It never fails that I have the opportunity to read the same message from multiple viewpoints about different but related topics in multiple classes. So... I'm going to very very briefly pose my continued thoughts on the matter of gender roles and stu- wait a minute... Gender Roles is something I have direct interest in... Maybe it won't be so short, but it'll be kinda boring because I'm going to be puking my guts out onto the page for I don't know how long; so anyone disgusted with a liberal viewpoint on gender and gender roles should skip to the part where I start talking about God of War.
Here's what I think about gender roles: in the animal kingdom, they are one of the most clearly defined things in the world. In the case of lions: lionesses hunt... male lions eat. Male lions fuck; lionesses give birth. Even in animals that continue to defy their intended role given to them by the Lord our God have very very defined gender roles. The seahorse male, for example, insists on carrying baby sea horses instead of the female. As for another example, it tends to be the male bird that dresses flamboyantly in order to attract a lover, and the female that wears gray, and acts all big and bad all the time. In ponies, for another example, females outnumber males like 50:1, and run society; they also worship the sun and the moon and practice witchcraft.
See how silly that argument was getting? Good... because it's just as silly as any argument for traditional gender roles. If men are supposed to act "manly" and women are supposed to be "nurturing," then wouldn't we all be acting like our other ape kin? Apes... all of them... act in a social structure in which a single, dominant male tells all of the other apes what to do, and if any of the other apes wish to challenge his authority, they must successfully beat the current alpha male into submission. Female apes raise the little ones, and elder apes sit back and enjoy the show. If an ape wanted something, they must have the alpha male's permission, or challenge the alpha male. Apes will attack members of their society that act different from the rest. As a culture, I'd like to think we've come far from chimps and gorillas. http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5555161
Ahh, oh well, it was worth a shot. So... we could... try to move on from our primal instincts. I mean, look at all the cool shit we've done. We've made buildings for rich people to live in, weapons to commit mass murder, governments to control everyone in the world, poison to sell for profit, and endless forms of entertainment to distract every single person who might otherwise have the potential to do something about it all. What do the hardcore, mostly white christian, conservatives say is our biggest problem? Queers. Yup... it's those damned gays screwing up everything... this is God punishing us for allowing gays in the military, allowing gays to get married, allowing gays to walk down the fucking street. Let's not stop at gays though... no
Let's branch out to anything that could lead to homosexuality. Effeminate guys, masculine gals, women who make more money than men, men who stay at home and raise the kids, etc etc.They're right though... there's a serious problem in the world today... but it aint homosexuality, and it aint Obama, it's people like them. They act like primates.
Moving on... let's talk about God of War.
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/no-redeeming-value
The question is: "Is it fair to be that harsh on this game for bad storytelling?"
Yes? I think so... I mean, to me, it's a relatively simple case of criticism. And I think that the guys in the video are absolutely right. I've never played the games myself so I can't say much, but based on the evidence they gave, I'd have to agree. It kinda bounces back on the topic of authorship in games too. From what I saw in the video, it seems to me that the first God of War was meant to be a stand alone, completely independent of the other 2 games.
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