Thursday 23 May 2024

Is Final Fantasy Sexist?

 Yes. 

In a gaming landscape where AAA games take years to create and cost outrageous sums of money to produce, where selling the maximum amount of units is the goal just to keep a big game company solvent, choices and been made in recent years that have magnified the glaring problem within Final Fantasy.

Women are only important if they are serving the men in the story. Serving their development and giving their lives, their souls, to help the protagonists to achieve their goals. (See Lunafreya, Jill and Aerith.) Alternatively women serve as titillation, feminine ideals or are just there to ideally flirt with the player to make him feel good. This applies to the rest of the FFXV women, Cindy, Aranea and Iris follow the above points respectively. Tifa is now positioned as the homemaker, mother figure with giant boobies and a heart of gold. Also recall the Jessie rewrite in Remake.

Women in Final Fantasy in this era do not stand alone on their own merits, with their own stories. They are only as important as the male protagonists need them to be and will wait patiently in the sidelines pining until they are noticed (Jill).

As stated, I believe this is due to the developers making the conscious choice to appeal to the player, the consumer, the maximum amount of people buying the video games. The majority of the developers and consumers skew male. The developers are appealing to male sensibilities whether it's giving Lightning jiggle physics or excising a character that ultimately challenges the protagonist rather than enabling his quest (Stella from Versus XIII).

It's not about telling the best story or giving every character their own arc. Not anymore. It's about appealing to men and how they feel about women and ultimately, it's about selling video games. That is why Final Fantasy, in this era, is sexist.

Saturday 6 April 2024

March 2024

 I haven't got much more to say at the moment. My family has gone through a tough week, we all shared a tummy bug and it involved a lot of feeling wiped out and prone and the evacuation of all our insides. We're just about recovered and I feel like there's no reprieve, just constantly moving forward. It's fine, I'm just tired.

March

3/3 Lilo & Stitch (2002)
4/3 The Making of Priscilla (2023) Priscilla (2023)
6/3 Frozen (2013)
10/3 Tangled (2010)
17/3 Frozen (2013)
19/2 The Big Short
20/3 Frozen (2013)
21/3 Road House (2024)
24/3 The Breakfast Club (1985)
26/3 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
27/3 Frozen (2013)
29/3 Frozen II (2019) Chinatown (1974)
30/3 Damsel (2024)
31/3 Frozen (2013) Frozen Fever (2015) The Beautiful Game (2024)


Thursday 28 March 2024

February 2024

I'm so behind on this, looking back this list feels like it was last year. Baby is encroaching on 9 months and she's at that stage where she's responsive and laughing and clapping and thankfully not too interested in moving about too much. She just sits and takes it all in and smashes items together. Weaning started off as a nightmare but we're muddling through. I'm back at work and everything is starting to fall into place. I still have a wobble now and then but it's starting to feel a bit more like I'm on stable footing rather than adrift.

Also, assume I watched Love Island All Stars but I didn't keep up with it. Same with Celebrity Big Brother. I realised I didn't end up having the time or energy for any of that nonsense. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth came out and all my time has been sunk into that, hence why this is so late.  

February

1/2 Love Island All Stars (2)
2/2 The Prince & Me (2004)
3/2 National Treasure (2004)
4/2 Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II (2024)
6/2 Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
9/2 I.S.S. (2023)
10/2 Upgraded (2024)
11/2 Sleeping Beauty (1959) Anyone But You (2023)
12/2 A Grand Romantic Gesture (2022)
13/2 American Fiction (2023)
14/2 Moana (2016) Set It Up (2018)
15/2 Players (2024) Float (2023)
17/2 Crossroads (2002)
18/2 Tangled (2010)
19/2 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) Sitting in Bars with Cake (2023) Puppy Love (2023)
20/2 The Year of Spectacular Men (2017)
21/2 The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014) The Zone of Interest (2023)
23/2 All of Us Strangers (2023)
25/2 For Ellen (2012)
26/2 The Red Shoes (1948) Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
27/2 Monday (2020)
28/2 Thomas & Friends: Race for the Sodor Cup (2021)


Thursday 1 February 2024

January 2024

It feels like I'm on a precipice, again. Baby is starting at nursery today, I'm going back to work soon. We're going to start finding a new routine, a new normal. It feels like a moment in time where things are starting to fall into place. I feel dizzy. 

