Is Peace Walker Sexist?

Whenever I play Japanese games, I inevitably run into situations where I am confronted with content I am troubled by. It is often content that seemingly borders on bland sexism, racism or even pedophilia. I’m often having a difficulty to comprehend the intention of the questionable content. Is it really meant this way? Or is it me who is the racist? Am I simply applying my western values to the product of a culture so very different from my own.

In the case of Peace Walker, the situation gets really difficult. Hideo Kojima is clearly a smart man. He manages to put some deep concepts and ideas into a mainstream product. Somehow, he manages to successfully combine sophistication with popular entertainment. So I’m usually willing to give him the benefit of a doubt. But then I meet a character like Paz and I’m lost at words again.

Early in the game, you are given a mission from a man escorting a young girl. The girl is introduced as a Puerto Rican Costa Rican fugitive. Her name also means “Peace” and for some reason she is being idolized into an “Angel of Peace” or something along those lines. I didn’t really understand that part. However, the fist time she is introduced, the player is given control over a magic camera that can zoom in trough the layers of her clothes to see her in underwear. Um, what?

Talking about Airport Security

That’s weird, especially considering she is only 16 years old. But the moment passed quickly and I kinda forgot about it. All that remained was the nagging ridiculousness of her just not looking like anything like a person from Costa Rica. But then I started picking up other details. For example, the game has lots of opportunities to look up 3D models of the things you can interact with. You can see 3D models of your base, your weapons, your vehicles, your gear, etc. As a game designer, I enjoy that feature a lot. The models are masterfully done and I love examining some of their details. For certain characters you can also see the 3D models. But guess what. You can see only the female ones! Even though there are clearly good looking hi-rez models of the male main characters, you can’t access them. Isn’t that strange?

But then it gets even better. The game finally treats you with a bonus mission where Snake goes out on a date with 16 year old Paz. That’s right. Take a look.

So you goal is to use a communication system made for co-op combat missions to say things that may be appropriate on a date. Every time you say a fitting line, you score a heart. The mission ends when you get in a cardboard box. They are normally used for hiding and called “Love Boxes” in this game. If you do that in this mission, Paz will get in the box with you. Some innuendo-filled dialogue and rumbling follows and the mission is over. If you got enough hearts during the mission, you will be awarded with an S rank. Your reward is that the next time you play this mission, Paz will be in her underwear. But that’s not all. Remember the 3D models of the female characters you could watch? From then on, all of them will be in their underwear / bathing suits as well.

It seems like a clear case of sexist exploitation even bordering on statutory rape. But the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that interpretation doesn’t fit so well either. For starters, going on the date you can chose your “outfit”. If you chose a uniform that shows a lot of skin, Paz will actually run away from you. This really confuses me about what are they actually supposed to be doing when they eventually get into the love box.

Also, on a second thought, the idea of the date is actually not that silly. The themes of the game are the 70ies, the cold war and the ideal of peace. The mission is actually the embodiment of the “Make love, not war” mantra. Peace Walker is a combat game after all. The mission asks you to creatively re-purpose your set of verbs to engage not in combat but in a romantic relationship. If you set aside the creepiness of trying to date a 16 year old, that’s actually good way to address the inherent conflict of a war game being supposedly about peace. The game exposes it’s very own limitations to the player, including it’s inability to portray scenes outside of combat.

And then there are other instances where the game actually disrupts the “Male Gaze” you would expect from a game with shallow, exploitative intentions. So next to the Paz date, there is also a similar dating scenario with Kaz, you male sidekick.

The mission unfolds similar to the date with Paz. The only difference is that no 3D models are unlocked upon success. At least as far as I can tell.

And finally, just the regular story features plenty of actually quite credible and respectable female characters. Most noteworthy are perhaps a lesbian scientist Dr. Strangelove and especially The Boss. I wonder why The Boss is so rarely mentioned when talking about strong female characters in games. It would be very had to come up with a stronger character than The Boss. She is old Snake’s mentor figure. As war hero and an experienced combat expert, she is cool, wise and dangerous while completely avoiding sexist clichés. She doesn’t actually appear in Peace Walker but the game deals with a lot of her back-story. In countess audio logs, she is practically idealized into the unsung Jesus of the U.S. spaceflight program.

So you see, I’m having a very difficult time judging some of the content Peace Walker. On the one hand, the game contains quite outrageous scenes that should clearly be considered sexist. On the other hand, the general style style of the game is actually very progressive and dares to turn the expectations of a traditional straight male gamer on their head in some cases. Perhaps what we see here is what happens when an ambitious mind has to work with the restrictions and vocabulary of a culture saturated with busty babes and upskirt pantie shots. I would love to give Kojima the benefit of a doubt. But he does make it very hard. What do you think?