Beatles: Rock Band And The Female Gaze

Bonnie Ruberg, of Heroine Sheik, recently posited some of her thoughts concerning Beatles: Rock Band and some differences that struck her. Namely, that of not being able to select a female avatar and clad her in suggestive, skimpy clothing, and that of the audience:

The audience, at least in the early gigs before concert venues melt into studio recording sessions, has transformed from a gyrating mass of coed music lovers to a swarm of screaming, swooning young girls -- each with identical faces and dark, glossy eyes. We watch The Fab Four sing to us about love, and along with us peers a female gaze full of longing several thousand strong.

It is noted in the comments that there are male audience members, but they are almost a backdrop, rather than any strong presence. While admitting that the focus of the game is on the notes, and that the background often flies by without much notice (though I have found myself watching how my avatars in the previous games act quite frequently), she ponders some more:

Where does this leave the presumed player? Does his male gaze become a female one as his viewing of these four attractive men gets elided with that of the all-girl audience? At the same time the game links him to the Beatles themselves as he -- or she -- plays the same notes as Paul or John. On the one hand we're back at the old transvestitism debate. On the other, we have a new way of regarding Beatles: Rock Band, with its feminine aesthetic and cross-gender appeal: as a distinctly female game that challenges the male gaze at the same time it presents us with a stereotypical division between the musical talent of men and the historical fandom of women who can do little more than scream along.

Her thoughts seem focused on in-game avatars, rather than the player and his or her perceived sexuality, which brings to mind what happens when attempting to create an historically accurate depiction of the past. I am sure many of us have seen the videos or photos of female fans swooning over The Beatles, but at the same time, as Ruberg notes, we are not wholly in the shoes of the observers, being active participants.

In many ways, it calls into question as to whom you identify when playing the game. In Rock Band 2, I played myself, creating an avatar modeling me. Here that option is not included, but does that mean I am trying to transpose myself into the shoes of The Beatles (I have not, as of yet, played the game), or does the instrument serve as my primary entry into the game? Then again, I am a male player, and the default for many games is for me to fill in that role. For many this may not matter, the music being the essential focus of the game, but as it highlights the historicism of The Beatles themselves, it also seems like there would be room for further investigation of the interaction that occurred not only between this band and their fans, but that of those interacting with their music to this day.