Recently, Naughty Dog’s creative director, Neil Druckmann, explained his team’s decision to remove the Doughnut Drake skin from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End , which up until now has appeared in every entry in the series. “I didn’t want to have a laugh at someone’s expense,” he explained to GamesRadar . Apparently he and his team had a “big debate” (phrasing) from “all kinds of angles.” I can understand why the debate must have been heated. I have been a fat man for most of my life (I’ve lost up to 70 pounds twice, so I have two accounts of having a conventionally hot bod), but I feel conflicted about the omission of Doughnut Drake from the final game.
I think Druckmann’s decision to grow up is an admirable one, especially because society is beginning to realize that fat shaming isn’t cool. Video games have a diversity issue, and I think fat characters – or those whose body type fits outside the industry’s preferred, supermodel standards – deserve to be included in the discussion. However, some have argued that fat people are among the last acceptable targets to ridicule because it’s their choice to consume too much food. By comparison, other people can’t choose their race, gender, sex, or sexual orientation, but those damned lazy fat people just need to get off their asses and put down the doughnuts!
However, obesity is much more complex than we thought. Yes, having lost weight twice now, I can attest that it is possible. But I also understand that that genetics play a large role in determining who is more likely to become fat or obese. Even if you lose weight, you’re statistically likely to gain it back – not to mention your body fights you while you’re trying to lose weight. In some cases, there are psychological reasons that explain why some people become obese. For instance, victims of sexual abuse sometimes put on defensive weight as a means of appearing less attractive for their repeat offenders. I could go on about other issues like the double standards between fat men and fat women, or that it’s easier than you think to consume the amount of calories needed to create a pound of fat in a single meal, but those are more appropriate for a separate article for a non-gaming site. Here’s my point: obesity is a much more complex issue than we think, and ridiculing someone for their body is more likely to cause more harm than it is to inspire them to change. I understand and admire Naughty Dog’s desire to treat this issue more seriously.
Despite this, I think I’m actually going to miss the big guy. I used to play the multiplayer mode of Uncharted 2 , and I would always choose Doughnut Drake. Even though I was in the best shape of my life at the time of the game’s release, I identified with him because – and this might disappoint you if you’re losing weight for the first time – I never stopped seeing myself as the fat little boy who the other kids used to make fun of. Even though I might have looked like Nathan Drake, I knew I was not him because he is everything that I’m not. He is a man in his thirties who looks better than most people do in their twenties. If he weren’t such a violent man who is involved in a shady line of work, he would have the charm, smarts, and ruthlessness to join the world’s top CEOs. That’s not to say Nathan Drake hasn’t had a difficult life, but I think I could learn a thing or two from him when it comes to confidence. To see Drake do everything he does while significantly heavier is kind of funny and inspiring to me, even though I should probably feel more offended.
I know Doughnut Drake is not the best representative for obese people in video games. While researching the skin online, I learned that he’s actually playable in the single-player campaign of Uncharted 2 , where one of the characters tells him to lay off the doughnuts. He undeniably exists as a goof, because society seems to instinctively associate fat people with hilarity. I admit that my admiration for Doughnut Drake is slightly misplaced, but I think part of that comes from a desire to see more characters of different body types in prominent roles. Neil Druckmann acknowledges that he and his team can do better, but their solution was to omit Doughnut Drake from the game entirely. I think the games industry can also do better, but let’s see if one day they’ll allow more diverse characters – not just fat ones – to be the main characters of their video games.