Cerise Magazine

When the other editors and I decided on a horror-themed issue for October, I immediately knew that I wanted to approach the bloggers at Girl in the Machine for our Blogger Interview. The blog is still pretty new – they’ve been posting since June – but their coverage of survival/horror games has been extensive and comprehensive, and I knew they’d have some interesting things to say about the genre.

Robyn Fleming: I’m going to guess that many of our readers will already be familiar with Girl in the Machine, but some won’t be. Can you give me a sort of “elevator pitch” overview of the style and content of the blog?

BomberGirl: Girl in the Machine is where the three of us discuss and analyze the depiction of women in video games. We tackle all genres and cover games both old and new, imparting a feminist stance on anything from character designs to plot analysis to news from the industry.

RF: How did Girl in the Machine get started? Was there some kind of catalyzing event or conversation that got you all going?

BG: We’ve all been friends for a long time, and playing games together has always been a huge part of that friendship. Our conversations during these games — particularly those that made us laugh our asses off, like many a fighting game — always strayed to things that represented us, like female and gay characters.

Hector Calabar: We joked for a while about starting a website or a blog where we could share our ideas about women and games, but we never went anywhere with it. I’m not sure why we took so long to get our act together! It’s not like these kinds of conversations were new to us.

PlasmaRit: We noticed a trend with a lot of the female characters in games—it definitely provided a lot for us to snark about. But then, we took a closer look and really started talking about them. We talked about why a lot of these characters bothered us, and why we really loved others.

BG: At the end of May, we got together for lunch and the conversations began again (we’d recently finished Rule of Rose). Finally, I said, “Guys, let’s do this for real,” and we started making plans, taking some notes and all that. I threw together a layout for the site and HC designed the logo.

RF: Why did you decide to do Girl in the Machine as a group blog instead of individual blogs? What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of this model, for you?

HC: It’s hugely motivating for me to share the responsibility with two other people for the blog. It gives us plenty of chances to share our ideas without having to manage individual sites. It also feels natural for the three of us to be working together on this project since our articles often stem from our everyday conversations.

PR: We all have our own opinions, and while we’re together with a lot of views about women in video games, we don’t always agree. GitM is a great forum to present varying sides of an issue and discuss them with our audience. And, as we’ve noted in our profiles, we’re each of a different sexual orientation, so in that respect we’re all viewing these video game characters through a different lens as well.

A great benefit of running GitM together is that we can update the site more often than we could solo—we wanted to provide three solid updates a week for our readers. We’re interested in different genres and topics, so we can also cater to a larger audience, whether it’s the survival horror fans or the action adventure folks.

BG: We each have personal blogs that actually have our real names and everything, so we wanted a specific place to talk about a narrower subject in a more anonymous way. It gives us a lot more freedom to say what’s really on our minds.

RF: Did you have any goals (stated formally to one another, or of the informal, just in your own head kind!) for the blog when you started it? Do you feel like you’ve been meeting them?

BG: Basically, we wanted to run the blog not only for entertainment but also to get our voices out there. In addition to the real sarcastic posts and the silly stuff, we also focus on serious analysis and critical thinking. It’s showing a different side of gamers — not just the feminist side but a real intellectual side that’s often scorned as being “geeky” — and presenting video games as a legitimate medium for social criticism.

Video games have been as much a part of our lives as books and movies, ever since we were all little kids. They have as strong an impact on our generation’s social development as any other media. Gaming culture runs strong in many different social circles, and when we started GitM we wanted to promote the feminist side of things because it’s very real no matter how much the mainstream male demographic wants to pretend we don’t exist.

RF: What’s the reception for Girl in the Machine been like so far? Is it what you expected?

HC: Everything has exceeded our expectations! Even though it’s only been four months, we can’t believe how quickly our site has attracted regular visitors, and our readership has been steadily growing. It’s been a huge honor to be quoted and linked on bigger blogs, too!

We’re happy with how things have been going for us, and we hope to continue to do well. It’s not important to us to be a widely read, massively popular blog—in fact, we’d prefer to stay somewhat small—but it’s nice to know that we have an audience out there.

RF: I was eager to interview you this month particularly because of our “monstrous” October theme. I’ve been really impressed with the coverage of games in the survival/horror genre at Girl in the Machine – would you all say that they’re among your favorite types of games?

PR: Oh, hell yeah.

HC: Absolutely!

BG: I have to restrain myself from writing about survival/horror on GitM every single week, so definitely.

RF: What’s the appeal of survivor/horror games for each of you? Do you think that’s something you have in common with the average gamer?

