Mass Effect Legendary Edition ‘Butt-Scene’ Controversy Exposes Video Games Journalism’s Hypocrisy
With the news that BioWare would be modifying some of the Mass Effect series’ more ‘curvacious’ cutscenes for the upcoming release of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the rush to chastise fans who disagreed with these edits has once again exposed the rampant hypocrisy seemingly inherent throughout the video games journalist industry.
Related: BioWare To Edit ‘Sexualized’ Cutscenes In Mass Effect Legendary Edition
When fans unsurprisingly took issue with BioWare’s newly announced cinematic modifications, as many believed that the changes were nothing more than yet another case of self-censorship, a number of video games journalists were quick to dismiss their complaints and condemn such fans as nothing more than ‘horny manchildren.’
Yet, near universally, these same journalists were found to have produced tweets and even entire articles dedicated to their attraction to specific fictional characters, with their respective celebrations on such topics seemingly standing in direct contradiction to their criticism of Mass Effect’s generous camera angles.
“However, despite the game telling a story of a woman pushing past these insecurities,” wrote author Kenneth Shepard in his coverage of the edits for FanByte, specifically those concerning Miranda Lawson. “The games were sure to frame these conversations in the most tone deaf, disrespectful ways by ensuring the camera would frequently frame shots with her backside in them.”
Yet, in a blatant demonstration of a double standard, Shepard wrote last summer that “The Only Thing I Like About Ghost of Tsushima So Far is Jin’s Bare Ass,” noting that that though he was “not feeling Ghost of Tsushima,” he could at least “take solace in that there is one part of the game that I can, without caveat, really, really enjoy.”
Writing for Gayming Magazine, staff writer Aimee Hart celebrated how “we now know that deeply childish, near embarrassing scenes, such as the Miranda butt shot will be removed from the game,” but lamented how “we’re certain that some sad sack will go out of their way to mod the PC version of the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition to add those camera angles back in.”
But just three days prior Gayming Magazine ran a story, authored by the ‘Gayming Magazine Staff,’ on the height of newly revealed Resident Evil antagonist Lady Dimitrescu, promoting the story to all the “horny, horny people out there” and asserting that “the reveal of Resident Evil 8’s Lady Dimitrescu – and the sexual awakening it has had on a number of fans – isn’t really all that surprising”
Taking note of fan complaints on Twitter, CGMagazine author Mary Gushie argued that “If you really are that upset about losing a buttshot in a video game, you really need to subscribe to some pretty girls Onlyfans.”
“It’s not about butts. We all like them tbh,” she further argued. “It’s about hyper sexualizing and objectifying women in a video game.”
Related: HaneAme Shows Off Stunning Cosplay Of Resident Evil Village’s Alcina Dimitrescu
As one may guess, Gushie’s Twitter history was soon found to contain tweets that stood directly in contrast to her chaste assertions made towards unhappy Mass Effect fans.
“We all want to do bad things with the Tall Vampire Lady from #ResidentEvilVillage,” Gushie wrote in a tweet promoting her coverage of the character’s reveal for CGMagazine.
In another, the writer declared that Lady Dimitrescu “could step on me and I would enjoy it.”
Gushie even took issue with the removal of sexualized poses from a game, responding to Blizzard’s removal of one of Tracer’s character poses following complaints of sexualization with a reaction GIF of actress Kristen Schall expressing annoyed, eye-rolling disbelief.
When confronted with these tweets, Gushie claimed that “there is a difference between acknowledging that a character is attractive and a game explicitly using a character to objectify the characters sexuality.”
“People can be complex characters who are also attractive,” she added in her defense. “But we more often see attractive characters used only to be “hot”.
“So nice try, trying to ‘expose me’”, she concluded. “Yes, these are all my tweets. You just don’t understand.”
As of writing, it is still unknown which specific cutscenes BioWare will be editing for the release of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
What do you make of this stark contrast in opinions towards sexualization? Let us know your thoughts on social media or in the comments down below!
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