This week, our discussion about Braid brought up the concept of the princess being saved and how it is traditionally portrayed as the goal of many, many video games. This concept got me thinking about just how many different games and different forms of propaganda (used in the traditional sense of spreading a biased message) that portray this idea of a female character needing a male savior.
In the OG side-scroller video games, Super Mario and Donkey Kong, the entire objective of the games is to rescue the damsel in distress. As Mario sets out to save Princess Peach and Donkey Kong to save Lady Pauline, the objectives seem simple- rescue your respective damsels, beat the bad guys, and don’t die. But, what if these simple objectives helped perpetuate a hero complex- a phenomenon affecting people who seek heroism or recognition, usually by creating a desperate situation which they can resolve- in the young boys (and girls) playing these games?
Like in these OG side-scrollers, Braid initially gives the impression that our hero, Tim, is out to rescue his princess- a woman we are led to believe Tim drove away by doing something we aren’t really privy to. Flash forward to the end of the game. Here we have the ability to infer that Tim is chasing the Princess and she is running away from him, not in some other castle, as our little brown dino friend suggests. The relationship between Tim and the Princess is open to interpretation- much like the entirety of Braid itself. We don’t know if Tim was abusive towards his ex-lover, or if he is a stalker obsessed with a woman. What we do know is this princess does not want to be rescued by Tim.
So, what does this have to do with the perpetuating the hero complex and other forms of propaganda? Well, if we look at two other forms of media, comic books and film, we can see how this hero complex has been perpetuated and the outcome is being seen in today’s social and political climate.
In film, there is an entire genre devoted to the female being “rescued” by a man. The whole canon of romantic comedy is dominated by women having everything in their lives go horribly wrong, all while being single. Almost every single Rom-Com follows the exact same pattern; girl’s life is a mess, girl meets boy, girl’s life starts to fall into place because her love life is going so well, boy leaves girl, girl becomes a hot mess again, boy returns because he recognizes that the girl belongs to him, boy and girl live happily ever after. These movies are marketed specifically at women- the female lead is always a pretty but not overtly beautiful woman who is relatable to the audience (the Julia Roberts effect as I like to call it) and the male lead is always a handsome, not overly masculine man with intimacy issues (cue Richard Gere). With this storyline and imagery so readily available to young, impressionable women, we as a population have been conditioned to believe that our purpose on this big, blue rock is to be rescued by a man and live happily ever after with him.
If we look at the DC Batman universe, we have a male hero (yes, he’s a vigilante, but for my intent, I will be calling Batman a hero), who rescues the citizens of Gotham from a cornucopia of villains, the majority of whom are male. The three female villains- Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy- are rescued from their male counterparts’ antics every now and then; however, there is this reoccurring theme of Batman trying to “save” these women from the lives of crime they have cultivated for themselves. Catwoman, while she is not truly on the side of good or evil, constantly reminds Batman she doesn’t need to be saved whether it’s him interrupting one of her heists or fighting side by side- the Cat has even saved the Bat in some situations (Dark Knight Rises, I’m looking at you). Both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy were both created by men (Harley was dropped in a vat of toxic sludge by the Joker; Ivy was experimented on by one of her professors, Dr. Jason Woodrue- this is the more widely accepted (and my favorite) backstory for Poison Ivy circa Neil Gaiman 1988). Before becoming the most notorious female villains in the comic book world, Harley and Ivy were both doctors. Dr. Harleen Quinzel was a trained psychologist, practicing psychiatrist before the Joker and Stockholm Syndrome got a hold of her. Dr. Pamela Isley was a botanist who studied botanical biochemistry before becoming the victim of abuse and experimentation. Both of these brilliant women were “rescued” by men and became these overly sexualized villainesses who are continually “rescued” from their life of crime by a giant Bat with a hero complex (I could talk about the whole relationship between Batman and the Sirens for literal days, but that’s for another time). Comics are geared toward the cis male nerd, although there are many females who read comics. These overtly sexualized women in constant need of rescue help perpetuate the idea that all women need to be saved by a man in one way or another.
So, how do all of these examples lead to the current social and political climate? In order to avoid going on an even longer rant, I’ll be as brief as possible. Constantly telling boys that girls are damsels in distress and that we are there for the purpose of being rescued, creates this idea that women are not capable of doing things that men are (like holding the position of President for example). In the case highlighted by Batman, it also tells young boys that if girls are in a position in which they are pursuing a career or any other sort of life that does not involve being rescued by a man, they are allowed to be violent towards a woman and make her a victim so she can be rescued. Of course, that is a bit of an extreme assertion, but when you look at how many survivors have come forward in the time of #MeToo, one can’t help but wonder, could this have some effect on the young male population and the violence towards women?
Works Cited
Blow, Jonathan. “Braid.” Number None, 10 Apr. 2009.
Dini, Paul. “Joker's Favor.” Batman: The Animated Series, performance by Arleen Sorkin, season 1, episode 22, Sept. 1993. Harley Quinn's first appearance
Kanigner, Robert, and Sheldon Moldoff. “Batman.” Vol. 181, DC Comics, 1966. First Appearance of Poison Ivy