Editor’s note: the following is a discussion of the status of non-consensual sex in culture and fantasy, and necessarily employs some very charged terms. Please be warned before reading. If you don’t feel comfortable continuing, know that you have our sympathies.
By Kyle Carpenter
Tentacle Bento, the source of another whirlwind argument regarding the fictionalized portrayal of rape and its place in culture, is going to fade into obscurity within the next few months, but is for now the centre of much deserved discussion. In many ways a microcosm of the furor that arose over the infamous Penny Arcade “Dick Wolves” fiasco, Tentacle Bento refocused the debate because of the way the game implicitly revolves around the goal of rape, as opposed to a throwaway line in a gag strip.
The polemics of this argument are becoming well practiced. On one side, there is the suggestion that Tentacle Bento plays into a “rape culture,” which implicitly legitimizes violence against women; on the other, there are those who suggest that the media products under scrutiny are intended for consenting adults and resent the suggestion that they be censored. This latter group tends to suggest that comedy is meant to be subversive, and those alienated by these works should grow thicker skins or ignore them entirely.
The latter group, obviously, are insensitive to the realities of abuse and violence against women. However, what emerges in the “discussions” over these issues in gaming culture is a remarkable deafness for the points of the other group: there is a degree of insensitivity in both camps (although I certainly don’t wish to imply that they are equal in this regard – they aren’t). The question that is prompted by this situation, then, is what allows for this absolute inability to understand, or address, the ideological points of the “enemy” camp? I think examining the terms of the discussion, and then turning to the game Tentacle Bento itself, will provide some answers.
The Great Divide: The Terms of Debate
I am going to begin with a provocative point that I hope to justify in the course of this essay: Tentacle Bento is not about rape. I’m not defending the game in saying this, nor siding with its creators who disavow that it is clearly referring to the fantasy scenario of “tentacle rape” as developed in hentai anime and manga. What is absolutely clear is that the game uses the term “rape” as its implicit verb, that the game revolves around the word as its primary action and goal – but the game is not about the act itself.
The distinction I wish to make here is between fantasy and reality. Again, let me disclaim: this is in no way meant to defend Tentacle Bento, nor to suggest that this is not an implicitly violent and problematic game. However, what I think needs to be observed is that the disconnect that occurs in discussions regarding the game reflect precisely this division: those who denounce Tentacle Bento are all too aware of the awful reality of rape, PTSD, and the alienating threat of violence against women, and they bring this to bare in their criticisms. Their message is that the effects of rape are brutal and far ranging, profoundly affecting individual lives and perpetuating systemic discrimination against women. This is absolutely true.
However, what I think the defenders of cultural objects like Tentacle Bento intuit is that the matter becomes more difficult to parse when it enters the realm of fantasy. I hope I am not too controversial if I suggest that there is ample evidence throughout the brief history of psychoanalysis, psychology, and even fetish culture to suggest that the fantasy of rape, in any number of permutations, can be a part of individuals’ sex lives, both for men and women. Here, it is much more difficult to condemn – is it systemic violence when a couple role-plays a rape scenario? Should one feel ashamed for having such fantasies? If one does, or indulges in them at the level of make-believe, does one simply perpetuate “rape culture”?
This parallel structure – of fantasy and reality – appears to be the pivot point on which arguments regarding whether or not references to “rape” for comedic purposes are justified. Gender criticism attempts to remind us of the effects of sexual violence, while comedic works seem to refer more to “rape” as a fantasy, a perverse and illicit part of our cultural subconscious. These two positions appear to be essentially incompatible, so long as one is committed to either side.
However, while fantasy and reality are essentially different, they are also crucially related. The fantasy must gain its power, its excitement, from its illicitness and from certain subjective positions within society. In short, a rape fantasy is not simply politically neutral – it is incredibly charged, and that is the reason why it exists . Consequently, while I have some sympathies for arguments regarding “free expression” in defending fictional works that involve rape, it is disingenuous to suggest that they there is no relation between fantasy to life. There is obviously a relation, and it requires work and sustained examination to untangle fantasy’s roots from the reality of the situation.
Anatomy of a Cephalopod: Dissecting Tentacle Bento
Now would be the time to return to my uncomfortable claim: Tentacle Bento is not about rape. As I hope is obvious from the preceding paragraphs, what I mean by this is that Tentacle Bento is about the fantasy of rape. I think it is necessary to begin from this point to start unpacking the consequences of this tasteless game.
The action of Tentacle Bento requires around “capturing” cards, in order to collect more points than one’s opponent by the end of the game. In this, it resembles a number of games from classics such as War and Euchre to more contemporary fare like the Munchkin series of cards.
The problem, obviously, has to do with the fact that those cards have been presented as women – or more accurately, girls, and the action of the game is contextualized, in its implicit genre associations, as non-consensual sexual contact.
