Why Feminist Frequency Is Dead Wrong about 'The Witcher 3'

[Zeph]

I stumbled into this article when trying to work out who the main female protagonist of The Witcher 3 looked like, since she reminded me of an actress(Eva Green). It turned out to be a much better than expected read, and despite not really know too much about the two people the author is criticizing, felt it answered some questions about gaming, and asked some even better ones when it comes to gender, games and political correctness. So, I thought I'd share.

Confirmation bias is dangerous. When you’re always looking for evidence of something, you begin to see it even where no evidence exists. Perhaps especially when no evidence exists.

Take the recent tweets of the Feminist Frequency duo—Jonathan McIntosh and Anita Sarkeesian—regarding the recently released video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Sarkeesian has become the face of video game feminism, and McIntosh—to a far lesser degree—shares her podium and her reputation.

(It should be noted here that for reasons I truly do not understand, McIntosh has me blocked on Twitter, though I can still see some of his tweets if individually linked. Sarkeesian does not have me blocked. So kudos to that.)

Both have big problems with the new RPG from Polish developer CD Projekt RED, though their choice of medium to discuss these problems—Twitter—leaves a great deal to be desired.

McIntosh’s tweets about the game, and about protagonist Geralt of Rivia, read like someone who has never played a Witcher game before, including The Witcher 3, or like someone all too eager to justify their own assumptions.

He describes Geralt as “emotionally deficient in the extreme. Never cries or laughs. Never expresses grief, fear, sadness or vulnerability.” Which is, you know, patently untrue. Not a matter of opinion, but utterly untrue to the point where I do question whether McIntosh has actually played these games, or is just watching the trailers. (Hey, plenty of critics wrote angry things about American Sniper without watching the film first.)

Geralt is definitely a “tough guy.” He definitely has a bit of the stoic, rugged hero about him. There’s a bit of a Clint Eastwood vibe to him, both in his voice and in his role as “lone gunman” (or monster hunter, or whatever.)

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But like Eastwood in many of that actor and director’s finer films, Geralt is much more complex. He does care deeply about many people in his life. He smiles…a lot, though he’s not the grinning type. His smiles are composed.

He’s also incapable of crying because of his mutations, and sterile for the same reason. But he’s the adoptive father of Ciri, and obviously cares about her deeply. There’s little point really discussing McIntosh’s claims, since they’re simply false and a waste of time. But just for fun…



“Rage and anger are two of the only emotions men are really allowed to express in patriarchy,” he tweets at one point, which is just silly. I get the need to use words like “patriarchy” and phrases like “toxic masculinity” because it’s hip to traffic these types of terms, but let’s get a few things straight here:

First, Geralt rarely displays either rage or anger. Far more often he displays a wry sense of humor.

Second, men in our culture are allowed to display lots of emotions. Look at our films and television, where men are often funny, sad, jealous, prideful, happy, and yes also angry. But not just filled with rage and anger. I’d say that most people don’t like seeing men filled with rage and anger. It’s uncomfortable.

“When emotional deficiency in male heroes is constantly shown as strength it reinforces to men that emotional expression is akin to weakness,” McIntosh also tweets. But as discussed, Geralt is more often than not dealing in compassion. As players we can guide his actions, of course. We can be more selfish, less helpful—or we can give our monster hunting earnings to poor families, go out of our way to help friends, and so forth.

I think discussing masculinity in today’s society is a worthwhile conversation, but being willfully ignorant of your subject matter is a terrible place to begin.

Sarkeesian’s critique is much more interesting, though still wrong-headed, belying a deep misunderstanding of the role of fiction and fantasy fiction in particular.

She tweets about the character Ciri, who is playable at points in the game, and notes that “The Witcher 3 does to Ciri what Arkham City did to Catwoman. Thugs yell “bitch” and “whore” and sexually harass both women as you play them.”

In response to people pointing out that NPCs hurl insults at Geralt, too, about his freakishness (he’s a mutant) she observes, “Enemies call Geralt “freak” & “mutant’ due to fictional prejudice against magic. When they call Ciri “cunt” it’s rooted in real life sexism.”

Now, I’m not sure that “mutant” is an actual insult hurled at Geralt. He’s called a “freak” because he’s a mutant (not because of magic, which has its own system of prejudice in the game world, including witch hunting and burning at the stake…) But why quibble?

Sarkeesian’s core critique of how Ciri is treated, boils down to: “Also the “it’s realistic for enemies to sexually harass female characters” excuse is nonsense in fantasy games filled with ghouls & wraiths.”



Let’s address two things here. First, how Ciri is treated. Second, how Sarkeesian and a whole bevy of critics who value political agendas over art write about fantasy.

Ciri isn’t always treated horribly by the bad guys and NPCs in her game. Well, other than the bad guys trying to kill her I suppose—and surely such gentlemanly enemies ought to not have gendered insults as part of their assault?—but the NPCs don’t simply write off Ciri as various horrible names. One of the main characters in the game—a deeply complicated Baron with some serious women issues—actually treats her surprisingly well.

Because this is actually a complex game with complicated characters in a world that’s not wholly “good” or “evil.”

Continued at: Why Feminist Frequency Is Dead Wrong About 'The Witcher 3' [Updated]

 

[Priziesthorse]

 

[ThatOneDude]

If
All men = pigs
And
women = men
Then
All women = pigs

 

[jason73]