Gaming is a vast space to explore. Even if you just stick to the major releases - which you absolutely shouldn’t - every triple-A game is crammed with so much detail that some secrets don’t get discovered until months, or even years later. Any video game released by a major studio is significantly longer than a feature film, or even a season of television, and it seems like there’s always so many of them. It’s natural then that some details slip through the cracks, but it still feels like we should be making a bigger deal out of Hailey in Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Hailey Cooper is a fairly minor character if you just rush through the main story, though if you take the time to actually explore New York, Hailey becomes more important. Miles and his assistant Ganke will mention her frequently, and she’s involved in one of the side quests, as well as a few late game beats of the story. She and Miles have a sparkling chemistry, and it’s very cute to see Miles (typically a little awkward when he’s not Spider-Man) struggle to hide his extremely obvious crush. Hailey is a brilliant character, in my opinion not only Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ best, but also one of the most interesting new characters introduced in 2020. That alone is not why we should be making a big deal out of her, however.
Hailey is deaf, and is played by Deaf actress Natasha Ofili, with Hailey communicating in accurate American Sign Language. Since Miles also knows ASL, the two are able to converse freely, with Hailey being folded into the storytelling despite her wordlessness. It’s especially interesting that Hailey’s movements are fluid and natural, while Miles’ are stuttered and nervous, with the game treating ASL like it does any of the other languages featured in the game. Part of the reason for Miles' slower ASL signage is because of an infatuation with the girl, but most of this is because Miles simply doesn’t know what he’s doing. He swaps between English and Spanish with ease, but ASL is still new to him. He spells out words he doesn’t yet know how to sign, and takes his time to think, cautiously narrating along with his signage to keep himself in check. This flips the power dynamic, and even though Miles is the main character and hero of the piece, it’s clear that signing is Hailey’s domain.
If Insomniac wanted some cheap diversity points, just having Hailey there would be enough. That she’s included so readily and is given a platform to shine has moved her far beyond this realm, and I think it’s because she’s such a natural part of the game that many of us haven’t realised how groundbreaking she is.
Hailey is never identified as “the deaf girl” or anything like that, she’s often called “the artist” when she’s not simply called Hailey. She’s in the game for this artistry, and for her efforts in community organisation, not to hit a diversity quota. It’s very rare for deaf characters to be in a game at all, much less for them to be allowed to stand for more than their deafness and to actively communicate with the hero.
Perhaps if she had been in another game, her inclusion might have stood out more. Spider-Man: Miles Morales is one of the most diverse video games ever produced by a major studio, although because characters like Hailey are so rare, I think she’s worth a special mention. The game features mainly people of colour, staying true to both Miles’ inner circle of the comics and modern day Harlem. Hailey herself is Black, while leading man Miles is both Black and Latino, and is allowed to celebrate both equally. We have other Latin characters, more Black characters, Asian characters, white characters, gay characters, a spotlight on women... the game puts its best foot forward when it comes to diversity, even if a product placement deal means that foot is coated in Adidas rather than Jordans.
In a medium still nervous about anything which could be construed as actively political, Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ Black Lives Matter mural was a bold choice. But words, even words as politically charged as those three, can’t speak as loud as actions. In centring not only Miles’ Black life, but the lives of a whole spectrum of Black characters, Insomniac enacted the slogan into its video game. Through Hailey, a Black, disabled teenager allowed to be far more than her disability, Spider-Man: Miles Morales underlined its simple - yet often controversial - ideals that Black Lives Matter.
If we want more characters like Hailey in the future, we shouldn’t take her for granted.