Video games and made for entertainment. While they have audiences that encompass everyone, in one way or the other, most game developers are men, and most gamers are also men.
For this reason, there are the tendencies that games will, and will definitely objectify women.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is the remake of the original Resident Evil 4, a survival horror third-person action-shooter game that made its debut in 2005.
The remake is pretty much the same as the original. Despite enhancements and a little tweak here and there, the game is already highly-praised. Just like the original RE4, gamers just love the dynamic shooting action-horror game with the over-the-shoulder perspective.
It received critical acclaim and sold more than three million copies in two days.
But there is one big issue: people hate Ada Wong.
And they are targeting her voice actress with their anger.
Resident Evil 4 Remake, which was released on March 2023, follows U.S. agent Leon S. Kennedy, who is directly tasked by the U.S. President to save Ashley Graham, his daughter, from the mysterious Los Iluminados cult.
In the game, just like the original, there are two main female characters.
The first female character, is Ashley, which is Leon's main objective. In about a third of the game's overall duration, Ashley can be seen with Leon, as the two attempt to flee the area, and battle the antogonists.
The second female character, is the Asian-descent femme fatale spy Ada Wong.
Ada was originally introduced in Resident Evil 2, before making her more recent reappearance in Residence Evil 2 Remake. Since her debut, she has become popular among the video game community, with high rankings among character popularity polls and considered a sex symbol.
For more than many years, the character retains that status.
With Resident Evil 4 Remake, gamers expect her to be the "Ada" they wished her to be.
In which Capcom failed, and some fanboys weren't so happy with her performance.
As a result of this, Ada Wong's "fans" target Ada's voice actress, Lily Gao.
Lily received so much online harassments that she was overwhelmed by it, and had to delete pretty much all of her posts on her Instagram account, leaving only one.
To many of Ada's fans, Ada should be alluring, seductive, sensual, and appealing.
Ada should also be beautiful and sexual at the same time.
Jolene Andersen who voiced Ada in Resident Evil 2 Remake, managed to portray Ada the way people wanted.
Jolene was mostly criticized because of she's Caucasian, an Australian. Some people suggested that Ada should be voiced by someone who is Asian, or in particular, someone who is a Chinese descent. Capcom apparently heard this, and casted Lily. But again, some gamers consider Lily a failure.
Not only that, because some gamers were apparently furious because Resident Evil 4 Remake lacks upskirt.
For example, in the original game, Ashley, the daughter of the U.S. President, uses a mini skirt. Players can peek up her skirt when she's standing on a higher ledge, for example, in which Ashley will respond crudely, and calling Leon a pervert.
In the original RE4, Ada Wong wears a long, stylish red dress, similar to a long slip dress, with a gold design of butterflies down the left side, a slit up the right side exposing her leg, a flowing black ribbon around her neck that falls down her back, and black high heels. This again, entice players to expect some Ada to reveal a lot of skin.
But in Resident Evil 4 Remake however, players cannot do that.
Ashley will not respond to Leon in the same way she did in the original Resident Evil 4, like when Leon peeked up her skirt. She can even climb down ladders, and jump from a great height. In other words, Ashley in the remake is not entirely the lewd-attracting, damsel-in-distress.
As for Ada Wong in the remake, while she still sports her iconic red dress.
However, she ditched her long slip dress for a more practical, but stylish red turtleneck pullover that is adorned with military attire. She also sports leather gloves, but amusingly, leather trousers and leather high-heeled boots.
In short, Capcom in trying to make the two main female characters dress to dress more politely. But this in turn created byproducts of people who simply got mad because they didn’t get what they want.
As a result of this, Resident Evil 4 Remake was bombed in reviews, with comments like "woke" and "sultry".
And Lily has become their main target.
After all, Ada Wong is an iconic character, and has been one of the main characters that make Resident Evil games stand out, whenever she's in it, including in Resident Evil 6, where she's much more than just a side character.
Since she was introduced back in 1997, she was quickly included by Famitsu as one of the best Japanese video game characters of the 1990s. She was also placed by Tom's Games among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history. Then, in 2011, Complex described her as the best-looking sideline chick in games.
The Guardian also claimed that Ada is among the truly interesting female game character, saying that she's "extremely intelligent and often numerous steps ahead of everyone else, she is never short of a sarcastic comment at the expense of slower characters."
Then, in 2017, Inverse said that Ada is the third-best character in the series.
Unlike the main female characters in the Resident Evil franchise, like Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield, Ada is more of a loner that fits well with Leon's fast-paced shooting gameplay. And unlike those two, who are kind of "sexless," Ada's character can easily associate with males.
Because of this, she has long been portrayed as Leon's love interest.
For Lily Gao, voicing Ada does come with perks, and consequences.
Unfortunately for her, she received more of the latter.
Regardless, there are other people who side with Lily.
For example, some were practically surprised by Lily's acting, in which she successfully made Ada sound naturally sarcastic and self-possessed.
These two qualities match Ada's high capabilities.
It's worth noting that this isn't the first time Lily is involved in the Resident Evil project because in 2021, the Chinese-born actress made a cameo appearance as Ada Wong in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, a 2021 action horror film.
Read: 'Resident Evil 4 Remake' Revealed, And The Internet Mourned For The Death Of A Dog