
Race relations is not normally a major concern for the gaming community.
But on Wednesday the issue exploded throughout the blogosphere as a
GamePolitics report describing charges made against Capcom's upcoming Resident Evil 5 by the
Black Looks blog was widely picked up by other sites. At GP alone the story generated more than 800 comments, many of them angry, a few, unfortunately, laced with racial epithets.
Kym Platt (left), the woman who penned the
Black Looks piece chastising RE5, described her take on the response on yet another blog site,
Ask This Black Woman. Platt wrote:
Never have I been so harassed and insulted, and all because I questioned the imagery in this game... The response has been horrifying... I am shocked that in the same breath some of these folks denied that Resident Evil 5 displayed racist/anti-Black imagery; they called me things like "nigger", "bitch", and "whore".
...The gamers would like to intimidate me and silence me, but that's not going to happen. This vitriol has done nothing but embolden me and my political convictions.
Microscopiq wrote:
From Birth of a Nation to Black Hawk Down, black folk are apparently responsible for some of the most mindless and evil activities you got. Rape, murder, satanic voodoo... So, when we see images like these, it triggers memories of so many awful stereotypes...
... If LocoRoco’s Mojas were a kind of high tech blackface, Resident Evil 5 takes blackface into the HD era. It’s horror alright, just not the kind Capcom intended...
From the
Young, Black Professionals Guide:
Trying to talk about the sensitivities of race to a gaming demographic is extremely difficult. the majority of readers are young white males who are either too immature to have a clean conversation about it or too logical to draw accurate comparisons. what is worse is that some of the hateful comments... echo the reality of ignorance and hate they claim black people should get over.
nigger is used loosely. bitch is used frequently. other four letter words are sprinkled about... on one hand, i understand the angle joystiq and some of the mature gamers are making. resident evil has always been about a white guy killing zombies... why should black zombies in africa be different? additionally, the makers of the game are japanese, so that inherently makes the intent of the setting not racist as well, right?
on the other hand, the images used in the game, already disturbing because it is resident evil, also reflect hateful images that were real and meant to invoke hate towards black people in the not too distant history of america...
Comments
…The gamers would like to intimidate me and silence me, but that’s not going to happen. This vitriol has done nothing but embolden me and my political convictions.
What I don't understand, is that she is basically an attention ***** similar to paris hilton and doesn't expect to grab the attention of the idiots; except she may have wanted that to add fuel to the fire just so she can justify her racial stereotyping.
From Birth of a Nation to Black Hawk Down, black folk are apparently responsible for some of the most mindless and evil activities you got. Rape, murder, satanic voodoo… So, when we see images like these, it triggers memories of so many awful stereotypes…
… If LocoRoco’s Mojas were a kind of high tech blackface, Resident Evil 5 takes blackface into the HD era. It’s horror alright, just not the kind Capcom intended…
So, this author feels that black people are responsible? I don't understand it, they don't want to be lumped up as something, but this person purposely lumps himself into a group when they see an image of a mob group.
This person is refusing to let go of these "memories" of awful stereotypes. I mean god, if a black person likes to eat chicken, I guess they'll say "OMG THAT IS AN AWFUL STEREOTYPE!" It is like a person can't simply enjoy a chicken wing.
It makes me sick how people have to remind these people that sterotypes exist.
This person even admits this isn't the kind of terror that capcom intended and the author acknowledges it. I say it again, "racial eye for the normal guy/girl"
They want to point out racism to make headlines for some reason. I hope they think of something better to do.
Trying to talk about the sensitivities of race to a gaming demographic is extremely difficult. the majority of readers are young white males who are either too immature to have a clean conversation about it or too logical to draw accurate comparisons. what is worse is that some of the hateful comments… echo the reality of ignorance and hate they claim black people should get over.
You know why it is extremely difficult? The gamer demographic wasn't out there trying to lynch people or were too busy playing with their varying "skin" colored friends! Basically these people have to point out that some of their friends are "different" and shouldn't be the same as them. This goes against the idea of Equality and they have their noses full of this "sensationalist" reporting to realize it.
You know what is ironic about the immaturity? These people aren't mature enough to realize that they are trying to find a problem that doesn't exist.
They automatically claim that they are white males to gain support that its a conspiracy against them. THey also claim ignorance, the ignorance is that they made a claim against a story that is supposedly going to raise white gamers to 'shoot' black zombies en masse to train them. They never researched the actual game, nor anything else. The fact that we inform them that many of these people never learned about racism, and are sadly learning about it now... is the most despicable thing.
Racism goes both ways, and sadly, one example is that you're discriminating against a group and stating you're against stereotypes, but then are stereotyping that every gamer is a 14 year old white boy? What the **** is wrong with you people? You make me sick.
on the other hand, the images used in the game, already disturbing because it is resident evil, also reflect hateful images that were real and meant to invoke hate towards black people in the not too distant history of america…
This is where it is purely stupid. The images were designed from the ground up, at most they took a picture of the locale to digitally implant it. The character models are scratch, they can't just map a picture with a person on it to somehow portray everything to this sick memory you so claim to have.
WHat is ironic is that you try to remind these "14 year old white boys" that racists exist, because you have to tell them that they are different from you, and that their opinion doesn't matter.
THey were likely too young to even know it exists, let alone know they were being raised such a way, if ever.
You people are sick.
Btw, apparently you have to state your race for some reason (which is also despicable to ask if you really care about equality), so I will state that I'm a 24 year old man who is very mixed when it comes to race. I'm about 1/4th mayan, with some european blood that's a mix of some mongol + spainard blood.
I'm very mixed, but I come out looking mexican or hispanic.
I don't see why it matters much, the fact that some of these people may claim "your people never were repressed", is a bullshit statement since looking hispanic means you were lumped into the "colored" group during the early 1900s of America.
I grew up without being discriminated against by many people except the elderly whites, are you people 70 year old farts as well?
These people make me sick.
If we use the same logical that she used then every game is Racist
Well eact for games where you kill Nazis.
And THAT is why this is bullshit.
So what is the different between black and white Zombies Nothing eact for color, which for some stupid reason make a different. I do not see a different.
SO TO SAY THAT THE GAME IS RACIST BECAUSE ITS ANTAGIONISTS ARE OF YOUR RACE IS SAYING THAT YOUR RACE IS SUPPORIOR TO OTHERS.
IF KILLING SPAINARDS ISN'T RACIST
IF KILLING AMERICANS ISN'T RACIST
IF KILLING GERMANS ISN'T RACIST
IF KILLING YOUR RACE IS RACIST THEN YOUR BEING RACIST!
Oh, don't worry, I'm not crying mommy, I know the accusators are nothing but trolls, and I won't feed them. It's just so weird to be called a "racist"...
#2. Black zombies in Africa = racism. White zombies in Africa = apartheid racism.
The race card isn't an Ace anymore, lady. It's a JOKER.
Their preceptions are going to be their preceptions, no matter what anyone says. Comes down to either you're with those individuals or you're against those individuals, at least that's MY preception.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Why is it when is it when there are black people depicted in any sort of "bad" way that we have to get all up in arms about it.
NEWSFLASH***
Black people do bad things sometimes!
Now in this case, they are frigging zombies (or zombie-like). I think the game looks excellent as it DOES remind me of Black Hawk Down.
Let's explore what can be racist here:
1. The fact that there are black people in it.
That can't be it. Other races have been in games. My race isn't special.
2. Black people are the bad guys/killers in the game.
It's set in Africa. What do you expect? I'd be more offended if it was set in Africa and there were only white people there. The country of Africa is not off-limits because black people reside there.
3. The white guy is the good guy.
Well the white guy (along with a white girl) was the good guy in ALL of the games. Even ones where....wait for it.....the white guy killed white and hispanic ZOMBIES AND MONSTERS!
4. There will be those that make racists comments about killing black people.
Uhhh....so what? If you are black (or whatever) and want to trounce the game, not becuase you believe the game is racist, but because others make evil racist comments about it then you are an idiot.
Make comment back about those spewing their racist drivel about the game, if anything. The game itself is fine (from what I've seen).
I guess to appease some black people, there also has to be a black protagonist in the game. Maybe blacks can only kill blacks.
"...too logical to draw accurate comparisons."
Uh, if you're being logical, then there must be accuracy. Apparently, being intelligent is a bad thing if you don't agree with some of these individuals who want to say things along the lines of "You're white, therefore, you are a racist".
Inaccurate comparisons aren't logical.
Perhaps the individuals thinking along those lines believe that THEIR PRECEPTIONS from their own view is the only logical accuracy and that no one else's views count.
The idea that you don't know what racism from a victim's standpoint is unless you are of a particular race or that only select races can be racist, or that Hate Crimes can only be commited against one group of Humans but not another, or that Equality is only a Right for selected groups, but not everyone (such as saying "Equal Rights for Women" as opposed to "Equal Rights for EVERYONE").
Perhaps the logic these individuals are disagreeing with doesn't fit in with the biased attitudes those individuals apparently have in regards to this issue.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
o wait that right (l;augh) u cant be racists against white people (slaps table) i compleatly forgot.
but im all seriousness. really? i mean really? how paranoid do you have to be in order to view RE4 as racist? now if all the peple were rappers and they all are zombies from super aids that they got from their bitches and hoes. and all their pimps be slappin em and you used a giant fire hose to wack down the "crazy negroes" then yes. yes. its is racist.
but from my under standing no thats not case.
i mean would you perfer it be set in africa but have native american zombies. would that make you happy?
OMG!!! Blacks in the Resident Evil 5 game...
The author is wrong on so many levels. First, she's wrong to judge a game she's never played. After all, passing judgement based on first impressions is exactly what she's railing against. She doesn't want "black people" to be pre-judged either. Second, she's wrong that this game is being targetted to kids. It's a survival horror game which can't be purchased by anyone under 17 without a parent. Third, she's wrong to focus on the characters' skin color. Would it be better if white people were being killed by white people? How about Asians, Latinos, or Native Americans? The fact is that Capcom makes games where characters of all different races hurt each other. By objecting to the brutality against only black game characters, the author is exposing her own racism.
So congrats to the author on coming out of the closet as a racist. She can feel free to express her concern about any game she wants. Her opinion is every bit as valid as the hundreds of idiots calling her names. However, it's no more intelligent or better thought out than any of the responses it has recieved.
By the way, I know I've already posted the link and quoted paragraphs from Gary Pellino's article "the shame of the game" ( http://ptgptb.org/0004/antigame.html ) , but I can't resist quoting it again because I'm starting to feel the same shame :
"Blind hatred - or prejudice - is a deliriously easy and enjoyable doctrine to follow, as it taps into your most selfish desires, and completely relieves you of the burden of having to think. It makes your beliefs appear to be unshakably correct, and hence anything you do based on those beliefs is vindicated. And that can be quite intoxicating. Best of all, it turns you into a hero. If the enemy is evil, then your opposition of them makes you a warrior for the true path.
As lovers of fantasy, (as most role-players are) this image is one to which we are particularly drawn. If the anti-gaming movement is the evil empire, then we must be the rebels, fighting valiantly to turn back their tide of oppression. And maybe we are as good looking as Han Solo, too. This, then is the reason that players continue to fight even though the battle is over - we are, perhaps subconsciously, playing out our own fantasy games in real life. So the source of the gaming prejudice myth is, in the end, ourselves: we make ourselves into the oppressed , because we enjoy the feeling of hating our oppressors.
However, the real world does not work like fantasy. And, ironically, this attitude is as much a threat to gaming as BADD ever were. Playing the victim only gives more credence to the other side; the more we scream about the evils of our opponents, the more it looks like they have a case. The more we propagate the myth that role-playing is prejudiced, the more people believe that there is a reason for this prejudice. Worst of all, by allowing ourselves to be prejudiced, we end up acting as bigoted and oppressive as did our opposition.
As I said above, one mention of anti-gaming sentiment can have even the most cerebral gamers jumping up and screaming at the top of their voices about the evils of Pulling, BADD, and all fundamentalists. And this is regardless of who raised the comment - I've even seen gamers attack their fellows around the table with this kind of abuse, simply because they happened to voice some not-quite-anti-BADD comments. I've heard BADD and Pulling labelled with words normally aimed at Hitler and the Nazis - bigoted, deluded, oppressive, insane, even evil (that favourite of the fundamentalists). Worse, I've heard these classifications applied to anyone who even remotely resembles BADD, so all fundamentalists, or even all Christians, become part of the evil anti-gaming movement.
It sometimes seems that we are more interested in proving that RPGs are harmless - or more importantly, that its detractors are wrong - than we are with actually playing the things. Not only does this not help the issue, but it reflects badly on the hobby as a whole, making us look like the militant extremists.
It is about time we laid down our arms. Blind hatred or mindless ridicule does nobody any good, and may even lead to a repeat of the same problem. Rather, if we try to understand our enemy, we can examine the cause of the problem, and hopefully correct it. It's time to stop mocking, denigrating and devaluing their opinions, and started trying to listen, and to understand. And maybe even communicate."
All the reasons that have been cited are correct. First, Capcom is mainly a Japanese company and the fact that the main charecter is white and the infected villagers are black shouldn't even matter. The second reason is that the main charecter is just protecting himself from the infected villagers. #3 is that the past games almost all of the zombies have been white and now that they are black, why does it matter? Number 4 is that some people are actually looking for this game to be racist. Personally, I found this persons arguement laughable at best.
Of course, one of the most ridiculous accusations was that this game is being marketed to children. That is terribly false. I walked into a Gamestop the other day and saw a kid try to buy God of War 1 and 2, and the guy took one look at the kid, took the games from him, and told the kid that he couldn't buy that game for a couple of years. Yes, I cringe when I see a kid walk up to a parent and tells them that they want a game, and It's rated M, and the parents in their ignorance buy it for them. That is plain wrong. I don't see many parents buying their kids rated R movies. Politicians are right in one aspect. We have to start informing parents about what rated M means and stop this ignorance. But I digress.
