Of course, there's always room for them to fuck it up in MK11, but faith is earned, not
freely given, and I think Netherrealm does deserve the benefit of the doubt here, because
they earned it through MKX. Boy, do I have egg on my face right now...
I'd like to start by addressing a few concerns I've seen in regards to the video on MKX's
LGBT representation. I wasn't suggesting that Mileena's orientation is a result of her desire
for acceptance, or that orientation works that way in the real world. Granted, a character
convincing themselves they're a different orientation out of desperation could be an
interesting story to develop. I think what I was getting at was that a more open orientation
makes sense to give to that type of character; same with a character who uses seduction for
their own ends like Tanya. And that's not to imply that bi people are promiscuous or
devious, just that a seducer character has more story opportunities if they're bi.
I also wasn't suggesting that the lack of explicit claims of Jin being gay was what
made it good, or that a good character can't have their orientation be an important part
of who they are. The player's ability to ignore or miss the reference isn't what I was talking
about. It's that the game made Jin a character distinct from his orientation and didn't feel
the need to bash you over the head with it or use it to market the character. If they
were to be more explicit about it in a later game and make it more prominent, while still
giving him other stuff to deal with, it can still work.
In retrospect "nails" may have been a tad hyperbolic, but MKX did still handle the subject
matter a hell of a lot better better than most media before or since, and it laid the
groundwork for a more in-depth, more explicit exploration of his orientation in the sequel.
But MK11 has no LGBT characters. Mileena is dead, so fair enough, even though the time
travel gives them license to bring her back easily. But Tanya and Jin are also missing
and no explanation is given for them, which is really strange for Jin. There is one intro
where Lao tells Cassie that Jin returned to the White Lotus, but that just raises the
question of why he wasn't defending the temple when Geras and friends attacked, and why he
wasn't in the shaolin army at the end. Any explanation where he's not in the areas we
visit in the story would be enough. I'm not even asking for him to show up, especially
since, given how boring, or even creepy and dark a lot of the hetero interactions in this
game are, maybe it's for the best those three sat this one out.
Now, I don't think it's a huge knock against the game for not having them. A character
doesn't deserve to make the cut just for being a minority (or to be immune to death, for
that matter). If they offer nothing unique to gameplay or story, their slot can be better
utilised by someone else. But this game just seems to exude an unearned smugness about
the franchise having a gay character in it, despite him not being brought back here.
Characters mention Jin a fair bit in intros, where they talk about how cool he is and call
him Kung Lao's nephew instead of cousin for some fucking reason. But what I really find
frustrating is this intro:
Kung Lao: "You know of Kung Jin's interests."
Raiden: "You sit in judgement, Kung Lao?"
Kung Lao: "Of my family's shameful treatment of him."
My issue with this intro is that it feels like the team wanting to get progressive points
for having Kung Lao voice disgust in his family's mistreatment of their gay relative, but without
having to put in the effort of actually depicting said relative. It's possible the writers were
making an earnest attempt with the character list they were given, wanting to address and
confirm Jin's orientation even if he's not around. Maybe they were working within the
limitations of still getting the game released in certain homophobic regions. But to me,
it really doesn't come across that way.
I also question how Raiden from the time of MK2 knows about Jin's orientation when he's
super young by that point and most likely hasn't discovered his sexuality himself yet.
Hell, some intros seem to suggest Jin's not even been born yet, so... how does Raiden
know? And Lao talking about such a sensitive topic with Raiden seems a little strange to
do right before a fight, and also disrespectful to Jin's privacy, unless we establish Jin
as being open about it himself. Something like this, maybe:
Kung Lao: "Where is Kung Jin?"
Cassie: "He's on his honeymoon. With his husband."
Kung Lao: "Well, I'm glad he's comfortable with it."
This would imply that he's open enough about it that other characters discussing it is
okay. Plus, it avoids the bog standard "gay character's life is fucking awful because
everyone around them hates them for being gay" storyline that seems to be the one plot
characters who are gay are allowed to have. Letting him be happy defies that expectation
and gives his arc of seeking acceptance some closure, even if he's not around. It doesn't
fix the issue of it being an odd topic to come before a fight, but sometimes you have
to work within unfortunate limitations.
As for the other intro, maybe if Lao was instead thanking Raiden for being there to make Jin
feel like he had a place where he belonged when his own future self couldn't be there
for him, it might have come across as more heartfelt, because it goes deeper into Lao's
mindset than the fairly shallow "Kung Lao says don't mistreat gays" message of the actual
intro.
