Push the button, Gordon. Push it. I don't know why we can't do it, but you should push it. Hey.

[sanspoof]

So, the new Half Life episode. I can't help but notice that there are a few sucky things about the characters (not least that the NPCs are always sucking up to Gordon and asking him things as if he can answer). The worst, though, is Alyx. I can't believe how completely null a personality she is. She's like some idiot fanboy's idea of what a perfect

Comments

[diaryarena]

"She's been so traumatized by the events in her life that she's desperate to live up to the standards of the silent but weirdly all-powerful Male Authority Figure^w^w^wPlayer Character." -- says the FOR REAL HALF LIFE STORY BIBLE i have right here.

It's weird how many people think that Chell, in Portal, is an android. I guess that's better than thinking she's actually a REAL LADY player-avatar.

[sanspoof]

Trauma could fit into my theory!

Also, that's stupid. And android? Jesus.

[diaryarena]

Chell (I never actually heard that name in-game, any idea where you hear it?) being an android is actually a really naive, face-value interpretation of the much cooler intended theme of human-as-object. GLaDOS chides you for anthropomorphizing the companion cube even though she herself is not really a human. GLaDOS reminds you that the portal device is monetarily worth more than you. The way you're shuttled from one test chamber to the next is very much an assembly line type process. And ultimately when you turn the tables and destroy GLaDOS you invert the theme, treating the sentient being like an object instead of treating the cube as a loved one

[diaryarena]

It's in the credits, and in the game files. SOMEWHERE I saw speculation that Chell is actually the daughter of Cave Johnson (founder of Aperture Science). Which makes the "bring your daughter to work day" stuff more POIGNANT.

The android thing -- there are a lot of twits who took the "CONGRATULATIONS, ANDROID" message from GLaDOS (after the "live fire training course" level) at face value. FACE VALUE!! What the hell is their problem! LIKE an android for certain, as you say, manufactured and put on rails. But the android-testsubject-avatar-player hierarchy is less horrible than human-testsubject-avatar-player and thus less likely when considering the themes of the game.

Sometimes I like to think it's other players who left the scratched messages on the walls.

I find Gordon Freeman to be a completely terrifying person.

[ex_agentcoo]

Wow, do you read too much into popular entertainment. ;-) Why aren't you criticizing Barney or the other NPCs? :-) Reminds me of your reaction to what's-her-name - redheaded chick in Spider-Man. Of COURSE these female characters are submissive fanboy wet-dreams; they're made by fanboys, for fanboys.

[ex_agentcoo]

P.S. "love, Cooper"

[schwa242]

I just got Half-Life 2 yesterday, and Alyx immediately reminded me of the young characters from the children's edutainment series "Little Einsteins". Always there to smile and tell you good job from across the screen. Only with curves.

[derspatchel]

"Very good head shot, Gordon! Oh no, here comes another headcrab zombie! D'you think you can do it? Good job! Let's find the red key. Can you find the red key? Try smashing the crates. Great work! I think I love you"

Half the reason (hurr) that Half-Life 1 was so much fun was that Barney made such a great supporting NPC and, I think, the only NPC in such a game that I actually wanted to protect. If my dog dies in Nethack, I feel a sad feeling for a moment, but then it passes (and I have to wait for an altar before I try reading these new scrolls.) I tried to keep Barney alive every level he was with me. He wasn't too much support firepower-wise, but there was just something about how I'd be wildly flailing about with my crowbar at flying headcrabs and he'd take a few tenative shots with his pistol and go "Yeah! Got one!" You wanted to chuck him on the chin and go "Good work, lil' soldier."

...kind of like how Alyx treats Gordon... HEY, WAIT

[sanspoof]

Yeah, that was definitely in the mix; the implication that she could just go off and do all the world-saving all by herself. I mean, she's a genius, isn't she? And can fix helicopters?
Her dad's a big mass of Loving Unreproachableness too, but he's on screen less.

[unpleasant]

This is my feeling about Aleks. She has been written to be almost carelessly superior to Gordon. She scales four story buildings to break into extremely fortified locations by hacking into alien technology while dodging ridiculous threats and does so seemingly without effort. I mean, who the fuck is Gordon in comparison? I don't ever recall Gordon easily excelling the way Alickz does- he's a skin of his teeth, deus ex machina type victor. It's absolutely true she's an Mary-Sue Mate, but I think the unintended consequence is that she makes Gordon (ie the player) look less than stellar in her huge patronizing shadow. I want to BE as her, not interact with her.

[pixelfish]

The passivity of Alyx has proven a little frustrating to me. (Specially since when I worked at GP, I'd see articles declaiming her perfection.) I'm ashamed to admit I didn't notice at first, mostly because I was delighted to see a female character not wearing heels and a short skirt all the goddamned time. (Although, yes, I know about the naked Alyx video. It's kinda depressing that the first hit for Alyx Half Life on Google in "Alyx! Nude!") I'd put her an order of magnitude ahead of many a video game woman, but obviously we're still not completely there yet. (On the other hand, men are also made up to be idealised versions of themselves--it's just that to a certain type of man, the idealised version of a woman is perfectly even-tempered and perky and utterly supportive of his every move ALL THE TIME