You see, there are many reasons why this whole accusation is wrong. But if you're going to denounce someones opinion, at least have a little more tact. When you read this, I hope that you agree with me, but if you don't, that's ok. My polictical convictions are the same as yours.
Also, in Dead Rising, Brad is a black man who is portrayed very respectably. He's not stereotyped at all (i.e. non-"gansta", non-ebonic, etc.), and is a United States Department of Homeland Security agent. He's a pretty heroic character in the game, and a very respectable one at that. He's not the lead character, but he is a very important character to the story nonetheless.
In Resident Evil 2 Marvin Branagh is a surviving R.P.D. officer, he's black as well. When you meet him he's already suffering from a fatal wound and succumbing to the T-Virus, but before then he helps you out and tells you to find and rescue survivors. After that they gave him a role in Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2, which takes place sometime before RE2, where he assists the characters in the game and it show how he became morally wounded. He wasn't stereotyped, was a police officers, and he was valiant and selfless. He was a good positive character.
In Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2 you can play as a black man named Mark Wilkins. He worked for a security company in Raccoon City, was a Vietnam veteran. Approximately fifty-one years old, has great strength, wants to live a peaceful life. He's not stereotypical at all, and I think portrayed as a great guy.
This isn't much, I know, but this is all from Capcom. They're never really depicted a black person in a bad way. There hasn't been a black villain at all, almost all of the villains responsible for the outbreaks and creations of the viruses are white men. White people are almost always depicted as villains in Resident Evil, even the lovable bear like Barry was swayed to betray you at one point. White people are always the bad guys. Now that it's finally got some black enemies, who obviously aren't in control of themselves as they've been taken over by some sort of virus or parasite, it's wrong to use them? Doesn't make much sense. Wouldn't be surprised seeing some white men there as the reason the outbreak happened since they're always the bad guys, Wesker will probably end up being behind it or something.
The reason that black people haven't been used as leads in video games is because having a lead black hero would not sell.
So Capcom who once again, doesn't really have any black characters in their stable to begin with, and has made like a myriad of RE games with barely any people of color decides to have Chris Redfield shoot up a bunch of Africans.
People were used to the status quo of playing European lead characters and shooting other Europeans. So now all of sudden we use black characters but now they are getting slaughtered... hmmm?
Where's the problem you say?
I heard this game was inspired by black hawk down, another piece of media that was complained about as racist because the angry mobs acted like angry mobs and were black.
Lets face it if you look for racisim you'll find it.
I put up posts in the first thread. They were well thought out(at least in my opinion ; ), free of any racial terms or slurs. I am 32, white, Australian. I am not the "typical" teenage white male*.
If Kym Platt is unhappy with the response to her article and follow up comments, perhaps she should consider that she is reaping the hate she sowed. Her tongue in cheek comment about "all zombies should be white from here on" is still a racist statement. Perhaps if people spent some time thinking before propagating hate, they may find the rest of the world more understanding.
RE5 does not contain racist material unless you choose to see people as a colour rather than people (or more relevantly, virally created zombies). If you choose to see people as a colour, you are tending towards racism ie. differentiating by race.
Kym is the root of the problem here. Before her article, I'd say that most of GP's readers had never heard of her. The strength of the reaction is in line because she's essentially saying that anyone who will play this game is endorsing racism, a patently ridiculous assumption.
*Ironic that the assumption is we are all teenage, white and male. Talk about racial profiling... Reading the feedback to her blogg entry (which was cut off at 100 some odds posts by the site, talk about freedom of expression), many responders noted that they were African-American and objected to her comments.
1 - Communautarism is bad.
2 - Anger is a bad adviser.
3 - Now, gamers will be scrutinized much more than any group, and we'll have to act in consequence. Even though it's unfair, even though we think we don't have to justify ourselves for any so-called "gamer's" death threat or hate mail... well, we'll don't have choice (have we ever had it, anyway ?).
Sorry but even though I agree her statement was sarcastic it proved a point. She has no idea how to use sarcasm. She rails when people insult her for a view that has 0 legs to stand on, then goes and makes a racist comment when the entire webpage she is posting on is about combating racism. Its hypocritical, and racist anyway you look at it. Looking at the context of her blog and the page shes on theres not many other ways to interpret it. Sarcasm? Probably but it poor taste and at the wrong time. People need to learn how to use Sarcasm, its an art form and people like Kym butcher it. I suggest she read "A modest proposal" and maybe pick up a thing or two on how to use sarcasm in an argument.
As far is people being too logical to understand the emotions people have, I'm sorry but theres a limit to when you can excuse people for being retarded when they are emotionally driven. Making a statement without any evidence to back it up and everything else pointing in another direction shows a lack of research. Just because you see racism by viewing a trailer of a game you have no knowledge on and no idea where it takes place does not make it racist. YOU NEED CONTEXT in order to determine if something is racist.
For example, I use to be able to say "I've never met a black person I liked." Which is an can be received as a extremely racist comment without any context to it. However, when you put it together with the fact that I was limited to 2 black kids in my school and both were just little shits and it had nothing to do with their skin color then it changes my statement completely. Then I went to off to a new area and met a few of cool black people and I could no longer say that comment. (Which I was sad about because it was a great comment to get peoples eyes to bulge for about 5 seconds.)
Like I said either way you look at it Kym is in the wrong for both her blog and her following comments afterwards. The game clearly does not have racist undertones unless you are ignorant of the series and refuse to do any research on the topic. Which makes anything you have to say on said topic worthless and not worth even being mentioned. I'm sorry but 1+1 != 3. Protagonist + zombies != racism.
As stated before, the first 3 REs had WHITE ZOMBIES! No one bitched.
Number 4 had spanish zombies. No one bitched.
RE5 has black Zombies OMG ITS RACISM!
What jackasses.
First, this discussion, across all the sites in general, has devolved a little too much. It's done from "This could be offensive" to "You don't understand anything" (on both sides).
Second, there's one huge point I don't see anywhere I look, on main posts or comments. In general, the commentors are not representative of the gaming community. I'm not saying it's true here, but overall, most of the commentors are not the adults of the gaming community. The majority of people cruising the internet reading anything about games are not people over the 18 to 24 demographic.
My third point is linked to the second. Frankly, the minors responding overall don't have much to bitch about. I wouldn't normally say that. In this case though, they aren't saying much about freedom of speech in general terms. It's all about a game they shouldn't have their hands on for a couple years. Yes, some may reach a suitable age by the time it's realeased. In total though, many of the comments appear to be from entirely too young people. Maybe that's just the maturity level though.
Up fourth, I read a comment somewhere that seemed to liken this to V-Tech Rampage. As we all know, that has nothing to do with most games. That was a home-brew idiot. I can't believe people can be ignorant enough to not research these things. It's almost as bad as how RE5 is supposedly being marketed to kids. That almost made me laugh.
Fifth, forgive the pun, but the entired topic has become black and white. On one side, the argument is that at best it's insensitive, and at worst it's society training racist killers. On the other side, it's a harmless game that might as well be wire frame because it's that harmless. Where are the shades of grey? Hell, there should be a whole pallet here. It's a little from both and everyone wants to assign complete blame. Was it maybe a little insensitive? Yeah, probably. Is it meant as a harmless setting? Of course it is. A compromise should be easy, but of course it won't be.
Finally, I dread this getting to the main stream media. They hardly ever have anyone who knows video games on. Add the extra political issues and it's a huge news story. In reality, most Americans are too ignorant ro understand this kind of thing. They know what the media tells them. They hear "racist video games" and it's another huge set-back.
So that's my impressions so far. I think I'm adding racism to my list of things to avoid talking about. It'd go right next to religion and politics. It's never going away. I hope no one gets hurt from all of this.
1. The reason why they're acting like "inhuman savages" is because they're ZOMBIES! Zombies are supposed to be inhuman and savage.
2. They're being killed because they are zombies. If a zombie came up to you and was trying to kill you, no matter what color it is, you'd kill it, right? I wouldn't let it kill me, just because it happens to be black.
3. There is a "white man in military clothing", because he is some random military soldier who happens to be stuck in a zombie-infected African town.
The makers were obviously trying to once again simulate village-like environment, as they did in Resident Evil 5.
4. The only race of zombie in the first three games was WHITE. Yet not one white person said that its offensive. In Resident Evil 4 the makers decided to make the zombies Spanish, but nobody found that racist. But suddenly, when the made black zombies, then they have "gone too far".
Quit whining about it, no other race has. I don't find white zombies racist.
It seems that certain people are too sensitive and always looking for something thats they consider "racist". They're too closed-minded to see anything but racism, because everything can be considered racist if you think about it. The only reason those close-minded people make a big deal about stuff they claim is "racist" is because they are miserable inside and have nothing better to do but try to force other people see things in their perspective only. People like that aren't even worth paying attention to. And I'm not talking only about black people.
So why make a such a big deal over a single, insignificant game? After all it is just a game. So get over it already.
I used to live with a guy from Africa, and let me tell you, that guy wouldn't have given two craps about this. And he was friggin crazy. The kind of dude who sincerely believed OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson had been framed. Loved Malcolm X. Had posters of the man everywhere. And he wouldn't have cared one bit about something this dumb. You know why? Cause he's SEEN racism. Not this stupid crap that these spoiled little punks think "Oh no they didn't! RACISTS!" I mean real racism. Burn your neighbor's house down and shoot them racism.
The people who write these blogs are the people who don't understand what racism is. People treat you a little carefully, maybe store owners watch you a little more than everyone else? A virtual white guy is portrayed shooting virtual undead black people? Big deal. Call me when Capcom is firebombing your churches, I'll be behind you 100%.
Until then just shut the hell up. You don't know anything about actual injustice.
I would imagine the same people who made death threats against Thompson are the same folks who have attacked Ms Platt with slurs and racial epitaphs. None of us should have a problem admitting it, stupidty abounds in the gaming community.
And what did any of us expect from a community where people post "I just creamed in my pants" after seeing the latest game clip? Reason? Wisdom? Of course not.
As soon as I heard about this I rushed over to Ms Platts blog. I so desperately wanted to be one of the first who would respond to her charges of racism intelligently.
But once I arrived I saw Kim Platts response-
"Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth."
And that's when I realized it wasn't going to be possible to have an intelligent discussion with Ms Platt. In fact Ms Platt may demonstrated a little bigotry of her own.
Ms Platt may think that she is championing an noble cause. This isn't. Ms Platt may even think that she's a hero to the black community. Not this time at least.
But Ms Platt unfortunately may be nothing more than an opportunistic fire starter. One of those in our community who looks for the next racial explosion. I could be wrong, but I don't think that I am.
I really don't want to see the black community investing any energy or passion into Resident Evil. Why waste an ounce of concern over this particular video game?
Why not direct some of this passion towards the educational system that has failed our children so miserably? Why not use this energy to get summer jobs programs reinstated? It's been heartbreaking turning away so many young people this summer, but the even mid-sized company I work for can't hire them all.
What will banning Resident Evil solve? Nothing, absolutely nothing. RE5 is is not a watershed moment in the struggle for equal rights. This isn't the defining moment when a tired working class woman refuses to give up her seat. Not even close. This is Resident Evil, a video game. And in this case, a misunderstanding about story plot intentions......nothing more.
To Ms Platt I would say, as a gamer I have KILLED EVERYTHING. As a gamer I have done things that would put a modern day tyrant to shame.
I have slain dinosaurs and mythical monsters. I have taken on Sith Lords, Drug Lords, War Lords and Land Lords. I have single handedly killed over a BILLION Nazis, more than the number that actually fought in WW2. I have nuked cities without a care for the consequences. I've have brought entire Empires to their knees and have personally overseen the destruction and brutal subjugation of HUNDREDS OF WORLDS.
And yes , when Resident Evil 5 is released, I will be killing Zombies from Port-au-Prince..............as a game experience. That's all it is Ms Platt, not the beast rising from the eternal sea, not the bright shining lie that the war in Iraq has become. Just a game. Nothing worthy of our community's time as racial problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EyeNi6qsfs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzGM1nv_oow&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCDcl9s9Vh4&mode=related&search=
Muwhahahahaa. When you look at the world through science. It all becomes clear....I think...
The game isnt racist .
Some of the first to say they thought it was maby didnt handle it properly.
Other people agree with them
some people dont
The flame war begins
People get mad
the insults fly
once agian because of the bs the gamers look like the bad guys
I sware its a friggin template for anything that some thing like this comes up. Its a cycle that never ends because people love the view form atop there soapbox. This template isn't even limited to gamers but Ill stop now good day
Merdok
Upon thinking of it some more, I concede your point. However, I don't think they are techinically oppressed anymore... though I'd have to research the word some more. But yes, people taking pride in their accomplishments is all fine and good. I was thinking of it more from a "I'm better than you" stand point, which is unfair.
Either way, it'd still be nothing more than a strawman argument.
Moving on, I forsee problems here with the author. Deciding to actually read the full article to fully understand the situation here. I also took the time to look through the comments. On askthisblackwoman.com , she states that people called her various words deemed innapropriate. I did a search for said words, and i found these points:
1. Only one person called her a whore, and the sentence was "You are a racist whore"... I don't see "black whore" anywhere, as she claims.
2. She claims someone posted: "Get back into the cotton fields, you filthy nigger." THough it is possible that said post could have been deleted, I didn't see any other posts pertaining to the statement. However... see point 3.
3. As far as teh derogatory term "nigger" goes, there were a couple posters known as Anonymous who used that term multiple times on blacklooks.com . Just by merely glancing at those posts, and the username, I can determine its origins. I cant say any more, because that would violate rules 1 and 2, but It's safe to assume you cannot take those posts seriously.
4. "...Marketed towards children and Young adults..."
... what?
5. She does deserve this slander against her because she's attacking the Gaming Community without doing a further background check. She also posted a very racist comment. I respect those posters who submitted their angry reply without further name-calling
By no means am I degrading the points brought up by blog author Bonnie Ruberg. Bonnie brought about the point first as informative, and ending with "What If's". All Bonnie is doing is calling attention to something that could be controversial. however, Kim Platt went about this the very wrong way.