January

1/1 Dream Scenario (2023)
2/1 Small Soldiers (1998)
3/1 Our Friend (2019)
4/1 Queenpins (2021)
5/1 28 Days (2000)
7/1 Lilo & Stitch (2002) 28 Days Later (2002) The Traitors (1)
8/1 The Traitors (2)
9/1 The Lodge (2019) Money Monster (2016)
10/1 Napoleon (2023)11/1 About My Father (2023) The Traitors (1)
12/1 Role Play (2023) Peppermint (2018) The Traitors (1)
13/1 Lilo & Stich (2002) Sunshine Cleaning (2008) Down With Love (2003)
14/1 Self Reliance (2023)
15/1 The Traitors (1) American Splendor (2003)
16/1 Bitconned (2024)
17/1 Tangled (2010) Love Island All Stars (1)
18/1 The Traitors (1) Love Island All Stars (1) We Broke Up (2021)
19/1 The Traitors (1) The Descendants (2011)
20/1 The Traitors (1) In a World... (2013)
21/1 Next Goal Wins (2023)
22/1 Love Island All Stars (1) Wonka (2023) Good Grief (2023)
23/1 Love Island All Stars (1) Hot Pursuit (2015) Shooting for Socrates (2014)
24/1 Tangled (2010) Lift (2024)
25/1 Frances Ha (2012) The Traitors (1) The Kindness of Strangers (2019) The Kitchen (2023)
26/1 Loveless (1981) Rustin (2023) The Traitors (2)
27/1 Bottoms (2023)
28/1 Mad Money (2008)
29/1 Love Island All Stars (1)
31/1 Ferrari (2023)


Sunday 21 January 2024

December 2023

 I keep putting off doing this because I keep feeling like it's such a waste of time and effort to copy and paste and embolden things and just put it out there... Like what's the point? Why am I doing this? 
For posterity! I guess. So some day I can look back and I can see this. Because life is just an endless catalogue of experiences and it's nice to know I've gotten this stuff written down. It's just for me right?
If it's not obvious I'm very tired and tilting into a bad place but I'm optimistic things will improve, including my mood. Baby is 6 months old and toddler is nearly 3 years old. We've been watching movies together over the winter, that was nice. The holidays were hard. I'm just happy to be here and trying to get by. I'm lucky. I'm grateful. I'm incredibly tired.

December

1/12 The Party's Just Beginning (2018) Inspector Ike (2020)
2/12 Outside In (2017) The Nanny Diaries (2007)
3/12 Thomas & Friends: Race for the Sodor Cup (2021) May December (2023) Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder (1)
5/12 Elf (2003) The Holdovers (2023)
6/12 Theater Camp (2023)
7/12 Focus (2015)
8/12 Rock Hudson: All that Heaven Allowed (2023) Elemental (2023)
9/12 Leave the World Behind (2023)
10/12 A Tiger in Paradise (2023) The Suicide Squad (2021) Doctor Who: The Giggle (2023)
11/12 Sr. (2022)
12/12 Love the Coopers (2015)
13/12 Thomas & Friends: Race for the Sodor Cup (2021) Might Express: A Mighty Christmas (2020) Godmothered (2020) Falling for Christmas (2022)
14/12 Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
17/12 Lilo & Stitch (2002)
20/12 Panda! Go Panda! (1972)
22/12 Panda! Go Panda! (1972)
23/12 Lilo & Stitch (2002)
23/12 Priscilla (2023)
25/12 Maestro (2023)
26/12 Ponyo (2008)
27/12 Saltburn (2023) Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road (2023)
28/12 Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
29/12 Silent Night (2023) Finding Nemo (2003)
31/12 How to Have Sex (2023) Lilo & Stitch (2002) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Sunday 3 December 2023

November 2023

 It's December somehow. It's another year nearly done, we have advent calendars and there's a blanket of snow outside, we have a 5 month old and a very excited toddler. I don't know how life just keeps chugging along and we're managing, it's hard but we're still here. I couldn't do this without my husband. He is my rock.

Would you believe me if I told you I actually got bored of Big Brother and missed a few episodes and then just didn't watch the last week? Well that happened. I really wanted my percentage of movies directed by women to be higher this year so I went pretty hard searching them out. It's been a challenge and it's kept me busy. Oh, also I saw Poor Things at the local film festival, I put the kids down and drove through an hour in the dark on my own (I hate driving) watched the movie after being frisked for filming devices and then drove back to get home for midnight. It was a very lonely very weird experience as I can't really talk to anyone about it. I'm holding out for a wider release. I can't wait for it to be a big conversation. 

