Journal of Other Forum Analysis

[Taco Bell Tower]

The woman from Metal Gear Solid says she was happy with the character and liked Kojima

https://www.resetera.com/threads/metal-gear-solid-5s-stefanie-joosten-on-playing-quiet-working-with-kojima.781490/

Entire thread is basically 'This is what this woman really meant to say' 

It's almost as if Era is mansplaining.

It's almost as if pro-women, believe-women, diversity, gender-equality, Era is actually very deeply misogynistic and doesn't give a fuck what women really have to say.

They have a thread fully dedicated on mansplaining
https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-her-ass-is-part-of-her-character.275780/page-298#post-114411998

Gender
Male

The Kojima thread got me thinking about something that I really dislike about the sexualization of women in videogames (and other media), which is how insidious it is. And it's not limited to the game itself; you see that same phenomenon in the marketing and discussion of the game too.

In the case of MGSV, most of what you would experience is the stealth action gameplay and the espionage storyline. That's what the creator of the game and subsuquent marketing would describe as the main vision of the game. But an inextricable part of that vision is Kojima's view of women. That's been a constant thread through all his games. That makes sense as he sees himself as an "auteur", which you could say necessitates him to represent unsavory parts of himself in his works. So that begs the question, if this auteur's vision is so celebrated, why is this particular aspect treated like a dirty secret? Why doesn't the marketing parade around Kojima's latest iteration of "woman"? Surely the people interested in his works would continue to be interested.

Except, maybe some people wouldn't. They might be put off by an explicit showcase of his vision. I'm sure Kojima himself wouldn't mind if his vision is off-putting to some in a creative sense. But games are a business so marketing ends up representing the game in a way that generates the most appeal. So you end up with a product that essentially trojan horses a certain view of women after masquerading as having little to no opinion on the matter. I feel this helps to explain the prevalence of "embarassment" when it comes to playing games like these. And for those who don't notice or aren't bothered, it silently affirms their existing worldview (which in this particular case is the sexualization of women as the status quo).

To be clear, I'm not advocating or expecting Kojima to change his art. I can respect that he sees his creations as a reflection of himself and his views. But I don't respect how this art is packaged into a product that obscures its true nature and results in an insidious disseminiation of these views.