representation

• female lead playable character- often underrepresented in video games
• a mentally and physically strong female lead such as Aloy may appeal to female players
• aloy/women are shown as skilled fighters comfortable with handling weapons
• aloy- her character is a hunter so shows women as predators and powerful as well as cunning
• in many other video games women are shown as damsels in distress or as sex objects
• this video game does not sexualise the female characters
• the clothes Aloy is wearing is quite practical, not particularly revealing unlike other video games such as Lara Croft franchise etc
• the camera in the game cutscene does not linger either on any parts of the females bodies,
• men are often presented as weaker than the women, or as antagonists mostly and far less physically capable than Aloy, presented as victims,
• Lgbtq+ characters are often severely underrepresented within video games
• the game features several gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters
• the inclusion and diversity of sexualities may help to engage LGBTQ+ audiences who want to see themselves represented within gaming
• many audiences interpret Aloy as being in fact 'asexual' as she does not have any kind of romantic narratives- bar the DLC expansion pack where she has the option to kiss another female
• many narratives involving women often focus on heteronormative cis relationships
• aloy has option to kiss seyka- another female character
• several characters appear to identify as trans and this is accepted and normalised
• the game appears to contain characters from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds
• tribal segregation- perhaps reflecting feelings of racial difference and discrimination
• some tribes are shown as 'savage' and aggressive perhaps reflecting post colonialist ideas about race
• many audiences praised the realistic and complex depictions of black and asian skin tones and hair textures
• the game could be criticised for having a 'white saviour' narrative where Aloy is the hero trying to protect the minority characters
• korreh loses his sight and becomes visually impaired, kotallo has his arm torn off in battle, garokkah suffers from dementia-like symptoms, disabilities and other impairments are rarely represented within the media, particularly within videogames
• prosthetic limbs are very rarely seen in videogames and this adds diversity
• character discusses that he wants to accept himself without the prosthetic, reflecting complex representations of different ways of dealing with disability
• the machines are seen as aggressive and antagonistic in opposition to the humans, powerful and aggressive
• machines- the low angle shots, dark colours, red lighting, fast paced editing and ominous non diegetic music signifies their dangerous nature
• some audiences felt that the game/characters were culturally appropriating minority clothing, hair, makeup
• some audiences complained Aloy was not 'attractive' or 'feminine' enough or sexualised
• van zoonen argued women are often under represented or negatively stereotyped which the computer games industry has fallen subject to for many years. Or even when we are presented with a female 'hero' protagonist, they are often negatively portrayed for the male gaze such as Lara Croft in tomb raider
• examples of negative female representation in videogames- in the star-fox franchise, fox mcloud has to save the female damsel crystal, she is sexualised and pictured for the male gaze
• donkey kong also was a game that featured negative female representation with the damsel in distress