DTC #7

Due to the limitations of the NES, particularly early in its life span, Super Mario Bros. 2 (at least the American version which is just an alteration of Doki Doki Panic, rather than the REAL SMB2) represents the "simple abstract graphics" that Schleiner alludes to at the beginning of her essay, rather than the more refined 3D subjects like Lara Croft (222). In 8-bits, it's hard to give a girl a huge bust, a tiny waste and many other concepts of femininity that may be seen as dangerously stereotypical. There is no "female Frankenstein" to Toadstool, a.k.a. Peach in a sense we'd think of today, but while Mario presents a fat character for the user to play with, Peach is nice and thin; as thin as she should see and still be visible (223). This may simply be who the characters are, but if you make Peach fat, would the user accept that as okay? Even with primitive technology, I would imagine developers don't expect their target audience wants to be playing as a fat woman, to say nothing of how that may be seen as a derogatory joke at Peach's expense. But while there's nothing inherently wrong with having Peach in good shape, the problem comes instead with Mario, who is fat and okay. Men can be fat and happy and successful here, women cannot. Nintendo is not necessarily creating this image and, again, they're poorly-detailed 8-bit characters, but it is reflecting a standard we tend to have of our genders in society. Of course, Peach is also in a decidedly female pink dress, to reinforce that she is, in fact, a girl.

There may be something to Peach as Drag Queen, as well. In Schleiner's words, "rigid gender roles are broken down, allowing [male] players to experiment with "wearing" a feminine identity" (223). Back in these days, female main characters were rare. Metroid allowed users to play as the heroine Samus, but then they didn't even know their character was a girl until the ending (where, if they beat it fast enough, they got to see their ground breaking female hero in her bikini with her hair down). Metroid, from the same time, was significant for the female, even if you didn't know it, and SMB2 allowed you to be a female knowingly from a start. You don't have the detailed avatar of Tomb Raider here, but I certainly wouldn't rule out the appeal of some to play as an alternate gender for the novelty and experimentation of it.

I think the most significant gender make up here, however, is Princess Toadstool as Positive Role Model (Schleiner, 224). As mentioned in the previous paragraph, long before Lara Croft was presenting a heroine who women could look at in a positive light and positively be drawn in to games through, Peach was the best character in Super Mario Bros. 2. Much as Croft is not a stereotypical bimbo, Peach is not a stereotypical damsel in distress. After being saved in the previous game, she is now the choice of almost any gamer short of experienced players who have mastered the timing on Luigi's jump. While Mario is plain and boring with simple jumps, Peach can hover in a way that makes battles easier to conquer, enemies easier to avoid, gaps easier to cross and towers easier to scale. Anything our hero Mario can do, Peach can do better! While physical stereotypes are small and lost in the poor graphics, the fact that beating the game and saving the day with the girl instead of the classic hero stands out huge and helps make Peach a pretty memorable heroine and an important role model in video gaming history.

We could do a separate blog on her voice and casual dress in later games at a different time. . .



Works Cited

1. Schleiner, Ann-Marie. "Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender-Role Subversion in Computer Adventure Games." MIT Press 34.3 (2001): 221-26. Web. 7 Oct 2010. .
2. Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo, 1988.