Bayonetta: Sexualization Satire and Prudishness

[Chancey289]

So, in the midst of playing Smash. Bros., practicing more with Bayonetta, talking with my good friend Tam who's a big fan of her, and playing a little bit of Bayonetta 2, I think I've come to a startling realization about the series and what its concept truly is.

You see, I've said before that I don't think Bayonetta is all that attractive physically. In fact, I think this ISN'T the game you should play if you're looking for sexy. You'd be better off playing something like DOA: Extreme Beach Volleyball.

Bayonetta is so grossly out of proportion, that it's kind of like when boobs stop being hot because they're too big. It becomes less sexy, and more of me thinking how detrimental they must be to that person. You get what I'm saying right? Like in hentai when oversized, ridiculous boobs and penises are just weird and really not sexy. That's kind of how I feel with Bayonetta.

All of this seems like an exaggeration on human perfection, and how a sexy character "should" be, which leads to me to my next point.

Overall I think Bayonetta is a satire on sexualization in games, and at heart, about prudishness. Maybe I'm late to the punch on this, but I will explain anyway. Especially since I always use to write Bayonetta off as just over the top sillyness that isn't very intelligent, but knows exactly what it is.

You see, as a society there's no denying we're all very weird when it comes to sex. I mean, The Walking Dead can showcase someone organs getting ripped out (on regular cable mind you), but as soon as we start having people getting busy with their naughty bits it's "HIDE THE CHILDREN, WE CAN NOT EXPOSE THEM TO SUCH DEPRAVITY!"

Hell, people get all bent out of shape when a girl's nipple slips, or a mother decides to breast feed in public. I remember a Studio Ghibli movie having to be censored because a woman's boobs were shown, and since it's a kids film, they just couldn't be exposed to such natural things.

You can blame whoever for that, but that's not the point. It's when people say Bayonetta is a character that takes charge of her sexuality, it's like it implies sexuality is some wild, untamed beast that needs to be locked up somewhere or held back. It never employs sexuality in context of a relationship or seducing anyone, it's used primarily in combat.

She uses S&M moves and stuff to torture and kill monsters. For all it's overt sexiness, maybe it's all rooted in prudish notions that how society thinks sexuality is something dangerous. Not really progressive, but an exaggeration of backwards thinking. Poking fun at all this.

At the end of the day, maybe why this concept of Bayonetta only works because society as a whole is so hung up on screwing like it's a bad thing. And that's a shame. In a perfect world, Bayonetta would walk in a room, doing her thing, and no one would bat an eye. We'd all look at her like she was trying to hard as we continue on with the orgy.

Or maybe I'm overthinking Bayonetta (of all things) and it isn't as smart as I'm giving it credit for here, and is just Kamiya's wet dream in video game form and nothing more.

Whatever, I thought this analysis would be fun. What do you think? Should I just go to bed? Comment below and let me know!

 

[Foxtrot94]

Interesting point of view I guess, but I still think she's just Kamiya's wet dream, as you put it.

 

[xMobilemux]

I think I read somewhere on one of P* tweets, blogs or game guides(can't remember where) that Bayo had her long legs, broad shoulders and such designed that way so she was tall, physically imposing and what not like how most male heroes are tall, muscular and physically imposing to their enemies, cause we've all seen sexy fighter girls before like in DOA and such and how they look like normal small, thin girls taking on big foes, when we look at those girls we just think they're sexy, I think they wanted to make her seem like that so she looks physically imposing as well as sexy and different to those "just sexy" game girls.

Like how Raiden is a front flipping cyborg, Dante has white hair and is a charismatic sword & gunslinger, Kratos is a black guy with pale white skin(which raises no racist issues surprisingly) and an angry asshole while Bayonetta is.....well what she is.
I think they wanted her to stand out like them.

Though that's just what I read or vaguely remember reading.

I do find Bayonetta attractive though.

 

[Lain]

I do find Bayonetta attractive though.

Preach it brother.

Spoiler: Somewhat NSFW

But in all seriousness, I just can't see Bayonetta being satire.

 

[Chancey289]

I think I read somewhere on one of P* tweets, blogs or game guides(can't remember where) that Bayo had her long legs, broad shoulders and such designed that way so she was tall, physically imposing and what not like how most male heroes are tall, muscular and physically imposing to their enemies, cause we've all seen sexy fighter girls before like in DOA and such and how they look like normal small, thin girls taking on big foes, when we look at those girls we just think they're sexy, I think they wanted to make her seem like that so she looks physically imposing as well as sexy and different to those "just sexy" game girls.

Like how Raiden is a front flipping cyborg, Dante has white hair and is a charismatic sword & gunslinger, Kratos is a black guy with pale white skin(which raises no racist issues surprisingly) and an angry asshole while Bayonetta is.....well what she is.
I think they wanted her to stand out like them.