To end this: I am a white male, but by no means am i racist. I have friends of many different origions and colors. I know that some of my friends wouldn't enjoy this game BECAUSE THEY DONT LIKE SHOOTING GAMES, NOT BECAUSE OF ITS CONTENT.
Thank you for your time.
As one may see, above I posted the RE History, personally I dont like the type of game. Although I really like the innovative ideas of gameplay.
White Undead were killed for ages and decades. No one said anything, neither JT.
1. It's a really, really, cheap debating technique to focus only on the comments that you can easily refute. Of course the hate-filled racial epithets were bad, condemn them all you want, but don't you dare pretend that everyone one of us is like that. Don't only quote the rabid insults and the compliments, quote the calm, rational arguments against you as well.
2. Disgusting. Just disgusting. Black people are hardly featured as the world leaders in mindless, evil activities. Hitler or Stalin, anyone? So what if black people are being portrayed negatively. For every game that shows black people in a bad light, there are many more that show whites in a bad light. People making media where people of your race are shown as the bad guys is a part of this lovely thing called free speech. Get used to it. We have.
3. Much better. Condemning the hate-filled responses and offering a reasonable response to the reaonable questions. Bravo.
In conclusion, people who complain about race in a setting like this, regardless of which race, need to get over themselves.
Everybody around the world killed the spanish Zombies in the game.
No Spanish guy was killed. What a surprise!!
Resident Evil 1 - white people are zombies
Resident Evil 2 - white people are zombies
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - white people are zombies
Resident Evil Code: Veronica - white people are zombies
Resident Evil Survivor - white people are zombies
Resident Evil Gaiden - white people are zombies
Resident Evil: Survivor 2 Code: Veronica - white people are zombies
Resident Evil Zero - white people are zombies
Resident Evil: Dead Aim - white people are zombies
Resident Evil Outbreak - white people are zombies
Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 - white people are zombies
Resident Evil 4 - white people are zombies
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - white people are zombies
Resident Evil 5 - BLACK AFRICANS?! RACISM - White Opression O.o ??
Please, I’m sure the majority of ALL people won’t give a flying crap.
Unfortunately, they then said: "the images used in the game, already disturbing because it is resident evil, also reflect hateful images that were real"", and a lot of credibility was lost.
I did not see a reflection of hateful images. Are they implying that black people were turned into zombies by an evil corporation in the past? Now, if the white character took part in a lynching of a black person, or called them certain names, or burned a cross, THEN you would have a reflection of hateful images. Things that have actually happened and been disgustingly hateful. This however is science fiction/horror fiction and does not reflect reality in any way, hateful or otherwise.
I just wish that more people would see this for what it is, a video game that is continuing a long running series that is grounded in pure fiction, not something that is "meant to invoke hate towards black people in the not too distant history of america…". When I first saw the trailer, my thoughts were "Excellent! Another game in the style of Resident Evil 4!". I really enjoyed RE4 due to the claustrophobic and frantic nature of the action, knowing that you are outnumbered and having to take shelter and run to avoid being swarmed by more enemies than you can deal with. I didnt enjoy RE4 because I was able to virtually shoot enemies of a certain ethnicity, and I won't enjoy RE5 for that either. I will enjoy it because I like the storyline and wish to see it continued and look forward to more of the same exciting action I experienced in the previous game.
@ Darrell:
Why would you bring Mr. Thompson up in relation to this? It serves no purpose other than to try and goad him into a response (which I must give him credit for as it was brief and to the point!). It doesn't matter if you are being sarcastic, it adds nothing to the debate of this topic and as such was a silly and childish post to make.
Resident Evil comes out in 1996 and is heavily influenced by Romero's "Dead" movies. Predominantly white zombies are killed throughout the series. Now, an 11-year-old franchise with 5 main games under its belt (0-Code Veronica) where the MAIN protaganist in all but 1 (4) has been a woman, plus spin-offs and THREE movies, is getting flak for its 5th main numbered game because of black zombies. Even if one isn't familiar with games, I would think that someone must've heard of RE in some way shape or form before this.
Tracing the origins of zombie to the modern day hubab over RE5 is just too damn weird.
Saying that, I think the people who racially abused Kym Platt are a utter disgrace and I hope if Kym Platt is reading this that she knows that not all gamers are a fucking disgrace who racially abuse people. To a much lesser extent, I know what it's like (with a idiot on live calling me a Scottish c**t, and with social problems here in Scotland itself though thats a relgious thing)
"given the response from gamers… I think we should all be very afraid. Many of these folks seem like the type who would try to reenact scenes from Resident Evil 5. Can you say Columbine?"
Is Jack Thompson really behind this ??? I am having some doubts.
http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/08/where_lies_the_resident_evil.html
Come now, you don't seriously think I was being serious, do you? There's a little thing called "sarcasm". I wasn't being serious.
Speaking of counseling, sounds like you need it more than I do.
Funny thing is, I was thinking just about the same thing, when I was watching the trailer. I was thinking: Some people will really be offended by this!
(NB: Its only the latest opportunity to bash the “White oppressor” Al Sharpdon leading the way).
See, he harassed many gamers to the extent that they have poisoned many gamers' way of thinking towards game critics. Thanks to Jack Thompson, any person who criticize games (even the ones who DO raise valid points) are painted the same bad brush as Jack Thompson.
And you know what? I wouldn't put it past the fact that he WOULD do this. Maybe it was his plan all along. Piss many gamers off so the next time anyone who criticizes games will be flamed, trolled and so on, making gamers look bad in the process, and then he'll rise up to to get what he wants among the flamewars.
What she just did was the blogging equivalent of walking into a bar, hitting some random person in the back of the head then sobbing how persecuted she is that the person hit back.
Yes, a lot of people were very nasty back, and that is un-excusable. But it IS explainable. It's called other people have feelings too.
For those who think that just because I am a fan of this horror franchise so that I must be racist, you are wrong. I myself is an anti-racist and I happen to be also a horror and action fan. So to those fuckers who think that I am a racist, then to hell with you.
As someone else has already said I think one of the problems is that people who have experienced racism first-hand are all too quick to claim it because they fear it happening again. I'm not saying they are wrong, frankly I would be upset and "paranoid" about it if I had experienced something like that too.
Ultimately though, it doesn't matter if it is racist or not. As much as we hate the idea of someone making a racist statement, their ability to make that statement is protected as long as it doesn't lead to harm. Could this lead to harm... Maybe. But so could any other movie, game or other piece of media that contains violence. If we start banning this or that because it MIGHT lead to violence unintentionally we may as well stop producing movies and games because that will be the end of them.
It is a shame that the internet seems to drag up attitudes of racist behaviour that Kym Platt experienced, but to be honest you don't have to look far to find people willing to say anything just to cause trouble or get some attention that they cannot find elsewhere. This isn't so much gamers being racist as internet trolls finding someone to attack to get their kicks. I'm certainly not going to apologise for or take responsibility for these people just because I'm white. They are scum; deal with it.
"Not to mention that zombies “are thought to have originated in Haiti.” Voodoo anyone?"
Of course it needs stating that the West's knowledge of Voodoo is almost entirely rubbish. For instance, there's no such thing as a voodoo doll; the sticking of pins into a replica to cause pain is from Western Witches. The only dolls used by Voodoo are with pegs and for healing.
The reason for the misinformation fed was because the Christian faith wanted to discredit the other religious beliefs in order to help convert to Christianity. Another example of our poor history. That isn't to say we have to either a, stay ignorant to the past or b, be held responsible for past attrocities.
How the hell do you get off comparing Birth of a Nation and Black Hawk Down? Birth of a Nation is essentially a Ku Klux Klan propaganda movie while Black Hawk Down is an (almost) faithful retelling of a major incident of the United States Army (one that resulted in the award of two posthumous Medal of Honors). Not to mention that zombies "are thought to have originated in Haiti." Voodoo anyone?
Apparently, not being silenced by political correctness is "racism" nowadays.
Background on Afro-Caribbean Voodoo and zombies:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/zombie.htm
All races are prone to racism, from black hating whites to blacks who actively look for racism in everything coming from whites, its all the same. When someone can make a game like this and have no one immediately say thats a racist game maybe the world will finalyy be a better place. Capcom should not need to issue any statements about the content of the game to prove that it isnt sending a black hating message. You shouldn't be jumping to conclusions.
Of course, whether it's a troll or not, I've still been enjoying the flamewar. I stand by my opinion that the game is harmless. The race of the zombies appears to be a side effect of the game's setting, nothing more.
If its a black zombie; its racism
If its a mexican zombie; someone might care
If its an asian zombe; its funny
If its a caucasian zombie; its ok
a game should never be taken so seriously unless it truly was intended to be racist or hateful. the everyday person would picture a zombie as Caucasian, but because its black there is instantly question to whether it is racism or not. Capcom is only trying to bring you into a different environment, like they always have, with the Resident Evil series.
The problem is people judge too quick with their eyes. Ever heard of a blind racist? no
judge the game by its actions and words not how it looks. i mean its not like there's a lynching and pointed hats in the trailer...
That's where i thought it was when I saw the very first trailer, maybe it is.
In Capcom's defense, I've never seen a game where they portrayed any race as inferior. When I saw this new trailer I didn't think it was racist at all, but that's just me.
As for the critiscism of Kym Platt's blog, I break it down into different groups of people responding. There are the knee-jerkers, who respond with nothing but profanity. There are those who gave constructive criticism and provided thoughtful arguments as to why Kym is mistaken (very few did, sadly); and then there are those who did not respond at all, possibly because they didn't want to be associated with the knee-jerk group.
This game cannot be racist unless it was made for rascist reasons, and I highly doubt it was. This is Capcom's story, they can take it where ever they want. They have touched on social issues in there games before, (i.e. Dead Rising: concern over America's consumption of meat products) so maybe this game will discuss poverty, social, or economic issues.
As long as people explode at the merest blink of precieved racism and start screaming about it this kind of thing will never go away.
As for the Mojas (black with red lips)
I wonder what these people would make of it if they took a look at the "zwarte pieten"(black peters roughly translated) that are a traditional part of our "Sinterklaas" national holyday here in the Netherlands.
White people put un black make-up, wear red lipsick and put on thights for this.
Just google it to see what I mean.
I think that because I grew up with these traditionally good natured, slightly goofy but always positive images of black people I can't see the problem with the Moja's.
People are jumping all over her comments because of the perceived assault on their intelligence. Yes she made a rashly and poorly exicuted comment on something she admittedly knew little about.
But the responses on her website showed that there might actually be a little bit of truth behind what she was saying. She wasn't directing her response toward the majority of Americans who could play through RE5 without assaulting a fellow black citizen of this country. It was directed towards the few who would look at RE5 as a catalyst for their secret politically incorrect thoughts. Where they might have been content with an inward expression of their disdain for something as trivial as skin color they now are refocussed on that hatred by means of the video game. What was shocking and interesting was through the usage of derogitory names quite a few of us gamers confirmed her worry thus you (those who chose to call her a "b..." a "n.....", etc) gave precidence to an otherwise baseless argument.
"The game is racist against zombies!"
The zombies look a lot like the historically negative racist stereotype of Africans as savage looking and animalistic. You're going to naturally hear complaints about it. I'm sorry, but if they had a game set in the U.S. and all the white zombies were trailer trash and hillbillies, you'd get the same sort of negative criticisms (though perhaps not to as much vocal a degree).
"Why wasn't anybody criticizing RE4?"
Because, to put it bluntly, Spanish people never had genocides committed against them. Spanish people were never portrayed as animalistic or inhuman as much as Africans have been.
"It's just a game!"
So was the VT Massacre simulator.
The game isn't going to get canned. Capcom is reaping the profits of this publicity. However, it's kind of stupid. The game could very well be less sensationalistic and shocking than the trailer; however, the trailer brings up a lot of bad bad memories of a time when white people committed genocide in Africa. It's just that simple.
And frankly, the gaming community needs to better control itself. If GTA3's first promo vid had been the protagonist doing nothing except soliciting hos and killing them afterwards, how do you imagine the talking heads would have responded? The gamers would have gone "whoa, that's some open-ended gaming right there", but you can get your ass that Jack Thompson and Lieberman would have fallen upon themselves in the rush to condemn the game, Capcom, and all gamers in general. What Capcom is doing with this is creating an unnecessarily senationalistic campaign that brings up bad memories in an extremely cheap and tasteless way. And all these internet idiots bashing the bloggers are not doing anything to solve this issue. Video games have a bad media image; it's time to fight against that.
It may seem like that I'm blaming the victim here, but dammit, gaming community, stop creating opportunities for anti-video game activists to criticize you.
I think Kym understood the message (at least partially), and right now I'm having a peaceful discussion with her on her blog. She's in fact very nice and open-minded when people talk to her in a civil manner.
By the way, I encourage you to read a column entitled "The shame of the game", written 10 years ago. I wasn't about video games, but pen-and-paper role-playing games. However, I think the same thing applies to us (just change "role-playing" by "video games", and you'll see), especially the last paragraphs :
"Role-playing is a young hobby that is still very much changing and expanding, and we should be investigating every aspect of it. But generally, any opinion that doesn't support gaming entirely is devalued, labeled as either religious extremism or fascist bullying, thus ending all hope of any meaningful examination of the hobby.
And far too often, those that express such views are immediately pounced on and silenced under a barrage of accusations by militant gamers, who justify their own oppressive policies on the basis of defending a hobby that isn't actually under attack.
And it is then that I am most ashamed to be a role-player."
More here : http://ptgptb.org/0004/antigame.html
"Treating someone differently on the basis of anything removes equality therefore to take into account the history of a racial group, I have to be racist."
Well, it's bad not to take into account history, sometimes. Do you think a Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS game about World War II should be made? I'm not talking about First Amendment issues here, but matters of taste. Which I think is the ultimate debate about RE 5, as well. Not that it should be forcefully censored, but whether or not its racial dynamics are tasteful.
