Portal is a Feminist Masterpiece | Game/Show | PBS Digital Studios

[@PauLtus_B]

TF2 does not have silent protagonists.

[@1810jeff]

Yeah they talk like every 5 seconds

[@BrawlerGamma]

It's arguable whether or not you could even call them "protagonists" to begin with.

[@PauLtus_B]

BrawlerGamma Also true. "It's an ensemble cast".

[@zoobMer]

yelling out interjection is not the same thing as diolog. if you really want to go that route, than is 3d link actually silent? how about the player character in journey? if they don't speak actual words that a player needs to understand in order to get the narrative, they are pretty much silent protagonists. if someone doesn't understand the language that a TF2 character speaks, it does not detract from the game, where as, for example, not understanding the Sole Surviver's language in fallout 4 would.

[@72kyzero]

+zoob m well they do have the supplemental material such as the "meet the___" and the comics

[@stefastra11]

ratman actually helps chell >_>

[@1810jeff]

Ikr

[@TimiS0]

+stefastra He`s a man so it doesn't count.

[@BlueBD]

+TimiS0 what about the companion qube

[@TimiS0]

+Blue★ The companion cubes are gender non specific and disabled (cant move on their own) so i guess they are fine but they can sometimes fall on your head so they all get destroyed jut in case.

[@xNightCrestx]

+stefastra He's also (probably) dead ...spoilers

[@Mastikator]

Wait just a minute, Fallout 4 is not a male centric game. You choose your own race and gender in Fallout 4 so it is by definition 100% inclusive. The first companion you find? Preston, a black guy. The second one? Piper, a white woman.

[@thewizardninja]

+Mastikator Shhhh, don't let your pesky facts get in the way of his sophistry.

[@CCartman69]

Technically you could make the same argument about the Saints Row series, since you can be any gender or race, while being a leader of a gang, and eventually president.

[@thebritishgeek]

The game is still garbage regardless of its inclusiveness but you do have a point. I personally like it when roleplaying games reacted to your gender ( like the old fallouts) men and women are treated differently and it's very strange when they are not.

[@Mastikator]

***** It pushes Preston on you too and the game is identical if you play as Nora.

[@theplushfrog]

+Mastikator It's actually not. The game begins with Nate's voiceover and even the beginning scene is clearly made with a male protag in mind. Nora isn't a military veteran, but a lawyer. The game seems to assume the character has a military background however, like how you can use a power armor suit without any training--something that doesn't make sense for the lawyer, but makes perfect sense for a vet. As Nora, you're continually jolted out of the game mindset by this lazy writing and even a few bugs where people refer to you as a man. And that's not even getting into the fact Preston's voice acting is shit while Piper's is awesome. I'm also fairly sure you can get away without using Preston as a companion at all, but there's a few parts where you HAVE to have Piper with you. Or have Valentine with you, but he's not romance-able, despite being an obvious choice for a Nate replacement (military/police background, strong emotional ties built into the story, etc). So basically, yes the same was very clearly made with Nate/male protag in mind, NOT Nora/female protag.

[@Spectral352]

Team Fortress 2's characters are...silent? That statement alone deserves this video to be disliked.

[@sorryforbadenglish2106]

+SashaSexyfur Pootis Dispenser Here!

[@MaskedMammal]

+SashaSexyfur I was quite dumbfounded at that statement. TF2 has some really well-defined characters with distinct personalities and characteristics, every one of them having heaps of spoken lines both in and out of the game. "All the other first person silent protagonists were male" is indeed true, but that's a pretty misleading statement given that Chell and Gordon are literally the only two in there. Every picture shown as he's making that statement, aside from Gordon, is so far from a silent protagonist that you couldn't possibly stretch the truth enough to include them in that category.

[@ToBeADeku]

+SashaSexyfur From Wikipedia: "In video games, a silent protagonist is a player character who lacks any dialogue for the entire duration of a game *with the possible exception of occasional interjections or short phrases.*" Under that definition, every character in TF2 (in-game, not in any other media) is a silent protagonist.

[@klimtnecrepeno]

+AlmightyDeku While under that strict definition you could say that TF2 characters are silent you would have to ignore every bit of canon story which is simply silly to even think about.

[@ToBeADeku]

MrCrocodileTooth I'm just trying to see things the way Jamin is. When The Orange Box first debuted (which is the context in which he refers to Portal being released) the TF2 cast could be considered silent since there were no "Meet the Team" videos or any other sort of expanded universe lore.

[@ThexDynastxQueen]

I strongly disagree! Portal is clearly about Saiyan racial and class based oppression by artificial intelligence! For god's sake the portal gun itself is BLUE AND ORANGE! ITS CLEARLY ABOUT CHANNELING THE SAIYAN RACE'S GREATEST STRENGTH (GOKU and VEGETA) TO FORM AN UPRISING AGAINST FUTURE TYRANNY AND RACIAL SUBJUGATION! See. I can project ideas onto media and make silly claims too, the difference is I know they're silly conclusions and not instantly valid game supported theories.

[@ToyKnives]

+Top Hats and Champagne After watching your reaction video, I think it's safe to say your problem with this video isn't a lack of evidence but lack of valid evidence. I think a lack of evidence at all is why +killerapple called the original post a false analogy. In actuality, your video thoroughly disproved all evidence presented in this video about Portal's relationship to feminism (with some ad hominem fallacies thrown for flavor, I guess). You obviously care a lot about social equality; but when you don't take the time to seriously debunk your opposition's evinced like the OP, it sounds more like rhetoric than a retort.

[@ToyKnives]

+Top Hats and Champagne Then you're using the same style of weak argument you find fault with in the first place. In your video, you claimed Jamin was a racist but never gave evidence as to why; I would consider that a proposition without evidence. And by your standards, all I have to do to disprove that assertion is say I disagree. That's a really weak debate strategy.

[@SilentCheechGaming1991]

+Top Hats and Champagne Are you gonna roast this fucker in an upcoming video? I know you have done it before and it was epic.

[@SilentCheechGaming1991]

***** Sweet, ill be sure to check it out.

[@Darkerxz]

While your point is true and absolutely right, there are a lot of mistakes on general game knowledge. 1- Samus Aran is the first silent female protagonist. 2- TF2 characters aren't silent 3- Devil May Cry (At least the version you showed on screen) has a MOTHER-son relationship. Dante's father, Sparda, is mentioned a few times in the game, but remains mysterious and unclear as who he is. His mother, Eva, on the other hand, is part of one of the main reasons why Dante is seeking revenge against Mundus, the game's antagonist. On one of the final scenes Dante has the following exchange with Mundus: (SPOILERS) Mundus: Why did you kill my son? Dante: Because you killed my mother Mundus: Ah, it was revenge I see. Eva even shows up on the bonus mission where you play as Dante's twin brother where he meets with her in the afterlife. Dante even has a flashback to where his mother told him that he was special and strong. 4- Ratman is an important character, being he who saved Chell at the end of Portal 1 from dying after GlaDOS' explosion. You could say a man saved a strong and powerful woman, so it's more about equality rather than female dominance.

[@kingofburgerz]

+Jake let me change my name “NeonPixel” Dagger back to normal I see you couldn't form an actual argument so you went straight to ad hominem. Nice.

[@kingofburgerz]

Jake let me change my name Dagger back to normal Or nah.

[@Darkerxz]

Jake let me change my name Dagger back to normal​ Jumping to conclusions I see.

[@DrunkenIsley]

+Darker xz 1. He said chell is a first-person silent female protagonist which is true, number one isn't in conflict. 2. TF2 characters aren't silent but all male(except maybe pyro), so you have a point but there but TF2's diversity is still something important for the discussion. 3.Devil may cry does have a mother son relationship entirely from Dante's point of view , and isn't a Mother-Daughter relationship, so you are kinda right but I think the overall point of the topic remains the same. 4. Uh, I don't remember that one, is that side-material or am I remembering wrong?

[@Darkerxz]

Shiny Isley 1- Misheard then 4- It's a webcomic Valve released along with the game.

