What Samus Taught 6 Year Old Dave
I think it is fair to say that the surprise at the end of Metroid has to rank amongst the all time great surprises in the Surprise Hall of Fame in Branson, Missouri.
And if that actually does exist, I am as surprised as you.
For those of you that don’t know by now, Samus is a girl. Yeah, that dude in the crazy cool power armor is actually a girl.
For 6 year old Dave, finding out that the crazy cool Space Bounty Hunter was a girl caused a mind explosion. Everything 6 year old Dave thought he understood about gender roles was turned upside down. I refused to believe it; I thought people were trying to pull a joke on me. It wasn’t until I saw it with my own eyes that I began to accept it. Samus was not only the most bad-ass Space Bounty Hunter ever.
She was a girl.
Other than Ms. Pac Man, there were really no other women in gaming. If a girl managed to sneak into a game, she would be promptly kidnapped and would need a man to rescue her. Not my girl Samus. Samus, would blast any would-be kidnapper in the face with a missile and then spin jump away. She wasn’t some helpless princess, she was a B.A.M.F. Long before Lara Croft was raiding tombs, Samus was saving the galaxy from evil Space Pirates and giant brains.
Finding out Samus was a girl was unlike any twist 6 year old Dave had ever encountered. Needless to say, 6 year old Dave had to rethink all his theories about the ickiness of girls and the frequency of cootie infestations.
It might seem a bit silly now, but like in an 80′s sitcom, I really did learn a valuable life lesson. Without saying a single word, Samus taught me a lesson that has stayed with me a lot longer than any lecture I have ever received about gender equality. Samus is wholly responsible for teaching me that women are just as capable as men when it comes to Galactic Space Bounty hunting.
Tags: Characters, girls, Lara Croft, life lessons, metroid, Samus Aran, super metroid
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:17 am
MrColinP says:One time, I was playing catch with an idiot and I convinced her that there was a “Catch Hall of Fame” for people that were really good at catching things.
August 26th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory says:Nobody told my old NES hintbook from the 80′s that Samus is a girl. The book constantly refers to Samus as a “he”. It also calls the morph ball “round ball”. Are there any balls that AREN’T round?
August 26th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Michelle says:I have a quiet appreciation of Samus – she’s everything a female game character should be
Intelligent, determined and badass – there aren’t many truely great gaming women imo but she’s definitely one of them.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Jonah "spambot" Gregory says:I remember not believing it when someone first told me. I’m pretty sure I thought she was a robot.
Once I finally did get the “good ending” and saw it for myself, I thought that was pretty cool.
August 30th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Christina says:Feminism at its finest.
Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem are very proud.