Practice Firewatch HL Essay

How do the makers of firewatch satisfy the different male fantasies through their depictions of the female characters?

The makers of Firewatch satisfy the different male fantasies through their depictions of the female characters through Delilah’s linguistic features, which contrasts to the descriptions of Julia, Henry’s wife. I will also be exploring how Julia- Delilah’s contrast attributes to the watchers adoration of Delilah. Delilah’s voice without a body to attach to allows the imagination to run free, players can make up their own ideal image.

Introduction:
In this essay I will be discussing the videogame Firewatch, published in 2019. It is an adventure game, whereby the players become a character called Henry. Henry takes a job in a national park in Wyoming, and becomes friends with Delilah, another lookout in the national forest via the walky talky. The available choices the players of the game can make influence the relationship between Delilah and Henry. I will be analyzing the producers of Firewatch depiction of female characters, and how these satisfy different male fantasies. The creators of Firewatch explore this through Delilahs linguistic features. I will also analyze how the contrast between Delilah and Julia, the wife of Henry, attributes to Firewatch’s depiction of the ideal woman. Additionally, I will also look at how the lack of physical description of Delilah contributes to the ideal male fantasy, as every man can imagine their ideal female as a matching description of Delilah.

The contrast between the description of Juliah and Delilah, the two main female characters discussed in Firewatch. Their contrasts highlight Delilah as a female ideal, whilst Julia becomes the dependent women. This is from a common distinction created between women since forever, but this trope was modernised in TV during the 1990s. It is where women are either independent or dependent. Independent women, distincted by the name, are usually depicted as self-sufficient, strong, smart women. They often are single and emit a certain ‘cool girl’ image. Often, these characters in literature are heavily dramatised and overemphasized to show the authors awareness of modern women, although this ‘independent woman’ depiction caters towards the male gaze. Delilah, in Firewatch, is also known as an independent woman- she is not a damsel-in-distress, she is intelligent (sometimes more than Henry) and is interested in whatever Henry/ other players of the game is interested in.

Paragraph 2: Delilah’s lack of physical description allowing imagination to run free, players can make up their own ideal image. Delilah is known as an unseen character, and we get to know her personality through her conversations with Henry. This allows the players to imagine whatever physical description suits their ideal woman, whilst also connecting with her on a personal level.