[@MZZenyl]

Chell has zero input in the games, it all comes from the player. Chell never shows any emotions, wants, or anything related to any gender. She could just as well have been a man, and it wouldn't have changed the game one bit. Chell's personality only comes through in the lore of the game, not the gameplay itself, and has zero impact on the gameplay; you can complete the game 100%, without knowing that Chell is female, that the Borialis is gone or that Aperture Science started out making shower curtains for the military.

[@Dare5358]

+gentlemanREX NO, the video said Chell being a woman made the player "subvert their assumptions", so that couldn't happen if Chell were male.

[@holopawdruid6816]

+Zenyl I don't really agree with what the video is saying, but I have to disagree with this, too. GLADoS specifically mentions Chell being female, especially when it came to the weight comments. In fact, the way GLADoS really interacts with Chell seems like a passive-aggressive female-to-female conversation. Maybe that's just my speculation, though... I would say that her gender did not matter in terms of YOUR actions in the game, but the writing does seem to point out you are female multiple times. So I 100% agree that her personality only comes through the lore of the game.

[@pak8324]

+Zenyl i have a different viewpoint on what you are saying. Chells gender had an impact on me as a player. I'm female and Portal has been the first game, that got me into video games, partly because I could identify with her and the narrative she is placed into. I wouldn't say that this changes the gameplay and in this point I agree with you, but I wouldn't have felt as involved in the story (as a player) if the protagonist had been male.

[@erikschatz1017]

I dont think that her being silent and stale stops her gender (or sex) from playing a role. Glados is the main reson that is. Her remarks are often highly gender specific. Actually this is an interesting point you made there another feminist and lgbt perspectiv is that she as herself has only a sex while the gender is open to the player to fill. So when glados necks her on the base of the female gender stereotype the comidic value comes from glados mocking her on stereotype's most players wont have(woman too). And so the game mocks the of mindset of socity to ascribe a certain set of ideals to one Gender or one sex

[@jennible]

+Zenyl I entirely disagree, the narrative and story would change drastically if Chell was a dude. For example the myriad of comments from GLaDOS talking about her weight, her appearance, the fact that they are both similar people all made in attempts by the villian to dis-empower her, ect.. Those dialogs simply wouldn't work with a dude and have the same desired narrative effect. Yes Chell is a mute but your argument suggests that Half-Life would be the exact same game if Gordon Freeman was a girl and I doubt anyone would agree with that. A mute first person shooter doesn't leave many opportunities for self-expression when they only characters you interact with are all AI which are actively trying to murder you. Chell's not going to stop and sit there to sign language at wall cameras in response to the insane AIs who are trying to kill her, it would break the games immersion by being unrealistic. Even if she stop for some ASL or gestures how would the average player even pick up on any of Chell's dialog outside of displaying subtitles for ASL? It wouldn't add to the narrative in a positive way so instead players are left to form their own responses from behind the screen on Chell's behalf. The argument could have been made that you could give Chell a voice and dialog responses to GLaDOS but I feel confident that it wouldnt have impacted the story in a way that makes us feel like the version we have has lost anything for it's absence. The game is better off for giving the mute population of players out there a powerful, confident, and talented woman to look up to for their silent representation.

[@CrossHarry]

there would have to be a patriarchy for it to be a fight against the patriarchy

[@CrossHarry]

***** yes, and i also read the description

[@Dare5358]

All the relations of this game and its story to feminism seem like a stretch. No direct commentary on women seems to be taking place, while issues of AI, insanity, ethical experimentation, science, corporations, freedom and truth seem to be touched on directly.

[@ETisc00l]

+D Jones (DeuS eX DaRe) You forget he's a feminist so he can only see the game through a feminist (gendered) lens. Where as everyone else enjoyed the game for the gameplay, writing and greater lore.

[@ControllerTape]

+D Jones (DeuS eX DaRe) I don't find them to be a stretch at all; a story does not need to speak bluntly to address a topic. Metaphor, subtext, and allusion are all tools within the writer's trade to address a subject matter without ever actually writing about it. In Portal's case, a female protagonist squaring off against a female antagonist is very rare and very pro-female without actually being in your face about it, and that's better for women than an hours-long interactive treatise on the subject of feminism would have been.

[@pbsgameshow]

+D Jones (DeuS eX DaRe) I agree with you. There is definitely more to Portal than a feminist reading reveals alone. But it does bring out some of the more intriguing and overlooked aspects of the game, doesn't it? -jj

[@mr.quiltworth845]

+Christopher McKee Feminism is all about lowering the bar.

[@ControllerTape]

+Christopher McKee It's not the mostly female cast here so much as the fact that the females are not stereotyped or objectified, and are portrayed in strong, well-written roles. Like the man said, video games are dominated by narratives that focus on male perspectives and power fantasies; narratives like Portal's, which is almost entirely about the relationship between two positive female characters, are virtually non-existent, so this is a win for women. In addition, the gameplay itself is of a more cerebral nature that lines up with what the female demographic claim to play the most of. Finally, the fact that the games are great in almost every respect means that female-centric narratives will not cripple a game's quality or sales, which helps to pave the way for more positive female leads in games. That all adds up to masterpiece to me.

[@coltonHD]

The TF2 Characters are far from silent.

[@FrankieW00FR]

+coltonHD Especially the Scout

[@adamliv6279]

+Felipe Figueroa "I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around ya! I'm running circles around yaAAAAAAAaAaAAAAAAAAAh!"

[@FrankieW00FR]

Adam Liv BONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONKBONK

[@zoobMer]

But you don't actually need to understand the words they are saying. not understanding their language won't detract from the game. therefor, they might as well be silent protagonists. their words are just interjection, like link's grunts, rather than actual diolog.

[@91magro]

+Felipe Figueroa POOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTISPOOTIS

[@herobrinesblog]

I think portal is more about: -dangers of science -dangers of A.I. -the cost of gaining knowledge -the combat between humans(freedom) and machines(can be symbloic for fascism)

[@mechazard9883]

if I had a million dollars for each legitimate piece of evidence Jamin presented, I'd be in more debt than the United States.

[@kapelski104]

"Other silent protagonists from the orange box" *Shows TF2 characters*

[@Skylos]

Equality is not forcing half your workstaff into being half make half female. Equality is that you have the same possibilities to be hired as a staffmember, regardless of your gender.

[@Skylos]

***** The point I wanted to make was that more female protagonists does not help feminism/equality at all. What helps is to change peoples perception about the different genders. This is why I think Chell is a pointless example of a "feministic" character, because her only character trait is that she is a girl. It only helps feminism if the female lead is strong. It ESPECIALLY helps if it is a strong female lead who you cannot simple genderswap without changing the story. These are the kinds of things that affect peoples thoughts about genders and this is the only way we could ever reach equality to the extent where gender-roles isn't an issue

[@Skylos]

***** I mean strong as in the sence of writing

[@Xidnaf]

Shouldn't a "feminist masterpiece" be, like, about feminism or something? Or at least have it as a major theme? Saying it's a feminist masterpiece just because it centers around females feels like setting the bar REALLY low.

[@morganj426]

+Xidnaf Yeah, something like Gone Home or that one game about Sex-Reassignment Surgery/Hormone Replacement Therapy would be better to qualify as a feminist masterpiece: I think Portal did a solid job of including women, but it makes no attempt to broach the more radical and relevant areas of feminist theory: the relationship between women and society (Since society is kind of totally absent in the game....) Also forcing Chell and GLaDOS into a mother-daughter relationship in the second game is kind of questionable with regards to the agency of women and ideas of breaking down socially constructed roles imo

[@pbsgameshow]

+Xidnaf I disagree! Feminism is a wide, all encompassing system that covers a lot of ground.

[@ihaveagun22]

+Xidnaf no the Chanel i was expecting to see here

[@ARP2wefightforyou]

+Xidnaf When will you post a new video?

[@Xidnaf]

Levi Quickburger5000 Soon. A few weeks ago I thought I'd have one out by now.

