat, your analysis of Bayonetta was even more interesting than Chris' take! My compliments.
But Bayonetta is the master of those phallic implements, they serve her whole heartedly. The lollipop in her mouth is for her own pleasure.
Indeed.
I saw the opening cutscene as more being look, she can shoot with here feet, how awesome is this, than any particular reference to her status as an object of desire. But then again at no point have I considered the guns to be a phallic symbol.
By the way, I should also acknowledge a blog post by my friend, music tech researcher Paul Lamere. He writes about a list published by Last.fm of the tracks that people consider "guilty pleasures" - songs that people play and then erase from their scrobble history, so that nobody will know they listened to them. Guess what sort of artists were at the top of the list?
Interestingly, the sort of music that I happily embrace. I don't like Britney Spears, Three aside, but thats nothing to do with her being a woman, sexy or no. I freely admit to owning, listening to and liking Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Natalie Imbruglia, Mel C, Little Boots, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Janet Jackson, Avril Lavigne (the first two albums anyway), Christina Aguilera, Pink and Vanessa Carlton. Kylie Minogue is one of my all time favourite artists. Alisha's Attic were amazing, and Karen Poole has gone on to provide most of the pop artists of the last decade with their hit songs.
I frequently have people taking the piss out of me for this, but at the end of the day, that list kicks out solid pop songs.
Heh, I love Avril's first record, and Imbruglia's "Torn." Anyway, I listen to prog rock and hipster bands, so if anyone should hang his head in shame, it's me.
DUDE - I OBJECT!
What about Madonna?
Also, Alisha's Attic = Win!
Madonna I can take or leave. I do like her, but she's had a lot of 'meh' tracks. The others I'd say I like the vast majority of their output.
By male gamers do you mean heterosexual male gamers?
I'll admit I was one of the one's on the review slating the over sexualisation of the character. This was not born out of any prudish sentiment. I wholeheartedly endorse the overt expression of sexuality. I have embraced early 90's Madonna (not literally), modern day Jenna Jameson and Tom of Finland. However, it is precisely because of the DOA's, the Soul Calibur 4's and the DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyballs that I (perhaps wrongly) assumed that Bayonetta was more of the same but taken to the extreme. Not a powerfully sexually aware character but a grotesque puppet show staged for the benefit of the heterosexual male gaze. That is not empowering at all; that's just sad, tasteless and tacky. This article has made me think again. In any case I have committed the cardinal sin of literary analysis in that I have not actually played the game. So I shall keep my mouth shut now.
Well, love her or loath her she certainly has made a splash and got people discussing such issues which is great. But seriously, dude: "vortex of overpowering femininity"? Ha ha!! For real?
she has a move in the game called something-something vortex (i can't remember). and in the shop where you buy the new moves it describes it just like that! she jumps into a 'magic portal', and shoots from under it, then has a bit of a lie down with her legs wide open. lol.
Sorry, yes - heterosexual male gamers.
I strongly urge people to play the game, or at least the demo, and draw your own conclusions. You may end up not liking the way the game handles Bayonetta and her hypersexuality - but it is qualitatively different from the T & A in games like Dead or Alive.
Oh, and the "vortex" - yes. For real.
I have played the demo but I really think a playthrough of the full game would be necessary before entering into discussions of this depth.
Re: the vortex - sounds deadly! :-)
Bayonetta the game is a celebration of video games in general. Bayonetta the character is a celebration of the stereotypical male fantasy of what they might consider the "ideal" female. Smart, over-sexed, well-versed in stripper dance moves and strong, curvy legs that go on for miles. I think the only thing missing from the picture is a Lara Croft-ian huge rack.
My own response to her: I enjoyed looking at her far more than I care to admit in polite company.
...waiting for Bayonetta porn. Oh, wait, it's already all over the net. lol.
Bayonetta is a kind of character that is almost non-existent in videogames: a strong, confident, cocky, aggressive woman. Her blatant sexuality is for her own amusement, not the amusement of others (more Lady Gaga than Brittney Spears if that makes sense). She is not the typical mainstream male fantasy. She is a physically imposing amazon; a tower of strength.
Unlike most game characters, Bayonetta was designed by a woman, Mari Shimazaki, who has embued the character with a genuinely feminine presence that goes far deeper than the typical male wish fulfillment designs out there.
