209

Editorial: Mirror's Edge, Faith, and Feminism

chautemoc | November 27, 2008 | Blog | PC Playstation 3 
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.

News Story attached to:
33 comments | go to source (www.neoseeker.com) | Add to favorites! favourite this article | send to friend | add alt source
Related Articles
175 So what does Japan think of Faith from Mirror's Edge? (30)comments December 4, 2008
174 Model's Dress Up Like Mirror's Edge's Faith (10)comments November 18, 2008
58 Mirror's Edge interview: "The philosophy of Faith" (0)comments November 9, 2008
101 Mirror's Edge Review: "On the Edge, Ready to Leap" (11)comments November 16, 2008
205 Zero Punctuation: Mirror's Edge (15)comments December 3, 2008
Register as a member to subscribe comments.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    Linkin Park Fan | November 28, 2008 | reply
    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 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    Zero and X | November 28, 2008 | reply
    I think Faith is sexy. Women don't need big boobs to be attractive.
  • 5 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    BANDITO ATTACK | November 28, 2008 | reply
    strange how it became a big deal when someone made a normal looking woman the lead of a game.

    :0
  • 1 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    Final Blade | November 28, 2008 | reply
    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 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      chautemoc | November 28, 2008 | reply


      Glad I have a reputation, hahah.
      Lydia made it!
  • 0 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    RabidChinaGirl | November 28, 2008 | reply
    Yes, I made that image. No, I am not proud of it.
    • 1 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      Koloth | November 28, 2008 | reply
      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 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      chautemoc | November 28, 2008 | reply
      You should be !
    • 3 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      kik36 | November 28, 2008 | reply
      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 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      Red 9 | November 28, 2008 | reply
      Do you mean you made that you made that comical design on this page, or you actually did the severely-feminized version?
      • 2 thumbs!
        Rate it up!
        kik36 | November 28, 2008 | reply
        No she made the comical version, someone else made the boob job version.
      • 1 thumbs!
        Rate it up!
        RabidChinaGirl | November 29, 2008 | reply
        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 thumbs!
          Rate it up!
          Koloth | December 01, 2008
          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 thumbs!
          Rate it up!
          RabidChinaGirl | December 01, 2008
          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 thumbs!
          Rate it up!
          Koloth | December 01, 2008
          Well, like I said not all men are like that. Just the majority.
        • 1 thumbs!
          Rate it up!
          RabidChinaGirl | December 01, 2008
          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 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    yugiRULER | November 28, 2008 | reply
    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 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      RabidChinaGirl | November 29, 2008 | reply
      We aren't going to do anything. You can decide what articles you want to read versus ignore.
      • 1 thumbs!
        Rate it up!
        Final Blade | November 29, 2008 | reply
        If only people like Kim can get that through his head.
      • 0 thumbs!
        Rate it up!
        Capn Droid | December 01, 2008 | reply
        That's exactly why I don't do articles. Heaven knows I'll do something half-assed. :L
  • 3 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    pooOBKp | November 28, 2008 | reply
    That first girl Strokke or whatever is a babe.
    • 0 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      kik36 | November 28, 2008 | reply
      Yeah there's no doubt about that one!!
    • 0 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      kspiess | November 28, 2008 | reply
      Ya no disagreement on that.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    Big A2 | November 29, 2008 | reply
    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 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      Zero and X | December 01, 2008 | reply
      Ever since Brawl I haven't looked at Samus the same since.....
    • 2 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      RabidChinaGirl | December 01, 2008 | reply
      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 thumbs!
      Rate it up!
      Final Blade | December 01, 2008 | reply
      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 thumbs!
        Rate it up!
        RabidChinaGirl | December 01, 2008 | reply
        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 thumbs!
          Rate it up!
          Final Blade | December 02, 2008
          Why wouldn't it be a serious question? I found two different ones and asked is this one what you're talking about.
        • 1 thumbs!
          Rate it up!
          tekmosis | December 03, 2008
          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 thumbs!
        Rate it up!
        Big A2 | December 04, 2008 | reply
        @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 thumbs!
          Rate it up!
          RabidChinaGirl | December 04, 2008
          FYI, I corrected the link for you after FB mentioned it. Otherwise it didn't bother me enough to alter.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Rate it up!
    Final Blade | December 04, 2008 | reply
    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.

You must register and be logged in to post comments. Register | Login
Submit Newshelp

Last Commented

Square Enix Confirm Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice European Release Date
6 mins ago
Top 17 Worst Games Of 2008
8 mins ago
Next Lego game will surprise you! No, it's not Harry Potter.
15 mins ago
Jack Thompson: Take Two’s Stock Woes Are an Act of God
20 mins ago
PS3 vs. Xbox 360 vs. Wii: Which Has the Best Exclusives?
40 mins ago
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep vid
1 hours 1 mins ago
(0.0930/d/aeon)