[@MOTat18]

This is why Feminism is so irritating...Apparently, I thought this was a relatively fun game featuring a female silent protagonist trying to break out of a testing facility. According to feminists, it's a girl-power game. Can some things be left alone?

[@19Szabolcs91]

+MOTat18 I'm so used to people deliberately misinterpreting art to further their agenda, like how every other Disney movie is racist/sexist or how Cinderella is about submission rather than perseverence. It's annoying, but I suggest you get some distance from idiocy like this. Just enjoy the things you do, and don't let it taint your Portal experience.

[@SamClemensRIGL]

I take it you've never written or discussed a critical reading of a film or novel before, let alone a video game.

[@MOTat18]

SamClemensRIGL I have, mostly for English courses. What I realized is that it's valid only if you are reaching and warping the story to fit your reality. Sort of like was done here: it's a fun game that uses portals that happens to have a woman, but if its your perspective that anything with a woman is a "feminist masterpiece" then you can stretch and reach to find the evidence to support that.

[@SamClemensRIGL]

Then you would know that part of critical review is examining an idea that is subtextual, that is, not immediately apparent on the surface. Validity is based only on what can be seen within or without the text. If nothing can be extrapolated to support an idea presented, then it loses validity. This is not the case as Jamin clearly uses plenty of evidence from both Portal and its sequel, and the evidence presented from outside the games (including statements by the creative team) are hardly a stretch or distortion of the diagetic ideas.

[@Maxmulham]

+MOTat18 It's like Anita Sarkeesian's take on the Scythian all over again.

[@lucigallagher5542]

why did you show Fallout 4 when saying video games are male centric it let's you chose to be male or female just like most Bethesda games

[@larsentosh9710]

+The Godless-Nerd It also has many strong female characters

[@deldarel]

+Alex ‘AxeWorld’ Rozinov yup. See 'ratman is evil cuz name is ratman' line in the video

[@crownoart]

He didn't implied Fallout4 was misogynistic and problematic at any point, he just said "male centric narrative". And if I'm not mistaken, a male centric narrative is not automatically sexist. And by the context, what I've got is that it could be argued that regardless of the gender of your character, the main forces driving the narrative forward are of masculine nature (your son, most of the important characters of the game, etc). Emphasis to the "it can be argued" part, as it's not really a fact set in stone and that was just a small cut on the video, so take it with a grain of salt. Just try to be reasonable and have in mind that Jamin didn't said or implied anything negative about the game at all.

[@ETisc00l]

+Cronus Cro But it's the implication that Fallout 4 is a "male centric narrative" that is soooo wrong (as you can play as male or female). It's like he doesn't even do any research before just saying what ever he wants to try make his point seem more valid.

[@crownoart]

SubZeroAssassin To be perfectly honest, he didn't properly said it, just showed a clip from the game along with other games. I can agree that it seems a bit misleading and can take a bit away from the point he is trying to make, though. Also, just to be clear, I'm not a fan of this video in particular, but I think Jamin makes very reasonable points and he always tries to do his research. When he is wrong, he always acknowledge about it on the next video, or at least try to explain what he meant if people got confused about his position. I usually think his opinions on feminism and video games are fair, this one just seems a bit exaggerated and not very intuitive.

[@OngoingDiscovery]

meh, its a masterpiece of game design. The gender of the character is probably more irrelevant in this game than almost any other game. Not to comment on feminism, I just think this is a stretch at best.

[@ethansnyder8779]

+ForShizzleize Thank you! Finally! someone who understands!

[@MonkeyPantsFace]

+ForShizzleize I dunno, dude.. the idea of the 'faceless' protagonist is that can project ourselves easily onto the character; their struggles and challenges are our own. By overcoming the games obstacles you can feel capable and meaningful. I guess the question is, from my perspective: do you feel the same about Gordon Freeman or Crono or Point man from f.e.a.r.?

[@Eric-sy1xu]

+MonkeyPantsFace Projecting yourself onto a silent protagonist is one of the easiest things to do in a videogame.

[@MonkeyPantsFace]

+Amanda Todd not necessarily when everyone refers to you and addresses you as male.

[@Eric-sy1xu]

MonkeyPantsFace Did you have trouble doing that in any game? If so, why?

[@mr.quiltworth845]

So I guess this guy never played any Metroid games.

[@mr.quiltworth845]

+rowtow13 Yeah how those 8 bit pixels really degrade women. Oh the humanity. Come let us hurry and ban those games before another child sees what may or may not be a bikini. Together we can build a puritan nation free from the degenerates who enjoy 3 seconds of pixel action.

[@MusouTensei82]

+thorin dyer I have to question if he ever played anything for more than 10 minutes.

[@mr.quiltworth845]

+Aidan Pesklewis Well one thing Samus is a well written protagonist with actual personal struggles she had to overcome. Where as Chell could of been a genetically engineered chimp and it wouldn't of changed the game play.

[@mr.quiltworth845]

+TheDanyMartin I know. I liked in japan for years and their media is full of tits. One Japanese man explained the cultural differences to me perfectly. He said "Japan is a puritian culture with a degenerate media, and America is a degenerate culture with a puritian media" No truer words have be spoken.

[@aidanpesklewis6581]

thorin dyer Okay but what were those struggles and how do they make the Metroid series a better contender for being a "feminist masterpiece" than Portal? What actually made Metroid great in this context?

[@mathinvitti7954]

If she is a blank slate then how can she be a strong character? The two to be quite frank are not possible to have in the same character because giving them character inherently makes them not a blank slate.

[@MordredMS]

Bingo. It seems so obvious that I cannot fathom how PBS could state such an obvious contradiction.

[@chipred]

its litterally written in chells file that shes strong willed and dosent give up. Just because shes mostly left blank dosent mean she isnt strong

[@vgfian]

I think it's funny how feminism is no longer "we're all equal" and is now "all women are awesome and all men are either negligible or evil"

[@jimmyhowitzer7308]

+vgfian It's actually great that they finally admit it, one of the few times they are actually being honest about anything.

[@a.i.privilege1233]

I have played this game.. all I gave a crap about was finishing it and getting all the achievements. What is this guy going on about?

[@Birthnote]

I take issue with the Rattmann bit. He's the one that warns Chell of GLaDOS's evil intentions and saves her indirectly.

[@stampede274]

