Glasses wearers have been chastised in the past for being geeky, perhaps even nerdy. Recently, a boy started a petition to change an emoji of a glasses-wearing face because it fed into the ‘nerdy’ stereotype that many have been trying to shed for years.
Of course, the thought people wearing glasses are nerdy is one that has long since been dispelled, not least because the lines between glasses and sunglasses have become blurred. Since the days of James Dean in the fifties and Tom Cruise in the eighties, sunglasses have always been cool, but glasses have been slower to catch up. Rebel Without a Cause and Top Gun did plenty on the big screen for sunglasses, whilst on the small screen, glasses have also had a helping hand.
Once upon a time, movie stars had influence over what we wore, but today, video game characters are just as influential. Okay, we didn’t all rush out and buy red dungarees when Mario first dropped, but it isn’t unusual to see people dressing in the style of Marcus Holloway from Watch Dogs 2. Indeed, he even spawned a range of sunglasses from Skull Rider, proving fashion is lifted from video games, sometimes. Other than Marcus Holloway, which other characters are influential and defined by the glasses they wear?
We’ve picked three for you here.
Gordon Freeman – Half-Life
Gordon Freeman was the protagonist from a series many feel is one of the best of all time – the Half-Life series of games. Freeman’s story is fascinating, as he’s a theoretical physicist forced to defend himself in a conflict against hostile aliens. He wears eyeglasses not unlike the Oakley men’s Volt model, and whilst they’re not officially licensed, they look incredibly cool.
Was he influential? His character went from nerdy to hero, which is aligned with the image of eyeglasses full stop. There’s also a serious Walter White theme here – the Breaking Bad character had a similar arc, from bespectacled weakling to hero (of sorts), and Freeman’s appearance isn’t all that different from White. Was Freeman the inspiration? Who knows.
Kazuhira Miller – Metal Gear Solid
With Benedict ‘Kazuhira’ Miller, there’s an element of both sunglasses and eyeglasses to his character. In Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Miller is rescued from his captors and seemingly has severe eye injuries. He is given his trademark eyeglasses with tinted lenses, which he wears throughout the game because Miller has photophobia and cataracts. That would suggest he may actually be wearing prescription sunglasses from Ray-Ban, as they’re definitely Aviators. Given that the game is supposedly set before Top Gun came out, it makes Miller something of a trendsetter, even if he is partially blinded through torture.
There’s some debate around whether Miller is blind or not – at one point, he tells the Diamond Dogs that they will ‘be his eyes,’ and he fails to spot that Venom Snake is not Big Boss. Perhaps he should head back for an eye test and change his prescription!
Agent 47 – Hitman
Ah, Agent 47, a man of many disguises. His smart black suit and white shirt look are certainly influential, and he’s seamlessly transitioned from video games to big-screen cinema releases. He isn’t known specifically for his glasses, but his character does wear several pairs and typifies the ‘new’ breed of video game character, with many guises.
47 is a master of disguise, but he is also customizable, as are many characters in big games today. For instance, any GTA V character can be given glasses to wear, with models ranging from Oakley to Ray-Ban and everything in between. Agent 47 is similar in that he dresses for the occasion. He’s been seen in sleek eyeglasses as well as dark sunglasses as part of his master-of-disguise act. In Hitman 2, he’s seen in Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses, eyeglasses, and a pair that looks a lot like the Oakley Holbrook model.