Year in Review 2018 Letter Series: Marvel’s Spider-Man-Spider-Man Gets A LOT Wrong, But It Gets Its Women Right
Jo,
If I’m being honest, the emotional story beats were the main thing that kept me invested enough to see this game to its conclusion. When the collectibles, non-stop street crimes, and repetitive base fights had me bored to tears, frustrated, and ready to shelve the game for good, the personal relationships were what convinced me to stick it out to the end, especially Peter’s relationships with the women in his life.
The key word here is “women”. Six women are mentioned in the game, though only five of them are actually seen on screen. Despite this all six are agents in their own right, and provide nuanced takes on femininity and womanhood. Are some of them a bit tropey? Sure. Yuri as a workaholic cop, and Silver Sable as the badass female villain can be a bit much at times, but there are enough of them in the story to keep if from feeling like a parade of stereotypes who represent the game’s feelings on women generally. Take notes, Sony Santa Monica.
Each of them has an impact on the world outside of how they contribute to Peter’s life. Even Black Cat, who’s never actually seen in the main game, demonstrates her influence through her collectible missions. The notorious cat-burglar is back, Peter and law enforcement alike are playing the game on her terms, and she’s always one step ahead. Because she is able to take action in her own right she’s more than just an idea. You can feel her making moves in the background, even if we don’t get to see her in person before the first DLC, and it reinforces her existence in a way that makes her off-screen presence intriguing instead of wildly frustrating.
The women we do see are all agents outside of their relationships with Peter as well. They have careers, families, and agendas that matter to them which exist entirely outside of how they feel about and interact with him. This agency and freedom from Peter’s orbit allows them to be more than cold workaholics, overbearing/abusive mothers, or Mary Sue romance options. They’re people in this world, and because of that their relationships with Peter are more genuine and believable.
MJ’s struggle over how she feels about letting him get close again romantically is a compelling sub-plot because she’s a fleshed out character with her own life and stakes, one of those being that she doesn’t want to be let down or hurt again. The same goes for May. Yes, she loves Peter and is willing to help him out because she raised him, but she also can’t always stay on top of him, or do more than worry over the phone because she has her own life and responsibilities.
Even Yuri has stakes outside of Peter in her career. She’s clearly worked hard and through several uphill battles to get where she is, and her hesitance, and even anger towards Peter when he messes up or goes against her orders is understandable because we as players have an inkling of what she’s been through to get where she is and what her career means to her, even as she’s balanced precariously within the bullshit of police rank politics (which is another reason why Peter’s relationship with the police in this game is endlessly frustrating). These relationships feel alive and real because they’re between independent actors, instead of a self-insert protagonist and the puppets that surround them.
I think that’s what makes this version of Peter so compelling. He’s not trying to relate with robots who are basically programmed to love or hate him depending on circumstance. He’s interacting with characters of all genders who have motivations of their own, and is trying to balance that with his own desires and problems as best he can. This makes him just as relatable as his trouble paying rent, still pining over an ex, or trying to pursue a dream job does.
Like I said in my first letter, I think this game has a lot of problems, and its treatment of the other characters and Peter’s relationships with them doesn’t excuse that. But there’s something to be said for a game, flawed as it may be in some of its other societal depictions, that manages to treat its women characters well. It’s sad that going into 2019 I still have to say that, but this year has been a pretty big indicator that this industry still has an awfully long way to go.
Unlike its other colossal 2018 peers however, the heart of this game and the respect it pays to its cast and their humanity makes me hopeful that whatever’s next for the franchise can grab hold of the threads that were disappointing and/or problematic, and pull them in a new direction that capitalizes on what they’ve already established. It’s probably a long shot, but a person can dream, right?
