2008 2
In Fable on the Xbox there´s gay love and gay marriage
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in General with No Comments
My 13 year old son Tom and I were playing a game called Fable on the Xbox in our living room. In this game you become a character who roams a medieval world and you choose to be good or evil, you can fish, you can cook, you can buy a home and engage in commerce. Interestingly you can also find a bride and fall in love, or in this modern day fable, you can find a groom and fall in love (but you can only be a man character in this game). Tom and I were pretty surprised to learn that in this game there is gay love and gay marriage. Much to our surprise a man came towards our male character with a big heart symbolizing his homosexual attraction to us and asking us to buy him a wedding ring. We passed. As much as I am in favor of gay marriage in real life among consenting adults I am not sure that I endorse gay characters proposing to my 13 year old in Xbox games.
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Paul RODTS on April 2, 2008 ·
It’s not a question of endorsing or not, in my country all adult couples have the right to marry each other (except if they are close family members) and they have also the right to adopt children…This is real live…I am a realist most of the time, so this is democracy.
Josu on April 2, 2008 ·
“I am not sure that I endorse gay characters proposing to my 13 year old in Xbox games”
So, ¿heterosexual characters proposing to your child would be ok? I think this is what they call discrimination for sexual reasons, and xenophoby (in the meaning about fearing the different).
Lantz on April 3, 2008 ·
It happens on real life too, I don’t see why it should be hidden. So why not on the video game?
Lucas on April 3, 2008 ·
I don’t understand if you are only allowed to marry male characters (players) or if you can also marry female (AI) characters; so are they ‘allowing’ or ‘forcing’ the male to male marriage?
Marc on April 3, 2008 ·
You shouldn’t forget that fable is a game intended for adults only (the image posted on the wikipedia article show it’s mature on its bottom left corner), so it’s kinda normal to find adult themes there.
If you don’t want your son to be offended by this kind of behaviour, you should consider to buy him games made for his age, there are lots of them.
Lucas: when I played the game no male character came to me. I only married female characters (the plot forces you to marry at least one female). I think it depends on how kindful you are to them, but as I had to offer lots of flowers and jewelry to make one female fall in love with my character, I guess you have to be very very kind to a male to make him want to marry you.
And, as this is a single player game, even the other male characters are AI.
Martin Varsavsky on April 3, 2008 ·
Well Josu,
My son likes girls and he sees nothing wrong in girls coming on to him, but he was quite surprised when a guy wanted to go with him in the game.
Martin Varsavsky on April 3, 2008 ·
Yes Marc, that is also true.
My son downloads these games without me watching what he is doing.
Kitagua on April 3, 2008 ·
@Paul
I totally agree with Martin. It is not a question of democracy! Just because some people think that being gay is the right way or cool or fashion does not imply that this is right and of course not that i need to have the same opinion. And personally i want my kids to know what i am thinking of it and of course i would try to educate them my point of view. So the alternative where i have to accept something you call reality would be some kind of dictatorship or?
@All
In reality things have changed oh yes. But this does not necessarily change my opinion! This would imply i would have to accept e.g. crime or (not so fair comparision but still true) pedophilia. Both happens a lot today but i think most (if not each) of us would decline this or?
I want my kids to have mother and father and not father and ?!? There are reasons why there are differrent genders at all! So call me a non-realist but all i do accept is that there are people (a minority!) that have another opinion and lifestyle. And this minority (to come back to the subject democracy) is powerful enough (in my opinion because it is trendy) to overcome the opinion and lifestyle of a majority (e.g. allowing gay marriage) . If this would be a question of some people wearing pink jeans instead of a blue one ok. But kids learn at school that being gay is totally ok and that they better accept it today then tomorrow. People that are somehow familliar with the different stages of a kids life know that during puberty things are going crazy! What a great idea to teach them that they are possibly gay. This is something that possibly influences their whole life. Oh yes wait. My answer to the question: Are there gay people in the world or not? I think most of them are not really. They escape into something they hope they find ‘the’ solution in for other problems. A minority of them are doing something that in my opinion is not right and if you like – call them gay. One last thing. There are really some terrible cases e.g. kids that are born with both genitals. What are they man or woman? Someone is deciding this and of course in a 50/50 choice there must be errors. But i am not so familiar with these topic so i do not have an opinion there yet instead of that i feel really sorry for them.