Kung Lao: "I hear you will guide Kung Jin in his time of need."
Raiden: "All mortals deserve a place to call home, Kung Lao."
Kung Lao: "Thank you for being there for him when I couldn't."
Another thing that might have helped that intro come off a tad more genuine if they
added something to compensate for what was removed. I don't think the writers get much
say, if any at all, in which characters make the playable roster, so you shouldn't aim
your frustration over the removal of the representation at them. However, they do seem to have a lot
of control over the pre-fight intros. So, why not use that?
With all the random, out-of-nowhere, ultimately inconsequential relationships MK11 intros
and endings introduce, like Erron with Skarlet and Nitara, or Kabal with Sareena, why are
they all heterosexual? Why isn't at least one intro used to establish a character as
gay or bi or asexual? Even an obvious, and therefore underwhelming, choice like Cassie
or Erron would be something. And since it's not in story mode, you don't have to actually
make an effort to depict it beyond saying it exists. Maybe Erron is more open with his
sexuality and alludes to a male partner of his. Maybe same-sex relationships were common
among the Osh-Tekk and Kotal Kahn has had a male partner before. Maybe Cassie is exploring
her own sexuality at this point in her life. Maybe Kuai Liang is straight-up asexual or
has a repressed sexuality. Or, give some of that Jacqui since,
while a character isn't inherently interesting for being LGBT,
it can add some personality to a character, and God knows Jacqui needs some of that.
Sonya: "How are things with you and Bob?"
Cassie: "Actually, I'm giving things with Lauren a try right now."
Sonya: "I guess some things did get better after the '90's."
Of course, not everyone should necessarily be positive about it, and I'm not talking
about having a villain be randomly homophobic.
Noob: "What are you, fucking gay?"
You could have a hero who's a bit unsure about it. Not full-on against it, since that's way
overdone and there wouldn't be nearly enough time to have a satisfying arc of acceptance,
but just having them be a bit uneasy with the idea and eventually coming around to it
would be enough. But not Past Johnny. That's too obvious. Maybe if this was what caused
the rift between Cassie and Past Sonya, it might have been less frustrating to watch
play out than Sonya reading half the file and getting mad about it like a child.
Other interesting angles you could take a crack at include Tanya returning and exploring
how Mileena's death affected her. Maybe she works for Kronika to get her restored. Maybe
she didn't actually love her and is pissed off that all her hard work amounted to nothing.
Either way, she'd be a more interesting part of Kahn's group than Skarlet, especially if
Kitana has to convince her to join the Outworld alliance. Though, I'm sure they'd have had
megabitch Twindel deride Tanya for her relationship with Mileena.
It's shocking that there's nothing like that here, but Skarlet's borderline incestuous
feelings towards Shao Kahn get brought up more times than is necessary.
And guys, I get that some of you want to fill the void of representation left after MKX,
but getting upset that the devs didn't make WindWolf, Fire and Ice, SubSmoke or CassieXFrost
canon is a bit immature. Not every pair of friends or enemies wants to fuck. Same with
Kung Lao and Jade, while I'm at it.
I've also seen people get mad that Cassie Cage, who in MKX was "coded gay" didn't turn
out to be gay in the next game. No. Way to stereotype the looks of gay people. Honestly
this fucking fandom sometimes...
Additionally, the lack of explicit LGBT characters doesn't mean the game is all heteros. Most
of the characters don't have confirmed orientations at all. And I don't think any characters are
actually confirmed as straight. Some characters are confirmed to like the opposite sex, but
does that mean they're definitely not into their own? Not really. Mileena wasn't shown
to be into women from 1993 to 2015. You can't say that Scorpion, who has exclusively had
eyes for Harumi since 1992, is hella gay for Kuai Liang and then claim the heteros far
outnumber the LGBTs. You need better arguments than that.
If you liked this video, why not subscribe and support me on Patreon like these fine
people here? If not, then make sure to share it with your enemies so they can suffer along
with you.
Today's recommended video is Mortal Kombat 11 : Kano SUCKS by SonicHaXD. Because we all
know that no one in the MK universe is gayer than Kano is for himself.
Kano: "Don't you just look peachy."
Kano: "If it's tail you want, we'll get along just fine."
Kano: "And I thought Cage was up himself."