Heroines with Baggage
A video essay using footage taken directly from the snes Final Fantasy 3 (US)/6 (Japan). The video deconstructs the game by displaying the trajectories of 2 of the only 3 playable female characters..in a game with 14 playable characters. The sheer lack of female representation in the game is less surprising (far fewer females reportedly played video games in 1994 than today) than the way they are represented. Both characters mention their desires to experience love nearly every time they speak (unlike male characters that do not need to mention it at all), and are introduced with "fallen woman" baggage. Despite their strengths and the plot focus around them, the two characters always remain projections of archetypal powerful-yet-victimized women.