トラ爺

All right, LiveJournal, I am normally not one to involve myself in fandom politics but I felt the need to make a post on this, because it bothers me that much. It has recently come to my attention that there exists a widespread misinterpretation of the character of Dojima from Persona 4 and oh fuck I can't make this academic sounding, I am breaking out the capslock and italics and keyboard smashing

LOOK, GUYS: Dojima is not a terrible father. He's not. Seriously, did we play the same game. May I remind you that he has a job? Like, an actual job that happens to have some ridiculous hours? The way some jobs have a tendency to do? May I remind you that his wife just died, and he has no idea how to adjust to being a single parent all of a sudden (already a pretty difficult thing to manage) when he has to juggle his aforementioned ridiculous job at the same time? Come on, people. Dojima's only human; there's a limit to how much he can adequately handle, and he is genuinely doing the best he can.

Dojima never willfully neglects Nanako. He honestly tries to make time for her. The only reason he can never follow through is because he's a detective working on a serial murder case. Of course he's going to be busy. But he tries, and when he fails, it is honestly not his fault; it's the fault of extenuating circumstances. I can't blame him for that, because it's really not something he can help. I mean, jeez, he needs to work to make money to provide for him and Nanako and later Souji, and it's not like he can just quit his job and find one with more lenient hours at will. That's not the way the job market works. Furthermore, he always sincerely regrets not being there for Nanako.

It's true that even despite this Nanako doesn't feel as though she is loved, and her social link concerning that is what a lot of players seem to be basing their ascertainment on. But you need to remember that Nanako is six years old, and when you're six years old, you still think the world revolves around you. She doesn't realize that her father has actual reasons for his behavior and problems of his own that he's dealing with, and that that doesn't mean he does not care about her. She doesn't have the life experience yet to provide proper context. Have you ever had those moments when you're an adult where you suddenly understand why your parents did the things they did? That's what I'm talking about. And the real focus of Nanako's social link is not for Souji to make up for her father's distance. It's to help her realize what the situation is really like, and that Dojima is not gone because he really wants to be.

I feel like it's bad form to bring up my own experiences but I'm going to do it anyway. My dad can be frustrating to deal with sometimes, and occasionally he'll lecture me for no reason over the most inane things. I know this isn't merely a representation of my biased viewpoint because my mom is often witness to these incidents and she'll be just as confused as I am. When it happens, it's stressful and frustrating. But he comes back and apologizes to me afterward. And ultimately it's okay, because my dad is an imperfect human being just like everybody else, and it certainly doesn't make him a bad father.

Essentially, I think at the center of this is a leftover tendency of children to view their parents as something other than actual people. Parents in media tend to be presented in a similar way. They aren't people, they're Guidance Figures, or Authority Figures, or whatever, when the reality is people don't magically turn into superheroes when they become parents. They stay the same person they were, flaws and all. You can read all the new-parent baby-help books you like, but when it comes right down to it you're winging it the same way you do everything else in life for the first time. Dojima finds it difficult to relate to Nanako, it's true. Why would he not? He doesn't have experience in these kinds of things. You can't expect him to be able to handle everything perfectly. All he can do is try; that's all any parent can do, and Dojima has to do it while, again, managing a job with difficult hours and dealing with his own grief. Really, how would you expect him to handle it? I, for one, was impressed that the game actually treated him like a person instead of as a Generic Distant Parental Figure. It could have; another game by a different team probably would have. But Persona 4 gave Dojima enough respect to make him a real character you could connect with. I found that incredibly refreshing, and it saddens me to see people misinterpreting the game's intention so dramatically.

Actually, if I had to guess, I'd say that this is a result of peachifruit's comic, because I don't remember seeing this kind of sentiment at all before it started. Which. Guys, you do realize that it's intended for comedic purposes? Character traits are exaggerated and warped for the sake of being funny. That's how a parody works. It is not an accurate representation of how the characters actually act in-game. Or are you going to tell me next that it is actual typical Kanji behavior to strip off his clothing and run shrieking into girls' tents.

ETA: I feel like it's worth it to mention that peachifruit's comic seems to be in turn influenced by the Endurance Run, which is itself a pretty tongue-in-cheek fratboy interpretation of the game. Also very funny, but again, really not something to be taken seriously at all.

ETA 2: the_beanmaster pointed out to me that if Dojima was a single mom everybody would be applauding his devotion and tenacity. I THINK THIS IS A VERY GOOD POINT. Being a single parent is a difficult task for anyone and there's no reason to expect Dojima to handle it any better than a mom would.