Sexy characters.

When I saw the final characters that Auriea created for Bientôt l’été I couldn’t help but chuckle. Just because they arrive at a moment when sexism is a hot topic in the games industry in the wake of E3. Here I was looking at two characters designed by a woman: a male character and a female character. The roles were reversed.

Completely according to the specifications inspired by the main characters in Marguerite Duras’ Moderato Cantabile, which serves as the basis for Bientôt l’été, the female character is strong, exudes authority and power and knows exactly why she’s here. She’s inspired by Anne Desbaresdes, the spouse of the business man who owns the factory and who lives in a gated mansion at the end of the Boulevard de la Mer. The male character is inspired by Chauvin, the rough factory worker who may have been stalking her, but is well aware of his social inferiority to the woman.

In Bientôt l’été, the male character looks handsome, mysterious, and highly desirable. Dressed in flimsy fabrics that you can easily imagine running your hand over while feeling every inch of the shape of his legs and shoulders and chest. He is obviously put on this planet to please womankind, and in particular the woman whom he will meet in the café at the seaside, after a lonely stroll on the beach.

Not to trivialize the serious nature of this project, but this kind of characterization fits well with Marguerite Duras. She didn’t seem to think very highly of men. But this expressed itself more in a sort of amused sympathy, not onlike how one feels towards a friendly pet. She certainly has deeply loved men. But I don’t think she ever considered them equals.