I think it really speaks to the strength of her design that she is so appealing to a gay audience. From what I can gather, the most essential quality of a gay icon is unshakable self confidence. I imagine this is because a healthy self esteem is hard to come by when most mainstream society disapproves of such a basic, quintessential, unchangeable part of your identity. Most gay people I know grew up with alot of secret fear and anxiety which had to be overcome later in life. This experience is easily related to the character of Bayonetta, who is a witch who was both shunned by mainstream society as well as her own culture. Since birth, she has been told that her existence is an aberration. But rather than accepting fate, she has fought it and come out as a strong, aggressive individual; what many people would call "flamboyant."
Given the obstacles she had to overcome, her flamboyance makes alot of sense to me. As does the flamboyance of some of my gay friends. When the whole world is against you, it's up to you to tell yourself how awesome you really are. I think it's pretty neat that Bayonetta has helped me understand some of my real life friends better.
I have alot of respect for Platinum Games. So far, all their games have been fiercely individualistic. I really hope Bayonetta does well. I really hope a wide audience can see that there's something special about it, rather than marginalize it as just another cheap, pandering, sexy-action-babe game. At the very least, I hope that gamers who are looking for something unique and more substantial will look past what they perceive to be the superficial qualities of the game and see the real heart that lies underneath.
Yeah dude, was meaning to say actually, as a gay man myself I was really touched by what you wrote.
awesome blog post man. i never thought of that.
I definitely thought it was just another hack-and-slash button masher, but with a scantily clad chick to appeal to the adolescent demographic.
Reading your analysis makes me think maybe I should give this game a good look.
Thanks.
Bluecat, this analysis is awesome - thank you for sharing that.
Well said.
My only worry is that, whether the character's personality is strong or weak, the vast majority of female characters are presented in some sexual light. I agree that Bayonetta is a preferable character to most, but we are still focussing on her sexuality - when there is clearly more to women than that. It might be nice if more female characters could be presented who, whether or not they are strong willed or weak willed, or whatever characteristics they have, their sexual side is irrelevant, or at least not significantly focused upon. Until that happens it reminds me of the fact that very few ethnic actors get roles that are not written specifically for their ethnicity because this is always an "issue" - it would be nicer to see ethnic characters for whom their ethnicity is just present, but not a focus.
Well, I think it's got to be done in steps. In Bayonetta you have a character who relishes their sexuality; plays with it; owns it. Continuing the analogy with pop music, I would say she's the gaming equivalent of Madonna - 1980s/early 90s era. This doesn't mean that what she does is bad, prurient, or perverted, but merely that she fills a niche that until now has mostly been vacant - the sexually outgoing main female character, who drives the story forward, pushing the game to its conclusion. So far removed from the female fighting game cliches of real-physics-motion boobs as it's possible to get. 1
The next step is to explore the other qualities that you mention - powerful, dominant, weak-willed, vacuous, etc - female characters whose sexuality isn't the main personality trait. Again, with the pop music analogy, we have Madonna, now where's the Enya or Sarah McLachlan? Hopefully, Bayonetta will broaden the landscape for female main characters. I certainly don't think it will harm it.
1: As I was writing this, I thought of all the games which allow you to create your own main chara - Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 being the most recent. I wonder how many powerful female characters - whose sexuality is irrelevant for the most part - are created to fill the niche that these games can obviously fill. Powerful female personalities that drive the story forward. Whilst these games are to be commended for allowing character creation choices, it's sad that the default main character of ME2 is a man. I watched the trailer and immediately thought "That isn't Shepherd!" because my main character is a woman. We need to move past this (even if it's just to have alternative trailers, with both male and female characters).
Might sound a tad obvious, but Alyx from Half-Life 2 seems to pop to mind. Problem there being that it didn't really set a trend. Even Portal gave you what was essentially a female Gordon Freeman (ie speechless protaganist).
Any others we can think of?
That's a good shout, but the fact that, out of all the game characters in existence, only Alyx pops to mind kind of proves my "vast majority" point. I can't see a huge number of suggestions, ten or even twenty (if we even get that high) isn't anywhere near enough, considering the pool, to contradict my point. I'd say the fact we're having to make an effort to think about it at all is evidence enough.
what about samus, pre-zero suit? i always felt samus was either a woman trapped in a man's body ('the power suit'), or.... a woman wanting to experience what it would be like to be a man (again, the 'armour'/'power' suit gained from the chozo). i used to love it when samus died in super metroid, because the animation was so fine and delicate, showing her suit burst off and shatter; a woman underneath all that metal.
of course, i hate the zero-suit fan-made images and to an extent the real ones. samus has never been about that. it was just always nice to know that there was a real woman underneath the suit, even if you never saw her.
i think alyx is over rated.