There's one piece of Portal's feminism that is often overlooked for reasons unknown: The Corrupted Cores. Most obvious is the Adventure Core. Just a sample of his lines: * "QUICK: WHAT'S THE SITUATION? Oh, hey, hi pretty lady. My name's Rick. So, you out having a little adventure?" * "Hey, a countdown clock! Man, that is trouble. Situation's looking pretty ugly. For such a beautiful woman. If you don't mind me saying." * "I don't want to scare you, but, I'm an Adventure Sphere. Designed for danger. So, why don't you go ahead and have yourself a little lady break, and I'll just take it from here." * "Here, stand behind me. Yeah, just like that. Just like you're doing. Things are about to get real messy." * "Going for it yourself, huh? All right, angel. I'll do what I can to cover you." * "Doesn't bother me. I gotta say, the view's mighty nice from right here." (you're carrying him at chest-level) * "Man, that clock is moving fast. And you are beautiful. Always time to compliment a pretty lady. All right, back to work. Let's do this." * "Did you hear that? I think something just exploded. Man, we are in a lot of danger. This is like Christmas. No, it's better than Christmas. This should be its own holiday. Explosion Day!" * "Happy Explosion Day, gorgeous." * "I'll tell ya, it's times like this I wish I had a waist so I could wear all my black belts. Yeah, I'm a black belt. In pretty much everything. Karate. Larate. Jiu Jitsu. Kick punching. Belt making. Taekwondo... Bedroom." * "I am a coiled spring right now. Tension and power. Just... I'm a muscle. Like a big arm muscle, punching through a brick wall, and it's hitting the wall so hard the arm is catching on fire. Oh yeah." * "I probably wouldn't have let things get this far, but you go ahead and do things your way." * "All right, your funeral. Your beautiful-lady-corpse open casket funeral." * "Do you have a gun? Because I should really have a gun. What is that thing you're holding?" * "Here's the plan: Get him to say, 'You two have been a thorn in my side long enough.' Then tell your pretty ears to stand back, because I am going to zing him into the stone age." Virtually all of his lines are open displays of toxic masculinity. He takes every opportunity to hit on her, often negging or being blatantly patronizing. He also seems to fancy himself charming, but comes off as sleazy instead. He fetishizes violence and weaponry so of course he's dismissive of Chell's non-violent Portal Gun. He absolutely must be able to handle this situation, because he's a man and men can handle anything, while a woman like Chell can't handle anything without a man. His bluster is made comical by the fact he is just a metal sphere that's incapable of doing anything except being carried by Chel. In case you might think that this is a complete accident, it's worth noting he has a lot of unused voice lines. In many of them he's complimenting Chell on a job well done (rather than her appearance), admitting his own impotence, cheering her on, or just shouting in excitement. He does this in *zero* of the lines that made it into the game. You'd think they'd at least leave in a YEEEEHAAW...unless it'd undermine the point to have him express any emotions other than patronizing condescension, flimsy bravado, and possessive lust, all masked under politeness and chivalry. The Fact Core is less obvious, but let's see what it has to say. Conveniently, it has exactly 100 "facts, so I can break it down by percentage and examples: * 22% are true Ex: "Rats cannot throw up." * 9% are almost true. Ex: "The Sun is 330,330 times larger than Earth." (It has approximately 333,000 times the mass of Earth, but is 1.3 million times the volume) * 9% are half true. Ex: "Cellular phones will not give you cancer. Only hepatitis." (bold is, obviously, not true) * 9% are probably false. Ex: "Dreams are the subconscious mind's way of reminding people to go to school naked and have their teeth fall out." * 26% are demonstrably false. Ex: "At some point in their lives 1 in 6 children will be abducted by the Dutch." * 17% are subjective or hard to define, thus not even wrong. Ex: "Avocados have the highest fiber and calories of any fruit." (depends on how you define "fruit") * 8% are just nonsense. Ex: "Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve. Twelve." * 8% are insulting or discouraging towards the other Cores. Ex: "The Adventure Sphere is a blowhard and a coward." (likely true, but mean) * 9% of its "facts" are just self-aggrandizing. Ex: "The Fact Sphere is not defective. Its facts are wholly accurate and very interesting." * 13% are directly insulting or discouraging towards Chell. Ex: "We will both die because of your negligence." * 12% are indirectly insulting or discouraging, by targeting humanity in general. Ex: "Whales are twice as intelligent, and three times as delicious, as humans." Importantly: * 20% of the last two (5% overall) are body-shaming, whether portraying humans as gross ("Every square inch of the human body has 32 million bacteria on it.") or by attacking Chell directly ("You could stand to lose a few pounds.") This sort of arrogance, veiling insults, sexism, racism (against humans), and condescension as "rational" and "factual" is typical of STEMlords and forms the basis of Mansplaining. The need to bring down others is indicative of the same masculine insecurity as the Adventure Core, only directed intellectually instead. The Fact Core must have an answer on everything, whether or not it knows what it's talking about. Finally, there's the Space Core which says...uh...alright, it falls apart on that one. Except this line: * "Dad! I'm in space! [low-pitched 'space' voice] I'm proud of you, son. [normal voice] Dad, are you space? [low-pitched 'space' voice] Yes. Now we are a family again." ...not sure how to take that one, so interpret as you wish. So take Wheatley's vengeful Nice Guy archetype, add the chivalrous braggadocio of the Adventure Sphere, the STEMsplaining condescension of the Fact Sphere and the...uh...Space Sphere, and what do get? A giant clusterfuck of toxic masculinity

[@dkSilo]

Portal tells an intriguing story and is a very fun game to play. Of course, we as humans try to interpret the story, as it is likely well thought out. So is all that mentioned in the video done on purpose? Is it an eye opener? I like to think, that we shouldn't even think about it as feminism. It's humanism. It tells a human story and it's a pitty that we as a society have to point out how rare stories like these are from the perspective of female characters. I wish we will come to the point, where the gender of the protagonist is completely irrelevant, as we finally have accepted that we are all more alike than different. Sometimes I'm hopeful. Often I'm disappointed.

[@Antenox]

+dkSilo Humanism is synonymous with feminism for as long as women are underrepresented, because unfortunately, these things do not exist in a vacuum. People noticed Chell was a woman because heroines are rare in video games, and even rarer when they aren't sexualized. That context automatically put an emphasis on her gender, which made the absence of references to her gender by any characters in the game that much more noticeable. P.S. The reverse would also be true. Humanism would be synonymous with masculinism if men were underrepresented, but they are not.

[@DrDemoman74]

+Antenox what about the court system-- men are underrepresented there....

[@seraph_77]

+Antenox humanism is not associated with either gender no matter their representation. that's the point of the "human" part. the point of humanism is that we, as HUMAN BEINGS, can overcome any adversity that we face. you can assign that struggle to women, sure, but ultimately i think a man climbing his way up the economic ladder is about as humanist as a woman climbing up the social ladder.

[@Antenox]

Rain Maker We're talking about video games elazer twist Let me clarify. Yes, it tells a fundamentally human story where Chell's gender is irrelevant (it's even irrelevant to her name, which is pretty genderless), but because of the context in which it is told (i.e. in a medium and an industry that is sorely lacking in female representation), Portal actually draws attention to Chell's gender. It is *rare* (not just uncommon, not just unlikely, but *rare*) for video game to have a non-sexualized female character like Chell in the role she is in Portal. And because we, as the audience, are aware of its rarity, we can't help to notice it. So yes, as dkSilo said, Portal tells a humanist story, but it also tells a feminist story by telling a humanist story. Gender inequality in video games is so extreme, so stark, and so obvious that a game which presents a perfectly neutral depiction of gender, which should be unremarkable in an equal world, instead appears radical.

[@dkSilo]

Antenox This is exactly my point. It's a shame that we perceive this as a strong advertising of feminism, that we need feminism. I'm sad that we make big eyes because Chell is a woman here and the other main character is female as well. The whole game is a masterpiece in itself and to point out this one aspect as special only shows out deficit as a society. I hope we will one day have the equality we deserve and enjoy other aspects of the art and not something that should be normal. I even feel, that pointing it out, takes a bit from it. The same way that pointing out the unbalance in most of the rest of the industry. To advertise the unbalance, it's hard to find balance naturally. We don't want this or that stereotype as a role to fill a gap, but because it fits. Because it feels right. The problem is, that our view of "normal" is skewed. We fall prey to the coconut effect, expecting to see in reality what media shows us. So yeah, portal is something special, by portraying something that should be normal. I have a hard time explaining myself. :(

[@commandercostas]

Did he just say that tf2, the game where every class has a CHARACTER with CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT has silent protagonists? Does he even PLAY games?

[@yakubu05]

The moment I noticed I was a woman in portal, I contemplated it for like a second....... then went straight to puzzle solving. Never paid attention to it since.

[@PauLtus_B]

By your logic Portal would be sexist towards men...

[@rasclausen]

+PauLtus B not really. just because some feminists are sexist towards men. doesn't mean all of them are.

[@alexsims31]

+PauLtus B The key point here being by his logic, no sane person would interpret Portal that way.

[@MZZenyl]

+PauLtus B Welcome to feminism. Nowadays, it seems that only a minority of feminists actually want equality for all genders.

[@nojusticeanywhere]

puting power in a place does not take it from another.

[@notstarsky1769]

+Rasmus Clausen but all men are sexist right?

[@808artemis]

This is a clear case of miss interpreting the evidence to fit a conclusion with a agenda...

[@packbh]

And i thought that the video of race diversity discussion in The Witcher 3 had the most forced arguments ever... i was wrong

[@lostingames5657]

Feminism will always be hurting itself until it stops making a big deal of things like this. By making a big deal out of it, you say it's abnormal to have a female protagonist. It's not. It's a design choice. The day these people claiming to want things to be equal actually react equally is the day things will be equal.

