[Why You Should Love Mass Effect‘s Dr. Chakwas] #MassEffect #BioWare The Mass Effect universe is full of incredible women. Tali, Liara, Jack, Miranda, Samara, Ashley, Aria, Kasumi, Nyreen… the list of motivated, intelligent ass-kickers goes on and on. And, of course, FemShep herself—has there ever been a more beloved video game protagonist?... I could talk about the women of Mass Effect until the next Reaper invasion begins, but today I want to focus on one particularly fantastic character whom I feel doesn’t often get the due she deserves: Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karin Chakwas. Dr. Chakwas’ silver hair is just cool as hell. In a medium in which women are often fridged early on in order to provide narrative development for male characters, in a real world where a distressingly large segment of the population seems to consider women obsolete once we pass mid-life, it’s refreshing to encounter an older woman upon first boarding the Normandy... Chakwas may have devoted her life to serving the Alliance, but she’s no stodgy bureaucrat, and she’s not too hung up on rules, if she feels they’re wrong. She supported Shepard’s theft of the Normandy in order to meet Sovereign’s threat in 2183, and—unlike Engineer Adams—she unhesitatingly allies herself with Cerberus in order to work under Shepard and fight the Collectors two years after the Battle of the Citadel. But get this: Dr. Chakwas is such a badass that, when she abandons the Alliance, she doesn’t sneak off in the night or run away without leaving word. No, Chakwas goes through the proper channels and files for a leave of absence from her military duty so she can go join her resurrected former Commander on a freakin’ Cerberus vessel to perform a suicide mission in a likely futile attempt to hinder the Reapers in their destruction of all sentient organic life. Karin Chakwas: not one to leave her i’s undotted and t’s uncrossed when she takes off with a mob of terrorists, outlaws, and assassins on a quest that will most likely end in her death. Hell, fighting the Collectors in a desperate attempt to save the galaxy from certain doom is a vacation to her!... You never hear anybody call Chakwas by her first name. It is just Not Done, because everyone respects the living hell out of her. She does Shepard the same courtesy, explaining that—although sharing the occasional Serrice Ice Brandy is kosher—she just feels like it’s weird to call Shep by his or her first name, given all Shepard has accomplished. The esteem in which Chakwas holds Shepard is, in my opinion, one of the highest honors the Savior of Galaxy manages to earn over the course of the trilogy... Dr. Chakwas is brave. Dr. Chakwas is smart. Dr. Chakwas is [engaging], curious, and determined to help others and make the galaxy a better place. Dr. Chakwas may be a fictional character, but she’s a damn fine role model nonetheless. Dr. Karin Chakwas, ladies and gentlemen: truly a badass broad.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 01:09:04 +0000
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