[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.03,0:00:29.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.21,0:00:30.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the game development company Ubisoft
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.80,0:00:32.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,debuted a trailer showcasing the cooperative mode
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.84,0:00:34.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in their upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Unity.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.17,0:00:36.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One thing viewers quickly noticed
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.57,0:00:39.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the trailer was that all the assassins in it were male.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.60,0:00:45.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When questioned about why female characters
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.18,0:00:46.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,weren’t an option in this mode,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.83,0:00:48.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the game’s creative director said that
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.46,0:00:50.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although there were originally plans to allow for female assassins,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.40,0:00:52.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the development team couldn’t add them
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.21,0:00:54.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it would require “double the animations,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.38,0:00:57.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,double the voices, and double the visual assets.”
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.56,0:00:59.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, a level designer on the game
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.71,0:01:01.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stated that including female assassins would have meant
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.77,0:01:05.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,recreating 8000 animations on a new skeleton.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.13,0:01:07.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These comments led to an explosion of controversy
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.77,0:01:10.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and criticism on Twitter, with many people using
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.06,0:01:13.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the sarcastic hashtag “women are too hard to animate.”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.80,0:01:15.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A number of experienced game developers
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.55,0:01:16.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,joined the chorus of voices
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.89,0:01:19.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,calling out the absurdity of Ubisoft’s claims.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.04,0:01:20.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Animator Jonathan Cooper,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.68,0:01:22.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who had previously worked on Assassin’s Creed III
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.65,0:01:23.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for Ubisoft, tweeted,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.96,0:01:26.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“I would estimate this to be a day or two’s work.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.21,0:01:28.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not a replacement of 8000 animations.”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.56,0:01:30.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Manveer Heir of Bioware summed up
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.83,0:01:32.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what Ubisoft was actually saying:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.64,0:01:35.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“We don’t really care to put the effort in to make a woman assassin.”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.52,0:01:38.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ubisoft’s disregard for female character options
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.63,0:01:40.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,didn’t stop with Unity.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.12,0:01:42.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Also at E3 2014, the director of Far Cry 4
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.94,0:01:45.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,admitted to a similar issue with that game’s online co-op mode,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.86,0:01:48.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,saying, “We were inches away from having you be able
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.18,0:01:50.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to select a girl or a guy as your co-op buddy.”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.36,0:01:53.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again, the excuse for why this option wasn’t available
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.01,0:01:55.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was that it would just be too much work.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.04,0:01:57.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet again, what they were really saying
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.23,0:01:59.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was that they just couldn’t be bothered to do the work
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.71,0:02:01.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it would have taken to provide that option.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.53,0:02:03.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though it’s worth pointing out that in the two years
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.93,0:02:06.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,since this controversy, Ubisoft has made clear efforts
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.37,0:02:08.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to improve the representation of women
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.28,0:02:09.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the core Assassin’s Creed games,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.88,0:02:12.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the most recent entry, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.16,0:02:13.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,giving the option to play as Evie Frye
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.99,0:02:15.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through much of the campaign.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.97,0:02:18.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, Ubisoft weren’t and aren’t the only ones
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.84,0:02:21.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with this apathetic attitude toward female inclusion.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.19,0:02:23.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, not doing the necessary work to include women
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.96,0:02:26.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has long been the norm in the video game industry.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.43,0:02:28.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The FIFA soccer game series, which had its first entry
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.94,0:02:31.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in 1993, took over 20 years
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.04,0:02:33.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before finally introducing female teams in FIFA 16.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.98,0:02:36.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“I’m in the game.”
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.47,0:02:41.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it took ten years for Call of Duty to introduce
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.82,0:02:43.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,female soldiers into its competitive multiplayer
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.91,0:02:46.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.90,0:02:48.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The long-running Battlefield franchise,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.68,0:02:50.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the other hand, has still never allowed
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.18,0:02:52.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for playable female characters in its multiplayer modes.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.54,0:02:54.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s an important conversation to be had
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.91,0:02:56.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the ways in which military shooters
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.60,0:02:58.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,work to glorify violence,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.25,0:03:00.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but as long as we’re going to have such games,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.13,0:03:02.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s actually better when they include female combatants in them.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.85,0:03:04.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now you might be asking yourself,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.40,0:03:06.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Doesn’t having female enemies in a game
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.16,0:03:07.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perpetuate violence against women?”
