

“Why Does It Matter?”



On Representation in Games









Mardu Ascendancy art by Jason Chan

A minor revision in an installment of Amonkhet Magic Story has stirred up conversation on the /r/MagicTCG subreddit. According to /u/sad_panda91 in this comment thread, Chandra said the following to Nissa: “So, friendship… if that’s all that you’re comfortable with right now.” which was later changed to, “So… friendship?” For a few stories now, there have been indications that Chandra might be bisexual, and with all the discussion surrounding this concept, I would like to address one particular question: why does it matter that sexual (and other) minorities be represented in Magic, or in any game for that matter? Well, to begin with:





Representation helps to accurately depict the diversity of our world.

Have you ever heard of the Bechdel Test? It is a litmus test for a piece of media having the barest minimum of female representation. It asks: 1.) are there at least two female characters in this work of fiction who 2.) have at least one substantive conversation with each other that 3.) is about something other than a man? If you start applying this to blockbuster movies, you’ll find that surprisingly many of them fail utterly. Isn’t that odd? A plurality of people on earth are female, and so much media does not address that simple fact. This particular point matters because:





Representation validates identities

Validation is a complex concept and deserves a bit of unpacking. To ease this process, let’s pull up an oft-cited example of representation in Magic Story: Alesha, Who Smiles at Death. Alesha is a canonically transgender character who becomes Khan of the Mardu Clan on the plane of Tarkir. Just her existence can be validating in at least two ways. One: it lets players “see themselves” in the game. Let me make something clear: I am not saying that transgender Magic players are incapable of identifying with a character unless that character is trans. However, shared experiences make for strong connections, even connections to a character in a fantasy world.

As for the second type of validation: it lets people outside that identity understand that the identity exists and is valid. Speaking at least from my personal experience of being transgender (male-to-female), I can tell you that some people simply do not believe that transgender people exist. I have (on very few occasions, thankfully) had people close to me tell me that they think I’m insane, full-stop. And one fantasy trans character isn’t going to change that perspective any time soon. But the sum total of a society where trans people exist and where trans people can continue to be represented in media… that might help people to change their minds. It also helps teach those with no preexisting opinions that people of varied identities exist.

In response to points like these, I occasionally hear, “But why do we have to make a political statement in our games?” My answer: this is not a political statement. Transpeople exist. Gay people exist. (I should know, I’m both of those things.) Indicating that they exist is not political, it is an acknowledgment of fact.

Alesha’s story helps lead us into my final thought for today, which is:





Representation helps to tell varied stories

I love this point because it deals almost solely with the mechanics of storytelling, and not opinions about the identities themselves. Put simply: we find it boring when stories are too similar to one another. As varied as human identities are, we have a wealth of differing real-world experiences to draw from, to use for telling stories different than those told before. Alesha isn’t just some random transperson plopped into Tarkir: she used the Mardu’s system of war-names to take a name that suited her actual gender. That concept lives at the intersection of trans idenities (from our world) and a specific aspect of Mardu society (from Tarkir). Neither half is an entirely original story thread, but together they create an engaging tale that has likely never been told before.

That concludes this spontaneous quasi-article from the brain of Bryce. I’m always happy to discuss gender, sexuality, and representation, whether it’s with the broad strokes of media, or the individual bristles of personal experience. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask them on this Tumblr, on my Twitter, or privately through my email. Anything discussed over email will be held in confidence. Thanks for reading, and until next time, happy planeswalking.