HC: I love being scared, but I hate scary movies. Survival horror games seem different somehow ‘cause I’m in control of the action (even if I don’t always agree with what the characters do in the game). So, yes, I’d say that’s not too different from the average gamer.

PR: I’m a huge horror movie fan, so it’s fun to put yourself in that situation with games—albeit in a safe way. I love games that can really scare me; that’s how I can tell if a survival horror’s good. It’s fun to get scared every now and then.

BG: I think survival/horror games are an excellent form of sublimation. Not only am I placing myself in a situation that’s utterly different from everyday life, but I’m also experiencing violence and danger in an exciting but controlled way. To be honest, I love blood and gore in games. It gives me a rush that I think a lot of gamers can attest to.

RF: What do you think are some of the more problematic aspects of games in that genre?

BG: If there’s any consistency to survival/horror games besides the scares and the violence, it’s putting women in the back seat. Female characters in these games usually exhibit some or all of these characteristics: weakness, passivity, and sex appeal. In context, a weak character is a nice display of realism (who wouldn’t be knock-kneed at the sight of a Crimson Head?), but what happens is that you never see a male protagonist scared and whimpering. It’s always younger women, or even girls, in short skirts with big sad eyes. If there’s a secondary character you’ve got to drag around, you can count on her being a chick as well, a la Ashley from Resident Evil 4 or Eileen from Silent Hill 4. Also, it’s not uncommon for horror games to depict violence against men as terrifying and violence against women as sexy. It’s the eternal rule, it seems, that women must be attractive no matter what they’re doing, even if they’re getting carved up by a psychopath.

That’s my biggest pet peeve, really, this sexualization of butchered female bodies. It’s similar to how rape is portrayed far too often in other media. The act is shown from a male point of view, so instead of a horrifying crime it’s an attempt at titillation. My very first article on GitM took up this issue with the porny alternate costumes in Silent Hill 4. I personally think that horror and sexuality can coincide harmoniously in fantasy settings, but the unfailing focus on women’s bodies — and never, ever those of men — is very problematic and, frankly, disturbing.

Female gamers get the message, over and over: this is not for you. What are you doing playing this game when you should be naked and bleeding for the men?

RF: To what extent does your knowledge of and history with feminism affect the way you play and enjoy these types of games?

BG: For most of my life, I actually had a really skewed opinion of feminism. I didn’t consider myself a feminist until only a few years ago, and I devoured books and blogs by women in order to better understand both myself and the world around me. In a way, survival/horror games were in my life longer than my awareness of feminism. Obviously, this means that I’ve been noticing more things about horror games than I have in the past. It’s a very natural, eye-opening experience. Having more to consider about these games has really enhanced their appeal, believe it or not!

I can speak for all three of us when I say that focusing on feminism when we discuss survival/horror games is a powerful tool. These games, through and through, are designed by men for men. We are aiding the often-ignored voices of our fellow female and feminist gamers by pointing out what’s right and what’s wrong in the genre in the hopes that one day we will be heard.

RF: What are some of your favorite games in the survival/horror genre, and what makes them so awesome?

HC: I’d have to say my favorites include the Silent Hill series, Rule of Rose, and Eternal Darkness. They’re all great games with believable characters and highly engaging stories that give you just enough up front while still leaving plenty to the imagination. They’ve also got an emphasis on psychological horror instead of scaring the player with blood and guts.

PR: Love me some Koudelka—the creepy cathedral, the insane-looking monsters, and of course, Koudelka’s character. Ironically, the only thing that game’s missing is good gameplay; if the battle system was tweaked, it would be perfect. I also love the Clock Tower series for the tension (although it can get pretty stressful sometimes!), especially Clock Tower 3 for its beautiful cutscenes and story. I can’t forget Eternal Darkness, my favorite Game Cube game ever. Mowing down zombies has never been so satisfying until you’ve blasted it away piece by piece.

BG: Well, the Silent Hill series is my absolute favorite, hands down. It’s the ambience, the interconnecting story, and pretty much all of the freakiness from Pyramid Head to the meat on the walls in the hospital. Silent Hill 3 also features two very strong female characters, Heather Mason and Claudia Wolf. I actually played it for the first time when I was seventeen, the same age as Heather, so in spite of the crazy stuff she was going through I could really relate to her. My other favorites include the Fatal Frame series, Galerians, the Resident Evil series, and Rule of Rose.

RF: Is there anything you wish I’d asked you?

BG: I think you’ve pretty much covered it! Thanks so much for the opportunity, and thanks to everyone at Cerise!