The Ethics of Implicit Queer Representation in games

Date: 2017

According to GLADD’s 2016-2017 report, of the 895 regular characters expected to appear on broadcast scripted primetime programming, 43 were identified as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) (GLADD, 2016). While this may not seem like much, this was an all-time high for queer representation on television. Although there is still a good amount of resistance, the world has slowly been becoming much more accepting and tolerant of different sexual and gender identities. Writers, network executives, and directors have been starting to integrate more openly queer characters but one form of media is sometimes forgotten: games. Many people say that art is a reflection of the world it’s created in. An argument can be made that the same thing can be said about many games. According to Time Magazine, many professionals have suggested about 5% of the American population identifies as LGBTQ (Steinmetz, 2016). This is a huge number of the population that doesn’t even include “closeted” queer people (queer people who are hiding their identities, normally out of fear of societal or familial rejection). With such a large community, it’s difficult to not know or see at least one queer person. It’s been established that the queer community is a distinct part of the present world, so why isn’t this as prevalent in media, specifically games?

Well contrary to popular belief, it is. People just don’t realize it. The issue has evolved from quantity to quality. It’s less about including queer characters in video games (though this is still an issue) and more about how the queer characters are depicted to the audience. Many portrayals of queer characters in games have been implicit, leaving identities up to the interpretation of the player.

According to feminist ethics, it would be extremely beneficial to the LGBTQ community and society as a whole if development and production teams allowed for more explicit queer representation in their games.

What does "Implicit Representation" mean?

The term “implicit representation” refers to when a character’s sexuality or gender identity is ambiguous, or up to interpretation. Implicitly has played a part in queer representation since the beginnings of the film industry through the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (also known as Hays Code). The Hays Code was created to enforce censors in new media toward the portrayal of sex, criminal activity, and most significantly, “sexual perversion” (“The Motion Picture Production Code”). In order to have any success, filmmakers had to earn a production seal by passing inspection. The code, itself, was very strict. It was heavily reliant on morals, stating, “the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin. Correct standards of life shall be presented on screen” (“The Motion Picture Production Code”). Due to this code, if filmmakers wanted to portray queer characters in their movies, it would either have to be negative or extremely implicit. Although the code was replaced by 1960, it played a significant role in setting the stage for implicitness in the future.

Why use implicit representation?

There are many reasons why creators might want to make sexualities and certain aspects of character identity ambiguous. One is that implicitly allows a bigger audience to identify with characters through “headcanons’. The phrase “headcanon” comes from the word “canonically” otherwise known as “canon” which means when something is officially true within the universe of a fictional world (a show, movie, game, etc.) according to the creator. A headcanon is something that is not official according to the creators of the fictional world, but rather, is created by a fan. Another important term commonly associated with headcanons is “ship”. This word comes from the word “relationship”. Though it’s normally used as a verb for wanting two characters to be romantically involved with each other, it can also be used as a noun to refer to the said couple. In context, if a fan has a ship (a couple they admire together) that isn’t canon, it is a headcanon.

A second reason that implicitness is implemented is to avoid homophobic backlash while still giving the queer community something to hold onto. Sometimes a creator will purposefully add certain aspects of a character’s personality that might lead some people to infer that a character identifies with a specific community without actually stating so. This is what many refer to as “queerbaiting” and it’s highly looked down upon by the LGBTQ+ community, however, it does tend to happen a lot. Usually, these aspects that are added are either highly reliant on stereotypes or have to do with extremely close friendships.

Although there are many reasons to make character sexuality ambiguous due to prejudice, some members of the queer community also argue for implicitness, claiming that everyone should be happy with having representation at all. Jagger Gravning, a writer for The Atlantic, argues for the benefits of implicit representation. He argues, “Because the focus of the story is forced to be about something else, these LGBT characters are not defined only by their orientation” (Gravning, 2014). Those who agree with Gravning, such as game writer, Rhianna Pratchett, concur that queerness should be introduced slowly into the world of games until there is increased comfortability amongst writers to write about more complex issues other than sexuality (Gravning, 2014).

EXAMPLES

Examples of implicit queer representation can be found in many games. One recent example of how implicit representation is implemented in video games is Dontnod Entertainment’s 2015 game, Life is Strange. Players take on the role of Max Caulfield, a high-school photography student who just returned to her hometown, Arcadia Bay. Max discovers that she has the power to rewind time and it’s up to her and her best friend, Chloe Price to uncover the mysteries of the town. Throughout the game, there are a lot of hints toward a romantic relationship between Chloe and Max. At one point, the game actually gives the player (Max) a choice to kiss Chloe. However, this is matched with a choice toward the end of the game for Max to kiss her guy friend, Warren. Max’s sexuality has “player-sexual” tendencies.

