Been squirreled away playing Metro: Last Light since 11:30pm yesterday (okay I just set up the game for later, so I could come to it Friday morning refreshed and shit); game has blown me away... a bit, shut up I needed to rhyme!
Arrrrgh... The passion raised by that one scene has completely gotten to me and being totally unable to focus, time for a valium shot to engage critical faculties *woosh* ahh, self control...
Allow me to detail the scene by first setting the scene: You are at D6 (sorry, Д6) after sending the Dark Ones to hell since the "evil" ending is apparently canon now; once entering the briefing room with Ulman and an uncharacteristically hysterical Khan (edit: I've changed my mind about khan, passionate is a better word; it's also a fantastic character development), Miller gives you a mission to kill the last Dark One and assigns his daughter, Anna, to be your lead. What follows is a series of belittlements and cockteases ("Stop staring at my ass, it's well beyond your reach!") that will leave you bitter towards her half-hoping she gets humiliated at some point, preferably poetically. Time passes, you try your utmost to forget her condescending ass until you reach the Church where, surprise, she gets captured and carted off the some communist's lair!
Now, I know what we are all thinking here - haven't we seen this shit before in other, less unique games and movies? Well, we have; and you'll never guess what, she bangs you after you rescue her (well, she shows a tit and lies on the bed, what do you think?). We've seen this so many times in B movies and adventure films, like that classic girl tied to the train track (with bullhead rails! ;) ), so what's the prob, bob?
Thing is, these films made the woman a ditzy, thoughtless bint because back then, much to the glee of cushy middle class feminists, we can admit that men wanted this type of woman; materialism in western culture was much more respectable and trophy wives were a big part of that. Regardless of women's rights however, this was appealing to men since they very much LOVE to be respected by their women ("My hero!"), in some films the extra mile was travelled and the woman would indeed have been a tough, dependable sidekick with a cuddly inner persona; I think back to the 1940 Charlie Chaplain film "The Great Dictator" and that woman, Hannah, who helps the Jewish Barber stand up to the Stormtroopers but for a modern reference try Alyx Vance of Half Life 2 or Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite.
Metro: Last Light does none of this, you are pretty much expected to like this harridan, well, because she's fit! Sorry, but male brains don't work like that; we are not going androgynous on you and claiming to like cuddling more than sex or some other nonsense, but only the biggest loose cannons among us actually think like the trendy left believes we think, i.e: "All boys want is sex, tits and ass!" And before you bring up how Elizabeth had moments of anger towards the player, keep in mind that you tried to bring her back to New York so she can be locked up and studied all over again, so her anger was more than justified (seriously, I felt hurt after she attacked me not to mention stupid).
In closing, gaming writers need to address this godawfully out-of-touch issue with their writing if they want their lovemaking/affection scenes to have any impact beyond "well, this is hot"; before I go as well, that scene with Citra had a similar effect on me, but Far Cry 3 was a cheesy 80s adventure flick with superb open-world gameplay tacked on, so I expected yet more politically-correct cheese like this; Metro however has actual depth to it with themes about mass movements and their effect on fearful, anxious populations, so this shit sticks out like a gigantic boil on the nose. It's not on!
Now excuse me while I blow off steam by hitting the strip bar in Venice like the godforsaken, sexist pig-dog I am...
Also, let me direct your attention to an oldie but a goldie:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/6662-Wet
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