November

1/11 Elles (2011) Wingwomen (2023) The Great British Bake Off (1)
2/11 Past Lives (2023) Let the Sunshine In (2017) Big Brother (2)
3/11 Madame Claude (2021) Quiz Lady (2023) Big Brother (1)
4/11 NYAD (2023) Poor Things (2023)
5/11 Locked In (2023) Fingerprints (2023) Big Brother (1)
6/11 Widows (2018) Battle of the Sexes (2017) 65 (2023)
7/11 Beast (2022) Plan B (2021)  Big Brother (2)
8/11 The Space Between (2021) Hidden Strike (2023) Dumb Money (2023)
9/11 The Marvels (2023) Racer and the Jailbird (2017)
10/11 A Haunting in Venice (2023) The Killer (2023)
11/11 Petite Maman (2021) My Cousin Rachel (2017) Foe (2023)
12/11 She Came to Me (2023) Paradise Highway (2022)
13/11 Valley Girl (1983) Raising Arizona (1987)
14/11 Anatomy of a Fall (2023) Saint Omer (2022)
15/11 True Things (2021) Watcher (2022)
16/11 Happiness for Beginners (2023)
17/11 Green Street (2005) Uptown Girls (2003)
18/11 Matinee (1993) The Crown (1)
19/11 It Snows in Benidorm (2020) Thomas & Friends: Race for the Sodor Cup (2021) Call Me Chihiro (2023) The Crown (1)
20/11 Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008) Resident Evil: Damnation (2012) Resident Evil: Vendetta (2017)
21/11 Resident Evil: Death Island (2023) Sick Girl (2023) Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
22/11 Renfield (2023) Great British Bake Off (1)
23/11 Sleepover (2004) D.E.B.S. (2004) Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)
24/11 In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007) War Machine (2017) The Crown (1)
25/11 The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter (2018) Frank (2014) Doctor Who: The Star Beast (1)
26/11 The American Friend (1977) Mafia Mamma (2023)
28/11 Wish (2023) 37 Seconds (2019)
29/11  Mothering Sunday (2021) Seeing Allred (2018)
30/11 My Friend from the Park (2015) Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)

Wednesday 1 November 2023

October 2023

 I've settled into a system where I can watch at least two movies a day. They are all on my phone and I watch them intermittently when I'm holding the baby either feeding her with a bottle or rocking her to sleep. She's not well today, I'm so tired and worried. But I still find time to shut it all out and dip in and out of other places, other countries, other times, other worlds. It's a distraction, even if it's in short bursts.

Big Brother has started again. What is this? 20 years ago? Who am I?

October

1/10 Source Code (2011)
3/10 Up in the Air (2009) The Creator (2023) After Everything (2023)
4/10 The Great British Bake Off (1)
6/10 Fair Play (2023) Nothing Sacred (1937)
7/10 A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)
8/10 Le Week-End (2013)
9/10 Totally Killer (2023) Big Brother: Launch Night (1)
10/10 A Night at the Roxbury (1998) The Nanny Diaries (2007) Big Brother (1)
11/10 Assassin Club (2023) Naked Singularity (2021) Big Brother (1)
12/10 The Boogeyman (2023)  The Great British Bake Off (1)
13/10 Factory Girl(2006) Big Brother (2)
14/10 Barbie (2023) 
15/10 Call Jane (2022) Big Brother (1)
16/10 The Stronghold (2021) The Burial (2023) Big Brother (1)
17/10 Mr. Roosevelt (2017) Showing Up (2022) 
18/10 Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021) The Great British Bake Off (1)
19/10 Our Kind of Traitor (2016) No Hard Feelings (2023) Big Brother (2)
20/10 Reality (2023) Strange Way of Life (2023) BlackBerry (2023) Big Brother (1)
21/10 Amsterdam (2022) Asteroid City (2023)
22/10 Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) Maximum Truth (2023)
23/10 The Sparks Brothers (2021) If You Were the Last (2023)
24/10 Of Human Bondage (1934) The Kill Room (2023) Big Brother (2)
25/10 Olivia (1951) The Other Zoey (2023) The Great British Bake Off (1)
26/10 Young & Beautiful (2013) The Royal Hotel (2023) Big Brother (2)
27/10 Return to Seoul (2022) Big Brother (1)
28/10 The Last Letter from Your Lover (2021) Pain Hustlers (2023)
29/10 Passages (2023) Sun Dogs (2017) Big Brother (1)
30/10 Missing (2023) Joy Ride (2023) Big Brother (1)
31/10 Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) Sympathy for the Devil (2023) I Wish (2011) Big Brother (1)