Marvel's Spider-Man's Mary-Jane Face Model Calls for an End to Unacceptable Behaviour

I don't get how people can go through the entire process of hunting someone down, finding their place of employment and leaving voicemails and not once think that this might be a bad idea.

There is a lot of misogyny within the gaming community, especially towards real life people. Look at how Laura Bailey was treated for her role as Abby or Lily Gao for RE4 remake. Look at how a lot of people hate character designs for prominent female characters like Aloy just because they aren’t sexualized. It’s not just one gaming fandom, there’s seeds in all of it. There needs to an accepting culture facilitated across the entire gaming industry. I don’t know how we get there, but it’s absolutely a necessity.

@Deoxyr1bose Sadly I don't think it's just a gaming problem. It's a problem with certain fans that go out of their way to harass people regardless if it's video games. It happens with tv stars, movie stars, etc. It's feels like it's more of a mental illness issue where people think they've done nothing wrong by harassing people.

@ATaco there are some seriously unbalanced people out there. It's not just people in the public eye either as anybody can fall victim to this kind of harassment be it online or otherwise. Unfortunately when it's a celebrity figure it's reported more prominently but its a common thing and it's not good.

@get2sammyb it’s something mentally wrong with those individuals. Also i believe this will fuel the need and want for using AI generated models in the future…

@jamison1993 Yeah I don’t even need to mention the Star Wars fandom. The internet has definitely facilitated more harassment in entertainment industries, especially to groups that have historically received hate. People are more connected, and thus it’s easier to become numb and feel disconnected with the words you’re saying and how they impact real people.

@Deoxyr1bose I don't think gaming is a misogynistic thing at all. Men get harassed too (it just never gets coverage) and it's not just women who are over sexulised in gaming either. Have you seen some of the male characters especially lead male characters? When was the last time you saw men in real life look like them in your everyday life? I get the point you are making but it's not as simple as that.

@Deoxyr1bose - As prominent as that is these days, I’m not sure if that’s the case here. There wasn’t any mention in the message about the people attempting to get in touch with her spouting hateful messages or anything like that, just that “some followers” attempted to contact her directly (one via phone) when she would prefer them not to, which, to me at least, sounds less like misogyny and more like an invasion of privacy. I could be mistaken on that, but that’s how it read to me.

She looks way prettier than Mary Jane's character lol

@ATaco They don't think at all, that's the problem

I'm tired of the extremists on both sides of this conversation tbh.

I'm tired of the misogynists who still want videogame women to look like 1990s Lara Croft. But at the same time, wanting beautiful women in your games is not the same thing and I am tired of those people who make out that it is.

And I'm especially tired of the smug level of strawmanning that both sides seem to go about during their arguments which sadly I'm already seeing here in this thread.

The problem isn’t related to any “community”. It’s just general humans being idiots. For every normal person, there is a nincompoop to match.

Is this actually anything to do with gaming? Reprehensible of course, but unfortunately par for the course in modelling, whether connected to gaming or not.

I’d have never even connected her with the game anyway, considering she looks absolutely nothing like the face she was supposedly a model for.

@thefourfoldroot1 - Let me start with I accept you say it's reprehensible, but It's attitudes like 'par for the course in modelling, ' that need to change.

I still don't understand why - mostly men - find it totally ok to harass women, especially at their places of work. Or try to add a light justification to it. It's wrong, full stop.

@nomither6 You do realise that you are on a hardcore gaming website? Full of people who know first hand that what you say isn't true? You would have done very well alongside Jack Thompson on his GTA crusade.

@Smooshy
I wasn’t adding a “light justification” by saying that it is, unfortunately, par for the course in modelling; I was highlighting that it isn’t a problem confined to, dominated by, or even connected to gaming in any separate fashion (nor do I feel men get inappropriately attached to female celebrities any more than women do to male celebrities by the way, it’s just more intimidating for women, but that’s a separate subject).

I don't know why people are bringing up mysogyny.
This is stalking/harassment and can happen to both men or women.

Police and courts need to act and issue harsh punishments to make examples to put people off. Sad to hear she’s had to put up with such creepy behaviour. I think doxing should carry a mandatory arrest and serious fine or prison time.

