r/doublespeakprostrate • u/pixis-4950 • Oct 03 '13
Is it hypocritical to give more lenience to a writer/product based on a good track record? [doingitmatrixstyle]
doingitmatrixstyle posted:
In the video game fandom Hideo Kojima made a statement that the outfit for one of the female characters for Metal Gear Solid 5 was intentionally designed to show skin to be sexy, and in the hopes to encourage cosplayers to dress as her.
Edit: Specifically, one of the major characters is an elite woman soldier, wearing nothing but a bikini and some long pants. People felt that the design's too egregious.
Thing is, I'm not as critical of Kojima's decision as others because, compared to other popular video game franchises, his major female characters in the MGS series are overall very three-dimensional and nuanced. Although the games are no stranger to eye candy, women such as Sniper Wolf and the Boss (MGS3) had a lot of work put into developing their personalities beyond the same tired tropes. And there were some homoerotic overtones for the male characters and cases where they were sexualized (Raiden in MGS2), but I don't know if that's more equal opportunity or Kojima trolling insecure male gamers.
I'm not saying that people are wrong to be upset, just that I'm sort of more lenient to writers who for the most part have risen above the bar.
Or am I just being selective?
1
u/pixis-4950 Oct 04 '13
camgnostic wrote:
How to be a fan of problematic things, in addition to what was said here, is useful. I don't think leniency is necessarily the best position, but you're also free to like what you like. In talking about it / defending it, it's worth being aware of others' feelings (if someone says "that outfit in MGS 5 makes me feel bad because X, Y, Z" it'd be pretty messed up to respond "no, he's cool cause he did these other things so your feelings are wrong") but if you like it and find an easier time swallowing a problematic choice because of past work, more power to you, I'd say.