MKX: A New Generation of Women

With the recent release of the new Mortal Kombat, I was pleased to see that not only has graphics advanced but also the way the franchise has perceived women. They are not scantly dressed but actually dressed for combat in the garb of their faction. In previous games, women have often been clad in less than combat ready attire but have somehow beat their foes sometimes without a wardrobe malfunction. Netherealm Studios made the announcement before the game was released that they were aiming at creating more realistically proportioned female kombatants. In my opinion they have achieved this goal by not only making more realistic looking females but also less sexualized costumes in the game while still retaining the same violence and style as previous MK games in the franchise.

 



Not only is this a step in the right direction for the franchise, it also demonstrates the creativity of the development team by not only making these female kombatants clothed but also somewhat interesting seeing that some are related to other characters in the series. Cassie Cage is a great example of a strong female character that pretty much saves the world. At the end of the game, Shinnok the elder god of death invades earthrealm and taints their life force thus empowering himself with the essence of humanity. Cassie challenges and beats this super version of Shinnok and saves earthrealm. Years prior, her father fought him and was able to trap him within a medallion that could not be broken and must be constantly guarded from all who wish harm on the world. The sorcerer Quan Chi and his followers sought to revive Shinnok and in the end he succeded before having his head cut off by the very spectre he used to control, Hanzo Hasashi also known as Scorpion.

Drake and Madonna

Somewhat recently at Coachella, there was an incident that went viral but for the wrong reasons. Of course I am talking about the Drake and Madonna smooch. This disgusting display sent shockwaves throughout all of the internet and news. We see posts defending Madonna from hateful tweets and posts about her age and gender but what we very rarely see are posts defending Drake. Madonna forced herself upon him and it was clearly not mutual. Drake than proceeded to wipe his mouth and mouth the words "What the fuck just happened?". That is not response of someone who was expecting that to happen. This is a response of someone who was just sexually assaulted. He was confused and did not know what to do, so he went on with the show anyway. What was he to do? Disappoint his fans just because he'd been forced on? Thats not the Drake I know.

As time progressed, Drake said that we shouldn't take his shock as disapproval. I'm pretty sure his agent or PR firm suggested that he say that before letting this go any further. The problem here is that men force themselves on women and end up with sexual harrassment charges as well they should, but when women force themselves upon men, men usually laugh it off when in reality it is just as severe. Men get sexually harrassed and assaulted as do women just not in as large of a majority. Ignoring pleas from assualted and raped men is just like ignoring it from a woman. Not only will it affect that persons personality but also their inner most thoughts that can lead to depression. Depression that could lead an individual to the deepest and darkest parts of their mind. This is something that really has to be taken seriously if we ever have dreams of true equality.

Old Spice Odor Blocker Body Wash

Old Spice Odor Blocker Body Wash seems to be targeting men as most Old Spice products are intended for men. In these commercials we see actor Terry Crews yelling about what this body wash is. He is a ripped man with giant muscles yelling about how this stuff blocks odor for 16 hours. If this commercial doesnt scream hypermasculinity I don't know what does. He destroys buildings, rides tigers, makes his muscles dance and even makes them play musical instriments in on advert. I believe the purpose of this advertisment is to show that being clean is being extreme.

This is a positive example of using masculinity to an advantage. I understand they are trying to sell a product to make profit but think of it in a different way as well. I'd rather people walk around not smelling than for this to not exist. Sometimes I fell people look too in depth with certain topics and just should have fun. These commercials, in my opinion, were made to make fun of the hypermasculine cologne adverts. They are a fun commercial to laugh at and to quote. They are very creative too. Though I can atest that the body wash does not last that long through physical exercise and strenous activities such as hiking and running. I understand why people get upset by the beauty standards of society as seen in my last post but I am glad that one company can put a commercials that are fun, funny and informative at the same time. I feel that other companies should try a similar method to not focus on physical appearance but to appeal to the audiences other senses such as comedy. People remember funny and different things longer than they do the same old boring advertisments again and again.

Raising Gazorpazorp

Rick and Morty is a show on Cartoon Network's night block Adult Swim. This specific episode is about Rick and Morty going to a pawn shop and Rick buys Morty a sex robot. The robot conceives a half human half Gazorpazorpian child. Rick and Summer go to Gazopazorp to find fitting parrents for Morty Jr.

When they get there, they relieze that the genders are segergated and the genders raise their own gender. It is a female dominated society where the females thrive in luxury and technology while they send sex robots so they do not have to degrade themselves to reproduce with the savage males. When born, the babies are seperated by gender, the male babies get plopped on the planet to eventually reproduce and fight because thats all that men do. The female babies get taken up to where the females stay and get educated and have a life. This is an interesting take on this subject because usually it is a male dominated society. It is also an especially interesting take on the show because this is the first episode in which summer has to acompany Rick because Morty is at home attempting to raise Morty Jr. but usually fails almost every step of the way.

 

 

Eventually Rick and Summer get captured by the female Gazopazorpians and Summer is treated on par with the others while Rick is treated as a second class slave. During this time, Morty Jr. is growing rapidly and finding out that everything he was told in his life was a lie. So now Summer and Rick are on a time clock to save the earth. The female Gazorpazorpians are going to excute Rick and Summer but Summer explained how the genders work on earth and how everything isn't totally divided and the females are kinda equal but not really.





