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Saturday, July 26, 2014

Hush Hush → Hitman: Absolution And Rape Culture

I don't normally post more than the list but in today's blog I wanted to discuss something that I thought was important. On May 23, 2014- 6 people were killed. It turned that the murderer left a manifesto and a youtube video that demonstrated the killer's misogynistic beliefs. He planned the murders to get back at women for rejecting him and at the type of men those women would have chosen.
This sparked many discussions all over the net from various blogs to twitter (#yesallwomen). In these discussions, women and men discussed the treatment of women and how that treatment is reflected in our culture. This phenomenon is called “rape culture.”
Rape Culture is the idea that culture supports the a toxic masculinity and the degradation of women through sexual violence. To be honest, I'm not really an expert on the topic so I'll provide a few links that give better information.

These are articles that support the idea that there is a rape culture:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/what-is-rape-culture

These are articles that don't support the idea that there is a rape culture:

Well, how does this connect to a blog that looks for connections in television, movies, games, books, and more. It connected because rape culture stated that acceptance of rape was the norm of society and has permeated every part of culture including our television, movies, books and more.
There are many reasons that the creators of the different medias design their work. Some of the reasons include: to tell a story, to draw attention to something, or even because it is what they know. Of course these are only a few reasons. Anyways what do you think? Are these books, movies, comics, games all a product of a rape-culture? Is it the creator just trying to relate a good story? Is it a commentary on society? What is a creator's responsibility to society when creating a book, a movie, a video game, or some other media? Do they write what they want, what is good for society, what they know, or some combination? Hash it out in the comments. Thanks.

A. Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Summary: A girl named Nora met a boy called Patch. She wasn't't comfortable with him and yet was still attracted to him. She got drawn into events that were bigger than her and she moved closer to Patch. The closer they became, the more Nora learned about Patch's secrets.
Commentary: From what I have read the main character, Patch, 
hadbthe ability to mind read. Using that ability he spied on Nora, manipulated her, and even followed her around.
Check this blog out for a more depth commentary on it: http://bookshop.livejournal.com/1032547.html
Connection: One of the characters is named Chauncey Langeais.
 He was revealed to be Patch's vassal, was supposed to be blonde, was a nephilim, lived at the Chateau de Langeais, and was in fact the Duc de Langeais. He may be related to a characters from Balzac's story La Duchesse de Langeais. Her name was the Duchesse Antoinette de Langeais.

1. La Duchess de Langeais (2007)
Summary: In this story (which is based on a book by Balzac) Duchess Antoinette de Langeais was a coquette. She went to a salon held by Madame de Serizy in which Armand de Montriveau was invited. De Montriveau was a war hero and Antoinette decided that she wanted to make him a conquest. When Armand met the Duchess, he fell in love. She flirted with him and he flirted back, eventually she decided that didn't want to be with him. He got aggressive. She feared and loved him and it eventually forced her to disappear. Montriveau had connections with a mysterious group called the 13. This group helped Armand find the missing Duchesse. Antoinette commited suicide rather than submit.
Commentary: One of the reasons I chose this story was because after months of intense flirting, of loving, of fearing him- Antoinette was kidnapped by Montriveau. 
He even threatened to brand her. Also the author wrote the character of Antoinette to resemble the Duchess of Castries with whom he had a failed romance.
Connection: Madame Serizy was the name of one of the characters in the movie.
May be the one on the right


















She shared a name with the lead characters in the movie Belle de Jour- Pierre and Severine Serizy. I hypothesize that Pierre Serizy may be a descendant of Madame Serizy.
2. Belle De Jour (1967)
Summary: This movie was directed by Bunuel and based on a book by Joseph Kessel. In it, the husband and wife, Pierre and Severine, were having marital problem. She couldn't find fulfillment and was frigid. To get over it, Severine decided to start working in a brothel during the afternoons while her husband was gone and returned before he got home. She earned the Belle de Jour with these actions. But things went downhill. A friend of the family realized out what she was doing and a client of hers became possessive.
Commentary: I chose this story because of the way that Severine's sadomasochism developed. The story indicated that she derived pleasure from pain because of rape, and because of some the experiences at the brothel.
Connection: One of Pierre and Severine's friends in the movie was a girl named Renee Fevret.
 Fevret was also the last name of a character in James Hadley Chase's Have This One on Me. Joseph Fevret was the owner of restaurant called Chez Joseph and is in Paris. He is probably a descendant of Renee Fevret.

