'Woke' discourse and gaming: please, please stop
How the tiresome debate came to my doorstep...
The subject of things being ‘woke’ has felt annoyingly adjacent to gaming for some time, being one of the cultural frontiers that seems to have attracted criticism.
Initially planning to stay out of the debate, I was surprised to find it come to my doorstep last week, when a piece of mine attracted a lot of debate surrounding it.
The piece in question? A look at the latest trailer for Naughty Dog’s newest IP: Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Now these comments weren’t on the website I wrote it for, it was when it got shared to an aggregator site the name of which I’ll keep to myself.
Look, I’m a happily bisexual man, or as I prefer to put it: I’m not a fussy eater. I wasn’t chasing this particular debate, I find it tiring to the point I actively avoid discussions of ‘woke culture’. I struggle to take anyone who uses ‘woke’ like it’s some official sociological term seriously, but I seldom air that viewpoint. I can’t be bothered with the argument and I don’t think I’ll ever change anyone’s mind.
Anyway, I was just surprised by the article. It had nearly 100 comments, most of which revolved around the protagonist being a woman with a shaved head.
Why was I surprised? Because her appearance was easily the least interesting thing in the trailer.
Firstly, I’d imagine less hair in space is probably easier and secondly, I didn’t even find space to make fun of the fact she has a spaceship that is genuinely a Porsche, which I find hilarious. I don’t think her appearance is worth commenting on, not because it’s starkly good or bad, it just isn’t something I had an opinion about or something I thought worth having an opinion on.
Naughty Dog’s track record with new IPs isn’t huge in quantity, yet every franchise they’ve created for nearly 30 years has gone on to become a huge success. Heck, their last two were Uncharted and The Last Of Us, which have even had film and TV adaptions respectively. Naughty Dog giving a first look at a new IP is a huge story, because their track record is illustrious.
There are few companies that you can bank on as much as Naughty Dog. In short, there were just so many more elements to touch upon. Also again, I don’t have an opinion on how the protagonist looks. She seems to have a distinct personality and definitely doesn’t appear to act in a boring or bland manner, that’s what matters for a lead character.
Especially in the seemingly sci-fi genre, she doesn’t look out of place or immersion-breaking. If she was dressed up in 10th-century armour while piloting a spaceship, cool, then you can complain.
In general, gamers seem willing to believe a dragon, which has an incredibly neurodivergent adherence to pre-programmed patterns, can fly out of the sky which can only be sliced up in accordance to a big floating health bar. All of this while you’re dressed up in armour that shouldn’t remotely work with an incredible tolerance to not breaking bones.
But it’s the two men who fancy each other, a woman not adhering to particular stylistic expectations, or displaying traits that would be seen as ‘masculine’ according to a lifestyle magazine presumably from the 1800s. That is the thing people struggle to believe? Excuse me, I’m off to scream into the void.
If that’s immersion-breaking to you, then please experience more life which is the politest way I can say ‘get out more’. I’ve had the privilege of being at university, living in various places. Variety is the spice to life, I have met so many fascinating and interesting people over the years. They’ve challenged my viewpoints and provided me with new perspectives and I’m very grateful.
Video games should showcase a wonderful variety of tales, worlds but importantly perspectives. Video games should be diverse in their storytelling. Whether by relating to the problems of the real world in metaphor or just simple escapism through epic tales, gaming should tell a lot of different stories. That will mean touching upon race, sexuality and gender.
Why on earth would you only want to see your perspective shown?
It’s so much more interesting to show stories that aren’t like your own. It can also help you accept yourself if it turns out you’re struggling. Video games can be a wonderful medium, let’s embrace diversity and different stories.
If you still don’t agree, you can just not buy the game, it’s really not that hard.