This is the second in a series of three videos exploring the Damsel in Distress trope in video games. In this installment we look at the “dark and edgy” side of the trope in more modern games and how the plot device is often used in conjunction with graphic depictions of violence against women. Over the past decade we’ve seen developers try to spice up the old Damsel in Distress cliche by combining it with other tropes involving victimized women including the disposable woman, the mercy killing and the woman in the refrigerator.
Due to the nature of the topic, this video comes with a trigger warning for violence against women.
For more information and a full transcript visit: http://www.feministfrequency.com/2013/05/damsel-in-distress-part-2-tropes-vs-women/
DEFINITIONS:
The Damsel in Distress: As a trope the damsel in distress is a plot device in which a female character is placed in a perilous situation from which she cannot escape on her own and must then be rescued by a male character, usually providing an incentive or motivation for the protagonist’s quest. This is most often accomplished via kidnapping but it can also take the form of petrification, a curse or demon possession. Traditionally the woman in distress is a love interest or family member of the hero; princesses, wives, girlfriends and sisters are all commonly used to fill the role.
Damsel in the Refrigerator: A combination of the Women in Refrigerators trope and the Damsel in Distress trope. Typically this happens when a female character is killed near the beginning of a story but her soul is then stolen or trapped and must be rescued or freed by the male hero. Occasionally time travel or some other form of resurrection may be involved in the quest to bring the women in question back from the dead.
Disposable Damsel: A variant of the Damsel in Distress trope in which the hero fails to save the woman in peril either because he arrives too late or because (surprise twist!) it turns out she has been dead the whole time.
Euthanized Damsel: A combination of the Damsel in Distress trope and the Mercy Killing trope. This usually happens when the player character must murder the woman in peril “for her own good”. Typically the damsel has been mutilated or deformed in some way by the villain and the “only option left” to the hero is to put her “out of her misery” himself. Occasionally the damsel’ed character will be written so as beg the player to kill her.
(via toffeeee)
Source: femfreq
Your thoughts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEQdvYFMBAU
I firmly believe that there are hundreds, probably thousands, of military secrets being kept from the citizens of the developed world in the interests of “national security.” The declassified information from Area 51, alone, could keep conspiracy theorists in the US going (and has) for decades.
Personally, I think that what we know for certain is bad enough: millions of people dying from curable illnesses and starvation every year, record income inequality, record poverty, the list goes on. Furthermore, I think if we fight for more direct democracy, more accountability from our governments, and more equality for all, we will necessarily need to demand more government transparency.
I used to be a real classified secrets hound when I was younger. MK Ultra, UFOs, you name it. I even had a guy with a Lockheed Martin badge indicating he was some kind of advanced engineer tell me all these tales of reverse-engineered UFOs, alien contact, you name it (in a comic book store, no less, apparently he was a collectibles buff).
But the maddening thing, even with testimonies of high-ranking officials like the above is: we will quite simply never know if these people are telling the truth. Are they just seeking attention? Are they telling the truth? Even declassified information could arguably be altered before being released to the public to throw us in the wrong direction.
Again: I think the answer is seeking more government transparency. If our only goal is to discover whether UFOs actually exist when millions of people are suffering and dying needlessly every year, I think our efforts are better placed in that direction than in chasing little green men.
If religion were true, its followers would not try to bludgeon their young into an artificial conformity; but would merely insist on their unbending quest for truth, irrespective of artificial backgrounds or practical consequences.
(via painting-a-picture)
Source: lazyyogi
Crohn’s Disease & Ulcerative Colitis
ut4h:
Hi everyone! My name is Sam, I’m 16 years old and i am fighting against ulcerative colitis. For those who have no idea what this is, Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease of the large intestine, also known as the colon, in which the lining of the colon becomes inflamed and develops tiny open sores, or ulcers, that produce pus and mucous. The combination of inflammation and ulceration causes unbearable abdominal pain.
Ulcerative colitis is the result of an abnormal response by your body’s immune system. Normally, the cells and proteins that make up the immune system protect you from infection. In people with IBD, however, the immune system mistakes food, bacteria, and other materials in the intestine for foreign or invading substances. When this happens, the body sends white blood cells into the lining of the intestines, where they produce chronic inflammation and ulcerations.
