This week’s class was about the representation of the trans experience in video games.  Further than that, this week surrounded the idea of underrepresentation in its many forms.  It is extremely disappointing that the LGBTQIA community is often overlooked in video games.  In many cases, the representation of that community is vastly inaccurate and disrespectful.  Within the article “’They’re all trans Sharon’: Authoring Gender in Video Game Fan Fiction” by Brianna Dym, Jed Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler, it is said that “Underrepresented fans of media, such as women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and other marginalized people use fan fiction (new narratives constructed from elements of existing media) to critique and recraft their representation in media” (Dym, Brubaker, Fiesler). Before this week, I haven’t really cared much for fan fiction or have taken it too seriously. I see now that fan fiction can be one of the best ways to express different experiences, point of views, and accurate representations of communities. This is because content is being created by those who are being represented in these fan fictions.  It is a way of spreading and sharing new creative ideas and experiences with others.

Much like the LGBTQIA community, those with mental illness are also grossly misrepresented and stereotyped in video games.  For my research project, I am focusing on the game Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. The main character is a woman warrior who has psychosis.  While doing my research I found many cases in which mental illness was seen as something evil.  Words to describe characters in video games who had some form of mental illness were “crazy, dysfunctional, evil, insane” etc.  In many video games that have mental illness, it is often associated with the bad guys or unimportant “crazy” encounters with characters that aren’t important to the story. Within past classes we have talked about how the LGBTQIA falls victim to the same representation in games. Where they are too seen as the “bad” guys.

These representations are all too common and make games such as Gone Home stand out.  One of the positive things about the game is that it doesn’t have a bad ending. It is relatable for those who are aren’t a part of the LGBTQIA community also.  I think that this ties into the reason why fan fiction is so important.  It gives people the change to write the happier endings for themselves.  With certain fan fiction being seen by others, it can encourage people to be more comfortable with who they are because they have more things they can relate to.  People wouldn’t have to stay subject to those gross misrepresentations of their community by people who don’t take the time to understand it.  This stands for gender, disability, weight, illness.

Works Cited

Dym, Brianna, et al. “‘Theyre All Trans Sharon’: Authoring Gender in Video Game Fan Fiction.” Game Studies, 2018.