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A big factor in playing on RDR2/RDR1 fandom misogyny / racism / general bigotry comes also from fans as a whole, even the ones trying defend the female/non-white characters, don't want to discuss or critique issues in the very source material.

People let the time period and rose colored glasses blind them from the fact the games (specially the first) do play straight on many (white) male power fantasies. While still being very "dudebroski" you still can see a change and more divesity between the fandom before and after the release of 2... so it's crazy don't point the difference.

RDR1 show women being brutalized as shock value, not a commentary. The option to catcall/sexually harass women is mostly for humor and shock and nothing is really the type of commentary "anti-wokes" would cry about (if anything would enjoy John harrassing women has zero impact). And while I don't think R* had any racist intention, it is also a story that has a white American man going to a brown country where most named brown men are evil and the most moral person he mets is a fellow white man.

I do think RDR2 giving you more girls that aren't fridged for shock (and even take an active role in missions), and non-stereotypical PoC (damn specially Javier *becomes* a person and not a punching bag carticatue) plays a huge role why fandom got SLIGHTLY better. But even then, for every more or less progressive moment it has to compensate for whose the common audience, the white men. Giving Abigail's past being a child prostitute is not this thing "humanizing sw" if it's not willing make clear how much this means she's a rape victim, if it's not willing to go harsher on her pimp (who is treated as a comic relief) or her clients like they were not part he exploitation.

And like obvioulsy, you can argue Rockstar didn't mean it that way, and this is just interpretation. You can make a long counter argument on how R* is woke because xyz. But point is that it's has a HUGE chud audience and at some point you have to be willing to address and realize there is indeed a pattern and correlation on how some media explore certain themes and the public it attracts. RDR2 progressiveness is surface level, it's not meant to discomfort or challenge the average misogynists and racist.