If you've played the first 30 minutes of Batman: Arkham City, you'll have been introduced to Catwoman, who's been trussed up above a vat of acid by Harvey Dent before a baying crowd of meathead inmates. We described her in our review as "outrageously sexualised", but Film Crit Hulk takes a rather more aghast view of her characterisation:
"THIS IS NOT OKAY. DO YOU EVEN, LIKE, GET HOW SEXISM WORKS?"
His point is that the game's lascivious depiction of her body isn't necessarily a problem - it's that the game has an exploitative attitude to her depiction, in terms of the inmates' comments about her and what she says and does; it's presented without comment or meaning, and as such is just titillation. And to head off any defence based on her combat skills: "THE WOMAN AS ACTION HERO IS NOT SOME SHORTCUT TO GIRL POWER. SHE’S ENTIRELY VAPID."
Though the game hardly encourages you to side with the inmates' dumbly sexist lines about Catwoman, she's certainly not given any character that elevates her above being a skin-tight suit and improbable cleavage that spouts luridly vampish one-liners. Hulk thinks this is "A VERY, VERY BIG DEAL', partly because it'll infect with these values the children who'll inevitably play the game.
Maybe - but it's at least a terrible shame, especially as Catwoman in mainstream culture rarely gets a portrayal that's worthy of her potential as a character. The Frank Miller comic Year One started to show her in a more interesting light - as a prostitute who develops the alter ego to break away from her abusive pimp - and Tim Burton's Batman Returns has her as a mistreated secretary who hates men. Though hardly profound, they at least give her some formed identity.
Ultimately, we should expect a little more from a game that otherwise treats Batman so well, and a little more respect for the people who play it.
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Jordan Mechner has put together into a 300-page ebook and PDF the journal entries he wrote during the seven years he took Prince Of Persia from notebook scribbles in 1985 to the finished thing in 1993. To quote: "You’ll read what I wrote in my journal on the day I videotaped my kid brother running and jumping to model the prince’s moves; the day I gave up on the project; and the day I decided to finish it after all."
It's really detailed, personal stuff. Download a free sample of the first 40 pages, or the full thing.
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Editor of legendary UK satirical magazine Private Eye and Have I Got News For You co-star Ian Hislop is invited to play Grand Theft Auto IV for BBC radio programme I've Never Seen Star Wars. The section starts around 9m30s in (readers outside the UK may not be able to access it, we're afraid).
His opinion? "Execrable." Asked whether the game might be dangerous, he replies, "I would imagine it blunts your sensibilities somewhat if you spend all day imagining that this is the real world. I can't think it can be a terribly good thing for children to do. Real life is much more interesting." Marks out of ten for the experience? Two. Brilliant.
Comments
13Ian Hislop is pretty execrable himself, and I'd struggle to give him even 2/10.
I had to look up what execrable meant.
One might question, in a game where you can choose to not excessivley break the law and instead go bowling, dating and drinking, what Mr Hislop is doing in GTAIV that he finds so execrable.
You know, since one assumes he's in control of Nico and all. He could simply lead Nico around the streets on foot marvelling at the sights; it's a boring way to play it, perhaps, but not morally dubious in the least.
I'm thus laying the blame at Mr Hislop's door
It's the description of the game that made me feel tired. It pulls out all those points that people outside of games dwell upon: shooting policemen, jacking cars, having sex with prostitutes; they never mention the realisation of the city itself, the feel of the driving, the playful sandbox. And Marcus Brigstocke, despite claiming he 'used to play these games', never tries to discuss them in a more informed manner. I'd genuinely like to hear what Hislop thinks of GTA's brand of satire.
Ian Hislop has no idea what to do in video games, because he never plays them. Thus, his son was telling him what to do. His son is 18 by the way.
Whilst yes, the descriptors used by Brigstocke were not the best, I'd guess he has no great interest in games, and thus chose things to say that when you picture Ian Hislop doing them would be funny. This is after all the point of the show.
Alex, chances are, Hislop never got to see GTA's brand of satire. Why not invite him play the game in a way that reveals it, or probably better, watch someone else playing it in that way. I for one would be interested in reading that.
I don't really understand the relevance of Hislop's opinion on any game.
Don't get me wrong I'm not anti-Hislop, i quite like private eye tbh, however i don't need his critical opinion on a subject he knows sod all about.
I wouldn't ask Delia Smith to review the latest 'Rinse' album or Dailey Thompson to review 'Paranormal Activity 3', so why should i be interested in this.
Did you listen to the show? The idea is people do things they have never done before, and then rate them out of 10. Hislop also went shopping for jeans, meditated and baked a cake.
Is Hislop completely dim? The game has an 18 certificate on it for heaven's sake. It's not intended for children.
As for that Hulk person, it might be an idea if he STOPPED PUTTING TEXT ALL IN CAPS!
all these arguments are rather silly. the game positively encourages you to hit people and break the law. the age rating does not prohibit children from playing the game: merely buying it.
if you're not technologically minded then i can see why the realisation of liberty city would not strike you as impressive. it's a cheap imitation of real life. for hislop this is probably a similar experience to having your friend show you their detailed recreation from lore of a battle in the warhammer universe. if you have no aesthetic frame of reference for the potential gameplay experience then it won't mean anything to you beyond an alienating waste of time and attention.
the only immediately recognisable aspect of the game that can be said to offer something 'better' than the real world is the lack of actual consequences for illegal or implausible actions. i think it's easy to see why hislop finds that 'execrable'.
Why has the news of Jordan Mechner's journal been reduced to an afterthought on an unrelated article? This is a compelling and well written diary that I'm sure would be of great interest to readers of Edge.
@fingersmccoy - good post.
Hislop sees this game at face value. The game's narrative asks you to do some nasty things, so there's no argument in its more timid side. Whether it's more execrable than any number of films is debatable, but then this is a "game" and "games are for kids".
I'm not sure why we should find it surprising that inmates at Arkham City aren't exactly paragons of feminism, or that Catwoman uses her sexuality to her advantage (even as it's objectifying herself) as she has for decades. This isn't quite the context to shore up feminist values. Though, Talia al Ghul's initiative at the end certainly makes her seem more masculine than Batman's mercy, no?
Oh, and nevermind the fact that Catwoman spends her time beating the snot out of these sexist inmates. They call her "bitch" and then take a heel to the face moments later. I find that rather poetic.
It's quite a bit like the problem I have with most portrayals of my favorite comic book character Black Cat from the Spider-Man comics. She's a complex character with a lot of inner courage and yet quite a bit of vulnerability, who on the surface appears to be just a party girl and is actually a SUPER HERO. But you wouldn't know that from Black Cat portrayals in most games and comics (only the animated series form the early 90's and one or two games seemed to get it right).
This is just more of the same. Forget feminism and sexism for a moment and just consider...would you like to see Laura Coft sexualized and then brutally beaten? Oh wait...nevermind.
If you want to see a female character treated like a HUMAN BEING instead of a sex object play the awesome free downloadable game Iji.