Thread by @ScroogeMacDukk

He took gaming culture's original poster child for Feminism and made her look like a Barbie doll, then said he didn't want to "lose what was so iconic" about her. He's going to the Special Hell for child molesters and people who talk at the theater. kotaku.com/a-slightly-dif…

To be clear: what is iconic about Samus is that her armor doesn't have boobs. Until the end of the game when her armor comes off, you don't even know she's a woman. BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MATTER! She's just like any male protagonist in any other shooty platformer!

She doesn't cry when she gets hurt, she doesn't need Link to come rescue her and we don't need constant, overt reminders that she's a "badass." Pick any other female video game hero that gets the same respect. I'll wait.

If you even consider saying Lara Croft, you're part of the problem. Go watch Star Trek. Any flavor except the original (and maybe the original; I just don't know it as well). There is ONE moment in the entire Trekverse when someone makes a point of treating a woman a certain way

because she has no penis. Ironically, it's Captain Sisko. In one episode, he makes like he's going to punch Jadzia, then punches his fist instead and says "If you were still a man...!" That is the ONLY TIME that someone makes a comment that anyone's gender, color or beliefs

are relevant to anything and neither the character nor the comment is portrayed as backward-thinking or villainous. Go count the number of times (outside of a time travel scenario) anyone even MENTIONS that Geordi, Sisko, Tuvok or Travis is a different color from the majority of

the Human crew. It comes up time after time that Worf is the only Klingon in Starfleet. Because that MATTERS! He actually IS a different race! And there's a MOUNTAIN of social commentary focusing on him (and later Nog) being treated differently because of what he IS rather than

what he DOES. That same philosophy is what makes Samus Aran so culturally-significant and so iconic. The idea that it truly DOESN'T matter whether someone is a man or a woman. It matters so little that we're not even going to address it because if we do, we're acknowledging the

legitimacy of the argument that the biological differences between people are noteworthy in any practical sense not directly related to that biological trait. Someone with a large head can't wear a small hat. Someone with darker skin may more-easily hide in a dark space.

Someone with lighter-colored irises is more susceptible to damage to their eyes from sunlight. A person without a penis probably has to worry less about protecting their crotch in a fight. Those are all practical contexts that make a biological trait inherently significant.

Female Captain? Black chief engineer? Female CMO? Not significant. Klingon in a Starfleet uniform? Culturally-significant. We've never had one of you but we pride ourselves on our inclusivity, so let's make this work. Can you eat what Humans eat? Can we eat what you eat? There

are practical concerns that need to be addressed.

Getting back to our female bounty hunter. Turning her into a Barbie doll is PRECISELY "losing what is iconic" about Samus. Oh, good job: you didn't LITERALLY put boobs on her armor.
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You've paid lip service to the

Feminist argument that the only reason for female armor to have boobs is because men still want to see your boobs when you're wearing your armor. Having done the bare minimum to avoid that specific critique, you then did everything ELSE you reasonably could to turn her into a sex

object. Then you have the nerve to make the bizarre claim that you give a single fuck about the spirit of the character and why she's culturally-significant. I'd like to ask Trevor Carr @riotgames: what exactly do you believe makes Samus "iconic?" Because it's definitely none of

the things that ACTUALLY make her an icon.

Sorry that was a bit of a rambling rant but this is something I'm passionate about. I have three young sons and I'm trying to teach them to be better men than Trevor Carr.

@threadreaderapp unroll

PS Shame on you, @Kotaku for glorifying this dickhead.