Robert Pattinson's latest film The Batman might be grim and serious, but the actor's recent interview with Clique was anything but. In it, he and co-star Zoë Kravitz discuss how the love triangle between Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith in Final Fantasy VII made him realize "what love was" at an early age.
Pattinson has said before in interviews that the PS1 classic Final Fantasy VII is his favorite video game. In this recent one, he said that, like many young men who played the game, he struggled to choose between protagonist Cloud Strife's two romantic options, Aerith or Tifa.
Decisions, decisions —
Pattinson describes Aerith as "a really kind girl that has superpowers to heal everyone." Kravitz was not very impressed with that description, replying: "Poor women, we have to heal everyone. It's exhausting."
Kravitz was also less-than-enthused with Pattinson's take on Tifa: when he said that that she's "a sexy thief" who "wears a short skirt," Kravitz quipped: "The one that's going to heal everything and the one in the short skirt? Those are the options? Oh my God, this is the problem with the world."
As a whole, while we can't hold up Final Fantasy VII as paragon for progressive portrayals of women in video games, it's certainly a cultural touchstone worth reflecting on. After all, if you didn't cry when Aerith died, you might need to get your tear ducts examined. Meanwhile, The Batman is getting pretty decent reviews, too.
