Digital Censorship and Complacency

Sequels

(And the Wikis That Abuse Them)

When Guilty Gear brought Bridget back into the series and unceremoniously insisted he was now a she, myself and many others were pissed about the change. Not merely because it's clumsy writing or that it flies directly in the face of the character's lore and motivations, although these are perfectly valid criticisms. I wouldn't go so far as to suggest the change is a form of censorship per se, the devs are allowed to mold Bridget however they want, but I see two key issues here.

For those that actually LIKE Bridget -namely his original design and personality- their preferred interpretation of him has been forcibly stripped away from them; the backlash bears a striking resemblance to the reaction to Samus in Other M. For people like me, who dislike Strive in general, opting to play the older games while ignoring its very existence, are no longer able to do so, because this change has been retrofitted into any and all discussion of Bridget, dragging down the entire series in the process.

As soon as the change was made, gender activists took it upon themselves to police any and all discussions of Bridget, if you call him a boy you'll be aggressively corrected or banned, the Dustloop Wiki scrubbed all mention of Bridget being a boy not only from Strive, but in the XX series as well. You can not refer to him as a boy, even in the games where his entire character motivation is proving that he's a boy. The stakes surrounding the discussion on Bridget go so much deeper than just the character, this is an attack on the English language itself.

I take a hardline, biological stance on the gender question; I'm not shy about it. Bridget does not count as a girl, he has a penis. I'm not interested in pretending that biological boys can be girls, I will not call Bridget a girl, and I will not bend the knee to militant activists; fuck off.

I do not believe that Daisuke Ishiwatari or his team are political activists, I do not buy for a second that he had this twist in mind when he originally made Bridget. As a native speaker of a language that is (mostly) non-gendered, I don't think he truly understands the gravity of the issue or the weight of his actions. Zooming out to the rest of the game, every change made, from the characters designs, story, and -most obnoxiously- the gameplay, suggests a far more cynical, corporate agenda. Strive was designed from the ground up to attract a new, larger audience. It is incredibly rare for me to find an oldhead GG player that prefers Strive over what came before, politics aside. The game is a much slower, simpler, grounded affair, virtually all of the sexy(female) character designs have been noticeably tuned down, and the art direction -while I still personally prefer Xrd's more traditionally "ANIME" aesthetic- is beyond impressive. All of these changes appeal to an audience that may find anime-fighters to be too daunting or embarrasing to play, possibly too lewd for tournaments, and similar such considerations.

I can only conclude that Arcsys believed the change to Bridget would be popular; at the time he joined the roster, transgenderism was indeed trendy, and while I believe this trend is slowly falling off in favor of a return to sanity, Arcsys was definitely right. Most people don't mind the change, or are apathetic to it; perhaps they are simply too afraid to speak out on the issue, given the aforementioned militarism. Regardless, Arcsys has contributed to a culture of censorship; were they punished for this? Hell no, Strive is far and away the most popular installment by a landslide, far more people have played it compared to the older games; I have no doubt that Strive will serve as the framework for the series going forward, assuming it has a future. And once again, go fuck yourself Dustloop Wiki.