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Editorial: Mirror's Edge, Faith, and Feminism

November 27, 2008 in Blog comments 33

Neoseeker/GameGrep's Lydia Sung (aka RabidChinaGirl) speaks in this latest editorial on why Faith Conners of Mirror's Edge is plain sexy just the way she is. Bazongas not included.

To be honest, my initial interest in Mirror's Edge came from the first trailer, in which we get to see Faith in all her glory. I exclaimed, "Wow! She looks amazing! Totally different!"

She is beautiful, I thought. And so I fell in love with Faith Conners before I even knew her. Truly, and it's a strange kind of love that I doubt most of you could possibly understand. Some of that love might have been for DICE as well, the very people who dreamed this woman into existence.

Over time, as we learned more about the game, Faith continued to evolve into a true protagonist, but I still saw brilliance in her design. Imagine my chagrin upon reading about a Korean gamer who pointed out that her design was distinctly Western and promptly presented his own interpretation of Faith, one that Eastern Asians might be more appreciative of.
chautemoc via neoseeker.com »
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  • 0
    Sayyed* Nov 28, 08
    Her last name is conners...? talk about dissapointing.

    Anyways I see your point of you and the devalopers point of view. What matters ist hey actualy kept that design instead of went with the big breast and etc.

    Even though I do think faiths cheak bones are to big, but now im just being picky.

    Oh, and I know this is probably what you didn't want, but Alisson strokke is hot. Wow, never seen her before.
  • 5
    Zero and X Nov 28, 08
    I think Faith is sexy. Women don't need big boobs to be attractive.
  • 5
    BANDITO ATTACK Nov 28, 08
    strange how it became a big deal when someone made a normal looking woman the lead of a game.

    :0
  • 1
    Final Blade Nov 28, 08
    I find it hilarious that the attached photo is something I'd expect Chaut to submit. But the photo is also funny within itself as well.
    • 0
      chautemoc Nov 28, 08


      Glad I have a reputation, hahah.
      Lydia made it!
  • 0
    RabidChinaGirl Nov 28, 08
    Yes, I made that image. No, I am not proud of it.
    • 1
      Koloth Nov 28, 08
      It's ok RCG, not all american men want the stereotyped version of "beauty". Actually my biggest turn off for Faith is just her face. I think she is a bit to severe. But to be expected considering what is going on around her.
    • 0
      chautemoc Nov 28, 08
      You should be !
    • 3
      kik36 Nov 28, 08
      Nothing to be ashamed of.....a little bit of comical art is not life threatening LMAO

      TBH I haven't thought too deeply into any of this mess. I don't look at a video game heroine and think "Now that's refreshing" because I'm not really checking out the characters (other than their ass in 3rd person view.....but that's a given.)

      If I want to see some tits and ass, I check out porn. That applies to when I was 13 as well......afterall if you ask me I feel that Playboy is really made for that age group anyway. LOL
    • 0
      Red 9* Nov 28, 08
      Do you mean you made that you made that comical design on this page, or you actually did the severely-feminized version?
      • 2
        kik36 Nov 28, 08
        No she made the comical version, someone else made the boob job version.
      • 1
        RabidChinaGirl Nov 29, 08
        What kik36 said. The hyper-feminized version is by a Korean man who felt DICE's version of Faith was too geared toward Westerners and wanted to show what she'd look like if she were made to appeal to East Asian gamers.
        • 0
          Koloth Dec 1, 08
          Doesn't know much about the average western males taste then. Dice definitely didn't design Faith to appeal to the typical mans interests.
        • 1
          RabidChinaGirl Dec 1, 08
          quote Koloth
          Doesn't know much about the average western males taste then. Dice definitely didn't design Faith to appeal to the typical mans interests.
          Yeah, based on the countless responses to the comparison images, it seems that Asians aren't the only ones who consider the hyper-feminine version more aesthetically pleasing (which depresses me a little).
        • 1
          Koloth Dec 1, 08
          Well, like I said not all men are like that. Just the majority.
        • 1
          RabidChinaGirl Dec 1, 08
          It's not just men either, sadly. There were women/girls who also seemed to prefer the creepy anime-ish image. The most cited reason I heard/read is that Faith looks too angry or intimidating in the original image... to which I have to say, "Duh?"