3. Have This One On Me by James Hadley Chase
Summary: A CIA operative had been discovered and needed to be taken out by his own. The people who were watching him were waiting for a move to be made. The CIA had one guy on stand by to do it and another guy, an ex-operative, they tricked in to be a decoy. This decoy was a man by the name of Mark Girland.
Commentary: Alec Worthington was the operative that needed to be taken out. He knew he was in trouble and tried to leave. He met with an asset by the name of Mala Reid- for help and because he had a crush on her. He pushed his way in and demanded that he stayed. She didn't like it, but finally acquiesced.
Connection: Alec Worthington was a CIA operative. Not much was really known about him, except that he was weak. And maybe intelligent as he was a CIA operative.There may be possibility that the he could be related to the Warren Worthington III found in Civil War: X-Men # 3. Alec could be an uncle to Warren Worthington III (aka Angel) and brother to Warren Worthington Jr.

4. Civil War: X-Men #3 by David Hine
Summary: A lot of fighting occurs. Bishop was overloaded with energy which he released at a sentinel. Micromax and Sabra attack the X-Men, but then stop long enough to talk with Angel. Inside a nearby facility, Lorelei was talking about Johnny Dee who attacked. Later Dee and Lazer are confronted.
Commentary: Lorelei was possessed mentally by Johnny Dee. And she was a sexualized character.

Connection; One of the other characters in the story was Col. Miguel Reyes. 




Along with his sister, Cecilia, 

















he was born in the Bronx. Unlike his sister he had no mutant ability. But two of them were supposed to be Puerto Rican, but that doesn't rule out them being part African or having an African cousin by the name of Joslin Reyes. Joslin Reyes took part in the Tomb Raider series.

5. Tomb Raider Series
Summary: In the Tomb Raider series, the 2013 game in the Crystal Dynamics era was a reboot game for Lara Croft. In this game she was on a ship called the Endurance. The Endurance crashed and she was separated from the rest of the survivors. Lara was captured by a strange man, but escaped. Then, she met up with her group where they worked on getting rescued. This game gave Lara a new reason to learn the survival skills she will know and to become harder.
Commentary: In one of the scenes, there was an attempted rape of Lara.
 Or that was what one person who worked on the game may have stated. Another person who worked on the game, a writer, claimed that she wasn't almost raped, just almost murdered, and whatever reaction Lara had was due do that.

Connection: In another game in the Tomb Raider series, the Guardian of Light, there was downloadable content. This included characters by the name of Kane and Lynch. Kane and Lynch star in their own games named after themselves.
6. Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days
Summary: In this game, Kane and Lynch were running an errand in Shanghai. It went bad and they end up getting a fire fight. They killed a girl and her boyfriend, Brady, killed himself. The next day they tried to arrange a smuggling thing, but Brady's gang was after them. And fot the rest of the game they just tried to survive being while trying to earn the big score.
Commentary: Lynch's girlfriend was beaten and raped to get back at him. While there was no controversy about this, I still bring up because this might be another indication that rape was used too much in games.
Connection: Once again, Kane and Lynch show up in another game. They find themselves in Hitman: Absolution where Kane was waiting by a bar in the mission called 'Great Balls of Fire' 
while Lynch was found in 'Biridies Gift.'
B. Hitman: Absolution
Summary: This game was about a hitman that went by the name Agent 47. First he killed his handler and then tracked down a young girl named Victoria. Meanwhile, Agent 47 was being tracked by his employer while Blake Dexter was pursing the girl that Agent 47 tracked.
Commentary: There was a big controversy over the clip of Hitman: Absolution that was shown at a game convention. Female assassins were getting out of nuns outfits revealing sexy clothing while Agent 47 was dressing up.



http://www.gameinformer.com/games/hitman_absolution/b/xbox360/archive/2012/07/05/learn-more-about-those-sexy-nuns-in-new-hitman-absolution-trailer.aspx?PageIndex=2


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