[@Kalleosini]

you know, when your first person character doesn't speak, and you can't see the character, you simply make your character, whatever you are, in your mind. so since most of the players were probably male, they'd assume ''I am male, because I am male'' and a woman would think ''I am female because I am female'' as long as their is no evidence to push one notion or the other. but ofcourse most people woke up in a glass room waiting for a clock and when the portal opens they'd be looking straight at themselves, so you don't have to wait to get the gun. so you know, that argument was incorrect as not at all researched. also TF2 characters all speak, except pyro. you also didn't research that. I thought you had a team behind these videos.

[@Dragonfire973_]

+Ebon Hawk Even the pyro speaks, the voice is just so muffled that the words can't be discerned.

[@BlueBD]

+Dragonfire973 well some words can be heard. Mmmhediiic still sound like medic.

[@shaenaharasty9918]

I can say first hand as a female who played portal, I assumed the player character was a male.

[@anonymousfigure37]

+Ebon Hawk > a woman would think "I am female because I am female" Any evidence to back this up, or is this just pure ideology? You're making baseless assertions against what has been generally accepted about the phenomenon of gender defaulting.

[@zoobMer]

wow, you have a nack to nit pick details that have little significance, hunh?

[@Mrd122]

1:20 "Since Portal was a pack-in with The Orange Box, where all the other First Person SILENT protagonists if you're sensing a theme here were male." Sorry buddy, but I highly doubt you actually have played Team Fortress 2 since all of the protagonists are FULLY VOICED. You might want to get your facts checked before you make these types of accusations.

[@animeotaku307]

Minor complaint at 1:30; there are no silent protagonists in Team Fortress 2. The merc you play as will make comments or insult whoever they kill.

[@jodgee2374]

The engineers were trying to control GLaDOS because SHE WAS TRYING TO KILL EVERYONE, not because she was a woman!

[@shawnf212]

Jodgee HELL YES

[@JaneDoe-mf5ck]

You don't play video games do you?

[@Ethdawgies101]

Feminism has lost its meaning

[@MagicTurtle643]

+Dead channel really According to the people who don't like it. lololol To everybody else, the definition has remained pretty consistent for a loooong time.

[@Ethdawgies101]

+MagicTurtle643 sure, actual feminists that actual strive for true equality (unlike the radical ones such as femfreq and big red) I support. What used to be about getting women voting rights or letting women to leave the house and get a job, is now a bunch of so called "feminists" rolling around on tumblr telling someone not to manspread or how it's "misogynistic". That is why I believe feminism has lost its true meaning.

[@DrDemoman74]

+AlmightyDeku have you watched her videos? It is most certainly radical. "Haven" I'd sooner say isolation chamber-- she disabled her comments and with that any form of legitimate critique of her unfounded claims.

[@ToBeADeku]

Rain Maker She disabled her comments because they turned into a cesspool of harassment and threats. Any idea of critiquing her work was made invalid by the people who wanted to rape her for having anything to say about video games.

[@Ethdawgies101]

+AlmightyDeku she can't take criticism. She will block you on Twitter if you criticize her in anyway.

[@josefvenable8989]

Remember when people used to just sit down and enjoy video games without hipsters in thick rimmed "problem" glasses force feeding them a political agenda. I miss those times.

[@yat282]

If you want feminist games, make them. There's a market right? So more feminists need to go into game development like this woman.

[@yallnwahsdontevendrinkskoo4092]

But that's haaaaarrrrddd

[@jakie4444]

+The Horrid Atom than quit yer crying

[@yallnwahsdontevendrinkskoo4092]

silentblast You do realize I'm being facetious?

[@yat282]

***** What I'm hearing is "B-b-b-but, that's haaaaaaaaaaard!" There are games like minecraft tat have done well being made by very very few people. If you think something should exist, make it. Don't force other people to do it.

[@thepcmasterracefan4905]

Nah its always better to complain, if more feminists made games we wouldn't have anything to cry sexism at

[@RockBottomRiser21]

"Feminism in a non negative context in the title? I MUST THUMB THIS VIDEO DOWN!!!!!"

[@paradoxacres1063]

Ain't that the truth.

[@alexhodge3636]

+Steven W I think the reason that most of the dislikes are there is more that Portal... has nothing to do with feminism, and having a female protagonist is a very different thing to being a game centered around feminism.

[@xLanKx]

+Alex Hodge He never said that Portal is ABOUT feminism. Plus, this channel if for overthinking stuff, in case you haven't figured that out.

[@mylittledashie7419]

"People downvoting a pretty crappy video that revolves around Feminism? THEY MUST HAVE NO VALID CRITICISMS!!!!!!"

[@disagreeingisok6245]

+Steven W I think it has to do with people being upset whenever people try to make games about identity politics rather than about how fun or enjoyable a game actually is.

[@LaggerWhy]

tfw considers ratman a negative character

[@CollinBuckman]

+Lagger478 Whatever he is, he's not what you could consider sane.

[@LaggerWhy]

Collin Buckman I can't seem to name a single character in the entire series that could be considered sane.

[@CollinBuckman]

***** I don't think Chell has brain damage, IMO she just doesn't want to talk with all the crazy/weird/dumb robots that constantly try to kill her.

[@thatwelshman2713]

'Classic nagging mother' bwahahha I'm sorry but that cracked me up my mother never tried to kill me with neurotoxin, turrets or acid

[@PauLtus_B]

Responses: Metroid Prime kinda did it before Dead Space, by displaying everything in your helmet.

[@Macca-95]

Fallout 4, a game in which one can play as a woman searching the world to find her son after her husband is brutally murdered is apparently putting the concerns of men front and centre.

[@zz4443zz]

THE TF2 CLASSES AREN'T SILENT PROTAGONISTS WTF

[@CasanisPlays]

8 top games feature father/son relationships, 1 features mother/daughter. I'm a stay-at-home dad of twin baby girls. I made the decision to stay home, giving up a career as an animator, by choice, rather than by necessity. I'd like to know how many of the top 50 games feature a father/daughter relationship. Not one of complete dependency where the father figure is the simply protecting a helpless child, but one where the relationship is established and symbiotic.

[@Kalleosini]

no it's not. it doesn't accuse men of being inherently evil, it doesn't push the notion that women are better than men ect ect. so no, not feminist. it's just a great puzzle game with a great story where the only 2 characters happen to be female, in portal one atleast.

[@NawidN]

+MsDozana You should say that to most self-declared feminists. Their actions and commonly held beliefs reframe (and frankly, mutilate) the definition of feminism.

[@a.i.privilege1233]

I've got a $100 bill that says this guys girlfriend straps on and goes to town.. ya get me lol

[@DarkOfTheMist]

I still don't see why this matters. I like stories, I play games, read books, watch movies ext. I don't care if they protagonist is male or female what matters to me is their character and what they do. I don't see why people are making such a big deal out of the gender of characters. Does it really matter over their actions? This is why I find the whole "Feminism in Video Games" thing dumb, because the player character is there for a narrative purpose idgaf about their gender.

[@ETisc00l]

+DarkOfTheMist You forget he's a feminist so he can only see the game through a feminist (gendered) lens. Where as everyone else enjoyed the game for the gameplay, writing and greater lore.

[@rowtow13]

"Thank god I have this companion cube to hug!" *companion cube releases death cry*

[@nachtmahrmond4115]

I might be a bit behind on the lore of TF2, but isn't the Pyro of an unknown gender? Since we don't know, then we'd have to take a Schrödingers Cat situation, where the Pyro is both male and female, so the cast isn't all male. Not to mention the Administrator...

[@Arnox45]

+Nachtmahr Mond I thought the pyro was supposed to be the scouts mother.

[@Arnox45]

***** What's wrong with that? Like seriously give me a concrete reason as to why that's unreasonable when we have the creative freedom to write the stories and characters we want, how we want.

