Thousands have been raging about it. No, I’m not talking about complaints regarding the lack of diversity in the various endings of Mass Effect 3, but rather complaints surrounding the sexual diversity of characters in developer Bioware’s newest games.
In two recent releases – Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic – players are given the choice of getting involved in homosexual relationships. And this has some trilling with anger.
Though Bioware has been fielding these concerns for more than a year (controversy sparked in March of 2011 with the inclusion of gay characters in Dragon Age II) a more recent backlash has been targeted at publisher Electronic Arts (EA). Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications for EA, confirmed that the company has received thousands of emails and letters from people who are angry at the inclusion of gay romance options, claiming that EA has succumbed to pressure from pro-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) groups.
The number of fallacies within these anti-homosexual arguments is astounding. For instance, Bioware creates worlds and universes, ones teeming with life that represent all factions of life. Doesn’t it seem a bit narrow-minded to think that, in a universe with dozens of species representing billions of people, homosexuality wouldn’t be just as prevalent as it is in our own world?
And how can some have the audacity to think that a futuristic society, like that of Mass Effect 3, would have even less tolerance for differences than our own society?
Bioware has always tackled these themes in a respectful, often beautiful way, unlike the farcical fiasco that unfolds in games like Lionhead Studios’ Fable. Perhaps the people writing these complaint letters would prefer that the gay characters in the game be met with discrimination or even violence – a tragic reality in our real world.
Would this be better, or is it better to subscribe to the ostrich syndrome, burying our heads in the metaphorical sands of sexual diversity?
Fortunately, just like Bioware didn’t give in to outrageous accusations a year ago, EA is not playing the bureaucratic hotspot game. Jeff Brown has stated that EA has not given in to pressure from LGBT groups in the game development process. He does confirm however that EA met with these groups to discuss how to deal with the hateful, anti-gay dialogue that occurs in forums and across multiplayer games. The sad thing in all this is the fact that this debate has been raging since the time of the ancient Greeks.
The first-century Greek scholar Plutarch, in his piece Dialogue on Love, argues that, “the noble lover of beauty engages in love wherever he sees excellence and splendid natural endowment without regard for any difference in physiological detail.”
In other words, love and beauty is all around, taking a variety of forms, and one’s character is more important than gender. Why is it that a text that is almost two millennia old seems to have more insight than those who trash a video game company for its own attempts to bring an important social issue to light?
And thus we come to the silver lining of all of this: the way that a video game has allowed a discussion to blossom. A key source of discrimination in our society is brought to the forefront thanks to a video game.
Whether the public will use this as an opportunity to dispel myths and build understanding of the different potential forms of universal love remains to be seen.
When he’s not teaching junior high school, St. Albert Catholic High School alumnus Derek Mitchell can be found attached to a video game console.
