While i was writing this post i read that Carrie Fisher died from what it looks like right now complications as result of a earlier hearth attack, So let me pay my respects to the first lady of Star Wars. While i have no personal connection to Carrie Fisher, her work both as an actor and outside have been a inspiration to me and many others. She will be missed but it is in a way fitting that she ended her career working on the same franchise that catapulted her in to the spotlight and in the long run gave her a platform (and that maybe in it´s own way claimed her life in the end) Rest In Peace.
Now back to your regular scheduled programming
I held off on making this post because i wanted to get a better image of any impact it might have. You see in it´s latest free comic for Overwatch Blizzard presented us with Tracers girlfriend. This in it self should not raise many eyebrows, after all characters are presented as having partner all the time in the entertainment medium. But you see, Tracer is ofc a girl. So this is political in many ways. Not only is it a pretty much unseen example of representation, a character that is not only well established and given a rich backstory but that is also the face of the brand. Tracer is the de facto poster girl for Overwatch, having been not only in the initial marketing material but also on the standard box art. Now i am a very cynical human being that honestly do not trust humanity at large to handle anything more dangerous then a sponge without trying to hurt them self or someone else. So i walked in to the Blizzards and other forums expecting to see a full and utter shitstorm... And to my delight and surprise i found very little of that (if one does a signal/noise analysis) sure you had some trolls trying to fan the flames and some people who seemed outright sad. But for the most of it people where either indifferent or positive. Most felt that the introduction by the way of a comic with family as the theme was fitting and not forced. Many like me also felt that the act it self carry a lot of weight but that it does not really change the character. Tracer is still Tracer.
So Blizzard have issued a challenge of sort, proving that you can make someones sexuality a non-issue even if it breaks the typical mold. Tracer is not defined by her sexuality, she is defined by her personality (and that she is sort of unglued from time... As one tends to be. ). Who she dates is at the same time not important but also very important from the perspective of representation. Because the more exposure something gets, the more "normal" it becomes. This is an aspect i feel some people miss when they say thing like "we do not need the Pride movement" or "why can´t we just keep things like that in our homes."
Rocking the boat is always going to create people who want to get back to status quo. Even if they are part of the community doing the rocking. But if nobody ever rock the boat, people in general will never know they are actually on the boat.
So thank you Blizzard for doing this and... well... Cheers luv, the cavalry is here.
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