We will be discussing the portrayal of disability and wealth inequality in the game and analyze the impact that may have on the audiences.

Hello, and welcome back to our podcast on Heavy Rain. This podcast will be divided into two segments. First, we discuss the violence against and the sexualization of women in video games, and how those tie into Heavy Rain, before diving into an analysis that is counter to the narrative put forth in the game: How are mothers depicted, and what do these depictions say about society’s understanding of parental roles? 

Bibliography:

Beck, Victoria Simpson, et al. “Violence Against Women in Video Games: Prequel or Sequel to Rape Myth Acceptance?” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 27, no. 15, 2012, pp. 3016–3031, https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260512441078.  

Mendelytė, Atėnė. “Thought Experiments in Video Games: Exploring the (Un)Ethics of Motherhood in Frictional Games’ Amnesia: Rebirth.” Games and Culture, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120231153715.  

Spindler, Emily. “She Contains Multitudes: Exploring Motherhood Through Games.” GamesHub, 24 May 2023, www.gameshub.com/news/features/exploring-motherhood-and-games-2617232/.  

Music for the episode – “Maybe Tomorrow” performed by Grant Green on his album, Visions, published by Blue Note Records in 1971 

Sources: Broidy, 2001; Broidy & Agnew, 1997; Moon & Morash, 2017; Agnew, 2006; Hoffman, 2010

In this episode, Kyle and Miranda introduce the game Heavy Rain. They delve into a summary of its characters before starting a conversation on depictions of mental health. They continue with a look at how Heavy Rain uses aesthetic information to create an environment of sadness to reinforce the depictions of mental health, before concluding with their overall thoughts on the game.

Bibliography: 

Ovandal. “Mental Health in Games.” YouTube, 8 Mar. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=idyUrJHdDPc.

Shapiro, Samuel, and Merrill Rotter. “Graphic Depictions: Portrayals of Mental Illness in Video Games.” Journal of Forensic Sciences, vol. 61, no. 6, 2016, pp. 1592–1595, https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13214. 

Zagalo, Nelson. “Narrative Design of Sadness in Heavy Rain.” Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts, vol. 9, no. 2, 2017, p. 47, https://doi.org/10.7559/citarj.v9i2.246. 

Dill, Karen E., et al. “Effects of Exposure to Sex-Stereotyped Video Game Characters on Tolerance of Sexual Harassment.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Academic Press, 18 June 2008, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103108001005.

Starwars.com Team. "LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is Here!" Starwars.com, 2 April 2022, https://www.starwars.com/news/lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga-is-here. 

Mukherjee, Souvik. “Video Games and Slavery.” Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association, http://todigra.org/index.php/todigra/article/view/60.

Starwars.com Team. "LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is Here!" Starwars.com, 2 April 2022, https://www.starwars.com/news/lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga-is-here.

Denning, D.G., Conwell, Y., King, D., Cox, C. “Method Choice, Intent, and Gender in Completed Suicide.” Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, vol. 30/3, (2000): 282-8, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11079640/

Hetfeld, Malindy. "Edith Finch and Finding Meaning in Materialism: First-Person Perspective." Eurogamer. 17 April 2018, https://www.eurogamer.net/edith-finch-and-finding-meaning-in-materialism. 

Schilling, Chris. "The Making of What Remains of Edith Finch." PC Gamer, 2 June 2018, https://www.pcgamer.com/the-making-of-what-remains-of-edith-finch/.

Works cited:

Joseph Anderson, “The Villain of Edith Finch,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bMn4CoyUkM&t=85s

Noelle Warner, "What Remains of Edith Finch’s family curse is ambiguity done right," https://www.destructoid.com/what-remains-of-edith-finch-family-curse-ambiguity-game-storytelling-done-right/

Works cited:

Shapiro, S., & Rotter, M. (2016). Graphic depictions: Portrayals of mental illness in video games. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 61(6), 1592-1595. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13214

Stigma, Gender Differences, and Mental Health – The SERVE Project, https://blogs.baylor.edu/gssw/2019/11/18/stigma-gender-differences-and-mental-health/