Why #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse Is Trending

Why #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse Is Trending

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Following the reveal of Star Wars Eclipse, fans on Twitter are hoping to bring attention to the notorious reputation of the developer, Quantic Dream.

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Why #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse Is Trending

Following the reveal of Star Wars Eclipse at The Game Awards 2021 last week, #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse has begun trending on Twitter in response to the figureheads at developer Quantic Dream displaying patterns of homophobia and misogyny, as well has harboring a toxic and abusive work environment. Quantic Dream is known for developing interactive, narrative-heavy games, most notably Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human. Most of the ire from Star Wars fans, whose excitement over the Eclipse trailer was quickly dashed by the appearance of Quantic Dream’s logo, is directed at the studio’s founder, president, and co-CEO David Cage, who has been notoriously embroiled in multiple lawsuits over his misconduct in the workplace, though the studio itself is ill-fit for such a project.

Star Wars Eclipse has very few details surrounding it just yet, since the game is reportedly three to four years from release, but it is known that it will take place in the High Republic era. The High Republic is a period of just over 200 years which precedes the Skywalker Saga, and has recently been an emphasis for the new, Disney-led Star Wars canon, so far being explored through a handful of novels and comics. The High Republic era offers a chance for Star Wars fans to see the Galactic Republic at its height, with a powerful Jedi Order alongside it. Many are now worried that the coveted Star Wars license will be used by David Cage and Quantic Dream to tell a story which belittles or demeans women and members of the queer community, thus the protest of the project through the #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse hashtag.

Star Wars has had an absolutely monolithic presence within pop culture since its inception in 1977. The influential original film has since grown into a multimedia powerhouse spanning movies, television series, novels, comics, video games, toys, and more. The Star Wars universe is incredibly important to people from all walks of life, and Quantic Dream’s involvement with Eclipse threatens to backtrack on recent strides the franchise has made in representation. There’s no denying that Rey, protagonist of the latter trilogy in the Skywalker Saga, has been overwhelmingly beneficial to women not only in the film industry, but in the audience as well. Star Wars certainly has a long way to go in regards to queer representation, especially considering the token lesbian kiss in Rise of Skywalker (which was cut from the film for some international releases) but handing the keys to the High Republic to David Cage and Quantic Dream is a massive step in the wrong direction.

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#BlackoutStarWarsEclipse Is A Boycott

Alongside Lucasfilm and Quantic Dream, David Cage is the primary subject of the #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse movement because he is not only the founder, president, and co-CEO of the development studio, but also writer of the aforementioned games. The works of Cage have frequently been criticized for their portrayal of women, specifically in regards to female characters having little to no agency, and often becoming victims of abuse and sexual violence. These narratives seem to reflect the feelings of Cage, who is reportedly averse to inclusivity in his games. Quantic Dream’s development controversies have recently been exposed in court, with it coming to light that Cage has claimed women in his games are purposefully objectified, and that he specifically excludes the queer community from his intended audience (both sentiments were conveyed by Cage in much more colorful terms).

Cage and his co-defendant, Quantic Dream co-CEO and COO Guillaume de Fondaumière, reportedly did not make a convincing case in court. According to Kotaku, with a translation of the original French publication by ResetEra user Maxime (warning: link contains sensitive language) Cage grew increasingly flustered on the stand before storming out of the court entirely. He claimed the lawsuit was an interference to his business and an attack on his honor. De Fondaumière brazenly asked the magistrates, “But I’m not under oath, so can I lie?” before claiming the lawsuit itself was doing irreparable harm to Quantic Dream as a company. Cage and de Fondaumière denied the reports from the trial. This is only the most recent incident stemming from the toxic work culture at Quantic Dream.

In 2018 it was revealed that a senior employee at Quantic Dream had created over 600 images depicted their coworkers in all manner of inappropriate scenarios. French publication Canard PC (warning: link contains explicit images) included a select few of the images in its coverage of the incident. Some of the more egregious examples include the faces of Quantic Dream employees photoshopped onto pornographic images or photos of Nazis. This all occurred years after Elliot Page considered legal action against Quantic Dream and Sony when a model of their naked body was found in the Beyond: Two Souls game files, as reported by Business Insider (note: the article contains Page’s deadname, since it was published in 2015).

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Page never consented to their body being reproduced in the nude, and the game does not show their character in the nude, yet employees at Quantic Dream created a nude model anyway. Page’s character from Beyond: Two Souls is involved in a shower scene, which isn’t uncommon for characters who are women in David Cage’s games, but a fully nude model is not required for the scene. This pattern of wildly inappropriate behavior should not have been rewarded with a lucrative IP like Star Wars. It’s extremely unfortunate considering how promising the Eclipse trailer was. As demonstrated by streamer Digital Gator through a video posted on Twitter, the excitement quickly turned to bitter disappointment for many when it was revealed that Quantic Dream was behind Star Wars Eclipse.

Myself and others were a bit… unsettled by the announcement of who was developing the latest Star Wars game😅 Shout outs to @maximilian_ @SuperButterBuns and especially @WoolieWoolz for driving the point home👍🏼 pic.twitter.com/bzt36H5UUM

Star Wars Eclipse deserves better than Quantic Dream, because instead of an engaging game that takes a compelling look at the High Republic era, fans are likely to get a game almost singularly about men that doesn’t even attempt to dive past surface-level pseudo-philosophy. A couple screenshots courtesy of Nibel on Twitter exemplify that David Cage has no idea what his own games are supposed to be about. Subsequent screenshots in Nibel’s thread show that Cage doesn’t even want his games to say anything, just broadly ask questions for the player (whom Cage refers to with male pronouns) to ponder.

These are two David Cage quotes taken from two separate interviews 💀 pic.twitter.com/BH0BVNAtmG

Star Wars may primarily be a blockbuster film series with some work to do in regards to representation, but at least the franchise has always explored important topics – imperialism, identity of the self, the morality of war, governmental corruption, religious extremism, and much more. #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse hopes to bring attention to the repeated misconduct of David Cage and Quantic Dream so that it might urge Lucasfilm to put Star Wars Eclipse in better hands, because the fans deserve a game that will responsibly and thoughtfully adapt the galaxy far, far away.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/blackoutstarwarseclipse-meaning-star-wars-eclipse-david-cage-controversy/

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