by Steven Sukkau
I have a strong suspicion I may be a vile person. For the most part, I enjoyed the Hitman Absolution trailer, “Attack of the Saints”. I loaded up the video, consumed what I thought was a striking, if somewhat average piece of marketing media, and went about my day.
Technically, the video is stunning. I actually made a double take, unsure if the trailer was live action. My favorite pieces of media have often come from Blur studios that routinely create artful marketing trailers of such quality that they outstrip the actual product represented. I love these things, and I assumed the Hitman trailer was created in the same vein.
Then Twitter erupted.
One of the major voices in this was Brendan Keogh wrote, who noted the “conflation of hypersexualisation and violence” in the trailer: “Violence against women in media is fine. It’s when it is conflated with sexuality that it reinforces rape culture and becomes unacceptable to me,” Keogh said, and he goes so far as to say the medium of video games is unworthy of the respect we so earnestly wish it had, not if we keep creating and purchasing “filth like this.”
It seems I missed some crucial themes here, and caused me to reflect on my initial viewing to discover whether it was my apathy or inattention that left me without any red flags. After re-watching the trailer, I can’t help but feel a viewer’s reaction is tied to the expectations you take in with you. It could be suggested that Keogh and my own apathetic reactions to the trailer are both valid; in order to defend my own, I would suggest that there are heavy hints in the trailer as to its intended tone and genre that should have prepared viewers for the sexual violence that follows.
Killing people is vile. There is no justification for murder and certainly sexualized murder that preys on women, and I thank God for the people throughout history who have taken a stand against violence and defended women’s rights.
But here’s how I left the viewing without a strong emotional reaction; there are multiple hints at the messages embedded in the trailer, all of them pointing to something akin to the “grindhouse” genre where violence and sex are expected as tenets of the story; the sex and violence are “generic” in the sense that they belong to a genre, rather than being commonplace. I want to ask then: if the trailer had more of the signs of being a grindhouse game – like the flicker of film grain and even campier action, as shown in games like The House of the Dead: Overkill, would the Hitman: Absolution trailer have incited the same response?
My feeling is that with grindhouse, the genre is able to contain things like sex and violence in a way that is agreed upon; those who are drawn in by the exploitation of sex and violence because it is not part of their lives. In an interview with grindhouse collector and distributor Mike Vraney for the Seattle Times , Vraney describes grindhouse theaters as typically running long hours, sometimes nearly 24 hours a day, shutting down only to clean up and kick out transients. They were a place to see the lowest-end movies, made in the shortest periods of time, for the lowest budget. Add to this bad acting, crude props and egregious, if not hilarious, continuity errors.
To take a grindhouse movie seriously would reveal a lack of understanding of the genre.
The principal evidence of grindhouse genre is sleaze and gratuitous violence consistent with 1970′s campy sexploitation films. Whether it’s bikini-clad women defending the planet from zombies or aliens or the pornographic nature of sexploitation, the genre was defined by depicting vulnerable women.
And while the Hitman trailer lacks the low budget and continuity errors it does seem determined to recreate the grindhouse atmosphere. The shots of hyper sexualized assassin nuns and their high powered rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers is merely fulfilling the genre requirements of exactly the over the top sexualized violence that Keogh laments. For instance, the trailer immediately plays into the nunsploitation genre (yes, that’s a thing ) subverting the image of pious nuns by revealing a more depraved nature. Consequently, the Hitman trailer exemplifies the nunsploitation of films like “Killer Nun,” or “Nude Nuns with Big Guns,” all of which feature nuns in dangerous and erotic situations. as a recognizable trope.
The action that follows is characteristically full of sex violence and absurdity. In this genre, images like strippers with machineguns for prosthesis are normal, as filmmaker Robert Rodriguez proves in Planet Terror. Grindhouse is, as a genre, equal parts exploitation, sleazy and slasher horror. And if viewed with this lens, could we reasonably be upset with Hitman’s depiction of women and violence? Somehow, it has to register as a different type of fantasy, one that includes sexy nun assassins killing and being killed.
Immediately, shots like the opening scene of a darkened sky and run down motel evoke a gritty atmosphere. The sexy swagger of the nuns, the tight leather, the teardrop tattoos, the striptease, and the high-powered rifles announce a genre that is defined by sex and violence almost as clearly as the title “ Nude Nuns with Big Guns. ”
This leaves me with the question: would you buy a ticket for “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” and leave the theatre upset?
The counter argument, of course, it that gaming should still be “better than this,” but would we also suggest that the sub genre of exploitation film degrades the medium of film itself?
Vraney, the grindhouse afficionado, says “All film is interesting, and it’s all important, and it’s all labors of love. Anybody who makes a film, it’s like having a kid.” He adds that grindhouse films have been stepping stones into the industry, such as cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs who got his start on films like “The Defilers” and “The Notorious Daughters of Fanny Hill” only to work with Steven Spielberg on “E.T”.
So why aren’t film aficionados up in arms against bad movies? Because they can reassure themselves in the medium’s intrinsic integrity by re-watching A Streetcar named Desire?
The question becomes, does the existence of the grindhouse genre degrade the medium of film as a whole and reflect poorly on fans of film? If not, how can the grindhouse inspired video game trailer reflect poorly on video game fans?
Vraney suggests, “All film is interesting, and it’s all important,” noting when disasters strike and people feel insecure, he sees people turning to old grindhouse films.”I’m talking about a psychological reaction to a huge disaster,” he says, suggesting that people turn to this extreme material as a comfort in uncertain times.
This is why I wonder if viewers like Keogh would have had the same reaction to the trailer if they had watched it with the expectations of a genre like a grindhouse flick. If it had been understood as specifically a piece of exploitation cinema, I don’t think there would have been any surprise or shock to the images it contained.
As a final note, I want to turn to a conversation between Dennis Scimeca and Keogh on Twitter. After a bit of an argument, Scimeca asks what the world gains when a few become publically upset over material like the Hitman trailer?: “Awareness, perhaps?” Scimeca asks.
“Yes, awareness,” Keogh answers. “And I would argue awareness is enough.”
If so, then maybe it is possible to enjoy something like the trailer for Hitman: Absolution responsibly, without endorsing violence against women or playing into unhealthy social systems. And maybe awareness of genre, of the silliness of “exploitation,” as well as the potential threat of that material, allow us to enjoy the spectacle of a bald dude killing leather nuns in the rain – because we know it’s a style of storytelling that’s all about doing things that are wrong.
Does this trailer demean games? Or is it a sub-genre similar to grindhouse films? I’m glad Keogh’s piece made me think about this, but I also thought the trailer was pretty cool, and will probably play the game. Hopefully, having this conversation will make that okay.