[@MordredMS]

The Administrator who, if I may add, plays and controls both Red and Blu, so actually she's the one pulling the strings, if I recall correctly.

[@av5hadow]

Not everyone see Chell at the first time when they first get the portal gun. You can first see her in the first room, because you can go back through the portal, and look where you ended up.

[@draykosanbar]

I love the power given to Chell and to GLaDOS respectively; they're GREAT characters who are a breath of fresh air from other video game stereotypes. Setting this aside, however, the one issue I take with the information presented in this video is juxtaposing the aforementioned females with the subpar male characters. I really love the idea of equality across genders and ethnicities, but I feel we can empower one group of people without looking down upon another. I may be mistaken, but I don't believe Valve was aiming to create a cast whose entire lineup of male characters weren't exactly role models, I think that it just sort of happened (and I'm glad it did because Wheatley is HILARIOUS), but I believe that, in the future, we should strive not to put men above women or women above men, but, instead, simply paint them as equals. I'm not saying we can't have characters in games who are moronic or villainous, but having these characters exist with the goal of "putting down" a group/gender is not the way to go about it. EDIT: I seem to have not made this clear, but my issue is not with the game, simply with the information that the video uses as evidence.

[@adambrown1837]

+Drayko Sanbar My thoughts exactly.

[@draykosanbar]

Brandymon I think that was Valve's intention for sure, but the way the Game Show episode analyzes it, it seems they believe that Wheatley's signature moronicness, Rattman's face-value insanity, and the malevolent outcome of Cave Johnson's work are all meant to slander men. I think it's only fair to take this time to mention that, in favor of your point, despite being a great character as we have all agreed, GLaDOS is, after all, evil.

[@draykosanbar]

MCheesesushi Oh yes, I totally think there should be more strong female leads, I just don't think it's necessary to diminish the male characters in order to do that. I don't believe Valve's goal was to diminish the male characters, but the Game Show suggested that they did so intentionally and with a purpose.

[@jonathanhurd6518]

+Drayko Sanbar honestly I kind of liked the male characters in Portal 2. SPOILER's about Cave Johnson and Wheetly in Portal 2: Cave Johnson had a very interesting arch as you explore the labs. He starts as the leader of this big science firm using the best of the best. Then as the company starts struggling he becomes more desperate but you see his enthusiasm for Science does not wane a bit. What I kind of like about him is its pretty obvious that he is not really a scientist at all and yet he has a fervor for Science and keeps trying to advance it even if he has no idea about any of it. This also interestingly leads him to his death in which they forced staff members to participate in tests as subjects and he did not exclude himself. From this you get his final words. He not only shows his respect for Caroline his secretary by telling the Science guys to download her mind to run the business he also rejects his fate and spits in the face of God himself showing his determination even in the face of death. What I like is that in earlier segments they make Caroline sound like the stereotypical ditsy secretary. A pretty face in this place filled with scientists. At the end though we find out not only does Cave like and respect her but he even trusts her to continue on his dream of science even after his death. The dream he never gave up. This is made even nicer by hearing Glados' cheering his final speech at the end showing that probably the reason Glados is so obsessed with with Science and experiments might be to continue his legacy. To me Cave Johnson had one of the best arks in the whole portal series. He showed never ending resolve towards science and even respect to a woman in the field of science which historically has been scoffed at. For Wheatley I liked him as a character as well. He was bumbling and silly which was hilarious to listen to but at the same time there is some depth to him. He is always trying to help and doing his best to get his job done in the start. Things just keep going wrong but he keeps trying. I like the shift that happens mid way as well when he is given power. At that moment watching the usually happy go lucky guy who has been trying to help you all of a sudden turn into the same despotic overlord you just overthrew it forces you to reevaluate your view of Glados as well. Maybe it is less that Glados is evil and more that the system is the problem. Maybe the ability to lord yourself over others is where the true evil lies. From some of the tidbits you get in the story it honestly feels like the big reason Wheatley even turns on you is because he is sick and tired of his lot in life. From the way he describes his relationships with all the other robots. How he is always working under others and being yelled at for his screw ups. I mean heck think about what Wheatley is for a second. He is a robot who was literally programmed to fail. His entire existence was set up from the beginning to end in failure. In the face of this the fact that he is still trying and working at it is kind of awe inspiring. What I like about him is the final boss fight when you are about to hit the button that will stop him and put Glados back in charge he finally succeeds and nearly kills you. It is the first thing in the entire game he has gotten things right. The first time he is victorious and then you snatch that away from him in the final moment. It is kind of heart wrenching when you think about it. Overall portal has a strong theme of trying to escape or fight against fate. Chell fights her fate of being a lab rat for Glados. Cave Johnson is fighting his fate of dying from cancer and being shut down because of lack of funds all to pursue his dream of furthering Science. Wheatley is fighting against his fate of being literally made to fail. Even Glados is fighting against being trapped by the personality of Caroline inside her. In the end each person managed to overcome their struggle and free themselves. Wheatley succeeds in doing something, Chell escapes, Cave Johnson created Glados who can continue doing experiments and left behind his voice recordings to inspire future generations, and Glados deleted Caroline from herself freeing herself from that part. SPOILER's END. Not to sure about the Rattman honestly since I need to replay and read the messages on the wall a bit more clearly. Though I would say that i kind of appreciate the messages and warning he tried to leave for any future survivors. Even as he lost his mind and realized he would probably never make it out he still tried to help those who may come after. All in all the point isn't to try to make men or women to look good, but to provide their characters with some depth. All the people in portal have a reason and motivation for what they are doing. They are not just evil because the story says they are. They are not just some overused stereotypes. They are people. People we might not agree with but at the very least, people we can try to understand.

[@TheJayson8899]

Why did you show Fallout? Like many others have said, Fallout lets you be a female. But why Deus Ex? There's a lot of women who are main characters in the original, especially one who's a big part of the plot, and you were meant to be able to play as a female but it got taken out for budget I think.

[@findingsimon]

so glad you guys made this!

[@BLACKB0ND]

Its an amazing game where gender is obviously pretty much irrelevant man. Stop reaching.

[@vmontoya4]

No silent female protagonists.?!? What about Metroid? Man This guy is just DESPERATE for clicks. Reminds me of cracked haha.

[@travisfrazier3407]

+vmontoya4 Other M.

[@joshr408]

+Travis Frazier we NEVER speak of that

[@travisfrazier3407]

Josh R Metroid Fusion

[@AgentAvis]

I just keep asking, "Why do we care about the genders of the characters?" It's a video game, I played it and enjoyed it. Why does it all need to be about one gender or the other? i literally did not think about gender in that game.

[@aaaagamedev3524]

They need to push their agenda, its what they are being paid for.

[@dukejaywalker5858]

Interesting that you think a negative portrayal of men is evidence of feminism...

[@akukau519]

Top Hats and Champagne sent me here .......

[@a.i.privilege1233]

No way this guy has friends.. if he did they would have pulled him aside by now and said "wtf are you doing man"

[@RaySquirrel]

Also mother/daughter, female-on-female, rivalries are all over cinema. From fantasy stories such as Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz, and Alice in Wonderland. To modern stories such as Rebecca, Mildred Pearce, and most of Robert Altman's catalogue.

[@TheHoennHippo]

While I do agree with the message of the video, I don't think you needed to use a fan theory to prove it.

[@darkxarth]

I agree. It's great to see a game where women fill both the roles of protagonist and antagonist without falling into stereotypes or relying on male characters to actually do the heavy lifting. Granted that Wheatley tricks Chell and helps her in Portal 2, Chell is still the one doing all of the hard work (the puzzles) in the game.

