I dont understand the hate Anita Sarkeesian is recieved over Mirrors Edge 2

[S.T.A.G.E.]

Shadow1980 said:

The fact that she dared to opine on something was enough to send MRAs and other assorted chauvinists, anti-feminists, and right-wing activists into a blinding white-hot rage, and now they consider her the anti-Christ of video games and that anything she touches is toxic to gaming. I've known plenty of right-wingers personally, and I know these right-wing gamers don't give a rat's ass about lofty notions like "journalistic integrity" or "preserving gamer culture." Whether it's conservative former Firefly cast members or one of the assholes at Breitbart or some bitter nobody on Twitter, these people have ideological axes to grind, plain and simple. The kind of people who think women getting the vote was already bad enough. The only thing these people care about conserving are preexisting power structures. They're a social extension of every other far-right movement in the Western world. If they could have just refrained from their incessant bloviating and simply ignored Anita, she would be some nobody blogger with some irrelevantly tiny fanbase in some nondescript corner of the internet, but these guys don't know how to leave well enough alone and like to turn non-stories into federal cases.

That being said, I personally don't care for Anita and her ilk myself. So-called "SJWs" like her can be annoying and asinine at times, but I don't hate them, and as with most forms of political correctness I think it's coming from a good place, but that it's ultimately pointless and doesn't advance "social justice." I saw her video about Bayonetta, rolled my eyes at it because I thought it was inane and decided to just ignore her and go on my merry little way. The way I see it, the portrayal of females (and males) in games should be whatever the developer feels best suits their target demographic and/or their own personal artistic vision. I think there's room for both hypersexualized portrayals like those in Dragon's Crown as well as more modest and strong female characters like Faith from Mirror's Edge (of course, there's still the debate of whether or not characters like Bayonetta are strong female characters who look sexy or are simply sexist). Hell, several years ago I wrote up my own concept for a Halo game where one of the minor female Spartans is the main protagonist; her particular job in the Halo canon just happened to fit my story ideas.

But as for supposedly "sexist" portrayals of women in games, it just so happens that Japanese developers are responsible for many of them, but they come from a very different culture, so some American getting offended by the proclivities of non-Western developers is kind of pointless. Japan does it's own thing regardless of what some gaijin thinks. And even when the portrayal came from a Western dev, I still think it's pointless. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Simple as that. I don't like Fox "News" and think it poisons discourse in America and makes a mockery of real journalism, so I don't watch it. There's a large market for right-wing news outlets, and I've come to accept that as something that will not change any time soon. There's also a market for games that have females with skimpy clothes and jiggle physics, and that's not going to change no matter how much the Anita Sarkeesians of the world hate it. She has every right to complain about games like Bayonetta all day if she wants, and she should be able to do so without having to fear for her well-being because some asshole got a hair up his ass and decided it'd be a peachy keen idea to harass and threaten her. But honestly I think the efforts of those like her would be better spent tapping into a market for games that aren't sexist. A well-crafted, polished, fun game with a strong, well-developed female protagonist who isn't simple eye candy could still sell very well.

Complaining about either perceived sexism or "social justice agendas" in the arts and entertainment is ultimately a fruitless task, with both sides blowing a lot of hot air. It's a battle of "evil vs. stupid" to me, and honestly there's a lot more serious issues to be discussing, even in regards to video gaming. As for Mirror's Edge 2, I don't care one way or the other if Anita is part of the development process. I only care if it's a good game.

This is actually a very sensible post. She doesn't pose a threat to the industry. If people are very opposed to radical feminist views they are better off not watching. I guess I can stomach it more than most. When people get so pissed off it clouds their judgement and gives more power to the one who they are trying to stop from gaining power. Inadvetently this gives her exactly what she wants, which is why shes launched a campaign now against online harassment. If she hasn't recieved a book deal I wouldn't blame her because gamers gave her all the power. Zoey Quinn is why Gamergate started, but she doesn't tolerate gamers bull. She will argue with them until the sun comes up. There are sections to what Anita said that can be responded to while other things should just be kept as a mental note rather than responded to. The problem with her, she hasnt realized games have been giving females a more prominent roles without the need of a prominent feminist voice. Games are affected by culture and women have a more prominent role in the western world today, which is why games are starting to cater to them more. What Anita demands is a stronger female presence, but if to a degree her words are heeded they can help. She needs to understand that there is characters are subject to the artistic voice of an overall story and sometimes you cannot change that. Her main problem is with the Japanese audience with half of the things shes saying, but America is no slouch with games that only see things from a male perspective like Grand Theft Auto.