At this rate, as much as I'd like to play the game, I'd rather they just cancel it so these ignorant people would just shut their mouths.
They refuse to do any research on the game's history or acknowledge the fact that other than one black zombie in RE2, this is the first time they're actually having black zombies. They've all been white before this, save for the Spaniards in RE4, and even the people behind the viral outbreaks have been white.
The white man/woman have been the primary enemies for these games forever practically, and finally when they do have black zombies everyone is in an uproar. It's bullshit double standard crap, and it pretty much tells me that no one actually wants equality. We've got to treat which ever ethnic group better depending on how much more their ancestor's suffered than the rest of the ethnic groups.
This, sadly, is the way things will always be. I can see this argument happening probably in another 30 or 40 years because there will always be people like the one's who posted this articles on the Villager and Black Look sites.
Next, I'm reading an awful lot of thinly veiled "all people are equal, some are more equal than others" in the posts both in this thread and the original thread.
Let me explain. Equality means all are treated the same. Then I'm being told that I have to take historical acts and situations into account when talking to or depicting certain racial groups. Therefore I should treat certain groups differently then I normally would. So certain groups get special treatment depending on their historical situation.
Treating someone differently on the basis of anything removes equality therefore to take into account the history of a racial group, I have to be racist.
On closing I would like to say that hating anyone for a reason a silly as skin colour is stupid, give them 5 min and they'll open their mouth and give you a good reason to hate them.
1) Black Hawk Down was a true event that happened. The enemy in that situation was Black because it happened in Somalia. They were hopped up on drugs and they were ravenous. They did horrible things to our soldiers (both black and white and hispanic). Calling that into play as Racist is crap, because that was all true. It happened. It was not about keeping the black man down, it was about criminal warloards messing up a country and us getting in the middle because the UN would not.
2) What the hell does Black Hawk Down have to do with RE 5?
3) I commented on her piece, and asked her to come down here and debate us. So far as I can see she hasn't and that makes her a coward. I am sure she is just doing this for publicity and maybe even to rile us up. She defend her agruement by not addressing the infromed criticism but taking the Trolls point and saying "poor me." She is just as bad as an asshole pulling the race card. She contributes nothing to society but to reming everyone that we will never be able to get along and overcome racism as long as people like her exist, always brining up the race issue. There is only one race, the human race. It does not matter if you are black, white, asian or green with purple stripes. My only advice to her is "grow up and stop being a part of the problem."
Yeah, its generally being not dismissed as "but they're zombies", but pointing out the fact that every RE game has you killing zombies and to say, "Oh its only okay to kill white zombies" is horribly racist.
Equality is equality is equality. And if we ever want to reach said equality one day you cannot heed "imagery". In doing so you are still treating them differently thus its still racist. Saying you cannot have black zombies, even to prevent said imagery is doing nothing but pointing out differences between white and black, thus deepening the chasm of resentment between each.
a Child Molestation Game is not yet accepted anywhere.
While Killing Zombies are.
Because it’s accepted that Anybody can be Zombies Black, White, Hispanic. Who the hell cares.
you keep saying Savages.
Everybody knows that African people well alot of them are probably not Savages.
in the game they are ACTING like Savages because they are Zombies.
That can apply to any state country place or person no matter who that is.
Really now who would watch that trailer? the only people who really do are gamers themselves. The Zombies in RE4 didn’t look too much like Zombies either. In fact they aren’t really Zombies there Mind Controlled people.
In fact why make them look like Zombies when they aren’t but in fact they are Mind Controlled people who have Zombie Like behavior. This can happen to anybody anywhere. They did it in Spain last time there doing it in Africa this time.
Zombies CAN be of Any race, WHO are you to say that Zombies can’t be of any race. IN FACT if you studied your Zombie history Zombies originated from Africa.
Thank you all for your comments, i'll use them to make better blog posts in the future. to make better arguments
I sincerely doubt it'll have a message, even if it art, if all games have a message, then what was the message for tekken, or soul calibur, or madden?
Sure some games can be art but i don't think that all games qualify as art.
Also art doesn't need to have a message, like the mona lisa.
"this is how i feel about this
"Recently the blogger who was brave enough to post about the apparent racism in Resident Evil Five was attacked by many commenters. Not only are these racist and sexist comments"
You are ignoring all the valid criticism of her arguments and instead focusing solely on the personal insults levied at her,
"making the release of any other resident evil game highly un-likely,"
I got news for you if capcom has half a brain they'll still release the game (after all resident evil made a lot of money and was hailed as a terrific game),
"But not discussing this issue in a mature manner is bringing a shadow of shame on the gaming community. "
Again you are ignoring the mature discussion everyone else is having.
"No fan boy has the right to call someone a “nigger” or a “whore” because they pointed out something that may or may not get the game they love cancelled."
I can't argue with you there
"This could be the death blow to the gaming community one poster writes “given the response from gamers… I think we should all be very afraid."
Rome wasn't built in a day nor was it destroyed in a day, this one game will nto destroy the gaming community any more than GTA. by the way that one poster was the same women who started this whole thing in the first place.
"Many of these folks seem like the type who would try to reenact scenes from Resident Evil 5. Can you say Columbine?”. These few immature gamers are bringing down the gaming community as a whole. They are reinforcing the very stereotype used to ban video games, Gamers are a bunch of dehumanized demoralized mass killers. These gamers are no better then KKK members."
So wait a minute insulting all black people is equal to trying to kill all black people? Under that "logic" insulting someone would be the equivalent of threatening them.
"These gamers say the game is not racist yet when one looks at the anger in their posts one must conclude that these games are having an impact one the morals."
Yet when one looks at the comments made by mature people that thesis falls flat, also there is a whole ton of other things influencing why they are being so insensitive (like being anonymous and not having your posts tied to your real name)
"One must conclude that Jack Thomson is right, and video games should be banned. (Personally I do not support this argument but I want to stay objective in analyzing these issues for now on thus based on the evidence presented to me, I must agree.)"
Actually jack thompson's agrument is that games turn people into mindless killers not that they have lower morals.
"In is a know Fact in all other Resident Evil games the zombies were white. Yet, by having one white person killing waves of black “zombies” it is different."
Yes their skin color was different BEFORE they became mindless cannibals, that's it.
"White people do not have the emotional scar that still bleeds from slavery. Slavery only ended 7 generations ago. African Americans have only just gotten there god given civil rights."
50, or 40 years ago isn't just getting them nor is 7 generations a short time by any stretch.
"The current generation of African Americans CAN SPEAK TO THERE GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDFATHERS AND HEAR FIRSTHAND STORIES OF LYNCHING, RAPE, AND MURDER. It is not so long ago that there was segregation. That the KKK was at it’s high. Yes, the message of Resident Evil 5 is not as blatantly racist as other KKK funded games such as “Ethnic cleansing”, but there is the over tone of racism."
An overtone of racism? The man doing the killing was in previous resident evil games where he shot white zombies, not exactly a racist overtone.
"If These gamers would scroll up a few more pages they would see African Americans still deal with racism today. Yet, these fact remains VIDEO GAMES AND MEDIA AS A WHOLE DO NOT SHOW AFRICAN AMERICANS VICTORIOUS IN BATTLE. For example in RE2 the only black person in the games dies with out a real struggle. RE5 Also fails in this way, the game fails to let an African save his society, save his only live."
There is no law that says they have to have a black person be a hero.
"The games message is that Africans are helpless. The need white men to “Parent” them. It is parentalism, the very same theory that keep slavery alive, all over again. "
Wrong. First of all this game probably has no message, secondly the game is entirely fictional, it uses zombies, basically it's that if zombies ever overrun africa, this one man (who doesn't exist) could stop them, ever seen an action movie, kinda like that, thirdly how do you know that the protagonist doesn't get help from black allies.
"Furthermore, This game depicts African Americans as a plague needs to be wiped out. Akin to the one drop rule. Akin to aids in African. This game basically states that
African Americans are helpless, are the trouble makers and whites must set things right."
Wrong on so many levels, first of all they are zombies. DO you even know what that is? A zombie is someone who's sole purpose is to kill humans, zombies are no longer human and they can't be changed back (most of the time). So basically he's killing them because if he doesn't they will kill him. It's not out of race, it's not revenge, it's just plain and simple survival. If you don't kill them you will DIE.
"Then there is the “RE5 is programmed in Japan, they don’t know about our Racal tensions.” Yes this is true, but the Ad companies, translates, and publishers are based here and had the power and the humanity to see the racist themes and info the programmers about this."
Or they could've realised that the game is not racist and just left it as it is.
"It is hard to see this not as yet another move by the white controlled corporations, lust like the white controlled corporations promoting angry African American rap and stopping out hopeful songs, to reinforce stereotypes. "
You have no proof of any of this. So why should we believe you.
Thus RE5 is racist.
The quick version is that the mainline games developed after RE2 continued to develop the surviving characters of RE1 and 2. RE4 took the series in a new direction gameplay-wise and featured a returning Leon Kennedy. Storywise the villagers that Leon had to fight through were being controlled by a cult by means of a parasite. Gameplay-wise this meant it was closer to an action shooter, with much quicker and more dangerous enemies.
RE5 likely continues the new theme of a human enemy controlling infected victims. Chris Redfield is the protagonist because Capcom apparently prefers to continue using it's initial characters for its mainline games.
If you wish further details to determine context, I'd recommend the RE series wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_%28franchise%29
It'll likely give you more and better details than I can.
The mainstream media's inevitable reaction does not necessarily mean that the game is racist. It only means that the media is apt to take advantage of such a controversial topic for their own profit.
yes but that reaction might mean the end for the resident evil games
I find your argument very well support and intresting. Can you expand on that idea a little more. I admit i've only played RE2 so i've not gotten any of the new backstory
Also if you were familiar with Resident Evil 5 you know this white man is actually trying to help Africa by putting a stop to the individuals making them into zombies... Just like what happens with EVERY resident evil series. Please do research before you post such ignorant comments.
You are also no better than KKK members for your prejudice against gamers. Gamers put up with this kind of stuff every day of the week constantly for probably all their life. People look down at us and call is nerds, geeks and all kinds of stuff. People try to claim our entertainment is the cause of massacres and we know thats the last think to be true. This is like those racist bastards in the KKK claiming that African Americans are destroying America with hip hop. Hurts doesn't it? Well we go through the same shit every day of the year. And who says these hurtful things? Politicians, lawyers and people others look up to. Those racist assholes that called this person "nigger" are not welcome here and Dennis made that clear. I am personally embarassed by them just as I'm sure you would be embarassed by someone that uses racial slurs to defend such from such insults.
In Resident Evil games there are often two chracters and in Resident Evil 4, which took part in spain that person was Spanish so more than likely there will be a African as the 2nd character you play as. The trailer doesn't depict Africa as helpless it depicts Africa under attack by the Umbrella Corporation which, if you knew anything about the game, you would know is the cause of all these zombie uprisings. Please... PLEASE get your facts strait.
Thank you all who are disagreeing with respect.
Do tell how you've managed to play a game that won't be released for something like two years. That's the only way you could know that it "depicts African Americans as a plague needs to be wiped out.". Oh wait, you couldn't have played it. You couldn't know more about it than the one long trailer that's currently out. So your claims of what it depicts are baseless. Meanwhile, my claims that it will portray the Africans or Haitians(as it's rather clearly not set in Amercia for the portions shown, thus calling them African Americans does them a diservice) as victims of a power hungry corporation do have a base. Specifically the enemies in all the rest of the games have been such victims. Not to mention that RE isn't merely programmed in Japan, Capcom the developer and publisher is a Japanese company. It certainly doesn't base development decisions on what non-Japanese translators and marketing people it may employ.
So kindly spare us your claims of over arching white conspiracy unless you have better evidence than your current baseless claims.
people do care about these things, but it hard to speak up against a community that shows so much anger and hate when questioned on matters of race.
dr burst, sorry comparing kiddy comments do the KKK is just silly.
RE5 is racist? hahahahah just because you guys can’t get over something??
SLAVERY IS OVER DEAL WITH IT!!!
Do you see any asians Complaining? no
If RE5 was in HK? would anybody give a flying crap? no and guess what Chinese people were also SLAVES.
Wait so your also telling me that Africa doesn’t need help? Africa is the worst COUNTRY ever! would any tourist want to go there? It’s only good for Blood Diamonds. The FACT is is that US helping Africa is not going to make African American's WEAKER nor are they ever going to be put into Slavery anymore.
"lust like the white controlled corporations promoting angry African American rap and stopping out hopeful songs, to reinforce stereotypes. "
sorry i have a HUGE issue with this as you Assume that it's White peoples Problem that African American's Reinforce this stereotype. This is the worst way to go in any Argument which makes you LOOK more like a Racist then white people. When was it White Man's job to turn down 2pac's or Eminem's Music?
Hell it's what sell's wouldn't it! What wouldn't make a Black Buisnessman DO THE EXACT same thing?
Shouldn't it be Black Man's Job to stop it Black Stereotypes? Then Black people should stop making the music because there going to be able to find Somebody to endorse there music Black, White, or Yellow it doesn't Matter.
Burst i must ask you, ever been on YOUTUBE? there are kiddy remarks everywhere on the internet, Gamer or not. Not to mention there are kids on the internet that simply don't care. Not to mention this is the internet. Taking Insults from the internet should be something EVERYBODY should get used to. People are stupid not Gamers, People in General are.
"Slavery only ended 7 generations ago. African Americans have only just gotten there god given civil rights. "
yeah so 7 generations ago = just gotten civil rights
Sure thing geeze i wonder how Often i can Pull my Asian Race card, not to mention
"Furthermore, This game depicts African Americans as a plague needs to be wiped out. Akin to the one drop rule. Akin to aids in African. This game basically states that
African Americans are helpless, are the trouble makers and whites must set things right."
No, the game depicts African Americans infected by Zombies just like the world has.
So because the story is based around a white person who saved people before and goes to africa = Racism because he is trying to save African's?