[@kibitz2327]

I still don't get why in media it matters if a character is a boy or girl. To me(TO ME) it matters if the character is complex and interesting unless it's something like a Kung Fu flick or COD. It shouldn't matter what gender the character is. Instead of this whole feminist movement in gaming we should be promoting game that make games stand out as a medium like Witcher 3, Deus Ex, Stanely Parable, Life is Strange, Brothers ATO2S, and etc.... For example look at film it has its cookie cutter action movies, chick flicks, rom coms, thriller, horror movies, etc. Each of these genres cater to a different audience member. This is why it baffles me that games that cater to trigger happy men suddenly try to appeal to women by "maturing" when they should be making separate games that cater to different groups of people. TLDR: Gender,Race, political correctness shouldn't matter as long as the games are entertaining and engaging.

[@xpazuzu]

Hands down one of your best videos yet Jamin, really cool analysis of the game's characters.

[@ToxisLT]

It is very strange, when people who talk about female under-representation in games never actually play as women when the choice is there. You showed fallout4 as an example of evil patriarchy? A game about how a mother and wife traversed the f*kin nuclear apocalypse to find her son and avenge the death of her husband? At least my game was that (same with mass effect, dragon age, hell even saint's row and many, many more). So how come the people who mostly talk about lack of female protagonists in gaming do not choose those when the option is available? Why the hypocrisy?

[@ShyGuyXXL]

The protagonists of Team Fortress surely aren't silent. :P "Need a teleporter here!" "Entire team is babies!" "Bonk!" "OKTOBERFEEEST!!!

[@OverlordsVassel]

You know what I thought when I first found out that the main character was a woman? Nothing. Simply because it does not matter whether one plays as a female or not. Besides the Rattman character actually helps a bit and isn't bad. But I guess Portal can be compared to Feminism. If we compare GlaDOS to the so-called "Oppressed" women of modern society, then the neurotoxin that she spread throughout the laboratory is Feminism.

[@ETisc00l]

+OverlordsVassel I know right. I was to busy enjoying the fun as fuck gameplay to even care if I was some 4th dimensional squid alien let alone if I was male or female. That's the thing with people like Jamin. They get soo focused on the gender of the character and not their actual characteristics in the context of the story. As always the golden rule of games is gameplay should be more important than story.

[@BYNL-]

I wouldn't dirty Portal's name by calling it feminist.

[@EpickaNESSiskool]

The KZbin community is full of angsty teen MRA's

[@GastonAsston]

+EpickaNESS Most of the "MRAs" are parody comments. Feminism isn't equal like feminists claim unless they threat men the same and with the same logic.

[@InMaTeofDeath]

The Yellow Wallpaper was terrifying.

[@zoobMer]

okay, the way you mention week male characters in the game at the beginning of the video bothers me. Saying something like that will bias a lot of people to see it as anti-male. rather, what really should be focused on is that there are already more than enough strong male characters, which is something you touch on later. I just feel like you could have opened it better.

[@mylittledashie7419]

+zoob m But even that point has been done to death. We all know about it, but unless someone in this comment section is the owner of a major games publisher, it doesn't really matter does it?

[@zoobMer]

Vincent Freel it does matter. by supporting media that gives representation to the under represented, we can help promote that representation. the issue is we need reviews like this to tell us what works do so so we can support them.

[@mylittledashie7419]

zoob m I'm sorry, but buying a game, solely on the basis that it has female main characters, is just ridiculous. Especially when it's a game like Portal which is already so critically acclaimed. The fact is, most people don't actually give a fuck what gender the characters are. Most people buy games based on the gameplay, the visuals and the story writing, and no amount of "We need more women in gaming" is going to change that.

[@zoobMer]

+Vincent Freel but representation is an important part of narrative, which, along with gameplay, are the two defining characteristics of games. portal might already be iconic, but what about, for example, don't nod studios? they have a lot going for them as far as gender related representation, but don't get the level of sales that is deserved for that and similar actions. I, for one, adamantly support such a studio, because they represent things that matter to me.

[@mylittledashie7419]

zoob m No, I completely contest that first point. Representation, i.e the gender, sexuality, ethnicity etc, of the characters in a game almost never affect the narrative, which is exactly how it should be. Portal would still be the exact same game if the genders were swapped. It's be the same if Chell was black, or gay. Representation almost never changes a game, it's absolutely nice to have, and I do think the very fact it does nothing to change a game is a good reason for people doing it more, but to say it does anything to the narrative of games is almost entirely wrong. Look, you can do whatever you want. But when I see an advert for a game that looks like it won't interest me, I'm not going to go out of my way to get it, just because it has a female lead, and neither will most of the gaming community. Good games come first. Oh and as for Dontnod, according to wiki they have made a grand total of 2 games so far. That's part of the problem right there.

[@DetectiveThursday]

So apparently in addition to be a masterpeice, the creator was also psychic and knew my expectations (even apparently the subconsious systemic microagressiony ones I never knew I had) rather than assumed the worst and claimed victory for subverting my assumed predisposition. oh yeah, makes sense now.

[@bodman1]

Is Portal a feminist masterpiece? Don't know and don't care. What I DO care about is you not checking your own script for wrong facts. 1. The TF2 characters are not silent at all. All the characters have quotes they say in-game based on actions performed. 2. Chell could be identified as female upon the first portal opening in the first minute of the game. This is even talked about in the developers commentary playthrough, as they wanted players to identify the characters and understood how you move through portals. On top of that you spout personal ideas as if they were facts? You claim RatMann is bad because of his name? Nevermind the fact that he was the one that saved Chell. Judge him by his name... fantastic.

[@m-II-IL-0]

>"this beautiful moment" highly doubt anyone was shocked in seeing her (personally was more amazed at the visual effects 2 portals generated) was her sex important for the lore? maybe, but more of that in portal 2 >muh orange box protagonists really forced term here, calling protagonists the characters in an online game >glados resembles a woman in bondage i can see the projection on the moon's surface

[@onemadhungrynomad]

Did you really just put fallout 4 there saying 'the concerns of men are front and center'?! Did you not know you can play fallout 4 as a female? Did you not know one of the main factions is run by a woman? There are just as many important female characters as male. Fallout 4 is very possibly the most equal game of all time, it allows for any sort of sexuality, even poly and bisexuality and manages to do that without focusing on it. get your narrative straight, guy. Do you even like games? Maybe we need to replace him with a woman who actually plays the games she talks about. I know several streamers who present a lot better than he does.

[@stormking279]

1. Just because one of the people who worked on a game is feminist does not mean that the game is feminist. 2. Team Fortress 2 does not feature silent protagonists 3. Over-reliance on fan-theories as opposed to in-game evidence

[@dee5298]

I think equating strong female characters to feminism is insulting. Feminism has lost its meaning in that too many do not want equality and use it to push their own personal hatred. I know you are with pbs and how cool that is but politics should be as separate from video games as possible, especially meaningless squabbling that does not get anywhere. If anything, much of the actions of so called "feminists" has pushed people away from the label, people who want equality and see that there are social issues that need to be addressed. The state of affairs is depressing and i would prefer if it was kept away from my childhood pastime.

[@hamigakisan7094]

Did my taxes help pay for this?

[@gilzineto]

Oh, look, its anita sarkeesian... way to make videogames boring!

[@gilzineto]

+BeyoncéForTheOval (#Beyoncé2016) what are you talking about. shes hosting. the one wearing glasses!

[@Neutrosider]

+BeyoncéForTheOval (#Beyoncé2016) Because he does the same thing in this video that Anita Arkeesian is known for. Saying that female main-characters make the game better, because vagina. wouldn't have changed a thing for me, if the main characters in this freaking awesome game were male.

[@Neutrosider]

+BeyoncéForTheOval (#Beyoncé2016) Yeah, but that only tells us something about the game relative to other games, not about the game itself, and i have the strong impression, that the video tries to tell me, that the game itself is somehow better, because of the main characters gender

[@Neutrosider]

+BeyoncéForTheOval (#Beyoncé2016) maybe it's because english isn't my native language, but I somehow don't see how that's an argument against the statement, that this video is quite similar to the ones anita makes

[@gilzineto]

+BeyoncéForTheOval (#Beyoncé2016) see, thats what im talking about haha

[@fireaza]

I see the internet still has a... "Difficult" relationship with feminism.

[@BlueBD]

other way around.

