234: Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

[stringycustard]

There've been a few other gay gamer type articles that I've read, but this one has really eloquently discussed the topic. The online world sees so much as horrendous taboo while those same people would probably be mostly non-vocal on the issue (at least in company). Almost anything is liable for attack and the slightest comment that the protagonist is gay completely overrides everything else. It's pretty ridiculous. It's good to see games with different perspectives getting made (I'm equally bored of tedious space marines).

 

[Nieroshai]

I'm sorry your subtle approach was bashed and Dragon Age 2 is taking a lot of heat for Anders's bisexuality, but I must say the only way for gay characters to be accurately portrayed is for gay people like yoourself to make them. Up til now, gays in games were put in by straight people from the perspective of straight people. That entropy will probably last at least another decade. My personal preference is that games should leave sexuality out altogether unless it serves a character development or plot enhancement role. I like how BioWare handles things overall, making sex a perk of developing a meaningful relationship with an ally instead of a minigame for points. Even in God of War, Kratos's rampant sexual sprees were said to be a way of him trying to hide his grief and shame under the sweat and musk, so that was character development. Now there is a place for Duke Nukem, but can anyone really argue the Duke himself isn't just there to be a funny parody of our American culture? He should be the exception, not the rule.

 

[Nieroshai]

Ho hum, if those rules even exist they'll be in the Old Testament cerimonial law that was overthrown when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus' death did not overthrow his commands on the scantity of marriage therefore it did not overrule the Bible's teaching that homosexuality is a sin.

In addition sexuality is by far and away a more important choice than clothing or hair coverage.

So how's that religious buffet? The "homosexuality is evil" came from Leviticus. The book that, you know, also spawned the laws I mentioned. Also, if your woman is having her period, she is unclean. It is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord if you are to touch her during this event.

Not just Leviticus also references in Romans, Timothy, and Jude (http://bible.org/article/homosexuality-christian-perspective) And as marriage between a man and woman and sex only in marriage is a constant commandment throughout the whole Bible then it still stands today.

In general the technique used for working out which cermonial laws were overthrown and which weren't goes: is it specifically rejected in the NT (such as the sacrifrice of animals)? Or is it still supported? Also a certain degree of common sense should be applied like in the case of Shrimp and mixed fibres.

And of course it should be remembered that Christianity is not about a list of rules people have to keep. No one can earn salvation through works. We all sin whether that be homosexulaity or some other thing. We all deserve to go to hell, we all need to repent and ask for the salvation granted to us by Jesus's death on the cross.

And to continue on this, as all sin is condemnable, TECHNICALLY a little white lie earns us the same condemnation as murder. Honestly, everything we do has a tinge of greed, envy, lust, or what have you. So being gay is equally as bad as absolutely everything else we do, but everything we ever do is as bad as homosexuality. I know I repeated myself, but the nature of sin is something that escapes our culture. We rate sin from harmless to bad, we claim some are forgivable while some aren't, and turn a blind eye to our own faults. Sure it's bad to be gay. But if you want to get technical it's also bad to be straight.

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

I think the author gets my sentiment here with the one line: straight people can better identify with straight people. This is one thing that always gets me when I'm watching a show, playing a game, etc., and my favorite character turns out to be gay -- while I have no beef with the principle of them being gay, on the other hand, I can now not identify with their romantic preferences, and if this is a big part of the book's theme or something, I suddenly drop off the map. What's it like to be in love with another girl? You got me. I have no idea. And now I'm confused, rather than immersed. Should gay people be in games? Absolutely. Am I going to lose touch with the character? Yes, if being gay is that important to the plot. I'm not sure how one gets around that.

Also, wow, we can't have *one* thread about this kind of thing without my religion coming up. I guess I should just accept that it's the Internet and I can't do anything about it. At least I've stopped trying to convince anyone that we can be good/tolerant people, because there are so many who just aren't going to buy it.

 

[Damien Granz]

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

For straight gamers, video games can often be an escape from a painful reality. But for gay gamers, video games offer little respite from prejudice and homophobia. Robert Yang recalls his experience developing a Half-Life 2 mod featuring gay characters and the response it provoked.

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I have a minor question. Is 'partner' a bad word to use, or homophobic? You mentioned 'partner' being in there with '******' as examples of homophobic words that distance you from everybody else, but I had the impression that 'wife and husband' did the same thing by implying that one has to be one and the other has to be the other.

And obviously if two men get in a relationship or marry, one's not 'the woman' while the other is 'the man'.

Which word is better then, than 'partner' or 'spouse'?

I'm honestly asking this as a question, and I know it has little to do with the article as a whole (which honestly I thought was a pretty good article as a whole).

I think the author gets my sentiment here with the one line: straight people can better identify with straight people. This is one thing that always gets me when I'm watching a show, playing a game, etc., and my favorite character turns out to be gay -- while I have no beef with the principle of them being gay, on the other hand, I can now not identify with their romantic preferences, and if this is a big part of the book's theme or something, I suddenly drop off the map. What's it like to be in love with another girl? You got me. I have no idea. And now I'm confused, rather than immersed. Should gay people be in games? Absolutely. Am I going to lose touch with the character? Yes, if being gay is that important to the plot. I'm not sure how one gets around that.

Also, wow, we can't have *one* thread about this kind of thing without my religion coming up. I guess I should just accept that it's the Internet and I can't do anything about it. At least I've stopped trying to convince anyone that we can be good/tolerant people, because there are so many who just aren't going to buy it.

"What's it like being in love with another girl"; it's really pretty much the same as being in love with a guy, except they have different parts that you're not attracted to. The only real time that somebody should completely lose disconnect over what it's like to love somebody is if the game is completely about the physical relationship (at which point you're playing a pornographic game and yeah, it's probably the wrong game for you) or if you have no frame of reference to romantic love at all (this is where asexual/aromantic gamers might be left in the cold I'm afraid, but that's true whether or not the game is about a gay or straight couple).