Beauty Standards

I have been noticing more and more that beauty standards are becoming more prevalent in today's society. These sexual, sometimes provocative, images that the media portrays to the youth and adults of today to instill in their minds that this is the standard of people. That they should look like this and if they don't maybe they aren't people. All over we see advertisements with obviously fake people on it but we cant just ignore it because it is everywhere. In this post I will cover some beauty standards imposed on men and women alike and the pressures on both to achieve this level of beauty.

In modern day advertisements for clothing, cologne, sunglasses, almost anything, there is a half naked man with his shirt off. Almost always he has six pack abs and a clearly defined collar bone and muscles. He usually has extremely fine hair and a sharp jaw line to go along with it. This is one of few beauty standards for men. They are expected to be super suave or very rugged. One represents the sophistication of the modern day man. That he can take care of himself. The other represents a primal beast that takes nothing from no one, at least that's what they want people to think.

In reality it lowers other men's self esteem not only because they aren't like these men by physical standards, but it also challenges their sense of manhood and dominance. This challenge of ideals can cause some men to just feel inadaquite to the others. That they aren't as much of a "man" as them.

Women, from a young age, are bombarded with subliminal messages and standards of how women should be. They dont have a stupid " sense of manhood" like men do so they usually are more adept to whats going on. But if it happens from birth, it is the norm. For women, the beauty standard is thin, big boobs, big rear end, tan, pretty (caked in make up) and apparantly pose for everyone. But seriously, this is a little unreal here. Its especially concerning when young ladies actually strive for these things thinking that people will like her more if she was that person. That her false beauty would over shadow the years of self doubt and feelings of inadequacy. So in turn, she would look down upon other ladies who have not taken the road she has and some even shame them. This would cause possibly a lifetime of depression due to this standard that is in place. In my opinion, women's beauty standards are not only more rough than mens but also more widespread. For a man to get attractive, sometimes all he needs is a gym membership and a fresh haircut. Even the men who dont exercise dont get shamed by the men that do. This is the problem with beauty standards and why they should go away, but most likely never will.

Horsin' Around: Bojack Horseman and Emotional fragility in Men

Bojack Horseman is a Netflix original animation about the life of a washed up sitcom actor who has trouble finding work and maintaining relationships. He shares his Beverly Hills abode with Todd, a guy who has no home, no job and is just there so Bojack can feel better than someone. He has this need to feel supiorior but what does this stem from? Could it stem from being on top of the world and falling at one point or just the male persona. I want to say a mixture of both. To document his rise to fame and fall from glory is Diane Nyguyen, Bojack's ghostwriter. Throughout the show she has been following him around to document his life and events from his past to put in the book. She eventually releases a few chapters prior to the release of the book to garner some attention towards him. Bojack see's all of the attention from the book as negative attention because of the way Diane portrayed him in the book. She portrayed him as he is and he does not want to hear it. So he fires her and decides he can write his own novel. And what is a better way to write said novel than to take illegal drugs with friends.

This is not the main problem here. Bojack is doing all this mask his true identity, to keep up the persona that he is strong when in fact he is weak and scared. This episode shows a uncommon trait in male characters: weakness. Men are always strong willed and smart but Bojack just cant convice himself that he is anymore and breaks down. This emotional fragility is a rare case in media for men. He has a revelation while on a bad trip. That he is to blame for what happened in his life. That he made those choices and has to live with them. But he also comes to find out that though he is considered a "bad person", he doesnt have to be that way. That he can change his path whenever he decides to.  

Shadow of Mordor: The Protagonist that should have been

Warner Bros Games have recently released a new title called Shadow of Mordor. This game takes place in the same universe as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In fact it takes place between the two stories. It in itself does not cross paths with any major characters of either stories except Smeagol. Smeagol helps the main character and the spirit living inside him to remember who he is by leading him to artifacts of his past. The main character Talion was a ranger stationed at Black Gate in Gondor. The Black Hand and their Uruks invade Black Gate and slaughter everyone. At the end of all the slaughter the only ones left are Talion and his wife and son. The Black Hand sacrafice them in a blood ritual to bring back a elven master. But Talion didn't die because a wraith entered him and now both are between the boundaries of life and death. They set out on their quest to destroy The Black Hand to free themselves.

Left to right: Talion, Celebrimbor (The Wraith), and Smeagol
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After Talion defeats The Hammer of The Black Hand he meets Lithariel who was sent to bring him to her mother who is a queen. She killed many Uruks to get to him and many more to get back. She never surrenders in the face of danger and instead fights even harder. She is a member of the Tribesman of Nurn and next in line for the throne. Not much else is known about her other than she is a powerful warrior and a supporting character. The company released a skin you can alternate between the main character so you can play as either Talion or Lithariel but the audio and story does not change.

Lithariel grabbing an Uruk  http://www.thegameengineer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Lithariel001.png

She is a very interesting character and would make a great protagonist for a DLC pack or a game altogether. Her utter feriocity and fogged past would make it more interesting to see how she grew into the strong woman she is in the game. The combat system for the game including her would be near identical to Shadow of Mordor but with more of a focus on combat speed and stealth. With no Wraith inside Lithariel to bring her back to life if she died, the stakes would be higher and the subsequent fights would be more intense knowing that you have one shot. Another idea for character development would be if her mother died and she inherits the ability to see and converse with the spirit world. It is nice to see a change in games from "damsel in distress" to "if you didn't have a wraith inside you she could beat you".

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