Metal Gear V Quiet controversey, Example of a modern cultural conflict Options

[Wounded Ronin]

So, I enjoyed playing Metal Gear Solid II but since I don't own any consoles I haven't played any of the other MGS games. I've seen Metal Gear V advertised on Steam but I don't buy it because I assume my laptop won't run it.

That being said, from reading gaming related news articles, I feel like I've already heard all about Metal Gear V and especially how Western gamers seem to be largely offended by the character Quiet. It's not only the fact that she is a sniper character who runs around in a thong, but also that the backstory Kojima came up with to justify this has offended many Western commentators.

Here is a summary of the backstory with spoilers: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/09/09...tom-pain-quiet/

Here is a video of the action figure that apparently has squeezable breasts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLUgtg3mjy4

To me, this is a real-life example of cultural differences in action. All this crap Kojima came up with to justify a thong sniper is probably de rigeur in Japan, and I'll bet you that even though he is prone to convoluted and artsy thinking, he didn't imagine, anticipate, and probably wouldn't initially be able to understand the agency-based criticisms that more than Western commentator has made about Quiet. Also, his use of sexual violence or peril as titillation is another example of something that is probably socially acceptable in Japan but is considered offensive in polite society in the West.

Consider how in Japanese porn, women almost never are portrayed as being in control of their sexuality; they must be sexual in spite of themselves. Contrast this with the profoundly different nature of female sexuality as portrayed not only in Western porn but in the contemporary Western embrace of female sexuality in day to day life. The very thing Kojima came up with to justify his creation, the lack of agency, is precisely what makes it horrifying to Western commentators.

For my part, I don't have too much more to add on those, but my personal take away that I haven't heard anyone else making is how weird the hyper-detail and pseudo-realism of the MGS world, which contains fetishistic detail about weapon systems and tech gear, somehow falls apart with the Quiet character. What I mean is that even if we take for granted the idea of a sniper who wants to crawl around in a thong (i.e. let's say that there were a sniper who developed some psychologically disordered behavior and started doing something strange like that) certain problems and dispositions would arise which are not portrayed in the game.

The first one that comes to mind for me is sunburn. One time a number of years ago, I was hiking up a mountain in Nevada. I was wearing a cotton jacket and was wearing an ALICE yoke, like the one Quiet wears, in order to carry several canteens and probably some other gear so I wouldn't have to wear a backpack. I was used to the lowland desert where it hardly ever rains, but going up the mountain, it ended up raining pretty hard, and it was getting colder as I went up. I ended up taking off my jacket because the wet cotton was too cold and walking up the mountain wearing the ALICE yoke over my bare torso. I ended up getting sunburned. I wouldn't want to crawl around really slowly like a sniper with a bare torso like that as the sunburn would no doubt be a lot worse.

Secondly, can you imagine seeing that pale skin on a hillside just glinting in the sun? I mean, normally, if snipers have exposed skin, they paint it brown, green, and black. At least, like, hide under a blanket made of leaves or something. Even if Kojima were to argue that the character is unable to paint her skin or do anything else, that just means the pale, gleaming skin is one big camouflage hazard.

The third issue that immediately comes to mind is how the weight of the ammo pouches and grenades isn't being handled with the same fetishistic attention to detail that other aspects of military gear are handled with in the franchise. Basically, if you have full ammo pouches and other gear on the ALICE belt, it is going to be heavy, and the straps on the ALICE yoke are going to be taut and showing that they are bearing weight. Every portrayal of the character I have seen is showing the straps being loose and not under any tension especially at the front near the character's boobs. And from my experience using an ALICE yoke, that wouldn't happen with full mag pouches. (I guess she would wear the yoke with the straps adjusted to be improperly loose, but then the weight of all the ammo would just be biting into her bare hips, which would suck and would probably get worse when sniper crawling forward. And then there would be no reason to wear the yoke...just wear the belt.)

[Lionhearted]

Didnt Kojimas name get removed from MGS because Konami has no idea what they're doing anymore?