Arcane’s LGBTQ Representation Fixes A Problem With The Video Games

Arcane’s LGBTQ+ Representation Fixes A Problem With The Video Games

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Audiences are full of praise for Arcane’s subtle but high profile LGBTQ+ representation and its respectful treatment of female characters.

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Arcane’s LGBTQ Representation Fixes A Problem With The Video Games

At the heart of Arcane is a touching romance between two women, which very deliberately avoids the male gaze. Vi and Caitlyn, two of the most important characters in the plot, share a fire-and-ice dynamic which makes their storyline one of the most emotionally engaging of the series, drawing enthusiastic praise from the LGBTQ+ community. Netflix’s Arcane uses nuanced animation, striking artwork, and talented voice acting to weave a subtle story that says all the most meaningful things without needing to speak them out loud.

Arcane is set in the world of Runeterra from League of Legends, a multiplayer online arena battle game. It serves as a prequel to the game’s storyline, giving origin stories for main characters and setting up a conflict between the oppressed and roguish undercity of Zaun, and the regal upper classes of Piltover. With both virtue and corruption on either side, the two cities hold an uneasy truce that could very easily fall apart at any time.

The romance between Vi and Caitlyn serves as a microcosm, reflecting the conflict of the larger story. They’re from the two opposing cities, and they both also face internal conflicts over what the right course of action should be. Gradually, their relationship develops from mutual derision, through distrust, ending up with the pair sharing a deep emotional bond. In so doing, the blossoming relationship between them carries deeper implications along with it — if they can see past their differences and find harmony between each other, perhaps their cities can find a way to do the same. Arcane’s handling of their relationship, and of LGBTQ+ representation as a whole, is a breath of fresh air.

How Arcane Subtly Handles LGBTQ+ Representation

Arcane’s LGBTQ Representation Fixes A Problem With The Video Games

Arcane’s queer representation is purposefully written to be subtle. Words like gay and lesbian aren’t even mentioned because there’s no reason for them to exist in the world of Runeterra. The result is a striking difference from the LGBTQ+ representation from companies like Disney. As the writers revealed, they worked hard to imagine a world free of the stigmatization found in the real world (via Reddit). Consequently, the few scenes where it does come up in conversation stand out because of how understated they are. In one such scene where the pair are trying to blend in, Vi plainly asks whether Caitlyn prefers men or women, without any other assumptions. In the following scenes, we see Caitlyn very uncomfortable while talking to a man and then, shortly afterward, looking extremely relaxed while talking to a woman. Vi’s smile as she notices this says that she’s been given the answer to her earlier question without it ever needing to be spoken out loud.

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Building on the success of She-Ra’s canon lesbian relationship, Arcane is also careful not to bury everything in subtext. The same sequence also includes Vi telling Caitlyn, “You’re hot, cupcake.” One of the few overt references to one finding the other attractive, this line goes all the way back to the first draft. This was a purposeful addition on the part of the writers, who worked hard to keep it in the final version. While a lot is carried by nuance, the acknowledgment does a lot for same-sex couples, who’re all too familiar with their attraction being entirely unspoken. This sidesteps the all too common problem of unconfirmed gay characters in popular media and, with online fandoms adopting Vi’s line like a slogan, it’s safe to say this was a good choice.

Perhaps the only small criticism which can be given is that, despite their palpable romantic attraction, the two never actually share a kiss on-screen. This is a minor detail that many viewers have rightly pointed out isn’t needed for the story being told. However, audiences are all too familiar with shows featuring same-sex couples who seldom if ever actually kiss. She-Ra and the Princesss of Power made viewers wait for five seasons before its romantic pairing finally kissed each other, which is a step up from Avatar: The Legend of Korra, which notoriously didn’t end with a kiss between Korra and Asami. However, the writers of Arcane are clearly aiming for a slow-burn relationship between Vi and Caitlyn. With the careful way they’ve handled the writing so far, it’s quite certain that making their relationship more clearly stated is a matter of when and not if.

How Arcane Deliberately Avoids The Male Gaze

The other very deliberate choice made by Arcane is the way in which it frames its characters. Overall, it does an excellent job of avoiding objectifying the characters. Both animation and video games are notorious for over-sexualizing their female characters and, while League of Legends is far from the most egregious example of this, it doesn’t have a perfect track record either. Arcane takes care to avoid this in how it frames its characters. Shots focus preferentially on posture, facial expressions, and portrayal of emotions. Learning from the mistakes of other media, it avoids character design problems, such as those in Alita, that lead to the over-sexualization of characters. One stand-out example of Arcane’s careful camera work happens shortly after Vi leaves to return to Zaun, telling Caitlyn to forget about her. The scene is framed like a break-up and a later scene shows a distraught Caitlyn crying in the shower. Shower scenes in particular have a reputation for including at least a hint of objectification, but the framing in this scene takes care to stay focussed. The purpose is to show the different kinds of pain Caitlyn’s going through, and it never strays from that mark.

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All of this is a far cry from the video game artwork. While the newer artwork is a substantial improvement over League of Legends’ earlier iterations, the female characters still have an emphasis on hips, cleavage, and an unhealthily skinny appearance — a common mistake in video game franchises, as well as overly-sexualized costumes. Instead, Arcane’s character design reflects the characters themselves. Vi is a brawler and an outlaw, so she naturally has a buff look, broad shoulders, and a hearty appetite. Caitlyn is an upper-class woman, skilled as an investigator and a sharpshooter, so her slimmer appearance makes perfect sense. Notably, too, these traits are never commented on in a world written to have no societal norms for body types or gender expression.

The show isn’t completely devoid of sexuality, of course. Far from it. But shots like that are used with the care and precision they deserve. Two notable examples are a moment where one character is using her sexuality to actively intimidate another, and during an actual sex scene. With this level of attention paid, Arcane manages to avoid needless objectification while also preventing characters from being completely de-sexualized.

Overall, Netflix’s Arcane is among the best video game adaptations ever made, easily. It perfectly avoids the mistakes made by so many other series, both animated and live-action, with its nuanced handling of LGBTQ+ representation and careful treatment of its female characters. This is no doubt a large part of why the audience reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Created by the French animation studio, Fortiche, supervised by Riot Games, the series has received an overwhelmingly positive reception and Arcane season 2 has already been greenlit. If the first is anything to go by, the next part of the story should be every bit as enjoyable.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/arcane-lgbtq-vi-caitlyn-relationship-design-not-sexualized/

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