This is where we need to unpack the implied fantasy. The genres Tentacle Bento relies on – hentai manga, anime, and games – are heavily stylized depictions of sex, particularly of violent, rough sex, where the women involved give visible signs of enjoyment while nevertheless vocally expressing their non-consent. The message implicit in these images is “even though she doesn’t want this sexual contact, she really actually wants this contact.” When one realizes that hentai, as a genre, is a product specifically of Japan’s Otaku culture, it becomes easy to read these violent images as not only fantasies of revenge, but also of being, finally, accepted by the object of one’s sexual attention: “while she may look and act like she wants nothing to do with me, I can fantasize that deep down, she really wants to have sex with me and would deeply enjoy the experience.” It is a fantasy for the sexually alienated, for those who feel absolutely incapable of interacting with a member of the opposite sex in even the most nominal way. If we take this reading a little further, it seems clear that the monstrous tentacles reflect a profound disgust for one’s own (male) body at the same time as they suggest the power fantasy of domination over women.
One of the arguments raised by those who wish to defend media like Tentacle Bento is that it is patently absurd to suggest that those who play and enjoy such games are going to be encouraged to become, themselves, rapists. I think this is true, and an apt defense against some of the more vociferous gender critics who present violently polemical arguments; however, this is also a straw-man argument, reducing criticisms to an overly simplified model in order to more easily deflect them. This argument ignores a) that games such as Tentacle Bento deeply alienate women, and b) ultimately harm even the people playing them .
I think, and hope, the former aspect of the effects of this sort of game requires no explanation, as they are well covered elsewhere . I only wish to add that the accusation that those who do feel alienated need to grow thicker skins displays a rather hypocritical defensiveness. However, I think the second point needs some further unpacking.
At this point I wish to recontextualize my earlier argument: Tentacle Bento is not about rape – but it is about reducing women to a collectible, a bauble to be collected and used. This view of women is obvious in light of the mechanics of the game, where teenage girls are collected in a manner similar to pokemon. However, this idea also is apparent in the promotional and in-game artwork for Tentacle Bento. The girls depicted in the game are all painted in bright neon colours, while their personalities are reduced to simplified categories: cute, sexy, sporty, etc. Even the colouring of these “characters” is meant to suggest a gleaming, curved surface which indicates not so much the texture of flesh, but rather of plastic; it is as if even in their fictional life, these girls are statuettes or figurines, pre-made to be collected. Even as characters they are not women, nor even girls: they are toys .
This presentation of women allies itself to one of the most omnipresent and familiar aspects of nerd culture: collecting. It reduces the thorny issue of actually interacting with another human being to a mode of control that is ultimately a kind of retreat into one’s more obsessive interests, as comfortable as one’s bedroom or computer room. It generates a sexual interest in the plastic object as a substitute for the more “unruly” world of flesh and blood human beings who are less easily categorized, whose desires may not coincide with one’s own – who SAY no and MEAN no. Even if Tentacle Bento is a “satire” (and if it is, it is a satire on the level of The Family Guy), it nevertheless re-presents this fundamentally one-sided view of sexuality without comment or understanding.
This is why I feel defenses of Tentacle Bento as fantasy, as something to be enjoyed by consenting adults, fall short; there is nothing adult about it – the fantasy is fundamentally adolescent and undeveloped. While rape fantasies do exist, and can inform adult sexualities through practices of domination and submission , hentai fantasy is typically an excuse not to communicate with another human being or to engage in adult sexuality. It is a fantasy that tries to disconnect from reality in order to satisfy itself.
Conclusion:
This non-communication is what I find most disappointing about the hullabaloo that surrounds the game; it seems to me that there has been a commitment by those arguing both for and against the existence of the game not to engage with the arguments of the other. I can’t help but feel that this is in part because the intensely emotionally charged language of rape and rape fantasies help create a polemical atmosphere where it is easy to argue in absolutes.
What I want to be remembered, even once Tentacle Bento is forgotten, is that the issues of sexual violence extend past the issue of rape. What is uncomfortable for many of us to admit is that sexual fantasy often requires some amount of objectification and inequality in order to function, and “play” violence is often a component of adult sexuality. However, because violent fantasies exist does not mean that cultural creators have carte blanche to depict violent acts against women – not because they actively encourage violent acts, but rather because they tend to promote a non-recognition of women’s subjectivities. Fantasy is not reality – a game about rape is not tantamount to rape. However, fantasy DOES influence reality in subtle, surprising, and significant ways, and we need to be very attentive to what fantasies are doing.
“Careful examination” has not defined the polemics surrounding Tentacle Bento, although there have been thoughtful voices in each camp presenting their points. At the end of the day, what we do need to do is stop and listen to each other in an argument, and hear what the other person is saying; sometimes this means having to recognize our own assumptions and limitations. What we also need to do is look – REALLY look – at what we are talking about, and understand what its function is in culture.
If we can’t find these points of genuine interactivity, we’re not discussing anything . Instead, we’re all just typing at each other from our own computer rooms, littered with the detritus of our personal interests, obsessions, and missions. I think it’s time we stopped assuming we’re coming from fundamentally different places, and started looking for commonalities so that we can actually share some kind of relationship.
Don’t you?
Further Reading:
Formspring: Anna Anthopy on Tentacle Bento
“Pandora’s Lunchbox: Deregulating Decency with Dork’s Dollars” (Medium Difficulty)
“EQUIP WOLF SHIRST > USE: WHISKEY// On the Limits of Comfort and Warmth” (Medium Difficulty)
