#1 is pretty much how I feel about the whole thing. Even IF her feelings on aliens are shitty, I am willing to bet cold hard cash that if she were a guy, fandom would be all over him.
And definitely agreeing on the aliens aspect. Not mentioned is how she's suspect of having aliens on a human military vessel. Even if they WEREN'T aliens, I think she'd be suspect of having any sort of non-military person aboard what is a highly secretive and advanced ship. It could have been way, way too easy for anybody to get on and sell out the Normandy's secrets to Saren or otherwise. She rightfully calls out having random people dragged onto the Normandy.
I am willing to bet cold hard cash that if she were a guy, fandom would be all over him.
Exactly. A male version of Ashley might still cause some raised eyebrows for the opinions on aliens, but it's no secret that fandom at large is much more forgiving of male characters' flaws than it is of female characters' flaws.
She rightfully calls out having random people dragged onto the Normandy.
Yep. Even I raised my eyebrows a bit at the idea of blithely inviting Wrex along on the mission based on one 20-second conversation. Not because ZOMG HE'S AN ALIEN, but because he's a mercenary. It helps that he gives Shepard the payment for taking out Fist, but he's still someone who kills people for money. What if someone who really wanted the Normandy's secrets had come along and offered him some outlandish sum to sell Shepard out? I had similar wariness about Zaeed in ME 2, actually.
I do think this line shows a bit of misunderstanding of people who have a different viewpoint to you on this matter. I dislike Ash for her outspoken prejudices and it has nothing to do with Wrex or Garrus - I'd not even started bonding with them on my first playthrough by the time I'd switched off to Ash.
I wasn't saying that everyone who hates Ash does so because she suspects Wrex and Garrus. But I've seen her get a ton of hate for the fact that she can kill Wrex on Virmire ("She killed my awesome bro Wrex?! Eat nuke, bitch!"), so that's primarily why I suspect that, for some people, it may also have been a factor even before Virmire. But yes, like I said at the beginning of the post, reasons for hating Ash are as varied as the people who hate her.
And I'll add that it really irritates me when people call Ashley racist, because she can't be. Humans are an oppressed minority in the Mass Effect universe. Her initial distrust of aliens is perfectly justified. I think a lot of people have trouble comprehending that humans are like cockroaches in the eyes of the galactic stage at large; little better than batarians or quarians. The turians attacked us, the Council kicked us into the verge and left us out to dry, we had no voice in government (and arguably still don't have much sway even in a human attended Council), tensions on the Citadel only -escalated- after the Sovereign Incidient (with alien on human crime and resentment rising, so says Bailey
( ... )
You know, I had never even thought of it that way before, but that's a really great point. The games definitely get across the idea that humans are the newcomers and tend to be not-so-popular, but since we play as Commander Shepard, Savior of the Galaxy, it's easy to forget just how rough life can be for humanity as a whole. Ashley (like any other character) is at least in part a product of her environment, and like you said, that environment is decidedly not human-friendly.
I had never heard of fundamental attribution error before (*is ignorant*), but after looking through that article, it exactly sums up how I often feel fandom views Ashley. It's so nice to finally have an actual term to put to that feeling!
I also think she's subject to the fandom's (at large) negative slant toward human female characters.
Mass Effect's human women do tend to get a disproportionate amount of hate from fandom, don't they? (With the possible exception of Kasumi--it seems like everyone loves Kasumi.) I think that definitely says a lot about
( ... )
The games definitely get across the idea that humans are the newcomers and tend to be not-so-popular, but since we play as Commander Shepard, Savior of the Galaxy, it's easy to forget just how rough life can be for humanity as a whole.Exactly! As Shepard, we're used to getting our way and hanging out with the cool folk who like and respect us. And when a character IS rude to us, we almost always show them up (or, y'know, kill them.) We feel like we're on an equal playing field, if not at an advantage
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Comments 6
And definitely agreeing on the aliens aspect. Not mentioned is how she's suspect of having aliens on a human military vessel. Even if they WEREN'T aliens, I think she'd be suspect of having any sort of non-military person aboard what is a highly secretive and advanced ship. It could have been way, way too easy for anybody to get on and sell out the Normandy's secrets to Saren or otherwise. She rightfully calls out having random people dragged onto the Normandy.
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Exactly. A male version of Ashley might still cause some raised eyebrows for the opinions on aliens, but it's no secret that fandom at large is much more forgiving of male characters' flaws than it is of female characters' flaws.
She rightfully calls out having random people dragged onto the Normandy.
Yep. Even I raised my eyebrows a bit at the idea of blithely inviting Wrex along on the mission based on one 20-second conversation. Not because ZOMG HE'S AN ALIEN, but because he's a mercenary. It helps that he gives Shepard the payment for taking out Fist, but he's still someone who kills people for money. What if someone who really wanted the Normandy's secrets had come along and offered him some outlandish sum to sell Shepard out? I had similar wariness about Zaeed in ME 2, actually.
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I wasn't saying that everyone who hates Ash does so because she suspects Wrex and Garrus. But I've seen her get a ton of hate for the fact that she can kill Wrex on Virmire ("She killed my awesome bro Wrex?! Eat nuke, bitch!"), so that's primarily why I suspect that, for some people, it may also have been a factor even before Virmire. But yes, like I said at the beginning of the post, reasons for hating Ash are as varied as the people who hate her.
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And I'll add that it really irritates me when people call Ashley racist, because she can't be. Humans are an oppressed minority in the Mass Effect universe. Her initial distrust of aliens is perfectly justified. I think a lot of people have trouble comprehending that humans are like cockroaches in the eyes of the galactic stage at large; little better than batarians or quarians. The turians attacked us, the Council kicked us into the verge and left us out to dry, we had no voice in government (and arguably still don't have much sway even in a human attended Council), tensions on the Citadel only -escalated- after the Sovereign Incidient (with alien on human crime and resentment rising, so says Bailey ( ... )
Reply
I had never heard of fundamental attribution error before (*is ignorant*), but after looking through that article, it exactly sums up how I often feel fandom views Ashley. It's so nice to finally have an actual term to put to that feeling!
I also think she's subject to the fandom's (at large) negative slant toward human female characters.
Mass Effect's human women do tend to get a disproportionate amount of hate from fandom, don't they? (With the possible exception of Kasumi--it seems like everyone loves Kasumi.) I think that definitely says a lot about ( ... )
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