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.93,0:03:09.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that’s a good, fair question.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.65,0:03:11.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When we refer to depictions
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.07,0:03:12.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of violence against women,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.28,0:03:14.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we’re generally discussing situations in which
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.02,0:03:15.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,women are being attacked or victimized
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.76,0:03:17.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,specifically because they are women,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.49,0:03:19.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reinforcing a perception of women as victims.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.74,0:03:22.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Such scenarios are very different from those in which
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.32,0:03:24.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,women are presented as active participants.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.22,0:03:26.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the Street Fighter games, for instance,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.22,0:03:28.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Chun-Li and Ryu fight each other,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.40,0:03:30.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this isn’t considered violence against women,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.20,0:03:32.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because the two characters are presented as being on
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.38,0:03:33.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more or less equal footing,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.86,0:03:35.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and because Chun-Li is an active participant
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.73,0:03:37.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who isn’t being targeted or attacked
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.52,0:03:39.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,specifically because she’s a woman.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.03,0:03:42.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Similarly, the waves of male attackers players face
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.20,0:03:44.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in so many games are typically not passive victims.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.54,0:03:46.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They are active participants in the conflict,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.67,0:03:49.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and importantly, the violence against them isn’t gendered.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.69,0:03:52.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Players fight with them because they’re on the opposing side,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.43,0:03:54.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not specifically because they are men.\N\N
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.48,0:03:57.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unfortunately, when female combatants do appear in games,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.57,0:03:59.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they are often presented in sexualized ways
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.37,0:04:01.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which inevitably lend the player’s attacks
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.17,0:04:02.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an air of gendered violence.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.64,0:04:04.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Saints Row The Third’s so-called
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.44,0:04:05.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Whored Mode,” for instance,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.79,0:04:08.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,players must defeat waves of sexualized women,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.07,0:04:09.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sometimes beating them to death
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.46,0:04:10.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a large purple dildo.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.14,0:04:15.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 2009 game Wolfenstein,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.28,0:04:17.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Elite Guard are a special all-female enemy unit
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.86,0:04:19.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose absurd uniforms sexualize not only
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.78,0:04:21.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the female characters themselves
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.42,0:04:23.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also player’s acts of violence against them.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.02,0:04:28.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Similarly, in 2012’s Hitman Absolution,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.11,0:04:30.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Saints are a special unit of female assassins
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.33,0:04:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who wear latex fetish gear underneath nun’s habits.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.00,0:04:35.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s a ludicrous design choice that is
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.06,0:04:37.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,transparently intended to sexualize these enemies.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.92,0:04:40.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in Metal Gear Solid 4,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.80,0:04:42.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Beauty & the Beast unit is an enemy group
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.97,0:04:44.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made up of five female soldiers
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.61,0:04:46.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that players fight over the course of the game.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.54,0:04:48.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At a certain point during these encounters,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.70,0:04:50.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,each boss sheds her armor and appears
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.60,0:04:52.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a woman in form-fitting attire.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.46,0:04:54.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“It’s all so funny.”
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.66,0:04:58.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If players then avoid the Beauty’s deadly embrace
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.33,0:05:00.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for several minutes without killing or neutralizing her,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.81,0:05:02.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the game transports them to a white room
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.73,0:05:04.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where equipping the camera results
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.22,0:05:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the character making sultry poses.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.17,0:05:10.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Funny how that doesn’t happen
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.79,0:05:12.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the male bosses in the game.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.91,0:05:14.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whenever female combatants are dressed
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.46,0:05:17.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in sexualizing attire, it sets them noticeably apart
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.20,0:05:18.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from other enemy units.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.88,0:05:20.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s intended to make the player’s
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.36,0:05:22.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,encounters with them sexually titillating
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.22,0:05:24.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that’s particularly troubling considering
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.16,0:05:25.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that those encounters often involve fighting
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.98,0:05:27.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and killing those characters.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.70,0:05:29.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Violence against female characters
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.32,0:05:31.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,should never be presented as “sexy”.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.28,0:05:33.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The way for games to handle female combatants
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.52,0:05:35.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is not to present them as sexualized treats
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.34,0:05:36.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the player.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:36.40,0:05:38.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Rather, it’s to present them simply as combatants
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.32,0:05:40.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who happen to be women fighting alongside
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.10,0:05:41.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their male counterparts on equal footing.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.87,0:05:44.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For all of its many, many problems
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.68,0:05:47.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one thing Bioshock Infinite did right was to include
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.80,0:05:50.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,non-sexualized female officers on Columbia’s police force.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.15,0:05:55.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.24,0:05:57.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,both the player’s gang and the enemy gang
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.26,0:05:58.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have rank-and-file female members
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.100,0:06:01.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who fight alongside the men.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.14,0:06:03.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Despite the presence of female combatants
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.65,0:06:05.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in games like these, there is still a tendency
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.43,0:06:07.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for game studios to treat female representation
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.60,0:06:09.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as some kind of extravagant goal,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.20,0:06:11.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than simply treating it as standard
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.43,0:06:13.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the same way they handle male representation.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.62,0:06:15.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The excuse that I hear most often for the absence
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.69,0:06:18.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of female combatants in games is that players wouldn’t believe it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.57,0:06:22.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But games, even ones that draw on historical locations
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.04,0:06:24.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or events like the Assassin’s Creed series,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.10,0:06:26.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,create their own worlds and set the tone
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.27,0:06:28.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for what we will or won’t believe.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.21,0:06:30.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To participate in the worlds games create,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.50,0:06:33.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we happily accept time travel, superpowers,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.76,0:06:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ancient alien civilizations,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.00,0:06:38.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the ability to carry infinite items,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.50,0:06:41.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the idea that eating a hot dog can instantly
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.18,0:06:44.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,heal your wounds, and a million other fictions.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.05,0:06:46.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s certainly not too much to ask that these
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.47,0:06:49.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fictional worlds give us believable female combatants too.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.18,0:06:51.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The media we engage with has a powerful impact
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.97,0:06:54.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on our ideas of what’s believable and what’s not.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.20,0:06:56.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Games like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.19,0:06:58.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,demonstrate that when the existence of female combatants
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.39,0:07:00.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is presented as straightforward, normal and believable,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.96,0:07:03.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,players have no problem believing it.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.38,0:07:04.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they shouldn’t, since,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.77,0:07:07.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unlike those magical healing hot dogs I mentioned,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.17,0:07:09.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,female combatants actually exist.