bambivs-blog

[bambivs-blog]

Possibly the smuggest little bastard to ever happen upon my TV screen as a child was Sonic the Hedgehog and I saw Scrappy fucking Doo. The Sonic I knew was the original from “Sonic” and “Sonic 2” on SEGA Megadrive. 

So, when playing with my sister I would exclusively go for tails despite his damp uselessness- The title screen image of Sonic wagging his finger at me  was enough to give me the morbs. 

I mean, I was maybe 6 years old at this point and even then I could not comprehend this antagonist’s relentless popularity. I remember leaving the controller on the floor to take a sip of juice, looking up to see the blue turd tapping his watch in what only can be described as an unnecessary boredom animation. At this point I’m maybe perplexed; but THEN the motherfucker goes and lies down like Rose DeWitt fucking Bukater. The only thing he can do is go fast- that’s everything he’s based on. Everything else it plucked out of somebody’s nonsense mind fart. Get to fuck.

The game Sonic was clearly balls deep in his own sense of self-satisfaction, the cartoon Sonic was at best a nightmare but it’s the fandom that holds a unique place in the chasm of hell. The only redeeming element of it all is Sonic’s place in meme history. Bless those meme guys. 

[bambivs-blog]

It probably comes as no surprise that GTA V was written and produced by men- it bloody reeks of testosterone. When asked about the lack of female protagonist, a writer of GTA V, Dan Houser simply replied- "The concept of being masculine was so key to this story” Honestly, I don't know who should be more vexed by this statement- men or women. I realise that this is a fantasy and maybe I'm humanising these pixels too much, but it's no surprise that videogames are now a masive part of society and have a real impact on our culture. Unfortunately it's also unsurprisingly  industry is completely composed of games produced through the male gaze; a phenomenon in which a majority of consumable media is made by and for men. So, in the spirit of "wokeness"  let's try and decipher what it is he means. What is masculinity to Dan Houser? According to the story line it's shootin' cops, fuckin' prostitutes and daylight robbery. I’m starting to think these guys would have been happy with a game where all you do is wave around a bazooka and have a massive dick. Maybe the more civilians you pulverise the bigger your dick gets. Something like that.

Regardless of this, we clearly don’t hold men  and women to the same standards when it comes to violence, or the capacity to lead a story in a video game. For lack of a better word, the ball is always swinging one way or another and it's usually going in the direction of the dude. I don't know, maybe it's just a pipe dream but what on earth is so unappealing about having a woman front a game about crime? What's the problem here? Is it that the the giant proportion of gamers (who are amazingly, female) might get too used to being represented? My god, I wonder what that would be like. And shit, I’m not talking about having a Scarlett Johansson action goddess like every lazy, predictable ass movie of the past 5 years, tits and guns and falling for the main white dude. (because apparently men only know how to write one type of woman and it's usually plucked straight outta the wank bank) What I'm talking abut here are interesting, inclusive, flawed human beings  who develop and make mistakes and occasionally pull off some expert crime. But no, what we do get is a piss stream of transgressive, boring and frankly archaic characters who are whinging, hateful fuckheads. Barely a plot device other than to be saved by a man or ogled at.

 Saying that- there is one women in GTA V who is remotely involved in the action.... she appears as an option (granted, the best option) when you need a hacker to pull off a heist. She is referred to through a smug laugh as "the feminine touch"  and she appears maybe three times in name (if you even pick her) and not once does she ever appear on screen. Can anyone say the smallest fucking token I've ever seen? 

The lack of diversity within GTA through the years is one thing, (and don't think for a second here I'm talking about Franklin because I love him) but it's the sheer contempt that the writers seem to have for women generally. I mean, I never met the writers so the only thing I have to go on is the product and if I pissed out this selection of women I would imagine my general opinion of the "fairer sex" is a pair of titties with a whiny-ass mouth of top. 

Because, in reality- I love playing the GTA franchise. I love the fact that it even exists and it's raging popularity is not misplaced. However,  I think the phrase “problematic fave” is apt here... yes  it’s enormous fun, yes I've played it through five times, but I'm also not going to pretend that these characters aren't causing any harm. These characters are not only indisputable cliches and unfortunately the victims of seemingly bad writers, they are also part of one of the most popular franchises of all time.  Young people will see and and will take something away from it, no matter how subconscious; and in a world that already devalues women at every corner how COULDN’T a lack of interesting, realistic, real female characters be detrimental to the way boys view women and girls view themselves. 

In spite of this, I’m not a maniac- I don’t think video games incite violence and hatred. In fact, I think most of us are aware of the blatant sexism in the gaming industry and for the most part think it's a bad thing. It's also getting pretty clear that newer releases are clearing  a very promising path for the future of gaming. (Horizon Hero Dawn, Overwatch etc...) In reality, if we were all asked if we would prefer a more diverse range of characters in video games a majority of us would answer yes . What we evidently do do however is think "this is pretty sexist" and ultimately shrug it off because playing video games is fun as hell.  But there is also that niggling in the back of my mind that concludes: in a world with as ridiculous rape and violence against women stats as ours, maybe try not to fan the flames of dehumanising/hating women? Or maybe not patronise men to a degree where only ridiculous macho guys are worth being. Maybe this is why men are so surprised that I’m such an avid gamer, why would I want to be involved in a culture that doesn’t have adequate representation for me? Well, dude, it’s ‘cause I got no other choice.

[bambivs-blog]

Are adult male anime fans sinister?

