Week 7: “In video games, heteronormativity manifests on two levels — within their content (including fiction and system rules), and in the performance of gameplay.”

In “Dressing Commander Shepard in Pink: Queer Playing in a Heteronormative Game Culture,” the authors mention how gamers can practice “‘queer reading’ of the character and interpret him or her as gay.” I believe that Kingdom Hearts subscribes to heteronormative ideals, and this is evident in that the quite-masculine, male protagonist, Sora, is clearly depicted to have feelings for the feminine Princess of Heart, Kairi. So far, there haven’t been any moments in the game that could be seen as “queer performance,” but the lack of LGBT representation could be a consequence of the game borrowing, repurposing, and incorporating Disney’s “kid-friendly” storylines into the game’s primary narrative (Disney is just now beginning to be slightly more inclusive in terms of representing members of the LGBT communities and minorities in their stories). However, there are individuals who have performed a “queer reading” of Sora and Riku’s relationship. With Kingdom Hearts III recently being released, I did some investigating to see if this installment of the Kingdom Hearts series incorporated LGBT characters, and that does not appear to be the case. But, I did find an interesting thread regarding LGBT inclusivity in Kingdom Hearts on the internet. It’s interesting to see how in a game where identity is so fluid, that fluidity hasn’t translated into how sexual identity is depicted. I would like to say, though, that incorporating LGBT characters “for the sake of inclusivity” comes off as disingenuous, especially when game developers allow the controllable avatar to engage in same-sex relationships with only females, as is the case with Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 (this still subscribes to heteronormative ideals and to heterosexual males).