[@BetsywarlordofnoodlesLee]

+Blue★ Difficult" relationship with feminism., the internet still has I see.

[@thepcmasterracefan4905]

Mabye if they weren't so toxic to differing opinions

[@Neutrosider]

Wouldn't have changed a thing for me, if both characters were male. Seriously, why does it seem that you think that the game is better, just because the main characters are Female. I can see, how If you have stereotypical prejudices regarding mals and females this might change how you perceive the game. If you're unbiased however, the gender doesn't change a thing about how awesome this game is. If Femenists claim to be for equality, why are female protagonists mostly gloryfied by feminists, and male protagonists portrayed as something that lessens the game somehow. Like Seriously, only someone who thinks of men as lesser than women would think, that the game is better, because the main characters are female.

[@Katie-hj5eb]

female protagonists are rare and therefore a more precise commonity. Low supply creates greater demand.

[@ArtyomStrayheart]

+Neutrosider because there are so little of them. The point is that the default gender to most people is male. It is great to see a big game having a female protagonist. So it is more equal if there are games featuring mainly women when the majority is male-based.

[@Neutrosider]

+Kathryn M this is only my personal opinion, but i don't have the feeling, that there are not enough female main characters in gaming. I also don't think there are to few male ones. Sure, for some games the gender does make a difference to the game, but in a lot of games, and especially portal, this is not the case (again, in my opinion)

[@Katie-hj5eb]

+Neutrosider Well duh you don't care, female protagonists aren't made for you.

[@Neutrosider]

+Kathryn M OK, but I'm pretty sure, that I also wouldn't care if it was the other way around. that's the point I'm trying to make. there are note male main characters, but that doesn't mean anything.

[@sedonaparnham2933]

You reminded me about something that I recall from when I first bought Portal. We had just gotten an Xbox 360 after begging for over 10 years for a video game console (Strict parents...) and I had started to introduce my dad to Halo 3. I bought the Orange Box as quickly as I could and tore through Portal when I wasn't teaching my dad how to navigate in a 3D environment in Halo. Once my dad got the hang of Halo, i suggested he play Portal. He scoffed and told me that Portal was "Halo for girls". I remember being really ticked off by this, strictly because he was using it as something dismissive. Portal wasn't violent enough. He didn't get to murder anything. Therefore it was 'girly', which people seem to keep equating to "substandard". But honestly, the critique of the game can go beyond story, but also in regards to mechanics. Is there violence and challenge? Yes. Do you commit them? Not in the normal ham-fisted way you normally see. You have no means of dealing any manner of damage save for the portal gun, and only through using the environment against them. The manner of defeating Glados at the end is using her own arsenal against her (you know, besides taking her cores and throwing them in an incinerator). It was an extremely different way of dealing with combat. You used what little you had to your advantage and turned the tables by looking at things from a different angle. At the same time, it's reminiscent of old school platformer boss fights. I think that's really neat and something that would be fun to discuss further.

[@sedonaparnham2933]

utubepunk That'd be a really neat thing to look in to! I am kind of curious about it, because as I was explaining to someone else, I feel there are many games that have an approach that is somewhat more feminine, just in other ways. Transistor is a love story, Undertale punishes using violence, Child of Light is a fairy tale that I would have loved as a child. I love all of these games for their own specific reasons. I don't think there's one right way to approach the subject, but it's totally something worth exploring.

[@starcatcherksp1517]

Your dad missed a great deal not playing Portal

[@seanmiller6583]

Talk about undertale please

[@seanmiller6583]

BaneDain I'm satisfied. Well said.

[@jasonfrancis9262]

+BaneDain are you from the 1920's

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

+raheem humphreys more like the 1950s, but who cares?

[@NawidN]

+Sean Miller I believe it is in the works, on PBS Idea Channel.

[@seanmiller6583]

Nawid N. thanks

[@SundownTE]

Portal is about moving blocks around in a puzzle-jail made by aliens.

[@mottzilla2]

Okay you just pointed out Fallout 4 a game where you pick who you are. Are you serious right now. Also Metriod already did what you are trying to say what Chell did. Also there is so much portal lore you ignore it is beyond asinine, also nice throwing out random fan theory trying to call it fact. Yep and Chell as a blank slate does nothing at all not even talk when Glados says things. Yep Glados puts Chell through life threatening things to make her atone for Glados's sins kinda reaching aren't you

[@worcestershirey]

So by that logic, I guess every Pokemon game after Crystal is a feminist masterpiece because the majority of players, at least the ones you hear about, play as a male. They're: -Silent -Strong -Don't give in to any stereotype -Overcome challenges no normal person in that world could

[@BlueBD]

portal is as much a feminist masterpiece as TF2...which it aint. Chell while cool really is not much to her. pbody, atlas even Mel has more character then chell does. and 2 of them are robots.

[@BlueBD]

hell you could even say the main character is glados and the aperture facility. chell has next to no role otherthen Lab rat. and even then if you never seen her through the portal nobody would ever know who or even what she is.

[@sol_ARG]

Transistor's pretty great for feminism too. The person you play as is a woman, a badass, and former singer to boot. Arguably, the villain that started the plot of Transistor off in the first place is also Sybil Reisz, who fights with an umbrella and is EXTREMELY interesting from a character standpoint. She's also a lesbian. That's pretty damn cool, too.

[@craig1287]

Who cares, just talk about actual gameplay. The game would have played the exact same way whether the main character was male or female. It's just a texture. Please stop doing these videos that discus gender in games. Please focus on gameplay mechanics.

[@ETisc00l]

+Craig1287 But you forget he's a feminist so he can only see the game through a feminist (gendered lens). Where as everyone else enjoyed the game for the gameplay, writing and greater lore.

[@theroyalbacon2294]

Never saw it as that and never cared about the gender of my character, since she does not really have a important personality. Glados mainly carries the "plot". At least, that's what I remember from the playthrough. So I think this is a bit far fetched but a nice theory.

[@egghyde]

Video out for two seconds, gets 5 immediate dislikes. No wonder the internet needs more videos like this.

[@TheSwordofStorms]

+Egg Hyde Maybe it's because they know what the argument's going to be before we even watch it.

[@matteofurlotti6211]

+SwordofStorms they think they know, and they might be either right or wrong but they won't know if they don't watch the video

[@TheSwordofStorms]

Matteo Furlotti I watched it. I was right.

[@clyde34]

+fireaza I never said that... I just gave an example of a statement that everyone would disagree with and showed how the circular logic of "criticism of X is justification of X" is flawed. People probably disagreed with the title already, since it is an outrageous claim. Don't twist my words!

[@fireaza]

+AdnanClyde You could have picked a better example. One that doesn't indirectly compare women's rights to the murder of over six million Jews by the Nazis for example.

[@t-fonk]

actually you see your self for the first time after leaving your starting room in the beginning of portal 1

[@LaMugre]

Chel is Ratmans daughter. Read the comic

[@kiraroquette1989]

I had never really thought about in it this way, when I played I was just like, "Neat, I'm a girl!" This doesn't happen very often in games, but I guess technically this game passes the Bechtel Test. I hadn't heard the fan theory about GlaDos/Caroline being Chelle's mother, but it really seems to fit well, especially with the translation of song at the end. I think perhaps the most feminist thing about this game is just Chelle existing, but the fact that she is the protagonist isn't made out to be a big deal. She's just there for you to play, and kick ass. She isn't hypersexualized, she's just put in a situation and she needs to overcome it, regardless of her gender. I'd like to see more games with a default female character, but in the mean time, there are lots of games with customize-able characters - including gender. I have also heard a fan theory that the pyro from TF2 is actually a woman, have you heard of this, Jamin?

[@popular_dollars]

Rat man isn't a villain, in fact, he's a hero.

[@MuffinEnjoyer]

Never even thought of her being a female meaning anything...

[@johnmonk9167]

I see the lens have come back...

[@ryansample6016]

CAUTION: Currently, the comments are in the middle of a minor flame war. Please exercise caution or steer clear of the area.