While working for a college, I met all kinds of teenagers, some were sensitive, keen and lovely, some were sweet, shy and mysterious. The majority of those I got to know however were young guys with thumbs through hoodie sleeves, hair over one eye and those awkward almost moustaches. Not that there’s anything wrong with that per se, for the most part I believe these boys were truly decent people and simply trying to find their way in a confusing world. I was a support temp in an IT course on Mondays and it was quite honestly like walking into a materialisation of a 4chan thread. I individually caught each of them looking at anime titties when it occurred to them to do so. I don’t know if I would have preferred real women or not. Either way- it was difficult to know what to make of it and any reaction I could have made would be a gamble. For the most part they didn’t even seem to mind that I had noticed. “Right boys- enough hentai, let’s do some coding!” I want to call it harmless, but unfortunately, whether you’re objectifying real models or a sexy illustration, you’re objectifying girls; and in a room without any female presence apart from myself; things became very dark pretty quick. I know there’s a pressure of young guys to maintain a hideous level of bravado, but there were times where it escalated to a point where my professionalism was close to being thrown out the window. After all, I do not want to help a young guy out with his assignment who’s just described a girl of facebook as “fair game”. I digress, what I was trying to talk about was anime girls. Anime girls with hairless, pale shiny skin and eyes the size of the fucking void. It occurs to me how young they look. Just how old are these girls supposed to be? I wonder if the can of worms that is Japan’s paedophile problem is spilling over into the West’s idea of normal. I’m not even sure if it’s fair of me to blame this on Japan. Regardless of East or West, Nabokov’s Lolita or Japan’s lolicon, the world has a problem with fetishizing female youth and I for one don’t think anime is helping. However, for the moment these boys are still boys and they have all the time in the world to find their way; but what about the ones that don’t. What becomes of these guys?

I think I saw one once in a documentary. AKB48 are an all singing all dancing kawaii fest consisting of 136 girls aged 12 to their very early 20’s. They belong to a phenomenon known as "idol culture". Not a new thing in Japan; it is essentially a version of celebrity but instead of following the career of an actress or singer; they are essentially the object of fantasy and are to emit innocence and purity at all times. They perform regularly in Akihabara, Tokyo’s nerdtropolis. A district comprising mainly of neon, anime chicks, and manga. During a documentary about AKB48, a grown ass man in a grown ass suit was plucked from the audience and interviewed. The journalist was understandably suspicious. Keep in mind the youngest member of the group is 12. Twelve.  “What is it you like about this group?” The answer is always the same. “It’s difficult to describe to a western audience, but it’s their youthfulness. They make me feel calm and relaxed.”

Now; what is bothering me about this statement is that I’m in no way above this kind of thing at all, I understand. In fact, I can’t believe someone’s put words to what I’ve been feeling all this time!

This is why I secretly watch cooking-based anime when nobody’s home, this is why I obsessively draw girls in school uniforms wearing sun hats and holding hands and talking to animals. At this point I wanna make something very clear: watching cute girls doing nice things doesn’t turn me on. It makes me feel clean somehow, makes me wanna get my shit together. I’ve yet to hear a word to describe the surge of productivity and wholesome deeds that inevitably follows watching a Studio Ghibli movie; I imagine it’s a similar feeling to being baptised.  I am cleansed!!!

            It is however, difficult to determine whether these adult men’s feelings are coming from the same place of legitimacy. And If we care to apply Occam’s Razor- the answer is unequivocally no. Of course not. Naturally it's entirely possible to turn this the other way. Am I a giant pervert and I just don't know it? I guess I'll never know! Do I feel the same way about AKB48 however... No, no I don't. There's a difference there, these are real human beings in a world that seems to get darker the more you find out. Now, I've been a Japanophile for 11 years now; I've consumed enough Japanese media to know that this obsession with innocent, childlike girls is much more than a celebration of youth. In fact the sexualisation of young girls is a billion+ yen industry and the men (yes, men) pulling the strings are at the very best dubious and at the worst the darkest and most evil motherfuckers I can think of... Take AKB48's management. At the beginning of 2013 a dark cloud hovered over the world of AKB48; a YouTube video emerged of a member Minami Minegishi that can only be described as looking like footage of hostage or a public execution. Minegishi had shaved her head and was openly crying; she said at the time that it was her own decision to shave her head to punish herself for being seen in public with a boyfriend. She called her actions "thoughtless and immature." 

To be in a band like AKB48; there are a code of strict rules and conduct, and of course, seeming available to your fan base is key to success. Essentially deeming these girls' human rights as less important than the public's' incredibly problematic fantasies. I am in no way about to speak for these girls; but it seems to me the act of a very scared or manipulated individual to take such harsh action upon yourself for fear of further punishment. It came out later that a manager of the band, Takashi Nodera was arrested for secretly filming hours of illicit footage of the girls and is now in prison. This is now about the protection of children; so excuse me if I become a bit mad when I see a young male student looking at that kind of content.  I want to conclude here that I am not in a position to speak for the Japanese people. I mean, I’m white, British and the accumulative time I’ve spent in Tokyo adds up to a measly month. Japan’s problem with feminism belongs solely to Japan’s feminists. Japan's problem with paedophilia belongs to the Japanese government. I’m just another white chick sticking my nose in as usual. I also want to say that this piece of writing started out light-hearted, but the more I researched the longer and more fucked up it became. Conclusion is that everything is awful.

[bambivs-blog]

Hello-

My name is Bambi and I’ve wanted to start up a blog/vlog for fucking years but I’ve always made excuses- ie. We don’t need another bullshit opinion screaming into the void of the deep web, ... No matter how valid this may be I’m persevering for some damn reason. 

So- if you’re interested in nerd culture, video games, otaku nonsense, social commentary or anything else feel free to give me a follow. 

Bambi.