LAUAN401 Weekly Blog

I decided that I will be focusing on gender presentation and representation in animation, and how people view certain things as bad representation, and some as good representation. I believe this will encourage me to discuss more within my essay, as to some it is highly subjective as to what good representation is. I have analysed different characters and compared them to one another.

Nintendo:

Princes Peach - Princess Peach's first appearance was in Super Mario Bros. on the NES. She was presented as being a typical 'Damsel In Distress', in which she is rescued by the player without much depth to her character.

Samus Aran - Samus' first appearance was in Metroid on the NES. At first, not many knew she was a female, and was discovered after completing the game. She was the protagonist of Metroid, giving her a very active role within the game.

There are clear differences between the two. Princess Peach had a far less active role in her debut, rather she was a goal for the player to achieve. On the other hand, the player played as Samus Aran as the protagonist, making her a lot more active in the game's story. She also appears to be more independent of any one else. This shows clear differences between two female characters in early video games and animation.