Poor Image: Pit Girls

The thread about Hood Ornament Hottie made me think of one that's been bugging me for a while now, and that's Pit Girls. To wit:

• The pic is focused way too much on Belldandy.
• She just seems to be standing by a motorcycle with an umbrella...I'd expect a pic for this trope to show the girl actually doing one of the things in the description.
• I'm not all that familiar with Ah! My Goddess, but what I do know makes Belldandy in this role feel wrong...I'd expect this of Urd but not her. Is this official art?

I'm not where I can look at the examples right now to suggest something new, but I did want to bounce this off you guys. Thoughts?

Found a somewhat wider version here◊.

She's holding an umbrella, and the official job description of a race queen is to shade the racers while the car/bike is stopped.

Looks like a fanservice poster or some such to me. Don't think it clashes too badly with her character, though.

It is official artwork, and I'll need to double check which episode, but in the anime she does act as Race Queen for moral support during one of the Auto Club's races.

Still not really keen on it, but if the consensus is to keep it, then that version is a better take. Also, she'll need to be added to the page as an example...that was another reason why I was leery about using her. It also might be worth mentioning race queens in the description since they don't have their own page.

edited 8th Aug '14 9:53:22 AM by Willbyr

I would prefer something more classic, like a girl in a bikini waving a checkered flag to start a car race.

Perhaps something like this? [1]◊

Less ass, please.

@2 is an improvement in terms of quality.

Nitpicky, but the checkered flag ends the race, not starts it. For me, that and the gratuitous ass-shot make that one a "No."

A woman in skimpy clothing waving a flag in front of two cars is probably the most classic and recognizable form of this trope. I am certain there is a good pic out there somewhere. I tried browsing through Misfile for one, but the archives are not well organized.

@7: Fair enough. Perhaps either one of these instead? [1]◊ [2]◊

(Probably more so 11.1)

edited 8th Aug '14 3:53:25 PM by peasant

11.1, she's been photoshopped in; clumsily, to boot. (She also looks like she needs to pee, badly.)

11.2, I like. There are three cars at least on the track, so she's actually flagging the end of the race. And while it'[s still an ass-shot, she's not simply wearing a Thong of Shielding. Just because Google hasn't slammed us recently doesn't mean that we can go back to putting up extremely revealing page images.

The umbrella thing is the stereotype at least in Japan [1]◊ strange.

Not too much Fanservice. Lets see, what about one of these? [2]◊[3]◊ and a Gender Bender guy at that.

edited 8th Aug '14 4:51:43 PM by memers

Although nobody can deny the Trap that is Hideyoshi, I'm still in favor of Belldandy remaining the current image. As I mentioned, it is official artwork.

11.2 is good.

A quick Google search found this◊, which is actually in a pit lane.

That's really awesome.

16

Undecided on that one - they look more like two women who happen to be near to a race car - which is not what the trope is about.

16 works better than current or other suggestions.

I'm OK with 16, but would prefer the current. Either is fine though.

I agree with . 16 isn't bad, but I still prefer the current.

Current is okay, but I slightly prefer 16.

@Septimus: The fact that the women are wearing outfits that match the color scheme of the car goes against that interpretation.

I do like 16 a little more than the current.

@19: Besides, that argument is probably more significant to the current, which looks just like some random girl holding an umbrella next to a motorcycle.