Is TF2 feminist?

[Azor]

Most males are portrayed as mentally challenged or as crazed maniacs, whereas females are portrayed as clever and reasonable. This is a typical trope in SJW pandering writing

The only exception I can think of is Heavy and Engineer, but in-game Heavy behaves like a dumb and happy russian guy who can barely speak English, the opposite of what we see in the comics.

Now that I'm thinking about it, just realized Portal 2 does the same thing. Wheatley is a robot-guy, and a moron. Cave Johson is intelligent but stupid, always has stupid ideas, which worked against him all the way through. GLaDOS is a female-AI, clever and her failure comes as just the player outsmarting her instead of just being stupid.

valve hates men

[Coljank]

In media, it's a pretty common trope for dumb characters to be strong, and smart characters to be physically weak. TF2 uses this to balance the gender roles, which I don't think is meant to be SJW pandering.

If the game really were pandering, it would be a lot less subtle. The Announcer is easily the most prominent female character in the game, behind Miss Pauling. Unless you read the comics or watch the animated shorts, you probably don't know what either of these characters look like, but you know they're female from their voices in-game. If the game were pandering, we'd constantly be seeing these characters to be reminded that women exist too.

[OH!myg0t]

Soldier drank water in Teufort, which made him dumb. Heavy has a PhD in Russian Literature. Read the comics. Heavy is not dumb, he's Russian, you expect him to speak fluent English?

Wheatley is a self-thinking AI robot, not a human.
GLaDOS is also a self-thinking AI robot, not a human.
Cave Johnson is a mad man because he was poisoned from his moon rock.

I know it's bait, but I'm answering.

[SurpriseGmg]

Short answer: No.

[Azor]

Originally posted by ...:

Originally posted by aZOR:

Which is kind of my point. He behaves in a stupid manner, makes him a good candidate for a powerful character in what regards comedy. You could that's the sole reason why he is/behaves stupidly, however, when you look at the bigger picture you may start suspecting that there is a trope going on, not just here... Of male BASHING, in the media

I don't see how saxton hale is being bashed or is some dumb character, he is still a powerful character with a reason for not acting like a regular smart person would, he has no reason to act smart and play things safe, he doesn't really seem dumb more so just an oblivious guy that cares more about thrill than anything any normal person would be concerned about.

That sounds dumb to me, but still, maybe I'll have to revisit the comic, from my memory he comes off as a dumb character. Maybe it's what I conceived as dumb when I read it. I may have a different interpretation now.

On the other hand, I can imagine feminist critiques of him as a toxic-male. Yet, not all feminims are the same. The trope I described still exists; despite arguable existing exceptions, TF2 seems to be taking part in that.

[ShugoTheRipper]

Originally posted by Michael:

Soldier drank water in Teufort, which made him dumb. Heavy has a PhD in Russian Literature. Read the comics. Heavy is not dumb, he's Russian, you expect him to speak fluent English?

Wheatley is a self-thinking AI robot, not a human.
GLaDOS is also a self-thinking AI robot, not a human.
Cave Johnson is a mad man because he was poisoned from his moon rock.

I know it's bait, but I'm answering.

Why do you have to fly so near the sun Icarus.

[OH!myg0t]

Originally posted by Michael:

Soldier drank water in Teufort, which made him dumb. Heavy has a PhD in Russian Literature. Read the comics. Heavy is not dumb, he's Russian, you expect him to speak fluent English?

Wheatley is a self-thinking AI robot, not a human.
GLaDOS is also a self-thinking AI robot, not a human.
Cave Johnson is a mad man because he was poisoned from his moon rock.

I know it's bait, but I'm answering.

Even if it is an act of quote-unquote feminism, it's still funny. That's why characters are designed for a reason, to make us feel certain emotions.

[Cummercock]

alright, you are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ high?

[No Time to Explain]

Originally posted by aZOR:

Originally posted by ...:

I don't see how saxton hale is being bashed or is some dumb character, he is still a powerful character with a reason for not acting like a regular smart person would, he has no reason to act smart and play things safe, he doesn't really seem dumb more so just an oblivious guy that cares more about thrill than anything any normal person would be concerned about.

That sounds dumb to me, but still, maybe I'll have to revisit the comic, from my memory he comes off as a dumb character. Maybe it's what I conceived as dumb when I read it. I may have a different interpretation now.

On the other hand, I can imagine feminist critiques of him as a toxic-male. Yet, not all feminims are the same. The trope I described still exists; despite arguable existing exceptions, TF2 seems to be taking part in that.

I just reread the first comic and he does come off as what people would call dumb but If you take account of his strength and practical indestructibility he really is just more eccentric.

[Mii]

what a bait lol
keep up the work

[Frözen]

In the first half-life, they made men the basic enemy grunts that could easily be taken down with a single shotgun blast or 2, and they made the women stealth assassins that are harder to track down and kill

[No Time to Explain]

Originally posted by The Frözenfires:

In the first half-life, they made men the basic enemy grunts that could easily be taken down with a single shotgun blast or 2, and they made the women stealth assassins that are harder to track down and kill

Those assassins were supposed to be hard to kill?

[Frözen]

Originally posted by ...:

Originally posted by The Frözenfires:

In the first half-life, they made men the basic enemy grunts that could easily be taken down with a single shotgun blast or 2, and they made the women stealth assassins that are harder to track down and kill

Those assassins were supposed to be hard to kill?

They cloak and sneak around you
That’s way harder to kill than regular men who stay in plain sight

[Azor]

Originally posted by Coljank:

You made.. Fair points. I'll have to think about it. I'll probably return to your post later.

Originally posted by Michael:

Soldier drank water in Teufort, which made him dumb. Heavy has a PhD in Russian Literature. Read the comics. Heavy is not dumb, he's Russian, you expect him to speak fluent English?

Wheatley is a self-thinking AI robot, not a human.
GLaDOS is also a self-thinking AI robot, not a human.
Cave Johnson is a mad man because he was poisoned from his moon rock.

I know it's bait, but I'm answering.

Wheatley is gendered male. GLaDOS refers to him as, well, he/him. GLaDOS is gendered female, Wheatley refers to her as she.
Just there being an in-universe explication, that doesn't CHANGE the bigger picture. Just him being male is sufficient in our zeitgeist for making him stupid. In other words, if it exists...

ditto for Soldier

Regarding Heavy, as I said before, comics Heavy and in-game Heavy are portrayed very differently. His manner of speaking, his lines and his tone of voice were made --intentionally-- to make him sound stupid. My criticism, in this respect, applies only to the videogame part of TF2.

[76561198300840017]

to be fair, there arent any gifts to all males (no onscreen appearance or mentioned) when Scout visits heaven. So your opinion deserve further inspection, but not here.

[No Time to Explain]

Originally posted by The Frözenfires:

Originally posted by ...:

Those assassins were supposed to be hard to kill?

They cloak and sneak around you
That’s way harder to kill than regular men who stay in plain sight

They were always pretty easy for me, just one shot them with the cross bow, revolver or shotgun, they also did less damage so its easier to get close enough to shotgun blast them to death.

They were only really a big threat if you had low hp since it was easier for them to chase you down or turn a corner and shoot you instantly.