Female characters and avatars in video games underlying the filmic narrative: evolution, roles and transgressions

Abstract

Introduction and objective. Avatars have been used in a multitude of contexts, especially in the field of video games. For decades, cinema has been using these gamified virtual environments as an inherent part of the film plot for its characters to develop and represent the realities that exist. The aim of this research is to focus on those female characters and avatars of those films whose plot is marked by the use of a video game, to analyze their evolution, roles and possible transgressions. Methodology. A discursive filmic analysis of 20 audiovisual productions and dozens of female characters and avatars was carried out. Results. A clear evolution of these is observed, where in recent years the seventh art has been raising original implications between the relationship between character and female avatar. The main roles found are that they tend to be: objects of desire, warriors, video game players and, to a lesser extent, computer scientists. It is shown that the video game serves as an alternative space for female characters, through their avatars, to liberate themselves and express themselves in a different way to reality. In addition, some films use them to reflect on issues such as body image acceptance, gender and sexual identity, and sexual orientation. Conclusions and contributions. The contribution and originality of this work lies in the fact that, although the subject of female avatars in their multiple contexts has been dealt with a lot, little has been analysed in the cinematographic panorama and, even less, in such a holistic way within the video games that cinema has included. It is concluded that such films are a good portrayal of the evolution and implications that female characters and avatars have played in video games used as engines of the filmic plot.