Player-Sexual Character Identities

Player-sexuality is a term used by writer and researcher, Alayna Cole, to refer to when a character’s sexuality is dependent on the player’s choices and preferences. Max’s sexuality is almost purposefully left ambiguous. While it is impossible to label a specific identity, Life is Strange implicitly portrays Chloe Price as being attracted to women. Though Chloe’s sexuality seems to be a lot more explicit than Max’s, it is only the amalgamation of multiple implicit ones. The evidence is there, it’s just hidden in plain sight. Her attraction to women is seen through her love for her missing friend, Rachel Amber, the optional kiss and romantic themes with Max and Rachel, and Chloe’s journal entries in the DLC, Life is Strange: Before the Storm. While this DLC does show that Chloe has hooked up with men before, it doesn’t rule women out either. Rather than just stating Chloe’s sexuality through direct acknowledgment or relationships, Life is Strange portrays queerness through player choice, implied romantic undertones, and collectible text (journals).

So what's explicit representation?

Explicit representation refers to when a character’s sexuality is officially acknowledged. The most common way for explicit representation is through direct acknowledgment of a character’s sexuality either through statements or relationships. Statement of character sexuality is very direct but can sometimes, give the impression that the character's sexuality is all that defines them. Many movies make this mistake by focusing queer characters' plots and story arcs entirely on their sexuality. There aren’t many reasons why creators might include explicit representation other than to add diversity and new perspectives to their characters. Some creators might be a part of the community themselves and want to add more representation for their community since it is so little. Others might implement explicit representation in an attempt to help normalize different identities and reduce societal prejudice over time. An example of explicit representation can be found in TellTale’s Tales from the Borderlands. This game showcases Athena and Janey, two women who are dating and eventually get married (depending on player choice). As soon as Janey is introduced, the players are also introduced to her relationship with Athena through direct dialogue, stating that they are dating.

The claim that explicit representation leaves the focus of character storylines on sexuality is not always true. In Tales from the Borderlands, Athena and Janney’s story has more to do with Athena’s job as a bounty hunter rather than their sexual preferences.

Analyzing Implicit Representation Through the Feminist Ethics Framework

In order to better understand the ethics of implicit representation, one must understand feminist ethics. While talk of feminist ethics and ideals had begun long before, the framework really came into its own in the 1980s due to a book by a Harvard psychologist, Carol Gilligan that launched the movement (Shafer-Landau, 2018). According to The Fundamentals of Ethics by Dr. Russ Shafer-Landau, feminist ethics were formed upon four central statements. The first statement is that women are the moral equals of men. The second states that, “the experiences of women deserve our respect and are vital to a full and accurate understanding of morality. To the extent that philosophers ignore such experiences, their theories are bound to be incomplete and likely to be biased and inaccurate” (Shafer-Landau, 2018). The third acknowledges that traditionally feminine traits are just as morally important as traditionally masculine ones.

Finally the last states the same about traditionally feminine ways of moral reasoning, stating that they are often superior to men’s (Shafer-Landau, 2018). The biggest difference between feminist ethics and traditional frameworks is that it doesn’t provide a single universal theory for moral decision-making. Instead, it’s more of a general approach to morality. Feminist philosophers argue that the world of morals requires a more complicated understanding of specific situations. Some of the most important concepts of feminist ethics are vulnerability, inability to control important aspects of one’s life, dependence, and unity (connectedness). Feminist philosophers argue that connectedness and cooperativeness are much more important to a better world than independence and competition. In this sense, this framework is highly connected with the ethics of care, a framework based on the virtue of caring for others. The most significant information that can be learned and applied from feminist ethics is its main goals: for the world to have equal consideration of different perspectives and from this, for the world to give more attention to solving problems of the world that would normally be ignored (Shafer-Landau, 2018). In this sense, if this framework were to be applied to the implicit/explicit issue in games, feminist ethics would take the side of explicitness. Attempting to hide or ignore sexuality ignores an entire community of people whose experiences might be able to teach valuable lessons in empathy and morals.

Due to how new video games are in our world, only existing since 1958 (Brookhaven National Laboratory), there is limited research on them. There’s even less research on the ethics of LGBTQ+ representation in games. However, according to feminist ethics, implicit representation seems unethical. Feminist ethics argue that games should begin implementing more explicit portrayals of queer characters because it would provide new different perspectives and moral experiences and would help to bring society one step closer to the connectedness they strive to achieve.

Bibliography

Brookhaven National Laboratory. (n.d.). The First Video Game? Retrieved from https://www.bnl.gov/about/history/firstvideo.php

Cole, A. M. (2017, September). Queer Representation in Videogames. Lecture presented at SGD202 Video Game Analysis Course in University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Flanagan, J. (2014, May 16).

Gravning, J. (2014, February 25). How Video Games Are Slowly, Quietly Introducing LGBT Heroes. The Atlantic. Retrieved from

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/02/how-video-games-are-slowly-quietly -introducing-lgbt-heroes/284017/

Motion picture production code; MPPC. (2014). In R. W. Kroon, A/V a to z: An encyclopedic dictionary of media, entertainment and other Audiovisual terms. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.Retrieved from http://online.library.marist.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/mcfav/ motion_picture_production_code_mppc/0?institutionId=7655

Shafer-Landau, R. (2018). The Fundamentals of Ethics (4th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Steinmetz, K. (2016, May 18). Gay Americans: Government Begins LGBT Population Count. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://time.com/lgbt-stats/

The Motion Picture Production Code. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttps://www.asu.edu/courses/fms200s/total-readings/MotionPictureProductionCode.pdf Where are we on TV? (2016-2017 ed., Rep.). (2016). Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.