Fan Art versus Official Art

1. Tone down the slanty eyes and lose the exotic makeup
2. Toss some baby fat on those boney cheeks
3. Enlarge breasts (a lot)
4. Add the hint of a pert nipple

There. Now, all that Faith’s missing is a schoolgirl uniform or a maid costume. Before long, casual discussions over which Faith looked better gave way to talks about the often sexist depiction of women in games.

When asked about his thoughts on the fan-made version of Faith on MTV’s Multiplayer Blog, Mirror’s Edge’s producer, Tom Farrer said “…To be honest, I found it kind of sad. We’ve spent time in developing Faith. And the important thing for us was that she was human, that she was more real.”

“We wanted her to be attractive, but we didn’t want her to be a supermodel. We wanted her to be approachable and far more real. It was just kind of depressing that someone thinks it would be better if Faith was a 12-year-old with a boob job. That was kind of what that image looked to me,” continued Farrer.

But the fan who originally posted the picture in question on the Korean gaming site, Ruliweb isn’t the only one. There were tons of gamers who seemed to prefer the fan version of Faith to the original. Maybe it’s a sign that many gamers prefer stereotypically sexed-up game heroines. Maybe it’s further evidence that games are still mostly purchased by young men. Or maybe, everyone read too much into this and lots of gamers also just happen to like anime, because that’s what the fan version of Faith looks like to us: a screaming anime girl who’s ready to fight a totalitarian regime with an energy beam and lots of screaming. Nothing wrong with that. Or is there?

Either way, we love to argue. So if you like the fan’s version better, say so in the comments below and explain why it’s not because you like 12-year-old girls with boob jobs.

May 12, 2009

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