          To quote a friend, "She looks 10 years younger while her boobs go 10 years older."
  • 0
    yugiRULER Nov 28, 08
    So when are we going to stop making news articles on the same thing over and over again? Whats this, the fourth one on this?
    • 5
      RabidChinaGirl Nov 29, 08
      We aren't going to do anything. You can decide what articles you want to read versus ignore.
      • 1
        Final Blade Nov 29, 08
        If only people like Kim can get that through his head.
      • 0
        Capn Droid Dec 1, 08
        That's exactly why I don't do articles. Heaven knows I'll do something half-assed. :L
  • 3
    pooOBKp Nov 28, 08
    That first girl Strokke or whatever is a babe.
    • 0
      kik36 Nov 28, 08
      Yeah there's no doubt about that one!!
    • 0
      kspiess Nov 28, 08
      Ya no disagreement on that.
  • 0
    Big A2 Nov 29, 08
    quote
    I remember when I first had that image sent to me. To be honest, I found it kind of sad. We've spent time in developing Faith. And the important thing for us was that she was human, that she was more real. We really wanted to get away from the typical portrayal of women in games, that they're all just kind of tits and ass in a steel bikini. We wanted her to look athletic and fit and strong [enough] that she could do the things that she's doing. We wanted her to be attractive, but we didn't want her to be a supermodel. We wanted her to be approachable and far more real. It was just kind of depressing that someone thinks it would be better if Faith was a 12-year-old with a boob job. That was kind of what that image looked to me.
    - Tom Farrer (ME's producer) on this picture.

    I totally agree with him. Females are far too heavily sexuallized in video games. Even respectable female character like Samus Aran has been made a victim due to companies using sex to sell these days.
    • 1
      Zero and X Dec 1, 08
      Ever since Brawl I haven't looked at Samus the same since.....
    • 2
      RabidChinaGirl Dec 1, 08
      I'm sure most gamers think it's great that she's got a "sexy" look now, but I was honestly disappointed by Nintendo's decision to give her the Zero Suit. One of her greatest draws, for me, was her androgyny, afforded by the mech-suit. We could judge her as a character in a video game without looking at her sex appeal... which is now no longer the case.

      I understand sex appeal can go both ways (just less so for women in the gaming world), but there's already so much of that. Samus was one of the few who didn't have that crap muddying her image.
    • 0
      Final Blade Dec 1, 08
      Big a, backspace the space = to name it should go as this "name=....etc" other wise the markup is bad.

      Guys, is this the suit you're talking about?
      Or this one?
      • 0
        RabidChinaGirl Dec 1, 08
        I'm not sure if that's a serious question or not, but I'll answer anyway. We're talking about the second one. The first "suit" is fanmade, I think.
        • 0
          Final Blade Dec 2, 08
          Why wouldn't it be a serious question? I found two different ones and asked is this one what you're talking about.
        • 1
          tekmosis Dec 3, 08
          I think it would be due to the fact that it would be hard to believe that Nintendo of all companies would even remotely consider the first suit to be on Samus in any game branded with the Nintendo name.
      • 1
        Big A2 Dec 4, 08
        @Final Blade: I know that, it wouldn't let me edit for some reason.

        Also, of course I'm talking about the freakin' second suit. Why the hell would I consider fan made stuff to be using sex to sell?
        • 0
          RabidChinaGirl Dec 4, 08
          FYI, I corrected the link for you after FB mentioned it. Otherwise it didn't bother me enough to alter.
  • 0
    Final Blade Dec 4, 08
    Excuse me for finding two different photo's of Samus and asking which one you're talking about. Where I got the first picture didn't say it was fan made anywhere and I assumed it was an alternate suit you can unlock. God.

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