IV. An interrogation of masculine and feminine representation in one of the most successful apps in history.
The Long Arm of the Law
This image is a screen shot that captures how the user is taught to play CCS by Mr. Toffee. Of course, one of the first things that the user may notice is that Mr. Toffee’s presence obliterates everything
behind him, except for the item he is pointing out. Certainly, the creators
could have chosen to arrange the screen’s graphics in a way that Mr. Toffee
would appear less intrusive, and/or line up the background in such a way that
his arm didn’t reach across the entire game board from one side, all the way
over, to the other. They could’ve easily placed him on the right side of the
screen – closer to the object he is pointing out, or perhaps simply highlighted the object to which he is referring. In choosing to position Mr.Toffee so that he completely dominates the user’s (Tiffi’s) visual field, suggests a hierarchy that privileges masculinity and upholds a male dominated ideology as his direction is all-consumingly important and attention to him is demanded. He, alone, has the power to wipe-out the screen/the “world,” and his
discourse is so important that Tiffi has no alternative but to acknowledge him and take heed of his words before she can move forward. Indeed, to make Mr. Toffee disappear and leave the screen in order to continue playing, the user must click “ok” in acceptance and recognition of his instructions.
Additionally, Mr. Toffee’s presence is always looming near. Whenever you begin a level, he appears on the screen and tells the user exactly what to do. and whether you beat/win a level, or you fail a level, Mr. Toffee
is always there to announce it. Indeed, even when he is not “on the screen,”the user is certainly aware that Mr. Toffee will resurface again before we can move to the next level. In this way, Mr. Toffee becomes the pictorial/visual presence of law, the presence of the “father” as it were. In Lacan's re-imagining of Freud's development of the psyche, he refers to the "Name of the Father" which controls our desires and/or establishes rhetorical/communicative convention. Certainly, Mr. Toffee's creators made a conscious decision to visually design him as a father/authority figure. They could have just as easily provided a Fairy Godmother or some other type of benign "guide" or less authoritative figure. And it could have been the same gender as little Tiffi. In creating this figure as a male, the hierarchical ideology of male dominance is thus perpetuated.
Lacan's Structure of the Psyche
In this second image, we see a similar tactic being employed - that of Mr. Toffee looming above all else in the picture. However, in this image, there are three Mr. Toffee’s pictured. The arms of Mr. Toffee are again elongated, suggesting a patriarchal reach, while also communicating a sense of easy domination. Further, it is also worth noting that the first two Mr. Toffee’s have been foregrounded and Tiffi pushed to the background. Despite the fact that Tiffi is the user's character, the one that the user assimilates to play the game, she is visually/hierarchically positioned below/beneath or behind the masculine character(s). The third Mr. Toffee bars her exit in the background. In this way, Tiffi is relegated to a space of in-betweenedness, of limbo, and she is therefore unable to either move forward or backward. She is essentially captive. With their unnaturally long arms, these masculine figures bar Tiffi from leaving the boundaries they have established for her and prevent her from being able to get closer to "screen" or move beyond the limits they have set for her to exist in – essentially barring her ability to “move” outside of the confines that the males have dictated. Further, the image also suggests that Mr. Toffee solely has access to the candy (which could easily represent desire, money, power, etc.), something that Tiffi cannot have though she desperately reaches for it...unless of course, she follows his instructions.
There is also a message of multiplicity being invoked in this second image, which communicates the “Big Brother-essque” nature of Mr. Toffee and the true extent of his reach and influence over the girl. He alone can be in multiple places at once. Indeed, during game play, Mr. Toffee's head often appears, disembodied, to relay messages. This disembodied masculine head is akin to Big Brother in Orwell's text, 1984. His face, his portrait, is everywhere, reminding the citizens that they are constantly being watched. The diminutive female character in CCS is similarly isolated, kept by herself, prevented from having any agency, and is constantly under the surveillance of the dominant masculine presence. In this manner, the female's surveillance and subjugation to Mr. Toffee can be read as an example of Bentham's Panopticon, which Foucault muses on in his canonical Discipline Punish and Panopticon (1975):
There
is also another gate-keeper in CCS who is also male (which, shocking as it is, I couldn't find an image of him on Google!). Whenever Tiffi
fails at completing a level, and after Mr. Toffee makes sure the player
knows it, a genie appears to offer the user extra moves, boosters or
extra lives for an in-game purchase. Once again, though, this is a male
character. In order to keep playing, Tiffi must purchase more "life"
from this genie, otherwise face the reproach of Mr. Toffee and suffer
the fate of being "grounded" until sufficient time has passed and Tiffi
has earned another life. The genie, much like Mr. Toffee, could have
made into a female figure - such as a fairy, or a pixie - or even a non
human critter like a unicorn or something. But, the creators made a
conscious decision to make the genie - also male - easily discernible
because of his naked torso, crossed arms and thick, dark beard (not too
dissimilar to the ginger, Mr. Toffee). Having another male in power
continues to propagate the male dominant ideology and it is
constantly reinforced during level play, as well as level completion -
success or failure - the males are there to oversee her.
In this image, we see the map upon which CCS is played. It also reflects the power and control that Mr. Toffee
alone possesses because, while the user, Tiffi, can certainly see the map, virtually in its entirety, she is only permitted to actually "see" where she has already been. The remainder of the map is obscured in shadow and Tiffi cannot see
what lies ahead or waits around the corner for her. Yet, Mr. Toffee, as her guide, is positioned with free reign (pun intended) over the entire map, as well as Tiffi's (restricted) access to different areas of the "world."