A picture is worth a thousand words

Yesterday, I was at Harry Potter's house after work, where his brother was immersed in a video game. Personally, I'm not much of an enthusiast, mostly for the usually violent nature of today's games, though my lack of decent hand-eye coordination plays a large part too. But yesterday made me dislike the activity for another reason...

I couldn't tell you what game Little Brother was playing; it was war-based in nature, with very detailed graphics and very serious ammunition. But what disturbed me specifically was the depiction of women in the storyline. They were highly sexualized; attire was skimpy and revealing, DD's were a recurring theme, and during segments where characters had pre-programmed exchanges, the camera looked on from peeping-tom angles (I kid you not--there was one shot of a female character from the floor beneath her that suggestively panned up the back of her legs and all the way up under her miniskirt--gross.) This particular character was the helpless victim of the storyline, constantly needing rescuing and protection; it was belittling. Don't lie around helplessly while you wait for macho-man to rescue you--save your own damn skin, and for goodness sake, do it with your shirt buttoned over your boobs! (Even more youth-friendly games send the damsel-in-distress message. Take Mario Galaxy for instance--Princess Peach is kidnapped, so Mario embarks on a [less violent] quest to save her. Hey, if you're going to send a certain implicit message to viewers, you'd better start 'em young! Ugh.)

Even more disturbing in Little Brother's game was the treatment of the second female character when she made her appearance in the game. Here was the enemy, dressed in a skintight suit that emphasized every curve (including a not-at-all-concealed camel toe; thank you, detailed video game graphics, for showing off what doesn't need to be put on display). The player's mission? To kill her, like the other foes of the game. Yet while other opponents were mowed down under one round of AK-whatever fire, it took multiple attempts to kill off this character--all while she was on the floor, crying for mercy. It was sickening to watch.

But why should I get upset over what I saw? After all, it's just a game, right?

There's plenty of debate surrounding video games; do explicitly violent games desensitize children/teens/players of any age to violence, and/or do these games make players more prone to violent acts themselves? It's a legitimate concern. But amidst all this hype, I hope that the implicit messages aren't overlooked--they are just as damaging.

Teach peace,
La Femme Nikita