Sigh. How can I approach this?
First of all, Tom, I don't disagree with you at all. I think that this is a topic that we should be handling, but with respect and maturity in the same way that the film industry does. What doesn't help is that many gamers, including notable ones such as Mike and Jerry of Penny Arcade, have an openly 'lol rape' opinion on the matter.
Their opinion isn't as mature as yours, nor is that of many gamers. Ultimately, the result of this is what's become known popular as "rape culture," in which rape is aggrandised as a wholesome, worthwhile activity that provides entertainment for all. The difference with films is that they don't do that, they approach rape with the rightful gravitas it's earned by being what it is.
You have to wonder how the situation would be if the game had instead depicted an average Jewish man stuffed into a gas chamber with the tagline 'lol genocide.'
Aside from the matter being handled with joviality rather than gravitas, I also feel that it's a problem that we never see a man being raped. I'm not just blaming games for this, as I'm more than well aware that other mediums are just as responsible. The problem is is that the man is represented as the invulnerable, perfect, masculine standard which nothing can shake. The issue, then, is that the woman is shown to be forever the victim, the frail, she who is to be taken advantage of. Where's the role reversal? Role reversal is fun, and educational!
These might actually be big thoughts for some people, which is depressing, but I think this should be a standard that if we're going to deal with rape scenes, that they be handled with greater equality. How could Dennaton have "fixed" this whilst leaving it in? Simple! Have the person being raped of the opposite gender to the character who's being played. So if you choose to be a woman, then there's a bloke waiting to be raped.
"You did great, Pig Girl! But don't be afraid to be more vindictive. And you there, geekface, you need to work on your frailty! Act more helpless and scared! You know, like a nerd would!"
That would provide an equality to lessen the enmity felt towards it by reviewers like Cara. I'm definitely of the opinion that the rape scene shouldn't be left out, but that this is one way that it could be handled in a way that would work for her. If you take the time to read what she's had to say about the rape scene -- her core issue isn't that the rape scene exists, but it's that she identifies with the rape victim as a woman. So we fix that. It'd be interesting to see just how much Cara's opinion would change if this were the case.
So, I've spoken about equality, but I would like to come back to the ethics of the situation. And no, I'm not going to let you down. I don't think I've ever let someone properly intellectual down, anyway. Well, not that I can recall.
There's a reason why films can handle rapes in a way that games can't -- detachment. You're not the person being raped, and you're not the person committing the rape. You're one of a detached audience, it's voyeuristic, but you're in no way in control of the situation, nor are you immersed as the victim. Thus, it's the inherent nature of a film that it can never be either Tomb Raider or Hotline Miami 2. As we are not the heroes of the film; we're more akin to, say, Uatu the Watcher. We stare on in horror and we understand the travesty and the tragedy, but we can't do anything. Being helpless is part of the audience, and empowers the hero of the piece.
So perhaps one way to deal with rape is to have it not involve and immerse the player, thus we can approach it from a different angle. If, for example, in Tomb Raider the rape scene was happening between another survivor and her attacker, then you could step into the middle of this happening and stab the attacker in the head. This would create a more film-like situation of detachment, and it would put the player in the position of having to end it. Or not. And I personally think that would be more powerful than having Lara herself almost raped by an attacker.
I'm not condemning Tomb Raider, you'll note. I'm just saying that it could have been done better and more interestingly. It could have been a more powerful scene if it was up to Lara to risk her life to save another from rape, or to walk on, keeping her bullets, medical resources, and self in tact, but knowing what she's abandoned an innocent woman to. The pause that this might give a player would be more illuminating than the tame almost rape that happened in Tomb Raider.
I don't know, there's a lot to this. Still, to come back to where I began, I think the bottom line is that we need to move away from rape culture, and the 'rape lol' response. We have to draw a line in the sand separating us from that before we can move on. On one hand, I'm hoping that Dennaton keeps the rape scene; on the other hand I'm hoping that they've maybe read what I've had to say and taken it into account.
There are many ways which you could "fix" the rape scene and even make it more powerful without taking it out.