Though that's just what I read or vaguely remember reading.

I do find Bayonetta attractive though.

There's a way to make a girl look imposing and intimidating without giving her weird giraffe limbs. She just comes off as weird looking, not imposing.

If that was really their excuse behind her odd appearance, then it just makes the idea behind her kinda dumb. So maybe I am giving Bayonetta more credit than it deserves because maybe the developers just are a bunch of prepubescent minded individuals who think they know what sexy is.

Also, I don't think Kratos is black, he's just got a darker complexion when he's not wearing his family as face paint.

 

[Foxtrot94]

a bunch of prepubescent minded individuals who think they know what sexy is.

Well gee. Guess what's sexy is not something subjective at all huh.

 

[Chancey289]

Well gee. Guess what's sexy is not something subjective at all huh.

Well, yea, but giraffe ladies aren't my thing.

In all seriousness, you do you people. Like what you like, I won't judge, unless you like weird Juggalo porn or something.

I guess I really can't talk, I have a thing for monster girls and alien chicks. Like the demon girl Kneesocks, or Miss Martian from Young Justice.

Ok, forget I said anything because I'm a kink monster.

Just Bayonetta isn't sexy to me. That's all. Don't take everything I said there literally.

 

[Viper]

You people do realize Bayonetta was designed by a woman? The only thing Kamiya asked for were glasses.
To me Bayonetta looks at times like fashion sketches and other times like cartoon characters aimed at children. Come to think of it, the second is pretty much the first. XD

 

[Chancey289]

You people do realize Bayonetta was designed by a woman? The only thing Kamiya asked for were glasses.
To me Bayonetta looks at times like fashion sketches and other times like cartoon characters aimed at children. Come to think of it, the second is pretty much the first. XD

Yea, I know she was actually designed by a woman. But she's still primarily Kamiya's creation and I was just doing an analysis on what I think the whole game is trying to get across.

Now granted, this could just be my interpretation and I'm overthinking this silly game, but I try.

 

[V's patron]

Overthinking things is what Forums thrive on bro

I could see it as a commentary on sexuality since Bayonetta was divisive at the time of her debut because of her sexiness/sexuality. I initially joined that bandwagon but after playing the game it stopped being a big deal. Its only noticable in the beginning because if you pay attention to it, your probably gonna die.

EDIT- There are talks of her being a stronger character because of her sexuality which i can see.

 

[berto]

To me Bayonetta looks at times like fashion sketches

She is designed as a fashion sketch. Just look at the concept art.

Spoiler: CONCEPT ART

Something like this wouldn't stick out:

Also that exaggerated hip sway everyone seems to think is over sexualized walkin is an exaggerated runway model walk. Bayonetta's designer was told to make her fashionable and so she looked at the work been done in Milan at the time. Bayonetta's proportions are meant to be that of an over-idealized fashion model. Just look at the way she stands.

Spoiler: Stand

Specifically at the curvature of the spine. That is literally an impossible stand. From the neck to the top of the spine, that is not how the human backbone is shaped and anyone with this actual curvature has a deformity, but it does look like something out of a fashion sketch of a woman posing on the runway.

As for the who 'command her sexuality' I agree that it sounds like sexuality is something to be tamed and it's a very prudish way of looking at it. A more accurate description would be that she wears her sexuality on her sleeve. The thing about that is, though, when it comes to sex Japan is both tremendously liberal and ridiculously prudish. In exchange for been a very stern and uptight culture Japan's media is where they vent all of those inappropriate things they don't allow themselves to, it's why horror mangas are so... brutal? Extreme? From the point of view of Americans it's this shocking and shameless display of sexualization but for other cultures it's kinda endearing how over the top it is and it's hardly vulgar, just silly.

She uses S&M moves and stuff to torture and kill monsters.

In all fairness the only S&M attack is the wooden horse. Guillotines and Iron Maidens aren't in your standard S&M club. All other torture attacks are one that were once used on witches throughout history, she uses them as retaliation for the sins against her kin. They never specified if she had any personal experience with these things but that part isn't that sex-centric. The punishments are more so than the actual torture attacks.

Or maybe I'm overthinking Bayonetta (of all things) and it isn't as smart as I'm giving it credit for here, and is just Kamiya's wet dream in video game form and nothing more.

It's all relative. The people who made the game put a huge effort forth. They learned a ancient medieval angelic language to give the angels a unique speech, the background designers used the works of Antonio Gaudi to reference the city of Vigrid, every item has it's history rooted in actual folklore and mythology and so on and so forth. All these things take thought, effort, imagination, and time and these are staples of intelligence but at the same time the game is so goofy and farfetched that it's hard to describe it as smart. It's all relative. Like most thing there is more to Bayonetta than what's on the surface but that doesn't mean it's not also the staff's musings on the ultimate woman or Kamiya's fantasies of one.