Very sad what it's come to in the modern day. I wish her all the best. I didn't mind the new model that much and it sucks that there are people who harassed her because of the model in Spider-Man 2.

If you are one of these people who does such things ...and you haven't officially been diagnosed with some mental defect already.....you definitely have one....just isn't normal in the slightest... bizarre

@TrickyDicky99 Well personally I think people who do the same to any kind of celebs are not wired up right ....I wouldn't dream in a million years of doing the stuff most people do ...example the clowns who go upto celebs when they are out with there family eating....bizarre

@Mikey856 you can't listen to dre/2pac anymore because of the misogyny??

@Mikey856 except Dre and 2pac were talking about the kinds of women that were around them, have you seen the women that hang round rappers? They have no respect for themselves, go figure

Because asylums are no more, we have to use to live with these human beings. Complain to mental health care associations and politicians.

Bloody incel losers. She's just a face model leave her one.

@Nem Yeah Im really confused with that.

It’s not a “gaming” issue too many “gamers” live in a bubble. Especially gaming Journalists. This is a society issue.

Social media is horrible and women are no bared with D pics and abuse whatever role and industry they work in.

Gaming and gamers alone cannot solve this.

Many people still have no boundaries and tbh social media has made it worse a lot worse

@TrickyDicky99 aye agree with but you can still want people to have boundaries.

I sat next to sir Patrick Stewart in a restaurant he was with his partner enjoying food. We didn’t bother him. (Even though we are big fans) we just carried on eating and having our lunch. Other couples approached him and he politely asked to be left alone.

It’s a small example but just because you are famous or rich doesn’t mean people should feel you owe them something.

@LifeGirl Couldn't agree more. This comments section is already filled with one-sided viewpoints. Not everyone who disliked Mary Jane's design in Spider-Man 2 is a die-hard misogynist.

If anything, seeing the real-life model behind the video game character makes unmistakably clear that something about Mary Jane's face looks off. The final result is too far removed from the real face and Spider-Man 2 had weird animation issues only tied to certain characters. Miles looked like Miles, Peter looked like Peter, etc. but Mary Jane looked nothing like you remembered her from the previous game. Disliking that doesn't make you a misogynist.

It's ridiculous to deny that misogyny exists among certain circles in the video game community.
But it's equally ridiculous to deny that a very blatant political agenda has influenced the design choices of female video game characters throughout the last couple of years, often resulting in inconsistent and odd-looking character models.

Wanting more variety among female video game characters is perfectly reasonable. That being said, the drastic changes some developers make to previously established character designs can be jarring and take you out of the experience.

I'll say this on every blog every time there is an article like this. Police really need to take this stuff seriously. Swatting, harassment, stalking, death threats - does anyone remember the man who died when police murdered him after being given a wrong address during a swatting attempt? I get it would be impossible to track every single person down, but at least be public about how serious it's being taken.

Why do they use beautiful face models, when they always make them look totally different/worse in the game?

This isn't anything new though, as stars and actors, have ALWAYS had problems with crazy fans.

@ATaco There's a documentary series on Netflix UK based on stalkers which has interviews with them (from prison) and their victims, if you want to try and understand that mindset more. I think I spotted it in the "recently added" tab last night. I can't speak to how good it is yet, but the Mrs and I added it to our list to watch later.

Ridiculous, I like to imagine & explain who these types of people are but it would be a little harsh so all I am going to say its the "mentally special" that need to be constantly supervised.

Thats crazy come on peoples.shes a extremely beautiful woman.but leave her alone.its not fair to her.word up son

@Deoxyr1bose misogyny is a dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. These peoples problems are they like this woman too much and they are willing to stalk her. They are not one in the same. They are stalker creeps not misogynists.

@Steel76 there is still no reason to ever contact them ever though. as they have no idea who the people are contacting them , and has no urge to talk to them at all. it would be one thing if she was doing anything releated to spiderman and was doing a meet and greet. but to call and leave voice messages and dm them weird things.

@Nem you know why they are bringing up Misogyny. They are virtue signals to make people think they somehow have a higher moral level. The stalking of this woman is of course unacceptable behavior but to start making blanket states about misogyny in gaming is to only make the commenter the hero of virtue.

@zhoont totally agree. Looks more like a employee at Insomniac.