So i guess there can be no game ever based on a White Charachter seen in previous of the series going to Africa trying to set things right. how Asinine and Closed minded is that?
You know what? Black people in Africa need to stop going to war with each other first before Blaming there Ills of SOCIETY on a game.
Yes, legal slavery is over, yet we must deal with the dehumanisation that comes with slavery
"Do you see any asians Complaining? no"
http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/media/releases/2006/mr-06-079.html
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/warcraft3reignofchaos/news.html?sid=...
Wait so your also telling me that Africa doesn’t need help? Africa is the worst COUNTRY ever! would any tourist want to go there? It’s only good for Blood Diamonds
Yes, Africa does need help, but this trailer depictes Africans as helpless. There are many africans who are trying to help their community.
Recently the blogger who was brave enough to post about the apparent racism in Resident Evil Five was attacked by many commenters. Not only are these racist and sexist comments making the release of any other resident evil game highly un-likely, But not discussing this issue in a mature manner is bringing a shadow of shame on the gaming community. No fan boy has the right to call someone a “nigger” or a “whore” because they pointed out something that may or may not get the game they love cancelled. This could be the death blow to the gaming community one poster writes “given the response from gamers… I think we should all be very afraid. Many of these folks seem like the type who would try to reenact scenes from Resident Evil 5. Can you say Columbine?". These few immature gamers are bringing down the gaming community as a whole. They are reinforcing the very stereotype used to ban video games, Gamers are a bunch of dehumanized demoralized mass killers. These gamers are no better then KKK members. These gamers say the game is not racist yet when one looks at the anger in their posts one must conclude that these games are having an impact one the morals. One must conclude that Jack Thomson is right, and video games should be banned. (Personally I do not support this argument but I want to stay objective in analyzing these issues for now on thus based on the evidence presented to me, I must agree.)
In is a know Fact in all other Resident Evil games the zombies were white. Yet, by having one white person killing waves of black “zombies” it is different. White people do not have the emotional scar that still bleeds from slavery. Slavery only ended 7 generations ago. African Americans have only just gotten there god given civil rights. The current generation of African Americans CAN SPEAK TO THERE GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDFATHERS AND HEAR FIRSTHAND STORIES OF LYNCHING, RAPE, AND MURDER. It is not so long ago that there was segregation. That the KKK was at it’s high. Yes, the message of Resident Evil 5 is not as blatantly racist as other KKK funded games such as “Ethnic cleansing”, but there is the over tone of racism. If These gamers would scroll up a few more pages they would see African Americans still deal with racism today. Yet, these fact remains VIDEO GAMES AND MEDIA AS A WHOLE DO NOT SHOW AFRICAN AMERICANS VICTORIOUS IN BATTLE. For example in RE2 the only black person in the games dies with out a real struggle. RE5 Also fails in this way, the game fails to let an African save his society, save his only live. The games message is that Africans are helpless. The need white men to “Parent” them. It is parentalism, the very same theory that keep slavery alive, all over again.
Furthermore, This game depicts African Americans as a plague needs to be wiped out. Akin to the one drop rule. Akin to aids in African. This game basically states that
African Americans are helpless, are the trouble makers and whites must set things right.
Then there is the “RE5 is programmed in Japan, they don’t know about our Racal tensions.” Yes this is true, but the Ad companies, translates, and publishers are based here and had the power and the humanity to see the racist themes and info the programmers about this. It is hard to see this not as yet another move by the white controlled corporations, lust like the white controlled corporations promoting angry African American rap and stopping out hopeful songs, to reinforce stereotypes.
Thus RE5 is racist.
What's being said is that the game is racist for its portrayal for black people and Africa. However, accusation of racism implies that it was intended to insult and decry a group of people, which most people know will more than likely be false. Stating something is racist implies it is a fact and can't be argued otherwise.
What the bloggers don't realize is that the game is not racist. They are just offended. Most of the comments made have been "it reminds me of all the negative stereotypes I been forced to deal with my whole life." That can't be argued. These people are definitely upset, and can interpret the images as they see fit. That is the fact that can't be argued. And they do have a right to be upset just like gamers have a right to be upset about Jack Thompson and his portrayal of us.
However, to state the game is racist is totally out of bounds. What this whole controversy is about is perception...not fact. The complaints stating that "the game is racist" more correctly translate into "this is a non-racist game stuck in what I perceive to be a racist society."
And of course, gamers have the right to defend themselves as well. Perhaps not on the same level as the black population, but gamers definitely know what it feels like to have labels placed upon them such as "anti-social, prepubescent, psychopathic cop-killers." I think these bloggers need to realize that everyone has the right to defend themselves from accusations and stereotypical labels...not just them. Don't be shocked if you push buttons, and we retaliate aggressively. It happens all the time from your side of the argument from a radio DJ being fired for insensitive remarks to forced public apologies from many celebrities. We have just the same right to defend ourselves as you do. Afterall, isn't that what civil rights and equality are all about?
I agree, we can't simply change the game because some group of people find it offensive without just cause
I'm similarly unsympathetic to the other due to their inaccurate negative stereotyping of gamers, and the fact that they apparently consider anyone that isn't racially hypersensitive to the point of paranoia to be either ignorant or racist.
They could be Black Neo-Nazis that want to eliminate the Jewish Community and people they see as weaker....which could include all whites...
1) 90% of the readers of gaming blogs are teenage white kids.
2) Gamers who post on gaming blogs have a nasty habit of proving their critics point?
Key word of advice to half the people who posted: Please stop, you're doing more damage to the reputation of gamers than Jack Thompson could ever dream of.
God, with all the issues effected black people in America, you waste your time on something as petty, shallow, and meaningless as a video game that features a man shooting black zombies IN AFRICA... The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me.
What about Black Nazis?
As an African-American gamer with dreams of working in games, I have always been concerned with the representation of blacks in gaming. This is mainly due to the fact that we are rarely featured in video games at all (no racist claim here though. I actually blame this on the low number of blacks working in the industry).
All that said, when I saw the RE5 trailer, my initial reaction was “This is awesome! But man, the game industry is gonna get some crap over this.” Certainly didnt expect it to happen so quickly, though.
My advice to both sides in this issue would be to take deep breath and try to see things from the other point of view, because so far, all I see are knee-jerk reactions being responded to with more knee rections, and then the process repeating itself.
To my fellow gamers, understand that this kind of imagery (blacks being seen as savages, a white authority killing said “savages, etc.) can be very hurtful to some. After all, racism wasn’t just an idea in the US, it was the law. Slaves meant as much as cattle here. And of course, there were still many years of abuse and discrimination that followed slavery. On top of all this, the periods of portrayal of Africa as a “wild continent” doesn’t help RE5’s case.
And I will certainly say that the gamers spewing vulgar insults at this woman disgust me. Seriously, you lot are doing more harm to gaming than ‘ol Jack Thompson ever could. By constantly responding to any critcism of games with idiotic comments (many racially and sexually charged), you are bolstering the perception of gamers as angry, immature fools with no grip on reality. How do you except people to change their preceptions of gaming if you continually reaffirm what they already believe?
As for Ms. Platt (and even for the writer of this blog), you must understand the reasons gamers get so angry at incidents like this. While I will not condone the vulgar responses, I will say they are steeped in history.
In a comment on her personal site, Ms. Platt made a reference to Columbine when discussing the angry responses she recieved. Columbine is a very sensitive subject for gamers. After that tragedy, many people who were already considered outcasts were victims of even more public ire, mostly because they played video games. Students were suspended/expelled from school and forced into consuling. The internet is full of stories of kids, who instead of just picked being on, were now being out right beaten up. It was as if Columbine made it okay to hate those who were different because their diffences made them “dangerous”. So wether Ms. Platt made that comment as a joke or not is irrelevant, because it made a hurtful and ignorant stereotype. And while I won’t put this kind of thing on the level of the abuse blacks have suffered, I will ask this of Ms. Platt: Shouldn’t we, as African-Americans, be able to understand and sympathize with a group of people who have been insulted, attacked, and hated simply for being different?
One more thing to Ms. Platt: games are constantly being viewed as the root of evil be the media. So we’ve grown accostumed(sp?) to becoming a little defensive when people bash games for reasons we don’t understand. It becomes more problematic when the one calling foul makes it clear they know next to nothing about games. Stereotyping gamers and also highlighting the worst aspects of gaming culture as though it was the representative also won’t earn you any points. This is mainly because these are behavoirs we see often from an attorney named Jack Thompson, who has spent years doing numerous thing to make gamers hate him. In fact, you could say he is to anti-gamers what the morons who called Ms. Platt the “n” word is to gamers: someone who spews ignorance and inspires only disdain.
I’ll only hope is that everyone will get out all their anger and knee-jerking out of the way now. That way, when RE5 is released in 09,we will be able to have a more constructive conversation about this topic. =)
I think black Nazis may well be a contradiction in terms.
Now it appears that any zombies that are non-white are a tender issue, which is sad given that people who think this are looking at the imagery from a trilaer and not thinking at all about the context.
I guess this means that one Nazis are safe too kill now....
Also, the reference to peopel being to logical to get it was essentially saying that peopel were completely discounting the emotional connotations other might have because they themselves didn't have any toward the subject.
No one is saying that you can have black zombies or anything of the sort. At least, I haven't heard anyone saying that. The argument is you shoudl watch how you present the idea so it doesn't come off as zombies being used as some sort of metaphor or commentary on black people/culture.
Oh damn...what about the 911 terrorists? They don't fit so nicely into that perfect little demographic that is okay to make fun of/portray badly/possibly offend in any way shape or form. What about the Columnine shooters? Drat again! They aren't middle age. Hmm, what about women, African Americans, Asians, etc. who murder people? Oh my poor head! It is going to explode because my perfect little ideal is being threatened! Whoa is me! I know! I'll just scream "isms" all over the place whenever I see something that doesn't fit my ideal. A woman murdered someone and is in the news. SEXISM! SEXISM! How dare they portray a woman in a bad light because some idiot with no brain might see it and think that all women are bad! Heaven forbid! Oh glory, glory, God save us all!
I mean, REALLY...that is how these people are coming across to me. I'm a woman. Do you see me screaming my head off because women get killed in video games? Do you see me crying "SEXISM!" when a woman is the ultimate "bad guy" in a video game? Heck, no... In fact, I think, "Wow...glad to see a female in a majour role, and not just as the sexy side-kick to the male hero!" If RE made a game where the zombies were all from an infected women's prison, it would be insane to be upset because the zombies were all women. No kidding they would all be women...they are from a women's prison! If it were split 50/50 between male and female zombies, I would be wondering where the hell all the males came from to get infected in the first place! Talk about some serious congugal visitation rights!
I am part Native American. If the game was set on a reservation or set back in time when Native Americans were more populous in the Western hemisphere, I would hardly take offense to most of the zombies being Native American. Even if the hero who was killing the zombies was white, as long as there was a good plot reason for it, I still would not get offended. If it was basically Europeans coming in to take over the Americas all over again, and the Native Americans just happened to be zombies, okay, I would take offense. However, I have a hard time believing that RE is doing something like that, and even if I DID think they were doing that...wouldn't it be wise to play the game first to make sure?
To the people claiming that it is hard to talk to gamers because they are all young white males... Um, excuse me? Last I checked I was female, and I don't think I have grown any extra parts in the last few hours. Most video games come from Japan or Japanese designers, and last I checked people who were Japanese were Asian...not white. I have seen plenty of blacks, hispanics, middle easterners, females, you name it at anime and gaming conventions/tournaments. Are they all just there to stare at the young white male gamers? Most likely not. The young male white gamers might be pretty happy about all the females coming just to look at them, but come on...they aren't that important. Sorry guys. ;)
Hmm, maybe I should start screaming racism every time I see a video game with whites being killed, or whites being the enemy. Maybe I should take offense to females being in prison, and I should petition for all female criminals to be released. Maybe I should go around proclaiming how the Scottish and Native Americans are THE best types of people in the world, so we must be perfect. I must NEVER have shoplifted as a kid, I must NEVER have fought with my sister, I must NEVER have gotten in a car accident. Why? Because I am from Scottish and Native American decent. We are perfect, remember? Anyone who dares to say otherwise must be prejudiced, because what other reason would anyone POSSIBLY have for pointing out my mistakes. It MUST be because they dislike my race/religion/sexual preference/ancestry/gender/age/location/hair colour/height/whatever. It couldn't possibly because I am not perfect.
It all comes down to this: at some point in time, EVERY group is going to wind up in a good light and EVERY group is going to wind up in a bad light. We are ALL human, which means we are all equally flawed. Whether you believe in a religion or in evolution, there is not such thing as a perfect person, no matter what they look like, where they live, how they act, who their ancestors were, or any other thing you can pick out.
*Curtseys and steps off my soapbox*
People like this woman who look for racism in everything are dipshits.
Yes, people did complain about GTA: SA portraying black people as criminals. But note how nobody gave a shit about how CJ kills white people throughout the game.
Another thing: Nobody has complained about the previous GTA games portraying WHITE people as criminals.....
I always find it funny when Christianity diss other religions
(note this is not directed at you but more a comment on Christianity itself)
They demonize and dismiss others for being cruel and unusual when they are far from clean or pure, modern voodooism and other more "occult" religions do not use human scarifies and limit animal ones much like how Christianity dose not torture or imprison to convert anymore.
You you be surprised that most pagan religions call for harmony in man and beast but then again good christians wish the same for harmony in their lives and are not shocked by thos who walk slightly different paths,I might bash on Christianity as a whole but most of its people are alright,like any other group its the crazy ones within that give us all headaches.
Racism not only needs someone to be offended but it has to be the intent of the person conducting the offending act to inflict pain and sadness on the person who is offended. Just because you are offended because of your ignorance does not make it racism.
Oh, my apologies as well. It just seemed like one of the bad ones who'd dismiss all of history simply of over disagreement, but I was in mistake. They just got to me. *rolls eyes at the thought* My bad.
