Here’s another post fresh from the Sarcastic Gamer Community blogs, this time coming from Danish SGC member Trigger95, who’s been having a little ponder about gay characters in video games. Remember, getting onto the front page is as easy as signing up for an account on the forums and getting to work in your own personal community blog. We’ll be keeping an eye out for any articles that really stand out and putting them up here. Good work, Trigger95.
I just heard the special GTA IV podcast and it really got me thinking. Lono’s reaction to the Bernie character especially seemed to hit home. Lono was slightly upset that Bernie was too much of a stereotype, a token feminine gay man, and indeed he is. His character is incredibly stereotyped, even Elton John would struggle to attain Bernie’s level of gayness, but is this really a problem?
For me, as a gay gamer, I’d say no.
I actually liked Bernie, yes he’s a big pansy and yes he ticks all the boxes regarding prejudices – come on, the man wanted to go into professional wrestling, and we all know that that is a sport solely for repressed homosexuals – but he was endearing none the less. However, that is not to say that everything is just peachy when it comes to GTA IV and its portrayal of gay men. As I said, I am completely fine with Bernie; French Tom on the other hand bothers me. Again it’s not so much the character himself, it’s the fact that both of the openly homosexual characters you meet are effeminate and completely helpless. I have no delusions that videogames should go out of their way to portray minorities in a politically correct manner, nor would I really want it. But I do think that it is somewhat symptomatic of the general attitude towards homosexuals in the gaming community.
I’m sure we’re all familiar with the prepubescent w*nkers you come across online, who seem convinced that the primary reason for the invention of the headset was to enable them to scream “fag!” at as many people as possible in multiplayer games. Again not really a big deal, after all this is why we have the option to mute the poor souls and/or report them. The problem is to be found in the games themselves, not the gamers. Now, I am NOT about to make this a “Blame the game!” post, I’m simply saying that it’s about time we had a credible gay character in a major videogame. Imagine my surprise then when I saw that you could actually invite male characters out on a date through the LoveMeet site in GTA IV. But lo and behold; instead of a date you get a sassy reply which outlines just exactly how impossible it is for you to ever get your freak on with any of the male characters.
Anyway, enough of GTA IV: let’s tale a look at some other games that contain homosexual characters, on page two.
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To be perfectly honest, there i one game that i know of that has a flamingly homosexual character that you can play as for a short time, but shows up throughout the entire game. That is “Enchanted Arms” for the PS3. Now i understand that while this game is not “mainstream” like GTA 4 is, but it was a launch title and a rather interesting take on the RPG genre in general.
dont be stupid all italians are portrayed
as the mafia
Oh great wait for the flames now you’ve set the gay dating ads off
I must admit this is a subject close to my own heart and for a while I would have agreed with you regarding the need (perceived or otherwise) for “alternative” characters. But more recently my thoughts have turned to characters who have _no_ overt sexuality.
How many games feature a sole protagonist, or one who doesn’t actually have sex with anyone? Could Joanna Dark be a lesbian? Perhaps Altaïr was shuffling for more than convenient maps in other people’s robes during those pickpocket missions? (And don’t forget he killed a flaming queen during the party in the courtyard.)
Point is, sexuality isn’t an issue today to the degree it used to be ten years ago, and I think games are reflecting that. French Tom was a damn good example of a superficial gay for sure, and Bernie was outrageous but not unexpected in a place like New York. Does that mean for example that the hookers were any less slutty as a result – did they represent real life hookers as opposed to over-the-top ones? Of course not, since they all appeared to have their own teeth and you couldn’t see their ribs. GTA IV is a parody game, but it doesn’t apply the parody across the board (Niko is exaggerated but not to the degree of, say, Manny or Brucie), and so the characters _generally_ reflect that side of things.
What I’d really like to see as a queer gamer, is an end to any commentary on gay gaming/gamers finishing with “not that there’s anything wrong with that.” It’s not like we’re going to cover your house in pink toilet paper as a result of mentioning our demographic, guys
Gay bashing, neo nazis, skinheads, soccer hooligans…hate to say it, but “Young, Dumb and Ugly” seems to be par for the course in the human experience, and vid’ya games are no exception. The anonymity of them there internets allows a lot of people the ability to express themselves without fear…unfortunately, the most vociferous group tends to be teen lunkheads. As game developers realize the importance of quality writing and endearing characters, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing more interesting and layered personalities like Brucie Kibbutz. But if yer gonna play online, steel yourself for the inevitable spate of locker-talk. Comes with the territory…it shouldn’t, but it do.
I just started a thread a few days ago about such things, I don’t know if this helped bring up any of the conversation at all… but the only truly homosexual character lead that I’ve found has been the lead in Fear Effect 2 for the PS1.
I’m just glad to hear that I’m not the only one somewhat concerned about such things.
master chief is gay and he isn’t helpless….
The villian in MGS3 is gay, and he’s a badass