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Final Fantasy XVI’s Jill Should Be More Than Pretty
(kotaku.com)
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this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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Ah, Kotaku again with the shitposting.
So the author is mad that Jill isn’t the main character and she loves the actual main character, who happens to be a dude.
And here I was, hoping that an actual nuanced discussion could happen on here, instead of a Reddit-esque “Kotaku sux” kind of thing.
I almost didn’t post it because I suspected half the replies would be people complaining about Kotaku like it’s still 2014, and now I see I should have gone with my gut.
Right. It’s a Reddit-esque reaction, when literally the very own comment section of that incredible piece of journalism is filled with people calling the author disingenuous. But what kind of nuanced discussion you expected to happen when you only typed a single sentence? Have you played the game? What’s your opinion about it?
Anyway, let’s have a nuanced discussion about the article:
The author spends one third of the article praising Jill as a character because she’s fiery, emotional, has killed people and is the powerful vessel of inhuman powers that she gets to control. And then goes to compare her with Hello Kitty, a mute character, despite Jill having more lines and screen time than any other character, besides the main one. Why? Because she’s a composed character and doesn’t crack to pressure.
And this is what really makes me roll my eyes: The author claims Jill is like Hello Kitty for not saying much, but then cites Clive brushing off a ton of pain and and anguish saying "It was nothing." So now both the main male character and the secondary female one are Hello Kitties for keeping things for themselves? But the problem for the author is that we see the main character, Clive, later exploding from all the pain and pressure, but Jill doesn’t get that scene for herself, and when Clive explodes she’s an spectator.
Then her normal relationship with Clive is seen as a problem by the author because patriarchy. Her being pretty? A problem because "there are studies that show that pretty people are often seen as smart and kind". Her being "cisgender" and white? A problem.
In my opinion, the author is literally looking for any reason to complain about the game. "Jill should be more than pretty" reads off as "Jill’s and Clive’s roles should’ve been swapped, Jill should’ve been queer, ugly, and anything but white." in all Kotaku’s fashion.
And regarding you blaming me for being part of a problem you felt in your gut, well, I’d just tell you to grow some thicker skin because an expected opposing opinion shouldn’t be a deterrent to voice yours. You wanted to have a nuanced discussion but I’ve yet to read your opinion on Jill as a character and the article.
That “one sentence” is literally from the article and is auto-pulled. But go off, I guess.
And I actually don’t have an opinion, because I’m a PC gamer and it’s not out on PC yet. I wanted to hear from people who have played it. So again, go off, I guess.
Anyway, you have a lovely day. You’re not someone I actually want to engage with further.
Oh, so you haven’t played the game…
Thanks for the downvotes and have a wonderful day too!
You asked for sincere discussion and you got it, now you complain because it doesn't fit the narrative you want to hear.
I'll maliciously comply and provide you with more sincere discussion.
I think Jill is actually a great character, and the people complaining are mad because she doesn't fit either of the widely popular Female Support archetypes: She's not a sexed up bimbo written as a man with boobs; nor is she a patriarchy-toppling girlboss (which we have in the game already as Martha and Benedikta). She is far more relatable than either of those.
Jill is, in terms of personality, a normal, quiet woman, who only ever wanted to live a peaceful life. She also, like many real women, has spent her entire life being a passenger:
early game spoilers
Her childhood was spent as the ward of another nation, her primary job to be a good girl and stay out of trouble. After she awakens, she is enslaved and forced to work under threat of her friends/family being executed. Even her chosen method of resistance is quiet, she stonewalls her abusers until they figure out how to break her.So when she is free to do as she wishes, she comfortably puts herself in the back seat where she's always been, her greatest ambition to protect and support those she loves.
She serves as damsel in distress in a couple of instances, but she also serves as the hero saving Clive in just as many. She has the strength and power to step forward and take the role of the hero, and she will do so when the people she values are threatened, but her preference is to play the support. I see the message of her character as, "This is a valid way that a person can be a hero," and should remind us of those people in our lives who may appear icy in demeanor and frozen in agency, but who are always there when it matters, displaying an inconspicuous strength when our own isn't enough to achieve our aims or dispel our grievances.
Don't let some people put you off.
Unfortunately I don't have an opinion on this, as I'm not into these games. I do note that Japanese games (and anime for the matter) can still be very fanservice-heavy, and I won't be surprised that servicing the male fantasy is still one of the key points of the design.
I live in Japan and have for years, and trust me, it’s not just games and anime - most media has a very objectifying way of looking at and treating women (even on the news, they’ll have older but and very young women for the presenters), and women are often written in a very two-dimensional way that seems very geared for how the writers WANT women to be, not how women actually are.