As you say. Too often people who feel themselves the subject of discrimination feel that they have a sole monopoly on it. In fact, I might know better than some just what being discriminated against means.
I was in Grade 11 when Columbine happened. I was a dorky kid who liked to play Starcraft with a few Comp/Sci friends in the school's computer lab during free periods and actually had a black trenchcoat. I was sick on the Tuesday, and it was raining on Wednesday. So I wore my trenchcoat to school, just like I always did. I didn't even know about what had happened.
And it was walking into my school's front doors that I got tackled by a teacher and hauled to the principal's office for a three day suspension and two months of dodgy looks from teachers and my fellow students. All because I played a few videogames and happened to prefer my trenchcoat to an umbrella.
I have had such occasions a couple times and it gets easier when you realize the person spewing the nonsense is drawing at straws or will never understand how cheap a blow such an accusation is. In one English course we dissected an infamous essay where college and pro team mascots' habit of naming after ethnicities or groups of people could be seen as offensive. One woman of African descent saw no problem with naming teams after native americans or irish people, but could not stand anything related to her culture being used. I asked her about the example "New York Blackskins" as a team name that would never fly from the essay would effect her. She called me racist when I was proving the double standard. She was recently from Africa, not just African American.
The names alone can bother some people but the acts that go with the name is even worse. When you have or identify in part as native american for example and you have scores of drunk people loudly chanting in a fashion that mimics your sacred rituals, making chop gestures and wearing costumes you feel put out. I was very uncomfortable at some of the football games of my former college when they chopped and chanted, thankfully no drunk morons or costumes. It felt wrong since I knew what the real thing sounded like. Our college was given permission to use the tribe name in question though, which is different from some scenarios. Still, for me I cringe when I am at games. Maybe it is because they are not real drums being played but a crappy audio loop. I don't know. If it were a loop of the actual tribe perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.
@Parallax Abstraction
I will say that I had NEVER heard the n word from a person's mouth before I got to North Carolina in '98. From black people, asian people, white people, hispanic people, and others I wouldn't attempt to wager a guess upon. I don't understand it. I don't understand any of the racial comments really. I just wasn't raised that way even though my parents had their own issues with tolerance. The one time a black youth old enough to know better said "gyp" to me in my former occupation (a sales clerk in a gas station), I made sure he understood it was a racial slur that I didn't appreciate hearing (in addition to telling him I was gypsy). It blew his mind. The slur doesn't bother me as much as I'm sure the common slur he hears bothers him, but slurs are slurs.
It is up to those in places of power and influences to set the example that youth can look up to, rather than continually give them a bad example to model themselves upon. I would like to see the use of stereotypes eventually phased out of entertainment as well, but until everyone agrees they can be damaging this won't happen. Positive stereotypes are just as damaging as negative ones unfortunately.
This is likely where all this hostility stems from.
As far as the game is concerned, I don't understand the racial claim. I really don't. If the game is taking place in Africa, it stands to reason that the majority of characters would be African. For them to all be white would be very strange, and would ruin the suspension of disbelief that the game is attempting to create.
What I have noticed in this debate, however, is the opportunity for Capcom to do something interesting with the plot of this game. Perhaps the issue of racial violence should come up in the story line? Perhaps Chris Redfield should experience internal conflict over it? There are lots of narrative opportunities here that would allow the game's designers and writers to explore topics that games generally won't touch. These opportunities could take a potentially good game and make it great.
If I recall correctly, and it's been awhile so I might not be. There was a black cop in RE2's police station that goes zombie on you. Upon going zombie he ceases to look like a black man, and more like a monster. I don't recall any real racial indicator after he went zombie that he was black. I felt that the zombies of RE1-3 and the Ganados of 4 had been de-humanized enough to make it difficult for you to pin-point the exact race of each zombie. Not to mention there were only a few different models of zombie anywhere in each game.
This is me keeping in mind as well that most "zombies" in video games aren't recognizable by race thanks to their torn up complexions and bloody features. Generally the color used by the undead, as I've seen anyway, is a chalky gray that anyone can assume after "Zombified." The people in the RE5 trailer didn't have that, they looked sort of like Africans on a rampage.
Finally, this is just a trailer for a game 2 years away at the earliest. I personally predict that Capcom has a silver lining that can balance it out so the game isn't as potentially damaging as it seems it is. I have a lot of faith in capcom as developer that they'll be able to rectify this situation and make RE5 a greater game than it already is.
I believe people did complain about San Andreas having a black guy as the main character. "It portrays blacks as criminals" and all that.
-P
There is little point in arguing any subject with this woman. You see people like her everyday (most of them in politics) who cannot and WILL NOT accept any view other than their own. From reading her post it is obvious that ANY portrayal of a character whose appearance vaguely resembles someone of African decent that she doesn't consider positive is automatically considered racism. Were the situation different, and the racial appearance of the zombies and the main character reversed, not one word would have been said.
If she is offended by being called "things like 'nigger', 'bitch', and 'whore'" I can certainly understand. In fact, I am quite sad that she received email from our community with such expletives. However: 1) She should try playing one game of Halo 2 online against a 10 year old. She would be called much worse, and far more often. 2) If these terms are offensive to her, perhaps she should take this up with the purveyors of Hip Hop and Rap music who use these same words as often as I use the word "the". Yet, the black community is responsible for not only driving the demand for such music, but celebrating it as part of their culture.
If you are looking for racism in everything you see, you're probably going to find it.
All this does is lend credence to the theory that it matters what color skin the zombies have.
Black person killing white people = Completely fine.
White person killing black people = OMG RACISM RACISM RACISM RACISM
Why wasn't anyone complaining that in Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas, you played a black guy who kills white people? You can slit white people's throats, you can run them over, blow them up, blow their heads off, ect.
I'm really getting tired of these people who complain about this kind of racism, when their statements are racist. "Let's kill a ton of white people, make sure you don't kill any black people because that would be incredibly racist and very wrong".
Fuck political correctness. We live in a society that is afraid to express itself for fear of offending someone.
These ideas that I conjure up are perhaps far fetched and wrong but we should at least give the game a benefeit of a doubt. Then when the game comes out everyone can complain about it being racist.
No, it's both. The people who sing/play it invariably perpetuate the idea that it's "cool" to be a drug dealer, drug user, pimp, or murderer with an expensive car "rollin' on phat rimz", whether they're performing or not. Race has nothing to do with it. It's the image they project, whether white, black, asian, hispanic, or whatever.
Do you really think insulting people is going to convince anyone to listen to your views, or is it just a way to get your anger out on other people whose opinions threaten you in no actual way.
I highly doubt you can gather 200+ white people to play the race card when to play the race card means you are gaining something due to your race. The phrase usually means capitalizing off of a minority status, often times as leverage in times or places where your minority status leaves you weaker than others. People play the race card for good and bad reasons, and I have no seen anyone play the race card here. I have seen some ignorant comments that stooped to immature levels to label the woman lewd and unwarranted phrases, but they likely call their parents the same thing. I don't think it is right, just the way they are and they found this posting ground unfortunately.
Playing the race card would entail 200 of us who identify as white going onto a board where we a minority, then try and use our race to gain benefits not afforded others or gather attention not given to others in the same circumstances. I did not read her posts on the other site, nor do I wish to. However, I very much doubt they were able to get special accommodations or benefits there. Many people here disagreed with the woman, not attacked her. This is a gaming ground where all sorts of topics are discussed. She can have her opinion all she wants but attacking people will bring the same in return. As much as I wish people would not attack on either side. Just like spouting comments they believe to be true without valid support will bring nutjobs out of the woodwork to reply with stupid comments that do not further positive discussion upon this topic.
I can control my actions and words, but I cannot hope to control other people, least of all those I neither have influence over nor share the same mindsets with. I am not the one who went on a verbal rampage about a game I may know nothing about and then expected things to be smooth sailing in my favor. My pity goes to her for not having more data to back up her claims of racism before she drew attention to herself. People have a nasty habit of reading what others say every now and again.
Oh right. Because it doesn't stir up a hornet's nest.
Ms. Platt can rail about the racism of the Klu Klux Klan all she likes, and the average person isn't going to pay attention because the average person KNOWS that most KKK members (or anyone with that strong and idiotic a prejudice) should be chlorinated from the gene pool. The average person agrees that racism is a bad thing.
On the other hand, if she makes a totally baseless accusation then whines about the backlash, of course she's going to get attention. Which is exactly what she's looking for. She just wants to stir up the outrage and filter through the well-written comments to find the purile little nuggets of hate from all the immature gamers in an attempt to stir up some anti-racism sentiment.
What she doesn't realize is that she's contributing to the paranoid delusions of the KKK member who sits at home muttering, "The darkies are out to get us!" She's even stirring up people who aren't racist. I don't know about anyone else, but the one time I was baselessly accused of racism I was quite angry.
I'd encourage Ms. Platt to perhaps look at the reality of the situation, perhaps deigning to answer the more rational responses to her own comments... but in the end it appears that her own prejudices are very nearly as strong as the paranoid KKK member.
Okay, WTF does too logical to draw accurate comparisons mean? The WHOLE point to being logical is the ability to draw accurate comparisons and solutions.
But I think the people claiming racism should be ashamed.
People don't like whats different than them, in anything really. Culture, language, skin color, hair, eyes, music, even art. You can of course be around anything long enough to absorb it into your perspective and then its no longer different.
But in this case theres a difference in skin color: A white man is shooting black people. Oddly its not the shooting that causes the controversy, its the difference in skin color. If it was a black man shooting black people it could be considered fine.
Lets take out the context of the video, zombies. Just look at the fact the a white man is shooting black people. Once again assume the shooting it self is not a problem, hes shooting them for a reason. The thing I find funny is that people are assuming the reason he's shooting them is BECAUSE they are black.
They drew that conclusion themselves. Its odd that they assume that a white man automatically would shoot someone because of their skin color. Actually isn't that racism? They are assuming he's shooting because they are black, not because they are endangering his life, or attacking them, or even that they are zombies.
But there is the argument on how black people are portrayed, once again they take out the context: as savage and vicious. So lets look at how the white man is portrayed taking out the context: Cruel, inhuman, shooting those with no weapons or weapons less than his own.
I find it funny and very sad that those who complain of racism are the most racist of all.
The day that no one take race into account in their thought process, whether in action OR judging the action, will be the day racism dies.
So you agree that Kym Platt is burning the race card in order to trump up a pointless issue?
Or you feel that since most gamers are white and that 200+ of us have gather to question Kym Platt for her ignorance you feel the need to burn the race card yourself further distracting from the point that a zombie plague has gone to Africa and that some or most of these zombies are black.
I know I am a fool and I can never see everything at once but this is pretty cut and dry,it has nothing to do with racsisim but everythign to do with a group or person asserting its power through ignorance.
mmmMMM. I love double standards, don't you?
nobody said that its not the issue besides this is a forum is just 200+ whites playing the race card
Step 2: Receive large numbers of idiotic comments from anonymous internet users.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Adsense profit?
I'm not Catholic, so I really don't feel any ties to the Catholic church. I know the Catholic church has done a lot of wrong things. I won't deny that the Catholic church has made some poor decisions about pagans.
I'm just trying to clarify if what that guy said about voodoo is true. I guess I got on the defensive a bit quick. I'm normally the sort of guy that supports open discussion - even within the realms of religion and politics, especially since after all Christianity is mutually exclusive with other religions - Jesus said He is the truth, the life, the only way to the Father. This is clearly a claim to exclusivity. So, if I seemed like I was trying to deny things without proof, please pardon me.
I doubt you read all these comments, because then you would know most of them aren't being racist, but instead giving their opinions on the matter. There are a lot of pretty thought out comments that haven't resorted to any threats.
"nobody said that its not the issue besides this is a forum is just 200+ whites playing the race card"
I see more black people play the race card. And please, 200+ whites on this forum? Why? Because the article is about a black woman?
Like I said in my original post, I do believe Ms. Platt had some good intentions when she posted her opinions on it and my explanation of intent was direct towards her as well. I think she did mean well and that changes the situation. I merely disagreed with her and you called me naive because I think people in general, Ms. Platt and yourself included, mean well most of the time.
You agreed: "hey i dont think a lot of people here came here to be racists i dont think they intended to be racists but many of the views on this board have ranged from creepy to Nazism...".
I can't say I agree with the last part fully, but to an extent, yes, some people have said some very hate filled things and for the most part, there are no excuses for them. But I am NOT here to defend them.
I do agree, something can be perceived as racist without being intended to do so. I also completely agree that just because you did not intend to cause harm, if you did, then you can be a fault. But just because some perceive this trailer as being racist, doesn't make it so and doesn't change the fact that, apparently, the vast majority of its audience doesn't perceive it as racist.
You can to defend Ms. Platt so:
The problem here is no that Ms. Platt has strong emotion about racism, most people do. The problem here is her unfounded allegations towards Capcom that they are in anyway trying to influence kids into "fearing, hating, and destroying Black people". She claims not only intent, she claims malice on their part and that is irresponsible and some might agrue, hateful.
I was merely responding to her claims by saying there was no intent, there was no malice, and there was no hatred from Capcom. The racism part, I cannot necessarily speak to because I do not in anyway perceive it was racist, but like I said before, I can see how some do.
It seems to me this has become a contest to see who can shout 'racist' loudest, and, for my part, I'm pretty bored of it.
In how many games are the villains white? Pretty much all of them?
OH NOES THOSE GAMES MUST BE RACIST AGAINST WHITIES. (I'm a whitey, by the way.)
This is just stupid.
He has a point,most of the more questionable groups that cry racsisim or burn the race card are whining over the grounds "treat me better because I am black/"other"" than to the context of whatever event that took place.
AS the world gets more advanced in tech the ME/US issues are going to evolve to new heights and no one seems to think role reversal is that bad...when all it dose it takes us in a circle...