@IDreamofAugust also agree with you. I see it every time there's a form of complaint towards well pretty much anything these days but here it would be 'misogyny or incel' as that blanket statements.

People are so stupid. Seriously, what purpose does it serve to harass the face model - or anyone for that matter?!

There are some seriously sick people in this world.

Some people are psychos.

@thefourfoldroot1 I'm not having a pop at you specifically. but just the attitude that some have in general.

It's like when i'm told 'You were asking for it' because i wore a dress that was a bit short. That's not addressing the root cause which is peoples mentality to leave folks alone and let them be.

@SgtTruth Sorry we can't hire you, you're too beautiful looking... smh

Harassment is always wrong, but on now seeing what she really looks like . . . damn, Insomniac did this (very beautiful) woman a disservice with SM2.

Why go after her? She isn't at fault the character looks ugly and is beyond annoying.

@zhoont yeah they butchered the in game look imo.

Just shrug it off.

Fair enough. But maybe you shouldn't use blanket statements. I have no desire to 'have muscles '. Equally I know plenty of females who do like having muscles and work out regularly.

This is not the model. Google Mary Jane spiderman 2 writer and you will see who she is really modelled after

@Mikey856 not really I just refuse to play dumb, they talk about women who are around them and these women have no self respect no matter how you slice it, women also have a responsibility in how they are viewed, if you can’t respect yourself then others won’t

@Fghtbk85 Would you like to define how they have no self respect or are you judging them? What would make the women "respectable" and lack of self respect doesn't automatically give someone the right to jump on them and take the Mick etc. Bad mindset there.

You can express your legitimate criticisms of Mary Jane's writing and design in the video game without harassing the person without the actual power to influence either. You can go after her if she has done a bad job acting out the script (which she didn't, far from it) but even if she has, harassment is wrong.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out why. Just a bunch of creepy dudes on the internet making cringe advances on her because she's attractive.

This is exactly the same as the AT&T girl Milana Vayntrub, her role in Spider-Man 2 has nothing to do with it, people just know who she is now because of marketing. Spider Man 2 helped her get recognition and now that fame comes with a downside.

Take one look at the suggestive things posted to her instagram and put two and two together.

The sociologist A. Giddens explains that time and space (the normal barriers between actors and consumers) are not actual constraints any more because of the digitalization that has happened.

It should perhaps be a criminal offense to write messages of hate designed to make people only feel negative feelings. I fully get how important free speech is, but somehow actors and game Devs get too much of that. Either the terms of service or the laws of the world need to impact offenders and there needs to be enough resources to persecute offenders.

Writing posts about not wanting hate is simply not enough in this day and age.

@EfYI I thought that anything published or spoken towards any other human being (too many categories these days to list) could be classed as a hate crime depending on the severity. I'm not up with the legal ins and outs and only have whatever I read or see on the news etc so don't take my comment as 100% correct.

@Northern_munkey

I am not too sure about that. Might you find a credible source, and I will take a glance at it, though.

Actors and Devs will take their money and their praise with one hand and then write complaints about anything else with the other, it seems. They are paid very good money and get to become Class-A citizens, so to some extent they have to take criticism constructively. The articles state that the Mary Jane-actress was contacted by a fan and she called it stalking... In another, about Borderlands, the Dev/writer resented that people gave him pointers or expressed their views on where the story could go. I don't how... if maybe they should check their privilege against what they have to endure...

Meanwhile, I would encourage people to take their discourse to more appropriate venues.

@Northern_munkey well said.

There's a serious mental health issue going on in America right now, as is evidenced by how reality is being corrupted by sections of their society. Many cities have huge problems with drugs, homelessness and mental health. Swathes of many cities have been declared no-go zones because of them becoming shanty towns of people living zombie-like existences in cardboard box dwellings. It's no surprise there's a spill over into all other aspects of their society. It's not just a problem of mysogeny, it's illness is widespread.

What happened to this poor actress is a sympton of how detached people are getting over there to reality as boundaries have become eroded because societal norms are being destroyed by the narcissistic message that acting on what makes oneself feel good is what matters most.