 

[Shadow]

Interesting assessment. I always thought Bayonetta was just supposed to be a representation of a woman who really had nothing to fear. Strong, confident, accepting of her sexuality and willing to use it as a weapon (it's been a year or so since I last played, but she kinda jerks Luka around in a flirtatious manner, right?). And I always kinda liked that because, as you pointed out, society's pretty prudish about that stuff; chicks in games either fall into the "is this secretly porn?" category or the "designed to appease the PC/we-must-always-be-practical crowd"...so, to have a female character who flaunted their sexuality is awesome.

But I think @berto is right: she's really just a fashion sketch/model come to "life". The poses, the walking, even some of her fighting stances, none of that's really natural or comfortable (I've tried some of it; the only thing that kinda works is the way she stands and that's cuz my back's weird and I'd been wearing a corset at the time; that pose released some of the corset's pressure). Though...doesn't mean she wasn't someone's fantasy or something.

For the record, I think she's hot. Look at those legs! I'd climb her like a friggen tree if she wanted me to. <3

 

[absolitude]

can't say anything since i never played the game, but that is a fine writing chancey..

Interesting assessment. I always thought Bayonetta was just supposed to be a representation of a woman who really had nothing to fear. Strong, confident, accepting of her sexuality and willing to use it as a weapon

apart from that sexuality part, i find those other qualities in XIII's lightning; beautiful, strong, confident, cold, determined and cool ofc.. something scary and intimidating in real life, veeeeeeeery unapproachable.. i'll just admire her from afar, behind a wall, biting my nails..

 

[berto]

it's been a year or so since I last played, but she kinda jerks Luka around in a flirtatious manner, right?

Like a cat with a mouse?

 

[Chancey289]

In all fairness the only S&M attack is the wooden horse. Guillotines and Iron Maidens aren't in your standard S&M club. All other torture attacks are one that were once used on witches throughout history, she uses them as retaliation for the sins against her kin. They never specified if she had any personal experience with these things but that part isn't that sex-centric. The punishments are more so than the actual torture attacks.

.

Well, yea, I mean I've never seen guillotines and iron maidens in kink clubs (but I have seen people pull out elaborate sets of knives for knife play), but she still totally uses this stuff and acts in a sexual manner before she kills them. Like bending them over and spanking them before the guillotine decapitates them.

Interesting assessment. I always thought Bayonetta was just supposed to be a representation of a woman who really had nothing to fear. Strong, confident, accepting of her sexuality and willing to use it as a weapon (it's been a year or so since I last played, but she kinda jerks Luka around in a flirtatious manner, right?).

For the record, I think she's hot. Look at those legs! I'd climb her like a friggen tree if she wanted me to. <3

Luka is weird. He goes back and forth with wanting to kill Bayonetta and bone her silly.

 

[Shadow]

Luka is weird. He goes back and forth with wanting to kill Bayonetta and bone her silly.

He could be denying attraction due to guilt. Guilt over his father's death at what he assumes is her hands while he survived (survivor's guilt) which turned to anger and a need for vengeance over the years. Added anger and guilt for finding her attractive despite that. Hating someone doesn't get rid of the desire to sleep with them (if anything, it seems to make it worse cuz you're channeling so much passion and thought into it...if the amount of people I've chatted to who enjoy hate sex is anything to go by). It does make things really confusing, though....

 

[Chancey289]

He could be denying attraction due to guilt. Guilt over his father's death at what he assumes is her hands while he survived (survivor's guilt) which turned to anger and a need for vengeance over the years. Added anger and guilt for finding her attractive despite that. Hating someone doesn't get rid of the desire to sleep with them (if anything, it seems to make it worse cuz you're channeling so much passion and thought into it...if the amount of people I've chatted to who enjoy hate sex is anything to go by). It does make things really confusing, though....

Eh, I've never slept with anyone who I was angry with beforehand, so I wouldn't know. I think it would kill the mood.

 

[berto]

if anything, it seems to make it worse cuz you're channeling so much passion and thought into it...if the amount of people I've chatted to who enjoy hate sex is anything to go by

Sigh...

Do I have to worry about you?

 

[Shadow]

Sigh...

Do I have to worry about you?

N-no...nope...not at all.... -clears throat nervously- Just...uh...just a sweet, innocent lil writer here. Yep.... >_>

 

[Chancey289]

N-no...nope...not at all.... -clears throat nervously- Just...uh...just a sweet, innocent lil writer here. Yep.... >_>