Don't get me wrong, I'm all about women's rights. In fact, I'm such a strong supporter of equality that I don't even open doors for women (okay, I do - but you get the point). Is that box too heavy? Go lift some weights - that's what I do. The way I look at it is like this: if everyone wants to be treated equally, I'm going to treat them equally. No special treatment.
Which leads me to the point of this article. In the collector's edition of the upcoming Bioware release, Mass Effect 3, the box art is going to portray both a male and a female version of Commander Shepherd, despite the fact that both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 are littered with the male portrayal of Shepherd. This is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion, and to be brutally honest is changing the way I look at the franchise as a whole.
I understand that one has the ability to create a female version of the main character. Thing is, for the last four years, both gamers and the media have widely portrayed Shepherd as male. A badass, intergalactic male Commander whose sole purpose in life is to stop the world from being destroyed. Just because one may imagine Shepherd as a female in their minds, doesn't mean the trilogy and the story were built around this ideal. Everything from game trailers to gameplay videos, from posters to desktop wallpapers, to the character's default first name - John - clearly define the protagonist as a man. And a manly man at that.
When I think of the Mass Effect trilogy I think of Commander John Shepherd. A 6 foot 2 inch tall, dark haired male with 22 inch biceps. I simply don't think of Commander Josephine Shepherd, a 5 foot 6 inch red head with a 36 inch waist line. As I mentioned before, this has nothing to do with me viewing women as an unequal sex. It's simply due to the fact that I have been brainwashed into believing Commander Shepherd is a male (which he technically is by default), and Bioware is now deciding to change it. On their final installment of this epic trilogy.
Do I think this is going to ruin the game? Absolutely not. Does it slightly change the way I view the trilogy as a whole? I'm going to go with a solid 'maybe'. You can't just change the sex of the main character on the box art and get away with it. I have the option of creating a female Hawke from Dragon Age 2, but I guarantee they won't be releasing Dragon Age 3 with Hawke portrayed as a female. Commander Shepherd by default is male and the story behaves as if this is true - there is no real room for change.
Bottom line is this: Commander Shepherd's default name is John. The two percent female gamer population should just have to deal with it.
This is such a bad blog on so many levels. It's not sure whether it is trying to make a real social comment or simply be funny.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe it knows its identity and you're too dim to figure it out.
ReplyDelete1. Female Shepard is named Jane.
ReplyDelete2. Since the beginning both genders have been a choice. Bioware made a mistake by leaving it so late in the run of the three games to include Jane in the box art.
3. As you know by now, the cover art is two-sided. Pick your side. I chose Fem!Shep. You chose Male!Shep. Choices!
4. The gamer population is almost a 50/50 split, overall. While games like Mass Effect may be 30/70, that isn't to say all girls play girls, and all guys play guys. Again, it's a choice on the player's part.
What does it hurt you if there is a female option? Are you forced to play FemShep? Maybe, just maybe some heterosexual, warm blooded male gamers rather play a beautiful female than a "badass intergalactic male"? Did you ever consider that possibility?? Also, I assure you that there are more than 2% female gamers. Thank God, people like you have no say in this.
ReplyDelete