So by your standards what is racism? I wasn't saying it is OK to do something that is perceived as hateful without intent, I was just saying it changes the situation. I think it is far more naive to think something as mundane as a video game set in Africa and containing Africans racist. It is also naive to assume that anyone who does a crime against a person who is "diffferent" is racism. Without knowing what a person is thinking/feeling, how can you tell me he/she hated another person because of the color of their skin? And on that note, why does it matter? Hate is hate.
You really missed the point.
Very nicely put. That about sums up the entire "debate" as far as I'm concerned.
"If you want to be equal then shut up, sit down..."
so the jew becomes the nazi how fitting
LOL
Scary aint it?
this whole Intent, Execution and Perception is just another pat of the problem you seem to think that unless somebody wears an SS uniform there not racists thats pretty naive
"I apologize for the stupidity of humans,even tho I dismiss any "racist" this or Pocco locco might offer ,there is a point where over sensitivity becomes over sensitivity,for instance the issue with the phrase god is great in a game,its not "out of context" or but in a bad light just a charatcer in a game saying the line in a like Muslim voice in a fabricated alerted Muslim setting how this can offend is beyond me but it did and they pulled it,this is the same as a zombie plauge going to country X and some of that country dislike it and hate on the game questioning everythign but themselfs.
If you truly think that this is bad then please go after hollywood mixing black and white stars on screen ,please go after films with black stars that show black people in a bad light ,please go after any and all period pieces that dare show the history of blacks in a bad light,please try and understand the world dose not revolve around you and the group of people you join with to question things that already have a answers for.
I will agree some things need to be questioned but "Gansta" propaganda is far more damaging and is more questionable than RE5 or Pocco locco.
Here is the context I see them in they chose black coloring over white for pocco locco if it was white there would be no fervor over it, look at DR5 in context the zombie fighting group goes to africa to stop a zombie plague what are they goign to be killing zebras? of coarse they are going to be killing zombies who are made up of the populace..who just happen to be black,next thing you will say is OUTBREAK(film) is racist for having the virus kill off a African village....
Context and perception is important,lose them and you have become what you rally against."
and yes I am full of hot air LOL
Don't let fools discourage you from life but use them to take the world into better context so you can precive them and avoid them ^^
ZippyDSMlee
rodent cat of gamepolitics
Idiocracy anyone? youre post as well as 99% of the ones here
I really don't like comments like this. They strike me as an unintelligent way to progress a discussion. The author asks for wide-sweeping generalizations not to be made about a certain group of people, and then makes some of his own. A lot of my fellow posters seem to be falling into this pattern as well. Although the typo "too logical" is rather funny.
I can see why they think that RE5 might be racist. Talking about RE4 with them to put it in perspective is worthless. If they don't play many games, don't use games as examples, it'll fall flat. As far as RE5 goes, I don't think it was intended to be racist by the developer, and I think what's really at issue here is that the idea of a white protagonist in a game with blacks largely serving as the antagonists (we don't know all the characters, you probably team up with a villager to help stem the infection, true to the series' style), is still something people can be highly sensitive to. It wouldn't be an issue if the main character was black and all the zombies were white. It's okay to shoot white people or, at least, no one ever brings it up.
Really, it's sad this devolved into a topic that is polarizing people for or against gamers. Really though, the issue doesn't seem to be if the game is racist, just if some people personally find it so.
"It makes me sick to see things like “Hip-hop Rap is causing the degeneration of society” in one sentence, and then the exact same post say, “I’m not racist.” Sorry bud, you might as well go buy a white hood."
That statement takes the cake right there. What does talking about a style of music have to do with racism? Just because it happens to be a black dominated genre? What about heavy metal and the cries of satanism? It's the whole "Well, it was said by this color person so it's ok" thing. You do realize that (finally) a lot of leaders in the black community are standing up and saying hip hop and rap is holding the black race down? It's the content of the music, not the people who sing or play it. I will make the statement all day long and no, I am not racist. I don't dislike anyone based on skin color or culture. I dislike people who don't think their statements through. I dislike people who don't attempt to better themselves. I dislike people who attempt to threaten others. Anyone of any race/color/creed can do all of the above.
My two cents:
Ms. Platt is two things: Looking for attention and concerned because she most likely does believe RE5 is racist and is trying to help by bringing people’s attention to it. The problem with believing something is that it takes more than that to make it reality. It takes three things to make something truly racist, Intent, Execution and Perception.
1) Intent: The racist intends to offend, demoralize or in some way degrade his/her target.
2) Execution: The racist must take his/her intent and do something with it in a way that will clearly show his/her message.
3) Perception: The message must be interrupted properly as a racist message; otherwise, no one will care.
Now, the first is the most tricky, can something BE racist without the intent? For example, is a child who hears a "racist" word without any definition and proceeds to use said word without knowing its meaning/connotations a racist? I don’t think so.
As for RE5 (or more accurately, the trailer), I don't believe the intent was ever there and I'm not sure it could ever be proven to be. As far as the execution and perception, I can very easily see why some see their use of African zombies as being racist, but I can't agree with them. What would Ms. Platt or anyone that chides RE5 for being racist want to have done? Would they want the game banned? What purpose would that serve? The intent of racism isn’t there and the execution and perception are weak at best. If someone is going to use RE5 as any kind of propaganda, they are going to use something else if RE5 is changed/banned.
Hate is a very ancient, very horrible beast and it is not exclusive to any race, nation, continent or group at all. I have ancestors on several continents that lived (and died) through just as much hatred as most people of African decent. People that are going to hate will hate no matter what exists around them. You cannot spread hate by saying Africans live in Africa, Spaniards live in Spain and you cannot stop hate by playing pretend.
Sorry for the disjointedness of this, but I was trying to condense a lot of thoughts into as short a post as I could.
Also, EDW is just being a troll. There is no reason to keep pandering him with all of the retorts.
It's too easy to let go of our perception of utter diversity while at the same time searching for sameness. People like their little boxes they put people in. We dichotomize everyone and everything and can detach ourselves from accountability, and guilt at our actions. On a larger scale we can remove ourselves from the worry surrounding actions of those amongst us most able to make the most important decisions for society. As people we are like sheep with the herders wandering off with a few of us every now and again on a cold and lonely night. We are less to question the herder if we are fighting for scraps with our fellow fuzzballs.
Such skills serve us well in the wild hunting perhaps but living in groups it only creates drama and strife. Can you imagine what awesome technology the groups that attack furries and others on Second Life could design if they were not attacking them with giant penises and Jello cubes?
Thats just... stupid. I mean, really really stupid.
Here is an interesting thought though... Black people get upset about White people generalizing anything they say. Yet they generalize White people every damn time they speak of them. Perhaps then there is some truth to them being GENERALLY uneducated. Because only an idiot would be that much of a hypocrit.
Also on the point of Racism, does anyone realize how very much of it occurs in Africa itself? Blacks kill each other because one is of a lighter skin. Wow. Maybe the people who are stupid will kill each other out?
Idiocracy anyone?
First lets examine the various outcries. I would not tear in to Miss Platt so harshly if she didn't put "Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth." Unless she was joking, that was blatant hypocracy. As it stands, it is probable that her perceptions were simply tainted by that first claim of RE5's racial implications. (I know her's wasn't the first one), and she looked at it with that in mind, conciously or subconciously. I could theoretically spin FF7 as an Al Queda propoganda game. I know it isn't, nor do I believe it is in any way, but I could tell a tale of a "playing as terrorist group believing in a cause higher than themselves against a corporate ran government who doesn't give a damn abut the earth, owns everything, impresses it's lifestyle and ways on everywhere else with superior technology to the point of war with one resisting nation; and your first goal is to blow up a power plant (a classic terrorist target)." I told that story to someone who has never played FF7 before and they would check it with that in mind, and would probably become enraged. Note that again I don't believe that FF7 is ANY sort of pro-terroist game of any kind, I am just showing how selective perceptions can make connections that aren't there, and introducing it to someone else might steer them twoard it because they are viewing it for the first time with only that to go on, Just like I assume Miss Plat did with RE5.
I've personally never played RE5, I wasn't even aware it was out (for all I know, it still might not be). However, if it is as good as 4 than the (rational) world is in for a treat.
Hmm, while we're here, lets get to the root of racism eh. The basic cause of any discriminatory thought or action is the idea that whatever group you are discriminating against is somehow inherently different from the one whom is discriminating. People seem to think (and people like Miss Platt unintentionally reinforce this) that different ethnicities are somehow different species. In reality there is really only one "race", human. All other divisions of the sort are all in the mind. The moment you think of yourself or someone else as a "[race] man/woman" instead of just a "man/woman", thats where racism begins. If anything, the idea of the zombies being the same ethnicity of the people that died is racially unifying in an odd way. It shows that "it could happen to all of us", and ethnicity doesn't at all enter into it. I am not saying not to appriciate or embrace parts of your identiy and heritege(sp?), I am just saying don't act like those who don't share certian common factors like ethnicity are an inherently different species.
@EDW
I'll be frank, why the hell are you here. You seem to have it out for games, or at least gamers. What could you possibly hope to gain by adding in random comments about how evil or stupid games and thier patrons are. Is there some sort of reason you think it neccicary to take time out of whatever you do in the day to inform those who read the comments that you have a low opinion about gamers when it is a very oblique and terribly weak connection at best to the context of the article?
@Archgabe
I officially love your comment, that is one of the best summing up of such things I have ever heard in my life.
The mindset to be unreasonably polite is becoming a epidemic,it seems the more open of a society we become the more we want to stay ignorant of being open and create a pure place a safe place a unreasonable palce where words and thoughts go un used because they might offend a place where any group of people can have things blocked becuse they do not like it,even if they are just a group of crazy people they must be heard it must be blocked because that is the unreasonable world of political correctness.
Race is a state of mind if you let yourself fall into it you become like Al sharpton or Jesse Jackson so full of ego and spite always bending words on hate and race never letting go never seeing the truth.
I will admit as a people we are not "equal" but dose having thos who are black/yellow/female/"insert flavor here" spew ignorance take us to a better place?
We are only equals when we treat each other as siblings and look beyond petty human forms.
Lemme guess, you're a strong Christian? Because guess what; it's true, the Vatican has demonized things since the beginning. I'm a pagan, I should know. They demonized us pagan, and still do. They demonized women, who before, were held in great respect, especially goddesses. They demonized scientists, who questioned their teachings that everything was God's doing. And if you say that's not true, you better get yourself into a good history class.
I don't know much about voodoo, so I'm not going to say much about it; but I'm pretty sure it's been tortured by the Vatican and western culture into something that is hardly what it really is. Such as proper Satanism. Devil worship? Ha! Real Satanism has nothing to do with Satan except in the name. Instead, it's been butchered by stereotype, just as witchcraft and earth-based beliefs had, some of it almost to the point of being considered offensive.
DESPITE the fact that out of 131 comments, the 'n' word was only used to either talk about the characters in the game or in a story, "bitch" was only used twice(with the exception of someone posting "I'm rick james, bitch!") and NO comments with the word "whore" in them, you were called those names?
"The gamers would like to intimidate me and silence me, but that’s not going to happen. This vitriol has done nothing but embolden me and my political convictions."
What silencing and intimidation? we just said your looking at it in a very biased way!
Stand up, put the keyboard away, and get a life you stupid blogger
I'd like to say there's equality in America, and that the country is free, but the sad reality is that it isn't. Discrimination is rampant, be it on your religious views, your sexuality, gender, race, and hell, down to what you do in your free time. Black people are guilty of discriminating against everyone that fits into -any- of those categories, and if anyone wants, i can easily tie this to the Imus case way back when, or to the incident involving the la Crosse rape case (correct me if I'm wrong about the name, but I do know it occurred this year if it helps bring the name up)
Oh? Where's your source on the "misinformation" about voodoo now?
"Gamers understand discrimination - we are hated by many people, from politicians to parents, stereotyped everywhere, insulted, mocked, and marginalized, so HOW DARE you take the moral high ground while participating in the very acts you claim to fight against."
That makes more sense. Killing them to accomplish some further goal is reasonable for a game.
There is one story in a zombie anthology I own about a guy eating zombies that are attacking him after a society-wide infestation who formerly worked in a morgue and had an unhealthy snacking habit. His major foe is a minister who used to run a TV ministry but discovered a way to use snake poison to train the zombies to kill anyone who isn't down with Jesus. SO, maybe we can sell some zombie dogs and get on to other fish.
Killing people solely for their personal beliefs sends a decent message? That's probably the most offensive thing in this thread so far. Like it or not, the KKK is protected by the Constitution just like anybody else.
That trailer makes the game look pretty interesting to me. I see two types of enemies in it though. You have some who are obviously infected and others who are pulling the strings. The fact you have to kill some people who aren't showing signs of the sickness that are fighting on the same side as those who are should pretty much make this a non-issue. If I was really in such a scenario, I think I would have to use the gun first and ask questions later. You only have so much ammo so those you do kill have to be worth the effort to enable your escape, not blind kills based on any hatred. This is not death Southern style, but zombie-plague-in-the-hands-of-bastards style.
well put.
I got over the Holocaust, and Slavery in Egypt, and the opression of the Roman empire. I ignore most racists unless they act with physical violence. As a Jew, I tend to get flack from every race there is. I have been insulted by Whites, Blacks, hispanics. Most people only focus on the "Black issue" when talking about racism but I get it too just for being a Jew. Now that is out of the way and you know where I am comming from, I supply this comment.
Get over it! You are not the only race to be put down, you are not the last. If one person here tells me that anyone, regardless of race, diserces special treatment then I am calling bullshit.
Here is the deal. If any race (Black, White, Purple, etc) wants to be treated special for any reason, then they must admit that they are inferior and diserve special treatment. I belive that your race means nothing. There is no diffrence in skill level or intelligence between any of the races. We are all equal. If you want to be treated diffrent, then you must admit you are diffrent.
If you want to be equal then shut up, sit down and take your turn in the zombie game. I am not being mean, I am not being hateful. I am being right.
If there was a real problem with racism and stereotypes, she would have complained at GTA3.
