| wfz said: I tried to ask in the last post, but I'm sorry if my words were too rambled. When you mention "Metroid Prime" are you speaking of the first one? Or do you mean the Metroid Prime franchise as a whole? If I understand correctly, your problem is not with objectifying or sexual in nature for zero suit samus, but rather the fact that when you explicitly see she's a female, she instantly becomes not you? Or what part of Zero Suit Samus ruins it for you? What type of under-suit would you rationally expect her to be wearing under that tight chozo armor? Seeing a more femenine side of her, whether it's sexual in nature or not, will make her seem less like you since you're a male, won't it? Agh I'm getting confused. I don't see Zero Suit Samus portrayed as a sex object in the games, so I'm trying to understand where the disconnect here is. Please explain again? Is any character development for her bad? Is this an argument running along the same lines of the Silent Link hero, and how if he was given a deeper personality and voice he wouldn't be "us" anymore? Dammit now I feel like I'm rambling again. |
The first one, hence all my references to Tallon IV.
The sexualization of the character is its own problem. There are myriad problems with this whole thing. I am not taking away from that as a problem in the context of Samus.
To make it clear: watch the Other M scenes where Samus wakes up in the Federation base wearing her Zero Suit. The entire sequence is rooted indelibly in the male gaze. Look carefully, because they want you to: the Zero Suit is not just a skintight outfit. It hugs every curve of Samus's body, from her inner thigh and right up the curve of her ass, as if it were liquid latex sprayed onto her from a can. It is not just a skintight outfit. It is fetishwear.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with fetishwear. It does not belong in Metroid. It does not belong on Samus. It's perfectly reasonable to think she would be wearing a very form-fitting outfit; I would expect her to be wearing a jumpsuit, actually. But I would also expect her to be STRONG, and presented as STRONG, like... well, how different would it be if she were wearing a tight outfit, but rather than one that stops just short of showing you her labia and how perfectly round and squishy her ass is, it was one that showed off that she's huge, like in Super Metroid? Absolutely cut all over. She has this immense power to her character in Super Metroid, she's a woman under that suit but she whips a lot of ass and it shows. Samus is a big woman - she looks small in the suit because the suit is like wearing a tank.
The Zero Suit's design backpedals on the design of the character being one of strength.
Both of these thigns are problems:
1. The Zero Suit is stupid and her contemporary design is stupid.
2. The essetial component of Samus's character is not the woman underneath the armor, it is the person when the armor is worn.