Living with this disease means I’m out of school…a lot. getting steroid infusions, CT scans, x rays, colonoscopies, etc. I cant eat the foods my friends eat such as deep fried food, gluten, dairy, wheat, raw vegetables, or fruits with seeds. it has changed my life in so many ways, not to mention how embarrassing it can be to explain it to people!
Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s are diseases with unknown causes and cures. I am raising money for the CCFC ( crohns & colitis foundations of canada) to fund medical research to help people struggling with the emotion and physical distress that comes with this disease.
The link below will bring you to my personal page/donation page:
https://secure.ccfcfindthecure.ca/ParticipantPage.aspx?L=2&CCID=107&PID=25650&GC=GTv2
if you are not interested in donating, i ask that you reblog this post in hopes of spreading more awareness and possibly obtaining more donations!
Thankyou to everyone who read this! <3
My memoir, cont’d - Why I hate people
If nothing else, these posts are helping me articulate things I’ve felt my whole life but never been able to put into words. There are things I’m ashamed of. Things I feel that scare me. Things that I’ve never admitted even to myself. I don’t know why it helps to post these things to the internet, but it does. Everything I confess feels like a piece of the life that I lost that I’m getting back somehow.
The latest is why I hate people who have good lives. People who have sane parents. People who grew up in clean homes. People who aren’t tens of thousands of dollars in debt because they had to finance their education themselves. People who don’t wake up every morning not knowing how they’re going to get through another day.
I’ve never really been able to understand where this resentment comes from, but while I’m being honest: I realize now it’s just outright jealousy. And hatred. I’m jealous of how easy it is for some people to do simple things that will always feel like a nearly insurmountable obstacle for me. Things like being physically or emotionally intimate with another human being. Things like having a conversation with a stranger that doesn’t result in cold sweats and heart palpitations. Things that some people take for granted.
And that’s where the hatred comes in. I hate that the vast majority of people who have these things will never understand why these things are so hard for people like me to achieve. I hate that many folks refuse to admit how privileged they are, how many advantages they have over the rest of us. I hate that so many people have condemned me for struggling with things that come easy to them. Have called me a retard and a pussy and a neurotic asshole and have told me I’m making myself physically ill over nothing.
Most of all, however, I hate myself.
Hey new followers
Thanks for the follow! I always follow back, but it sometimes takes me a while.
Just wanted to mention that I have another blog on education, social justice, and technology. Feel free to check it out if you’re interested in any of those topics: http://webcommdesigns.com/.
Thanks!
My memoir, cont’d - On why I’m not a violent offender
“Whoa. So, you should be like a serial killer or something. Why didn’t you become one?” Another humanity-challenged douchebag asks me.
“Maybe I’m just waiting for the right victim.”
If you want to freak out an asshat who has just duped you into revealing your history of abuse, only to say something as soul-destroying as that, try that line. I highly recommend it. I’ve never in my life seen the blood drain from someone’s face that quickly.
This episode is from my younger, wilder days, days in which I probably was on my path to being some kind of criminal, given current research on neuroscience showing that the brains of violent offenders are fundamentally different than those of “normal” people.
So, in some ways the asshat’s question is valid: why didn’t I become a criminal? My answer: I was damned lucky. Like lottery lucky.
Adrian Raine on Neurocriminology for the WSJ
The field of neurocriminology—using neuroscience to understand and prevent crime—is revolutionizing our understanding of what drives “bad” behavior.
If early biological and genetic factors beyond the individual’s control make some people more likely to become violent offenders than others, are these individuals fully blameworthy? And if they are not, how should they be punished?
A more profound understanding of the early biological causes of violence can help us take a more empathetic, understanding and merciful approach toward both the victims of violence and the prisoners themselves. It would be a step forward in a process that should express the highest values of our civilization.
Bonus video of Dr. Raine explaining the fMRI images above. Really glad to see his work out there.
Or we could just lock up all the people who were systematically abused and therefore have abnormal brains, just in case. Uh, this argument = DANGER! DANGER! says the systematic abuse victim. - DS
(via intothewhirlwinds)
Source: psydoctor8
Join the protest: http://anoninsiders.net/cipsa-1702/
Sign petitions against CISPA: http://bit.ly/XYmP9n
Join the protest: http://anoninsiders.net/cipsa-1702/
Sign petitions against CISPA: http://bit.ly/XYmP9n
