Hey all! I wanted to another deep dive into a topic, and one that I kept seeing around, but I know this one is dancing on firecrackers. Either way, let’s get into it. Just as quick note, I will be using Final Fantasy XIII and the Kingdom Hearts games as examples to prove my points, and I do have some bias towards these games.
Now with the self promo out of the way, what happened that promoted this? Scarlet Johansson, some I know for playing Black Widow in the Avengers and Major in a film I still need to see, Ghost in the Shell, was announced to be play a transgender man. Now, I don’t not want to turn this into LGBT people need to play LGBT people. I am not a person to put movement into my artform and never will be. But hear my argument out: can’t we relate to these characters emotionally, instead of looking at them from face value or gender?
What I mean by this if we look at a character, and take what they look like away from them, do we have similar thought. Do we feel the same feelings towards something or someone? I know this is flawed, but to be honest that is what I did for most of my childhood. I have 2 examples to give here, one from me and one from a friend:
How I emotionally relate to Ventus from Kingdom Hearts
As you can see, this kid looks nothing like me. However, his stories in Birth By Sleep really hit me in the feelings. He really want to make some new friends and has a lot of issues trusting his current friends. I am bit anti-social myself, and do tend to get anxious(which does prevent me from making friends), but like Ventus, I really do want to make some friends. I am slowing getting better , but Ven here has helped me find someone to relate to. Also, is it weird I tend to relate more to video game characters than real people? I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t care at this point. I am too deep in the video game rabbit hole.
How LightningEllen relates to Lightning
Ellen was another motivator for me to write this. In her article for AmbiGaming, (don’t worry, it still works), she writes:
I grew alongside Lightning’s character as she grew throughout the FFXIII trilogy. It’s a special experience I’d never thought a video game series could give me. In a way, Lightning Farron turned into the overprotective big sister I’ve always wanted. Sure, I know she’s not real, but she is an inspiring force who has helped me become someone greater. Now whenever I feel stressed, depressed, hopeless, worthless, and helpless, I just have to look at the pink-haired warrior goddess, and I suddenly find the strength to keep fighting for a better future, no matter how bad things get.
LightningEllen
Read the full article for more context, but I can see Ellen that has a very deep connection with Lightning. I can also imagine her as my big sister…. but wait till the Final Fantasy XIII review(Hopefully soon). I want to my characters in Different Spirits (Partially Ethan and Clare) in this way so people can connect to these characters in the same way I do.
Anyways, that’s it for now! Before I go, I do want to stress that I do have a donation page, and I use everything for this website. If you enjoy this content, want a free wallpaper, or just want to help out, please donate via Buy Me A Coffee.
Thanks for reading, have great day, share if you enjoyed it, and take care.
Written by Nana Marfo
​Extract taken from The Importance of Imaginary Role Models written by LightningEllen for AmbiGaming
​Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts(C)Square Enix
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