(no subject)
My hair now reaches my thighs! When I don't braid or ponytail all those locks I do tend to accidentally sit on them quite a bit, so the length is eluding practicality as well as demanding unreasonable volumes of shampoo. I'm well-known now by family, friends, and amazed strangers for rocking the black cascade or braid but I really need to go to a salon and get the hair cut waist-length this week. That's still extremely long for most people, but you do develop a certain fondness for your own hair once you really grow it out? You get irrationally sad if it goes. The stuff grows super fast for me anyways; I think it's only been something 2-4 years since I've cropped my hair anywhere above my shoulders (though I have regularly trimmed my fringe myself).
Since this is the year for which I have promised myself to do more of nothing than I have any other year, I've been doing pretty good so far, going with the flow and trying not to worry too much. I recently played and beat Shadow of the Colossus, which is a gorgeous game I prefer over Ico, and I cannot stop thinking about it or reading fanworks for it!
The only thing about it I would complain about is the camera, which is noticeably wonky, but it doesn't detract from the beauty of the experience.
I admire Fumito's Ueda's artistry and vision a great deal. However, while his team's works are individually innocuous so far, I am frustrated with some of Ueda's meta statements concerning heroines...
Um, take a look at this (translated) quote from a 1up interview: "I picked a male character since most game players are male, and they need to become emotionally involved with the lead character. However, recently there have been many female gamers, so it is possible to have a female leading character, I guess."
Oh for heaven's sake, I am so sick and tired of this timeworn and obtuse excuse. Are certain people unable to emotionally involve themselves with fellow human beings because they are coincidentally of a different gender than them? If so, I think the people in question ought to consider whether or not they are capable of basic empathy. I mean, simply replace 'gender' with 'ethnicity', 'sexuality', or 'creed' and urgh. It's ironic because Ico is supposed to be an allegory about human (mis)communication. Ack, females happily identify with leading males all the time! And also, female gamers have almost always made up something like half of the consumer base in the East and West???
Also, he thinks girls must wear skirts or dresses, and that boys are somehow physically stronger than girls, before puberty even. All these statements are absolute rubbish. I dare any onlookers to read more via google. I agree with that IGN editor Ryan Clements fellow; I would have been fine with him saying that his thing with male leads is just a 'preference/creative choice'.
It's also hilarious how he thinks male gamers will enjoy SotC more than female gamers (who he thinks would like Ico better), when the reverse is true in my case and those of other lady gamers.
In all honesty during my first playthrough of Ico years ago I was a little startled by how exorbitantly delicate Yorda is in the game (especially when contrasted with the nimble Ico), and that was before I was ever formally introduced to feminism. But I do think '[physically] weak' female characters are as important as 'strong' ones, and Yorda was at least a fully realised character, so I wasn't too bothered. At least Ueda had talked about the weakness and vulnerability of both characters, since they are both young children.
So, judging by Ueda's loving depictions of Yorda, Mono, and Agro (though she's a horse!), he seems fond of females himself, so the lack of empathy thing is probably an assumption made about his audience that they can't relate, emphathise, etc. But that in itself is a weak attitude to take. For a guy so intent on shirking the gaming status quo he isn't doing much to combat this aspect of the culture, even though he has the tremendous talent to do so. Come on, Ueda, you can do it, for god's sake, you can create an interesting and engaging female lead who wears trousers, or leggings, or shorts, or skorts, or stockings, or a onesie, or an amalgamation of any of these!
Since this is the year for which I have promised myself to do more of nothing than I have any other year, I've been doing pretty good so far, going with the flow and trying not to worry too much. I recently played and beat Shadow of the Colossus, which is a gorgeous game I prefer over Ico, and I cannot stop thinking about it or reading fanworks for it!
The only thing about it I would complain about is the camera, which is noticeably wonky, but it doesn't detract from the beauty of the experience.
I admire Fumito's Ueda's artistry and vision a great deal. However, while his team's works are individually innocuous so far, I am frustrated with some of Ueda's meta statements concerning heroines...
Um, take a look at this (translated) quote from a 1up interview: "I picked a male character since most game players are male, and they need to become emotionally involved with the lead character. However, recently there have been many female gamers, so it is possible to have a female leading character, I guess."
Oh for heaven's sake, I am so sick and tired of this timeworn and obtuse excuse. Are certain people unable to emotionally involve themselves with fellow human beings because they are coincidentally of a different gender than them? If so, I think the people in question ought to consider whether or not they are capable of basic empathy. I mean, simply replace 'gender' with 'ethnicity', 'sexuality', or 'creed' and urgh. It's ironic because Ico is supposed to be an allegory about human (mis)communication. Ack, females happily identify with leading males all the time! And also, female gamers have almost always made up something like half of the consumer base in the East and West???
Also, he thinks girls must wear skirts or dresses, and that boys are somehow physically stronger than girls, before puberty even. All these statements are absolute rubbish. I dare any onlookers to read more via google. I agree with that IGN editor Ryan Clements fellow; I would have been fine with him saying that his thing with male leads is just a 'preference/creative choice'.
It's also hilarious how he thinks male gamers will enjoy SotC more than female gamers (who he thinks would like Ico better), when the reverse is true in my case and those of other lady gamers.
In all honesty during my first playthrough of Ico years ago I was a little startled by how exorbitantly delicate Yorda is in the game (especially when contrasted with the nimble Ico), and that was before I was ever formally introduced to feminism. But I do think '[physically] weak' female characters are as important as 'strong' ones, and Yorda was at least a fully realised character, so I wasn't too bothered. At least Ueda had talked about the weakness and vulnerability of both characters, since they are both young children.
So, judging by Ueda's loving depictions of Yorda, Mono, and Agro (though she's a horse!), he seems fond of females himself, so the lack of empathy thing is probably an assumption made about his audience that they can't relate, emphathise, etc. But that in itself is a weak attitude to take. For a guy so intent on shirking the gaming status quo he isn't doing much to combat this aspect of the culture, even though he has the tremendous talent to do so. Come on, Ueda, you can do it, for god's sake, you can create an interesting and engaging female lead who wears trousers, or leggings, or shorts, or skorts, or stockings, or a onesie, or an amalgamation of any of these!