Hate mob sets sights on Japanese video game 'Catherine' over usual nothing-burgers

catherine

Originally released in 2011, Catherine was remarkable for its take on human sexuality, which remains a rarity in the medium. Players take on the role of Vincent, a man caught between two very different women named Catherine. As he wrestles with his desires and temptations, Vincent experiences nightmares that players must overcome through puzzle solving—or it’s game over.

More than just a high-definition remaster, Catherine: Full Body offers new difficulty modes, story elements, and puzzles to solve—as well as a multiplayer mode previously missing from the original game. There’s even a new character named Rin who adds another layer of depth to the story.

Following the game’s announcement today, it wasn’t long before social justice warriors came out of the woodwork to regurgitate their protests about the alleged “transphobia” present in Catherine.

One of the game’s colorful cast of characters, named Erica, happens to be a post-op transgender woman. It’s revealed in one of the game’s possible endings after one of the male characters who hooks up with Erica complains that the sex was awkward, and that Erica—like the protagonist—struggles with sex-related nightmares.

Transgender activists complained that Erica’s struggles with sexuality carries a “transphobic” implication, in that she—like Vincent—is male. They also claim that the character’s complaint about Erica is an expression of “trans panic.” The game’s decision to use Erica’s “dead name,” Eric, in the credits, caused outrage.

“As much as I love Atlus’ Persona Team(s), they need to cut the shit when it comes to their poor LGBT representation,” writes game journalist C.J. Melendez.

https://twitter.com/CJMelendez_/status/943110058522574848

His views were echoed by other transgender activists in games journalism. Laura Kate Dale, a transgender writer for Kotaku UK, demanded that Atlus “fix” the game’s “problems.”

“If Catherine is getting a remake, can we please get Atlus to not dead-name their trans woman character in the credits this time? Better yet, maybe re-examine that whole “she gets nightmares because she’s really a man” plot line? Thanks Atlus, that’d be swell,” wrote Dale, whose remarks have since gone viral on social media.

“And, while I’m doing wishful thinking, did we really need the ‘Omg gross I accidently fricked a trans woman’ gag from one of the endings,” continued the game journalist. “That’d be swellllllllll.”

https://twitter.com/LaurakBuzz/status/943134792773787648

https://twitter.com/LaurakBuzz/status/943135483005153280

https://twitter.com/LaurakBuzz/status/943135777986359296

The game journalists’ views were echoed by a wide assortment of special snowflakes, who had words for Atlus about the representation of LGBT characters.

https://twitter.com/JusticeKazzy_/status/943185766976540674

https://twitter.com/kyonijimura/status/943183552845201408

https://twitter.com/thevriscourse/status/943242262963740677

https://twitter.com/FairlyLip/status/943251053692293120

Should Atlus change the way Erica (or Eric) is presented, the character may have a completely different impact on the narrative. It will be appalling if the creators cave to complaints at the cost of their creative vision.

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  1. 6 years ago
    Antonio

    I think too many Transgender people spend too much time in their safety bubble and forget the real world around them.

    Yes, a lot of people find Transgender Women unattractive.
    No, just because you’re a trans woman doesn’t mean that the nightmares that specifically targets males should spare you.
    Yes, using her dead-name is really disrespectful but lets not forget this game was published in 2011 where Transgenders weren’t as open about themselves as they are nowadays. Being subtle about it would probably result in a lot of people just not getting that Erica is supposed to be Trans.

    What those people completely ignore is that Erica looks stunning for someone who wasn’t born female. Or would people prefer if she was ugly like how a lot of trans women end up looking because their passing just sucks? If anything Erica shows that even Trans Women can look beautiful and that they struggle in everyday things because of who they are, which is how it is in real life. Stop getting offended because they use the dead name just to drive the point home of who this character is supposed to be without explicitly telling.

  2. 6 years ago
    jdgalt

    I predict that the abbrev “LGBT” (and its longer variants) are not long for this world. It’s because these days, the trans movement seems to be all about the demand that if you pick up someone — and then find out when the clothes come off that his/her body doesn’t have the parts his/her dress and grooming promised — you should have sex with him/her anyway. In other words, the troony’s feelings entitle him/her to violate your sexual preference.

    This demand (even when the target is a straight person!) goes directly against respect for other people’s sexual preferences, which is what the LGB movement was supposed to be all about in the first place. Thus trannies and LGBs have become each other’s natural enemies.

  3. 6 years ago
    Cormac

    It’s funny how trannies get so mad when people are grossed out by them, yet they go out of their way to look disgusting. Unlike cross-dressers on TV, who often look very convincingly female, real-life trannies usually combine elements of male and female appearance in a way that deliberately looks ridiculous and humiliating. Witness the current fashion of combining a full beard with over-done smokey eyes. It’s an absurd look, and I don’t believe they don’t know it. I mean, come on tranno’s, when your thing is to degrade yourself in public, you can’t then complain that you aren’t respected enough.

  4. 6 years ago
    wazzup

    Hey I have an idea, if you want a particular type of game with a particular types of character or characters, then get off your lazy whiny snowflake arse and create one yourselves. good luck trying to sell it to the masses.

  5. 6 years ago
    Noishkel

    Generally I just don’t give a damn about this moral panic over trans people, outside of the radical a-holes that want to redefine gender as a social concept and rush kids into early transition. But at the same time these activist can just get bent. Not everyone is going to agree with your opinion and not everyone is going to embrace your life style. Nor should ANYONE have the right to impose their moral beliefs upon another one in any situation.

  6. 6 years ago
    Z

    Game was great, they handled the issue of sexuality with the transgender character well. Disappointed to see pointless outrage from sjws but in other news the sky is blue. Hopefully Atlus doesn’t cave to these people but who knows. It’s not like these people played the game anyway(and in the off chance that they did, they won’t boycott the game if it doesn’t live up to their standards. They’ll buy two copies to review then ask others to boycott)

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