Games and Sexualization: Part… whatever
Of course, sexualization and games go hand in hand nowadays. While I can’t comment on the validity of the decision in the context of the character, my general feeling is that a character’s poses and actions should stem from an understanding of the character themselves. If they are meant to be an oversexualized character on purpose, sure, I don’t think there’s a problem.
If the character is just given a pose… just because, that just shows a lack of thought to why the character may do something like that as the primary means of communicating the victory pose. Could it be done as a cheeky, sly nod to the trope itself? Sure, again if that was the nature of the character and more importantly if that is how the developers meant it to be, not a retroactive excuse. The same applies for Hanzo’s “over the shoulder” pose as well.
The point being, design isn’t something that should happen in a vacuum, whether in a game, illustration, book, TV, movie, art, sculpture or whatever. I think sometimes that’s forgotten by developers (and artists) as they rely on “what the people expect” or simply cashing in on “norms” and tropes.
So I don’t see this as a issue with the pose per say, but the reason why Tracer might strike that pose. And the complaints about whether Blizzard was pressured to change it… yeah, that’s probably more conspiracy and wishful thinking than reality. In the end, whatever the reasons, the change is being made because the team doesn’t feel the pose is in line with what they want from the character, whether by virtue of their own decision or realization based what they see coming from the community. It’s still a decision they are making that they want to make.
I find these trite whining whenever a company changes something someone doesn’t like a bit tiring after a while. The same applies to either side of the argument. In the end, the argument is really too much about wants and not enough about critical thought. Sometimes you wont get everything you want simply because visions are going to be different. And that’s ok. But having that vision in the first place is the important bit. When something is done without that vision, that’s when trouble arises.
And sometimes you need a little sexualization, and sometimes you don’t. It’s all going to be dependent, and nothing can simply be applied universally across the board. This is not an all or nothing game.
You want games to be art, treat it as such and start thinking critically about it, even if it’s not something you agree with.
Ranting based on: http://kotaku.com/blizzard-removing-overwatch-butt-pose-after-fan-complai-1767613551
See the conversation on Google+ as well: https://plus.google.com/+warazashi/posts/HCzquXLCiZj