@riceNpea

I can't speak to everything you said, but mental health issues are definitely on the rise. I've worked as a police officer in the US for the last six years and in that short time it's become significantly, noticeably worse. This is just my experience, but I think most would agree. Worked more suicidal calls in the last 18 months then the rest of my time combined. Just in my limited experience, stalking behavior usually has some overt mental health component and is also on the rise. Working on a telephone stalking case right now.

You hate to see it. Not sure what's going on with people...

@UnlimitedSevens I'm sorry to hear that. It's such a sad state of affairs, and it's tantamount to a crime as far as I'm concerned how your federal government puts international affairs ahead of the urgent and rapidly worsening problems your good people face in your major cities.

I sincerely hope the focus comes back to internal societal issues but I don't know how likely it is as there seems to be a lot of money being made out of the homelessness/mental health problem. A bit like treating cancer is far more profitable than curing it.

I wish you well in your job and hope you stay safe in a situation that's clearly deteriorating. Good policemen and women who serve the people and protect the constitution are to be respected and held up as an example of model citizens.

@riceNpea

Thanks, I really appreciate it. I (naively) hope we can get back to some sense of normalcy someday, whatever normal was pre-COVID.

On a lighter note, here's also to hoping this young lady can go about her life in peace! Life's already stressful enough without strangers calling your workplace. The silver lining of this story to me is while everyone might argue as to the cause of this sort of behavior, every single one of us seems to agree it is unacceptable. There's still a lot of good people out there. We just hear about the troubled ones because good people aren't all that newsworthy.

@UnlimitedSevens

Absolutely right! The vast majority of people are honest, decent folk, and that goes for gamers and people in the gaming industry.

That's why when I read comments here about the gaming industry being full of mysogenists ect, it really gets my goat because the vast majority of folk in and around the industry are like you and I, people who condemn that behaviour.

There are societal issue that needs fixing, issues that insinuate into every industry so let's tackles the root causes and not be so quick to judge and come to conclusions.

I'm against legit harassment but am I the only one who kinda laughed at the fragility of this woman's comments? Like how DARE someone call your work and ask to speak with you! The audacity! Sounds like an entitled brat to me.

Man, some of these comments. Some of you don’t realize how big a part you play in incidents like these because of the language you use. Sure, you’re not “that guy”, but you certainly pave the way.

@commentlife if we haven't contacted her or stalked her we have played no part. Stop blaming people who have nothing to do with this situation. The creeps calling her and stalking her are to blame. Not me, not you, not anyone who has commented on here. Not the media, video games, Trump, etc. The people who commit the actual acts of stalking are to blame. Stop projecting.

How would they even get her phone number. Seems a bit suspicious.

@Infern0 looked more like an employee at Insomniac

There is no context, what was their purpose, what did the voicemails say?

SO much speculation here in the comments lol

@CharlieChooChoo You say true I say thank ya

She probably make more money just posting a few pics onlyfans given how thirsty fans are. Use it to buy a house and build a pension.

@Shepherd_Tallon not exactly. I know two people have mental health issues who because they didn't have the stress of working in the office and travelling to and from clients their mental health improved. One has even come off the anti depressants. She the only one at her place of work that is allowed to work from home because even her boss didn't want to see her return to how she was before COVID.

God bless fans. /)_-)

@IDreamofAugust ah yes, I went through that stage myself.😏🙄 Certainly a nicer feeling than eventually accepting one's status as a constant walking land mine of addiction-driven aggression and toxicity, so enjoy it while it lasts, fellow patient.

@nhSnork I have no idea what you mean by that drivel

@LifeGirl Dont play forbidden west xD

Altho its not exclusively girl problem in that game. Every character is pretty ugly.

@IDreamofAugust not the first time I see a fan's confusion expressed with on-brand eloquence anyway.

Completely unacceptable behavior, ridiculous. That being said, I'd never seen her actual face before and now I'm even more confused. She's beautiful, did they intentionally make MJ's face model uglier?

@EfYI https://www.cps.gov.uk/crime-info/hate-crime

I am so sick of this. Like why is this a default mode for some? Leave women and girls alone.

@StylesT Paparazzi are the like boss level at that stuff. They don't provide any useful service to society. They just exist to harass celebrities and then get all indignant if someone smashes up their camera, or face. They deserve every red light, stone in their shoe and kick up the arse.