Ciao
Kitagua
Paul RODTS on April 3, 2008 ·
Dear Kitagua,
My girlfriend is Ethiopian and she thinks that being gay can be changed by therapy. I understand that in some cultures this is the opinion. I am quite sure that people are born being gay or not…In marriages with man/man or woman/woman with children, there are not more children that ‘become gay’…You are what you are, and some things you can’t change…Friendly greetings..I agree to disagree with you on this topic.
Marc on April 3, 2008 ·
Josu (#3), “xenophobia” does not refer to fearing the different as you say but rather the foreign (“xeno” in Greek). Another LOGSE victim…
Josu on April 3, 2008 ·
@Kitagua
“Just because some people think that being gay is the right way or cool or fashion does not imply that this is right”
I remember that not so long ago white people couldn’t marry black people, and that wasn’t the right way neither. Hopefully nowadays it’s not against the law. Do you agree that accepting people’s rights is a goog thing?
If your opinion about homosexuality is that it’s wrong and trendy, and that laws supporting gay right’s and gay marriage are accepted because they’re laws for a trendy community, I realise that you don’t understand what a democracy is.
Elena on April 3, 2008 ·
What are we more afraid of in this society: our kids playing violent video games where they get to kill and murder or video games where our kids may cross paths with homosexuals? It seems to me that you’re more threatened homosexuality than violence.
Josu on April 4, 2008 ·
Marc (#11)
You’re right Marc.
Is there a word meaning “To fear the different”?
Emmanuel Chriqui on May 2, 2008 ·
Hi Martin,
( I know this is an old post, but) this article may be of interest to you.
Responsible parent on July 6, 2008 ·
The game fable is not M for mature just because of homo erotic themes there are actually several reasons like decapitations and alcohol, Spousal, neighbor, chicken, and child abuse I don’t think that is very appropriate for children.
Michael on October 20, 2008 ·
Don’t buy ‘mature’ games for your 13 year old, then get offended at the content. That’s like buying him an R rated movie and getting mad that they got naked and cursed… what kind of sense does that make?
Agustin on October 21, 2008 ·
What you are suffering is a strangeness due to your age.
Kids and teenagers understand homosexual love, without thinking that they have to do one thing or the other -that is BE straight or BE gay-. What you considered “normal” (that awful XIX century concept) is no longer the same thing for them.
So be happy that this is happening and that your son is already outgrowing you, instead of allowing your conservative set of mind to take over…. or go and vote for the PP, Republicans or Pro
Whitehead on November 8, 2008 ·
Just do what I do. If you see a guy coming toward you with a heart over his head, hit the space bar to target the little perv and chop his head off. It doesn’t work in Bowerstone because no weapons are allowed but you can tell him to follow and exterminate him outside the city gates. The game will count it as an evil act but only a minor one.
um...so what? on March 6, 2009 ·
Um…why does it matter? i think your son should learn that in real life there are these types of people. what if you were a girl playing the game? i dont want to marry a woman…or if you are gay what can you do? if you dont like it…ignore it! you aren’t REQUIRED to marry them. so let them be. it is an option for those who choose to accept it. why is a man marrying a man an “endorsement” to your son? what? do they come over and flash themselves at you? no. they just like you. and if you choose to not accept their proposal…then they dont DO anything to you! there is no sexual reference or anything. games are becoming accepting and so should the world. why do people think loving someone is a bad thing?
Greig Hamilton on April 27, 2009 ·
I think you should get over yourself! You are being homophobic, you might not see that you are, but you are!! Digging a hole! You wouldn’t have said “I am in favor of gay marriage in real life among consenting adults” if you thought that people would initially agree with you and not think your being a bit “out of the times”.
There is nothing wrong with it in the games, in fact I say well done to Lionhead and Microsoft for it. It is completely natural and “with the times”.
The fact that you don’t have a problem with a woman in the game proposing to your son, but do with a guy is a tad stupid. PLUS I MUST ADD, READ THE COVER OF THE GAME ITS FOR 15YO AND UP, SO TECHNICALLY YOU CAN’T MOAN YOUR SON WHO IS 13 IS PLAYING IT …
Anyway, point I am making is, take a chill pill and live with it!
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Elena on April 2, 2008 ·
It’s called Cognitive Dissonance.