Busy Semester

Well this semester I've started tutoring at University, which while great in terms of being fulfilling and fun, has caused time to dry up on all sides. That coupled with a couple of article submissions, a birthday and general not hanging out on the web at every odd hour has meant that a lot of things - this journal included - I've let slip.

That's not even to get into my lit review (last updated 8th of August).

But we'll ignore that omission, to general busy-ness and passion for teaching (which is really easy to go overboard with).

So I'll start with something simple, gender bias in The Walking Dead Season 2. I'll mainly focus on the last episode and it's endings. So spoiler alert for all.

The gender biased endings of The Walking Dead Season 2

There's three distinct endings that have a definite gender expectations.

Clementine - Lone warrior, Independent
Kenny - Father, Big Daddy, Protector, Guardian
Jane -  Resourceful, Untrusting, Utilitarian, Selfish

I'll go through each of these in a bit of detail, but for brevity's sake the general gist of it is :

Clementine -

Clementine leaves alone as the sole protector of a baby into a herd of zombies (subtext she's surrounded by death). In the end she's all alone. This (feels) like the bad, or the refusal ending by the player to what the developers made. An equivalent would be the Deus Ex Human Revolution self destruction of the base, a rejection of two extreme options.

A safe if  meaningless middle ground. That does nothing to extend who Clementine is. The game throughout both seasons condones lone wolves, and in this cut scene it seems particularly true.

Kenny -

Kenny's ending brought on by Clementine's refusal to shoot Kenny (or decision to let him kill Jane, though it plays out as though Clementine is afraid to shoot), results in a 'family' being reunited. A baby, a little girl, and a proud father romping through the northern winter wilderness facing on all threats (at this point just zombies). Clementine is subservient, doesn't challenge Kenny, or do anything outside of her own agency (which is a complete back flip from what was occurring in the game). Clementine meekly accepts all that's happened without a second thought - though this has happened a lot over the last couple of games, no one seems very concerned about characters that have died (aside from Alvin). More about this to come later.

In any case the group finds their promised land Wellington validating Kenny's prior (read baseless) beliefs in the fact that such a place exists. Regardless of this fact you march up and demand entrance, only to be denied entrance to the group. Either the children are allowed to go in (as Kenny pleads self righteousness, perhaps some glimmer of guilt shining out of him), or you remain under his care in the wilderness.

In either case this independent, self reliant, self-determined girl Clementine is turned into a figure that can't do anything except with a father figure, or is simply delegated to being a little girl. No story of slowly growing up, learning to make do, to having to make the hard choices. No within Kenny's world you're just a little girl.

An easy and cheap comparison would be to the current Anita Sarkeesian attacks, and general gendered stereotypes within the games industry. But you could go further than that and just say that it's a gender expectation - the further preference for this ending in reviews, lets-play videos, and general discussion is astounding especially considering Clementine and Kenny's background. Well at least the way that I played Clementine, yet even with that Kenny's continuous killing throughout season 1 and 2 for "family," is reason enough to be wary of this fantasy.

Although tempting this piece will not go into a death count for Kenny, or a criticism of his character (which while suited to season 1, felt ridiculous especially when considering his miraculous, and unexplained comeback in season 2). Another discussion for another time perhaps.

At least there is some small glimmer of hope.

Jane -

Jane's ending is a bittersweet inevitability that ties in with the understanding that some deaths are unavoidable. She tricks Kenny into fighting her to show what a danger he is to Clementine, and ends up experiencing that danger first hand. Jane and Clementine, with baby, return back to Carver's camp (the villain for the first half of the game). Once there they either decide to stay fortified ignoring other survivors, or to create their own community, via accepting or denying a small group of survivors. In both cases the threat of violence is implied by a holstered gun on one of the new survivors hip. A constant reminder of the potential horror around them.

Although satisfying for me as an ending, it seems strange that the subtext for both types of Jane endings seems to be always this threat of violence, or the fact that they can't trust anyone but themselves. Although to a certain degree part of their characters in that trust doesn't come easily, it seem strange that in contrast to Kenny's endings there's this hint that things won't go well. Two women by themselves, what could go wrong? The question itself seems to belittle both of them as characters, and seems especially foolish when previously both characters were able to handle themselves quite well. Now though... well they can't feel safe. I mean women never do when they're alone .... right? Of course not, they're independent people. But that's the scary thing about the endings here, out of the two endings Clementine feels safer with Kenny, stripped of agency, independence, and authority for another father figure, even if he's a psychopath. Living without him is a far worse fate, apparently.

Summary 

Complaining about an ending isn't really what I'm after here, so much as the implied gender stereotypes that follow. Women by themselves are doomed to fail (whatever happened to Christina at the start? I mean after Omid died). Men are protectors and look after everyone (or in Kenny's case anything under 10). Simplistic I know but that's really what the game feels to be pushing towards, simple solutions to complex problems. Have a (potentially) mentally ill child  (Sarah)? Kill her. Have a bunch of characters die in a short amount of time? Don't even grieve. There's a plethora more of examples I could give, but we'd be getting away from the main issue. That there's some gender stereotypes here.

In Kenny's ending, with the gender roles it plays in to and the general, (or at least popular) consensus that this is the most satisfying ending irks me in the same way that gender ratios in philosophy do. A creeping almost imperceptible sexist trend exists. Though more likely in the case of the Walking Dead something that was also supported by a lackluster narrative.

In either case it's a worrying and telling tale of how Telltale see female roles. Which is disappointing since its limiting what can happen, both within games, but also wider society.