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| Re: Gender in Halo 2 (response to DanteThePoet) LO | |
| Posted By: CANTANATRIX <andrewmclaren@hotmail.com> | Date: 1/11/07 12:21 p.m. |
In Response To: Gender in Halo 2 (response to DanteThePoet) LONG (Cody Miller) : I just found DanteThePoet's critique of gender usage in Halo 2 , and thought : that is was actually a pretty fascinating topic. I was suprised that the : thread wasn't longer. Seeing as how he wanted feedback, I thought I'd : chime in with my own thoughts. Dante seemed to give the game a glowing : review when it came to gender equality and stereotypes. I'm going to throw : out my thoughts about the three females he analyzes (Cortana, Miranda, and : the female marines.) : At first it would seem that women are given equal status in the Halo
: Bungie does do something very smart with the female marines when the player
: Cortana's change in image is quite simply to make her more attractive. While
: Miranda Keyes is somewhere in between the female marines and Cortana. She
: Unfortunately, Miranda Keyes becomes the typical damsel in distress by Halo
: This is not to say that Halo 2 completely misogynistic; in fact a lot about
A very interesting read and some good points. However I will now defend Cortana and her portrayal in Halo. (Look out folks this could be long!) :D In the first game we see her effectively inserted into the Master Chief's head. From here she acts as the Chief's guide, protector and frankly better judgement.
" [at the Control Room control panel]
The Master Chief, perhaps the most alpha-male (with tough competition from Johnson) figure in Halo is a relatively unsophisticated soul, created from the outset as a tool for war. He is, as a Spartan II, to quote from a discussion between Cortana and an ONI AI.I found in the Halo 2 L.C.D pamphlet: "effectively brainwashed", "Spartan IIs are equipment". We can see this in his lines in the above passage. His immediate line of questioning to Cortana about HALO is solely concerned about its offensive capability and how it can be used as a weapon against the Covenant. When the response to this is instead about the origins of the ring and what lies burried within it, the Chief's responses immediately become half-hearted and confused. To this uber-male blunt instrument is added Cortana, who is similar in that she also is effectively a artificial tool created for war, though she is endowed also with several properties that set her apart from her male counterpart. Whilst certainly adept at war, demonstrated by her handling of the Pillar of Autumn in battle " A dozen superior Covenant battleships against a single Halcyon class cruiser. With those odds I'm content with three... make that four kills", she is more a strategist and favours a thought-out plan over brute force. She also has a much greater capacity for understanding an independant thought than the Master Chief which is evident throughout Halo and also in this passage. She chides the MC for his unsophisticated view of Halo as simply a weapon. She also has a very strong assertive persoanlity, and if you view Cortana and the MC's relationship, Cortana is definately the more assertive half. Throughout the games the female Cortana gives you orders and imperitives and instructions-all of which the male MC and YOU the (generally intended) male player follow pretty much without question. The Master Chief in the passage here (and also YOU the player) have no real idea of what Cortana is going on about when she insists you go find the good Captain yet the Chief (and YOU) nonetheless run off into the great unknown without really knowing what you are doing at her insistance. Now Cortana isn't some dominatrix-figure, and you aren't her slave. No, the actual reason for why you as the Chief so blithely follow Cortana is not so crude. It's TRUST. Trust and RESPECT. The Chief, and you by proxy the player (even though the player technically has little chocie in the matter as this is a story being told via fps not an open-ended rpg) trusts that Cortana, with her access to vast wealths of information and highly cognative judgement knows better, and knows what shes doing-even if YOU don't. Although Cortana is the more assertive of the pair, the relationship is more of a partnership than a completely one-sided affair. The Chief, although perhaps not as refined as his counterpart nontheless has his own influence and role which works in harmony with Coirtana's-it can be seen for example in the plan to destroy Halo-combining Cortana's planning and intellect with the Master Chief's penchant for blowing stuff up. From this, respect is earned for Cortana as she proves a vital ally without whom the MC would be much weaker, and a relationship of trust is fostered. I think the MC and Cortana make a good role-model for gender equality. As for her femininity and visual portrayal, I have this to say. Cortnan is a very feminine character. She is, despite her artificial origins very in touch with her emotions, showing concern, fear (for MC) anger (at the Covenant) humour (often with MC) and maybe love for example; but she also is capable of being level-headed, focused and shows devotion to duty. Cortana is not a slave to her emotions and is far from the usual female figure you see in videogames where emotion is equated with weakness often resulting in the female character being demoted to a 'damsel-in-distress' or a slutty bimbo. Indeed, although in Halo 3 Cortanta does indeed appear to be in distress in the clutches of the gravemind, we must not forget that she intended to remain behind in high charity and indeed TOLD the MC to leave her, which following the trust that has been created between the characters he acquiesed to her wishes. This links in with her physical portrayal, as the character of Cortana is one who thrives on information, be it factual, logical or sensual. She says "I enjoy a rich existence. I have access to the entire sum of human knowledge, I can choose to enjoy or override emotional responses and have a vast range of senses. I can see radio waves as clearly as the Spartans see light, and I can sample odors, tastes, textures...anything I choose." She is a sensual character, and I would view her having the physical image of a beautiful woman as the character embracing her femininity, and as such asserting her feminine identity, important I think for a character who is otherwise just lines of code. How else would you have her assert her feminity? You say she is 'sexed up'-I disagree.
When she is giving the MC (you) instructions via audio sex is hardly an issue, so when we briefly see Cortana now and then as a holographic projection I hardly think the fact that she has breasts and a slim figure undermines the players response to the character. Her appearnce is part of her identity and character as created by Bungie and not simply an appealing face-lift to please male gamers. Her femininity is part of her character, along with her high intellect, compassion, duty,sensuality,wisdom strength and assertiveness. If you take issue with feminine beauty in games per se then fair enough but I can't see how a character endowed with such positive traits being portrayed as being beautiful is negative from a gender equality point of view. If anything it is positive as for once we have a strong capable but also very feminine character that everyone can assocaite with that isn't some blonde bimbo or damsel in distress. I think Bungie have done a great job with Cortana, and has developed rather than hindered male attitudes to women in games. -I might also discuss the marines and other aspects later-but I think this is enough for now! -Andy-
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