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We've had a ton of interesting articles on Batman: Arkham City in the past week (be sure to check out our community collection!). Here, Michael responds to commentary about the prevalence of a certain female-related pejorative in the game. What do you think?
Since Batman: Arkham City's release last week, many gamers and critics have questioned the repeated use of the word "bitch" in the game. The problem isn't with the foul language but with the context: Arkham City's characters use the word almost exclusively as an expletive towards women.
As Kirk Hamilton from Kotaku points out, the word almost always appears in anger and in response to a woman -- mostly Catwoman -- getting the upper hand over a male enemy. Moreover, the criminals definitely get more worked up about Catwoman kicking their ass than Batman or even Bruce Wayne.
Is there sexism in Batman: Arkham City? Yes, definitely. But that doesn't make Arkham City a sexist game.
It's easy to understand why use of this word makes players uncomfortable. Honestly, it should. It shows that we, as people, believe in respect and in the lines we know not to cross.
Putting Arkham City's basic enemies on the other side of that line establishes these criminals as monstrous. It's just like using a similar slur in a film; it's a means of building characters and setting the tone of the game. Yes, we accept without question that the enemies in the game are bad simply because Batman has to fight them...but that doesn't make us believe it. Using the word "bitch" does.
As he glides over Arkham's dilapidated streets, Batman hears snippets of conversation between random inmates -- the same grunts that would attack him should he drop down to street level. They establish Arkham City as place more akin to a warzone than a prison.
The inmates often refer to death as commonplace; every criminal is a gang soldier or a sadistic killer. They also allude to rape fantasies. Those hate-filled exchanges are a key part of bringing Arkham City alive; without them, the game's world is just another post-apocalyptic city.
If we're supposed to believe that the average Arkham City inmate is a rapist with little to no regard for human life to begin with, isn't safe to say they're misogynistic as well? More importantly, doesn't knowing that about them help you to understand just how terrible that place really is?
What sets the acts of misogyny in the game apart from every other bad thing that is that we're actually experiencing it. We may not be in the scene, but the sound still hits our eardrums the same way as it would if a real person said it (as opposed to the game's violence, which, no matter how vivid, is still a facsimile of the real thing).
If depictions of violence could garner the same response, that would be enough. As it stands, using the word "bitch" to cross the line clearly garnered the desired effect. It helps to make us hate and think less of these characters...which is exactly what we're supposed to do.
This article was originally printed on Games4thought.com on October 26th, 2011.
