If Ben was a female...
I remember reading a lot of threads that suggested that Carley was chosen over Doug because she was a female. I know the whole reasoning is actually more complex than this, but this has already been discussed in detail in many Carley VS Doug threads so I'd like you to focus on my upcoming question. Would people have liked and have been more sympathetic towards Ben if he was a female character (by sympathetic I don't just mean would you save him but whether you would feel more sorry for him).
Is Ben as a male expected to be more competent at protecting Clementine and a braver individual? Would anyone who killed him be more likely to save him at Crawford?
What do you guys think (assuming that Ben's mistakes have remain unchanged)?
Also another different point is whether you think other characters would have interacted differently with Ben if he was female.
Comments
I think people have a tendency to dislike other people when they remind them of their own shortcomings.
I think this was the case with Ben.
I'm certainly more like him than any other character in the game.
Not sure if this would change had he been female.
Gender was irrelevant to my choices, I chose Carley because she had a gun and thought she could use it to save Doug if it was the other way around and Doug had a gun have chosen him, I saved Ben at Crawford because i thought it was the wrong to just let him fall to his death (but that still happened anyway) and Clementine's vote made me feel bad "we don't leave friends behind" He was never that capable of protecting people and was a bit of a coward like when he left Clem in the street and he could barley use a gun when he needed to.
very sick and offensive to rape victims
The first thing you're introduced to about Carley is her shooting a walker in the head and then shooting more in the head. When you're introduced to Doug, he fucks around a bit with a universal remote.
That's why less people picked Doug. If Carley was a male crackshot it'd still be incredibly lopsided.
I think Doug was meant to be the option for people who wanted to conceals Lee's identity from the group.
Yet still most people chose Carley.
I think at least some of it had to do with her being a charming woman.
These are a lot of good points. I just remembered a quote from Chuck that says something along the lines of "age/ gender etc. don't matter the only thing that matters is whether you survive or not". In the TWD universe it appears that people don't really care about gender so much as age. There appears to be a preference to protecting young children first and foremost (such as Clementine) or women who happen to be pregnant. After all many adults in the game seem protective to Clementine because she is an 11 year old kid. Whereas Ben although still young is already a teenager and in this apocalyptic world teenagers seem to be equivalent to adults.
I picked Doug in the first place, because he looked to me like he needed the most help. I don't care about someone's sex or gender (unless I'm looking to get laid). My Lee also saved Ben every time he could, even though he was a shithead. I mean, I did feel bad for him, but he was SERIOUSLY a frustratingly dopey kid. Male or female is irrelevant in issues of character, zombie apocalypse or not.
LAWL
I picked Carley and I was always really nice to Ben. Hell, Carley was really nice to Ben too. He was in waaay over his head.
You sir are a creep
I picked Doug cause Carley could have stomped the walker with her foot.but i watched her die.The choice was irrelevant Doug was in a compromising situation and Calrey wasn't .And speaking of Ben ,if Ben was girl Kenny might have been easier on him and wouldn't blame him the death of his family.
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Oh what like the guy's "rape" comment was any better
His comment was not funny lol and yours was mean
That another interesting point, although many players of the game claim that the gender doesn't affect their choices, other characters in the game might be influenced by this. I agree with what you said about Kenny, a lot of his ideas such as his role about protecting his family suggest that is the role he views men to have. Also his quote about Ben guarding the motel while Lee and him are hunting which was something like "The kid is on watch again let's just put a sign says the men are gone come rape our women and children" suggests that he himself also feels that males have an important role in protecting the rest of the group.
And rape isn't?
Uh yea of course?
Good. Glad we agree.
Let me rephrase that for you: The kid is on watch again let's just put a sign says the men are gone come rape our women and children.
If was a female he probably would have said differently
Thanks I couldn't remember the quote off the top of my head
I'll just edit that. I think his quote would have been similar though if Ben had been a girl because Ben would have fallen into both the women and children category. But like I said Kenny thinks the adult males Larry/ Kenny/ Lee are the protectors and although Ben is considered a kid by Kenny he is also considered an old enough male to be responsible for his actions which is another reason why Kenny strongly blames him for his family's death.
The problem of Ben that he does something before he thinks .The deal with the bandit was OK nut when he removed the hatchet that was just stupid but i wouldn't blame .I mean Clem did the same thing Lee died because she was too young and stupid to realize the consequences.
It wouldn't have changed much for me since I did what I could to have kept him alive. I chose Carley mainly because she'd subconsciously proven herself useful several times, like saving Duck and Lee and showing a skill with firearms. That and she seemed like more of an interesting character in terms of how she knew of Lee's past.
My thoughts on the subject exactly.
By sympathetic I didn't necessarily mean would you save him or not for example many guys tried to save Larry even though he near got you killed in the first episode because I think most people will try to save someone if the opportunity presents itself. By sympathetic I mean would you feel more sorry for Ben if he was female? For instance even though Rebecca (the pregnant woman) is mean you still feel sympathy towards her because she is pregnant, compared to if she had merely been a male (with a pregnant wife) that was mean to Clem. Although I suppose a lot of the sympathy would be directed to the baby having to be born in this time period, rather than Rebecca herself.
In front of Clem?
Absolutely no fucking difference, at all. I can imagine that rule 63 Ben would get along with Clementine and Molly better, but that's it.
You need to go to a therapist !!!
I saved Carley because I just preferred her character, and that paid off seeing as how she had much more screen time than Doug.
People would've been more... forgiving to Ben if he was female, sadly we're not in a gender equal society.
I probably wouldn't have saved her in Crawford if she was suicidial like Ben was.
Ben wouldnt have been as hated if he was a girl. I didnt hate him but I feel other people may have been more sympathetic
I really dont think doug/Carley was too down to the gender though again some people may have been more split
I was against him. Nobody needs to rape anyone in front of Clementine.
If he was a female he'll be the game's lori
I saved Ben in Crawford, not because he was male, or I thought he'd be a good protecting figure to Clementine, but because he deserved redemption. He made a lot of stupid choices, but I feel like he only wanted to help the whole time. Ben deserved just as much of a chance as Kenny or anyone else in the group did. Had Ben been a female, given she had made the same choices, my opinion still stands. We make stupid choices, but everyone deserves a chance - especially in a world like that.
Its really hard to say. Sometimes fans are more hard on females.
From day 1 I knew Ben was gonna be a frightened kid and how he was. But I live Ben otherwise!
I "chose" Doug. By that I mean that I liked both and pretty much just clicked on the first person I turned to.
Doug also reminded me of myself in real life.. so there's that..
I think the situation with Ben would have been better if Ben straight up confessed. I knew it was him from the beginning, before I even found the bag of drugs, because he was acting so nervous whenever I brought up anything to him.
I would've thought less of whoever left Clem alone in the street and removed the axe from the door, regardless of their gender, race, or system of belief.
I always gave Ben the benefit of the doubt. He was my buddy, and he was always my buddy.
Man... By the time I got to the train I just wanted to leave the disfunctional group. Kenny was being an ass because I didn't help with larry(he was also suicidal), Ben had compromised the whole group and was partially responsible for the whole catastrophic event that made 4 people leaving the group(lilly, duck, carley and katja). Thank god for Omid and Christa(him I liked from the start, her I thought a bit of an bitch at first, but she grew on me, very reliable). So, for me, I didin't want to be with any of them anymore, regardless of gender. Like many, I also chose Carley because of the gun(she also saved me twice before the "choice"). My choices in terms of group was based on how reliable they are. I also didn't let Ben die. I don't kill people because they are fuck ups, just leave them behind(even though clementine didn't want him to be left behind, I did vote against him).