Definitely. Thats what I was trying to get across, that its a real shame that Alyx's characterisation, regardless of the overwhelmingly positive response to her place in Half-Life, no trend was set.
Other than that the odd character pops up that seems like they want to break the mould of negative portrayal, but in honesty doesn't: see (a) Mass Effect's Ashley who pretty much fits the Michelle Rodriguez role to a tee; (b) Faith in Mirror's Edge, but only because she wasn't overly sexualised and otherwise I felt was extremely one-dimensional; (c) perhaps a bit controversial but Samus from Metroid because yes she is female, but considering that you can essentially assume she is genderless for the majority of the games is seems like a moot choice.
I recall Farah from Prince of Persia recieved a fair bit of positive attention for her protrayal in Sands of Time (won't reiterate here as EDGE already wrote a decent article on Sands of Time that was posted here on the website).
Think the key word here is pop: I only played the demo just yesterday, but the whole thing was poppy from the music to the actions to the way you dance around during a fight. It worked. Yeah it was campy, but was also alot of fun. The whole thing was just spectacle and bombast so I don't particularly see the issue.
Anyway, i'd much sooner play as Bayonetta then whatever the hell that thing from Ninja Gaiden is.
"Vortex of overpowering femininity"???
You sound as if you're slightly obsessed with Ms. Bayonetta Chris... and that's a little worrying. Have a glass of milk lad.
Before I say anything else, I for one quite liked the game. I'd give it a '8'.
Bayonetta is just very camp and that's about it. Camp music, camp design, camp voice acting. Just...camp! Putting Bowie in there though is an insult to the man. Same with mentioning Bjork - I don't seem to remember Bjork strutting her stuff in a jugs-out leather catsuit. What a daft article.
I saw Bjork at the Austin City Limits music festival a couple of summers back and the woman likes her costumes. Lets just say that a "jugs-ouot leather catsuit" would be one of the tamer things the Icelandic pixie has worn. (The round egg-man suit thing she wore at ACL was just plain weird... but she does have the cutest way of saying "thank you Texas", it comes out sounding like "sink you Teex-as".)
You don't remember Bjork's swan dress?
Bowie's more talented then a fictional video game character for sure. But I brought him up because I don't see Bayonetta in the same category of "T & A" as other game characters - her get-up, attitude and poise remind me more of glam-rock, Bowie and Bolan.
Forget cosplay - Bayonetta would make a terrific drag icon.
Hmm, I think the swan dress isn't anywhere in the same league as a fetishistic dominatrix outfit with guns for stilettos. And Bjork's not as sexually supercharged as Bayonetta in terms of personality. Bowie wasn't really either in those days. I'm not convinced Chris.
As for your drag icon suggestion - I completely agree with that. She definitely is that.
I'd love to like to see a drag queen lead character - Just to camp it up to the max... Maybe a co-op character for Bayonetta 2?
Class - co-op with a Drag Queen!
"No I'M Bayonetta, you can be Lily Savage' I would buy this game then for sure.
Thought Bayonetta makes a better silhouette than lara croft, but I don't go for birds with glasses and her plummy voice makes me wanna smash my tv. You know sultry, suggestive women are the most boring in bed, don't you?
Would I be intimidated by her? No. If we were making the devils music and she told me she thought I was a weak man with a small dick that couldn't get her off, I'd still spooge, smirk and strut home.
Women like this think they are above all men but they all still bow to the bone somewhere. So just remember, if that cock-tease at work ain't getting it off you, she's getting it off someone, and they're usually the steroid type anyway - their drugged up drooper of his ain't working for her, she's bored and wants some extra-curricular, so she comes teasing you but knows that Brutus at home would knock your teeth out in a jiffy, so nothing happens except you just 'fantasise' about it and cry.
All in all, I'd give it an 8.
regarding the glasses thing, i think bayonetta partly satarises the internet 'scene girl'. but not sure if the scene girls are satarising themselves. hmm. probably, but whilst still enjoying the lime light firmly upon their faces.
Nah - I think she just got astigmatism.
hahaha!
Someone made the point, on the forum I believe that Bayonetta is more Lady Gaga than Britney Spears. I can certainly see it, and apparantly Chris does with the Bjork comparison.
Awesome blog Chris. I was pretty amazed at the wave of prudish fear among male gamers that has followed this game. Granted I didn't actually hear anyone decrying it till I came to Edge Online.