Tropes vs Women in Video Games [RANT]

Damsel in Distress: Part 1 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games

So, I just watched this video. I tried to keep an open mind, but it played out pretty much how I thought it would…with plenty of counterarguments to each of her arguments.

Conveniently absent were any of the Paper Mario/Mario RPG games in which Peach is not only a playable character, but a playable character crucial to the plot; any of the Metroid games (although Other M would have made good fodder in favor of her propaganda, since it does kinda ruin the series); LoZ: Spirit Tracks, in which Zelda has a significant role (although some art from the game was shown); BioShock (1 and 2), which not only exhibits several strong female characters but also shows the sensitive side of the male characters; Fat Princess, whose game art was designed by a woman (thus serving a viable counterexample to her argument that men reinforce these stereotypes); Super Meat Boy, in which the protagonists' love for each other shows character depth that dismisses the concept of "property" retrieval (also, the hardest levels in the game have the gender roles reversed); the Crash Bandicoot series, in which Coco is a playable character in several of the games and even the character used to defeat one of the main bosses; BanjoKazooie, in which one of the two simultaneously-playable characters is a girl (Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3 also fit this gameplay style); several of the Resident Evil games with playable female characters; Viewtiful Joe (1 and 2), in which the so-called "damsel in distress" steps up and becomes the hero; and countless others.

Also, Zelda and Peach are not comparable in the "damsel in distress" department. Zelda is Link's spiritual adviser/confidant (when she even shows up in the games at all), and one of the bearers of the Triforce, making her one of the most powerful people in the world. Her "captures" are usually more relevant to taking Ganon(dorf) down from the inside rather than forwarding a contrived plot device. Also, it's not that Ganon(dorf) doesn't try to capture Link as well, it's that some deus ex machina always comes in and sets the stage for him to go on his adventure. (Don't even get me started on the three goddesses that make up the elements of the Triforce.) And even as far as Peach is concerned, Toad is much more of a damsel in distress than the princess herself, even going as far to be her shield in Super Smash Bros.: Melee rather than a playable character himself. (Also, in SSB: Brawl, men and women alike are captured in Subspace Emissary, Peach and Zelda are the ones who rescue themselves.)

This video does not even take into account the countless female antagonists that prove themselves to be formidable foes, even against male "heroes," games in which you can choose to be male or female, or role-playing games in which characters of both genders (and even some non-binary) are playable and/or important to the storyline.

tl;dr: This video is gamer PMS.

*(Special thanks to my brother and sister for helping me find the words to express my rant.)

Also, I didn't add it on my rant, but this chick seems to confuse "damsel in distress" with "women in refrigerators." Not all captured princesses were taken to infuriate the male hero, but sometimes because the woman in question is more powerful than the hero or possesses some trait that is more of a threat to the antagonist than the hero.