Fight Like A Girl Celebrates Female Gamers

The landscape of video gaming has continually changed since the dawn of the medium. Not only are graphics getting a lot more realistic and stories becoming a lot more immersive, but the attitude toward gaming has changed. Once thought to be just a boy’s club, the industry has changed to better reflect the times.

Directed by Miami Dade College film professor Agustin Gonzalez and Miami Dade College graduate Nicole “Wulf” Maldonado, Fight Like A Girl is a short documentary on the competitive gaming scene with women at the front and center.

It premiered this fall on the streaming platform Twitch. The doc features a group of women and their journey in competitive gaming. Specifically Nintendo’s fighting series Super Smash Bros., which is one of the most popular professional competitive games.

Each player details what game got them into the medium. Priscilla “Port” Sortino talks about how her first time playing Sonic Adventure 2: Battle ignited her love for games and how she plays online competitive games. She shares the sentiment that most female gamers do: there is never another girl’s voice over the headset.

“Games are not male dominated but the competition aspect of it is,” Maldonado said. “Women have been breaking out of their shells as of the last few years and will continue to even the playing field.”  

The documentary focuses on the latest Smash game, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (dubbed Smash 4 by the community). Twenty-six-year-old Taylor Rose, who plays Smash professionally, feels that the journey was an enlightening one.

“It’s been a fun journey,” she said. “I made many friends and have had plenty of good times in my year of traveling and playing with others.”

The film itself is interesting and I hope it gets a feature-length counterpart. In the span of 12 minutes, audiences are taken to some of the best players and competitive venues around.

The best aspect of the film comes from the sense of community, something that is important in games. With the idea of toxicity and some dangerous attitudes spreading, it is a refreshing sight to see people just get along and play games. That passion is present throughout.

“Directing and producing this film was an amazing experience,” Maldonado said. “I was able to connect with all sorts of players , mostly female, who had a burning fire within their hearts to compete.”

Gonzalez and Maldonado hope to screen the  film at festivals. As of now, Twitch is the exclusive platform to catch the documentary until it is available online in the Spring. Audiences can follow the film’s social media for updates. Their Twitter is @FLAGMovie2017.

In this landscape, it is nice to see a positive impact that video games can have on a community and how anyone can compete in their favorite games.

“I am hoping that it will keep the conversation about women and gaming going,” Gonzalez said. “But that it will also give it a template for how to celebrate the women who play, which is something we cannot forget to do.”