But that's something completely different right? /sarcasm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiowkrGFrTU&NR=1
---
So you're smearing an entire section of the population based on the ignorant comments of a few extremist commenters? How Bill O'Reilly of you.
I am sympathetic to your gut reaction that "white guy killing a bunch of black people" is a disturbing image. However, I am NOT sympathetic to your broad generalizations and absurd comparisons.
You're trolling. Please don't deny it. Why else mention Columbine except that you know that's the easiest way to make a bunch of people write angry responses? You're deliberately manipulating your audience and then justifying your comments based on the response you knew they'd get.
Again, I am sympathetic to your concerns about a trailer that, out of context, looks pretty ugly. However, you appear not to have done your homework, at all; you appear to know absolutely nothing about video games, their consumers, or the industry beyond the stereotypes and misinformation you see in the sensationalist media.
You want to have an intelligent conversation? You want to debate this subject like rational adults? Swell, I'd love to. But that's going to be tough with you implying that I'm a racist sociopath who's teetering on the brink of shooting up his classmates.
Everything I have said here I would have used in the classroom, only with the citations to back it up (and eating less apple sauce). This "racism" call is just the thing that a couple of years ago would have found me writing up papers about in any one of my Sociology courses. I am not defending the ignorant comments against her, white people, black people, or gamers. I realize she is looking at the trailer from a different perspective. One that doesn't want to see it as a fictional world where humans who now are not humans are attacking. If she just saw the clip outside of a zombie context I would feel the same way, after first thinking "Damn! O.k., what did those blokes do and why are they getting shot"?
I am a white male, 28. I am not in any middle class and have a low paying job that will allow me to hopefully not have to pay for my graduate degree. I have lived in some of the worse parts of my city (an others), had food stamps growing up, have been homeless, and know people across the spectrum of crime and law. I am not unique.
In fact overall, I like my white culture the least because of the guilt I feel in history's wrongs. Woman and minorities do get the shaft in some situations, but the directions people take to correct the problem cut a whole lot of wind out of the sail sewn to correct injustice. I ended up marrying a white woman but have always been more attracted to every other flesh tone and culture than my own. Wow, I'm a racist. I dislike what people of all shades do to one another because of religion, fear, envy, or ignorance.
@~the1jeffy:
That's about what I meant. Contorting content to meet social pressures in general pisses me off. I do NOT enjoy the fact that the KKK can have rallies here in NC and so forth because I dislike them, but they have that right. It's called freedom and game developers have it too. I would rather have a game that is realistic in its fiction than the same old rehashed formula. Especially when it comes to zombie-killing-save-our-asses action.
Last time I checked, zombies had no rights in fictional society. I love the social commentary in some zombie movies about how we terrorize them though. The Masters of Horror episode "Homecoming" with the dead returning was great, as were "Shaun of the Dead" and several of the "Night of the Living Dead" clones in making us almost pity the zombie. I need to check and see if race/ethnicity is even mentioned in my "Zombie Survival Guide". IMO any creature that can somehow choose not to eat my brain but does so anyways needs none of my sympathy no matter what color skin they had in life. If they are victims of a cruel disease or parasite then we need to end their suffering, and I hardly doubt we are going to playing biochemist in RE5 to cure them. A zombie version of the medical games genre regaining long-lost steam would be interesting though.
Since it hasn't, I've decided to weigh in on the issue:
http://lawofthegame.blogspot.com/2007/08/resident-evil-5-racism-issue.ht...
We cannot alter artistic expression in face of criticism, as long as the said expression is definitively fictional - and make an obvious attempt to remain fictionally 'accurate.'
For instance, if I create a fictional setting in which two black men rape and beat a white girl, and the white father of the girl guns the men down in a courthouse, is that fictional depiction of murder racist? I'd argue, no. (Notice I just switched the races from "A Time to Kill") But, I can see how a person from a very different cultural perspective might think so. However, both claims are NOT equally valid.
First we must consider artistic intent, which you've mentioned before. When the artistic intent is made plain by the artist, all other interpretation are not as valid. In the RE5 case, we still haven't seen a statement, and as such, you are correct in the assertion that the consumer of the fiction is the final judge. This is an ambiguous situation, so there is room to discus, as some folks are.
Second, the RE5 case does not contain overt racism. This does: http://prussianbluestore.com/index.php Now, it can be seen as oblique racism, from certain cultural perspectives. The "young, white" kids you villainize have no reason to view this as racist, and really, that is a good sign. They don't see blacks, whites, asians, they see another zombie videogame. I wouldn't expect anything else from their perspective. Now this does not disregard the opposite perspective. Seen from Kym Platt's cultural perspective, this is a racist video clip, and is a sign of the larger problems in our society. Now, she is not wrong. There exists the possibility of 2 'rights' when are talking about such an ambiguous, oblique thing as an interpretation of a video game.
What should be the main focus here, and for shame - is NOT - is recognizing our differing cultural perspective for what they are: A sign of the diversity and freedom of speech our country engenders. A differing viewpoint on underlying, and sometimes unknown, racial motivators is the impetus for positive growth. The PC Eggshell Brigade and their comrades, the Activist Parade, only serve to disenfranchise the diverse and tolerant middle. We of the middle instinctively protect our own, meaning that white kids want to exculpate themselves from racial prejudice, and black kids want to fight against the obvious misrepresentation/prejudice against their cultural group, and so, you get flawed reasoning from both sides: one says there is no racism, the other only sees racism. When in reality, both groups could understand each other, but for the vocal fringes - which alienates and creates a furious dichotomy.
Instead of recognizing the unique perspective each brings to the table, finding similarity, and understanding the reasons for difference, we in the US (all of us) give equal weight to the lunatic fringe. Which gets us nowhere.
I guess I've rambled enough. I just hate how multi-culturalism is slowly killing our freedom of speech, and there is no reason to allow it to do so. The fire under the melting pot has indeed been blown out.
but today we live in an state of crypto racism none of you may think yourself racists and yet you propagate ideas and stereotypes i think all you suburban middle class wasps might want to take a second to think about what you say and maybe read a book or two and than come back and making an informed argument instead of all this david duke garbage
And you base this assumption off of . . . oh yeah NOTHING. Just because you kill lback people doesn't mean it's meant to invoke hate, you shoot them so that you may survive plain and simple, this isn't shooting them because they are inferior, this isn't shooting them because you want revenge, this is shooting them because if you don't you will DIE. I don't know how i can possibly make this clearer.
Oh perfect you use sweeping generalizations about us then have the nerve to call us racist, you make me sick.
People shouldn't have to bend over to satisfy fringe groups now we are going to have to deal with the two Reverends.
Secondly about her let me just say don't write checks your ass can't cash.
1. The gamers who responded to her article should of used less derogatory words (Come on people, racist whore? That's too far.). A fair and balanced objection would have done fine.
2. Kym is wrong to have written that article. As Keith pointed out, white zombies were the only zombies in other REs. Her erutpion over this obvious change in location (See: Africa) holds no merit. She never researched this series and grew offensive over nothing. Ms. Platt incorrectly labeled the target audience of this game as children and kids, when it is M rated.
Lastly, she said that if all zombies were only-white from now on, she would be fine with it. What!? Hundreds of black zombies stirs her anger, but hundreds of white zombies being shot (as again Keith pointed out that it has happened throughout the series) is fine with her? Double standard for racism? Why?
Yeah...other than that sterotype being inaccuarte (the average age of a gamer is 30), but the implication that because these people are white their opinions should not be into consideration is odd. But it's not racism at all, right? Because it's only racism when "we" do it.
As for trying to use a few racist comments (that's right, a few) as justifications for these remarks, sounds a little too much like "They started it!" Come on, now, I used that excuse in schoolyard fights when I was eight? If they want to look like the better people in all this, maybe they wouldn't be as sterotype-happy as they accuse us of being. I mean, invoking Columbine? And for what reason? And yet Platt wants to look like the victim?
@jccalhoun
She has a sense of humor. That's more credit than I originally have given her. I guess the white zombie comment can be forgiven... still, if she makes cracks about being high on crack (oy, that was a bad one) you'd think she would be able to take a minute long clip that doesn't actually show whitey killing in black zombies in stride. We all know that whitey killing black zombies is in the actual game but her whole thing is based on the teaser. I guess I'm saying if you gauge your offensiveness toward a particular group of people, some are bound to respond in kind, and she really shouldn't be surprised by the reaction she got, even if it was excessive.
If he really hated games that much, what's he doing in front of a PC, looking up a political site about video gaming, anyway? Just ignore the little numpty and focus on the main issue at hand...
Yea, what are those nasty gamers thinking when they let little things like logic get in the way of emotive shrieking..
Yeah, I just ignored the comment. If I were home eating chips and guzzling mountain dew I'd be in some trouble as a) I need to be at work 5 days a week to earn my paycheck, b) I have not had chips in months since I am choosing better food to consume and have lost weight due to diet and exercise, and c) I have always preferred juice, tea, or water to soda any day of the week.
There may be some crisp-eating fiends sitting by with a warm soda back and forth between the game machine and the PC (or both via emulators) but there are a whole lot of others who count themselves gamers that don't have the time or desire to waste time like that ALL summer. There's way too much going on to play games all day long. I really wish games held the same power over me that they once did sometimes. However my friends from those days are far away and my brother is as well. I'm free of the enablers and only occasionally partake. ;) Tough cookies.
"People shouldn’t have to bend over to satisfy fringe groups now we are going to have to deal with the two Reverends."
I wouldn't call them Reverends...both have cheated on their spouses who they said " Till death do us part"
They're just rude and have big mouths.
A black person living in a "western" nation is not the same as a black person living in Africa.
A black person living here does not go through the same trials and tribulations as a person in Africa.
For someone to try and compare themselves to people who more often than not, have to struggle just to survive in a poverty-stricken AIDS continent is outright bullshit.
People of "color" here in my book are just like us. Color is irrelevant. They pay taxes, they work, they have families, etc. I don't see black and white, I see grey.
Anybody who has the gaul to scream racism about RE5 needs to go spend a few months living in Africa and see if they're really concerned over there about a video game they'll never hear of.
NOW, if the game had just been as simple as people think, a white guy hunting down every person in Africa, yes, that would be racist. But that's where the mystical invention known as CONTEXT comes in, doesn't it? Doesn't CONTEXT stop every single other game from being a Kill The White Man adventure?
Oh I agree that the content of a simulator to take out some evil enemy leads us to possibly profit intellectually and societally from horrible mistakes made in our world cultures: games based on history. However the line between what is one person's educational action thriller simulation and what is one's glorification of horror is a thin one. Also, the viewpoints of the other side are often left out when we demonize them and make them the bad guy. We excuse our own horrors in that event for the common good. For every Nazi shot down on the front was a family who lost a father that like our own soldiers had little choice but to play out the sick goals of their country. Now, the soldiers who relish in death and kill without conscience bother me. Any educational resource game or not need discuss these viewpoints so that the consumer may make up their own mind.
Look at all the wars around the world. We condemn others for crimes and evil, but we also commit great sins. We throw a whole lot of stones at glass houses. I do not believe the Goddess will ever forgive America's leaders for dropping the bombs on Japan that ended the war. That is my perspective and belief anyways. I'm not a peace-monger by any means, but some stains will never wash away. I won't even try to go into the many examples. A tally board of societies and cultures would really be interesting to see where we and our contemporaries are at currently, if only we knew the real numbers of horror to weigh in.
It's supposed to go to 35 degrees. I have a lovely pool outside. I haven't played a game all day.
Where's your messiah now?
Black guy killing white people in games: Acceptable
White guy killing black guys in games: HORRIBLE RAPE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS JUST
Tears get you sympathy. Sweat gets you change.
The plot of a game is a fictional world but it acts in a realistic way in the RE games. Realistic enough based on the limits of the story and so forth. If you are setting part of the game in an area where black people are going to be infected and then become raging monsters wanting to kill you, it needs to stay true to that. In zombie films it is usually easier to tell the zombie from the living person but sometimes it is not. So it becomes difficult in how to cue the player when they could be targeting an honest citizen and one that wants a brain salad.
I have not played the games in years but I enjoy the ones I have sampled. I enjoyed the jumps of the first one in a darkened room and loved the movies. I just don't have the patience to play through most games sadly. I do love zombies in general though. Zombies and vampires. I collect movies and novels for both archetypes so I'm biased in defending this topic I wager. I believe the author needs to write in such a way as to appease his muse, the same as an artist need fulfill the inspiration that engages his work to begin with. For that reason I hope the game comes out as in, so long as it really isn't an offensive African genocide simulation which I doubt even Capcom has the mindset let alone the bollocks to attempt. I believe the plot of the game will explain the action and trailers consumed.
While such KKK games and Nazi furnace simulators would most certainly be considered racist hopefully said games could really send a message against racism. Its most definitely possible and it is walking a very very fine line but I think if you implement history and give a positive message then it could be acceptable.
I mean Damage Inc. was a game where you killed KKK members(that had quite colorful robes I might add... lol) and I thought it it sent a decent message since it made them the bad guys. The game was pretty terrible but I don't think individuals would be that offended by shooting KKK members. Well if you were a white supremacist perhaps you may but thats besides the point. Wolfenstein had Nazi's in it but they were the enemy. So it seems as long as this that are considered evil by society as a hole are the enemy it is fine.
I think this is where she is coming from because the Africans depicted in the game are being shot. But what she does not realize is that in the game this person isn't simply shooting Africans he is killing zombies. The Africans were already victims from the enemy because they were infected by either a virus or a parasite(its unknown at this time) and they are no longer alive but the living dead. I think if Ms. Platt knew more about Zombies and Resident Evil she would understand that Africans are being killed and turned into zombies and the real evil is the infection be it either virus or parasite and you must kill the person(s) responsible so that no further people can suffer from this. You play the good guy here. You don't go around mowing down Africans because your a white guy that just wants to kill people but rather your a person who wants to prevent other Africans from becoming victims to the zombie making evil doer.
There are other entertainment productions that depict racism or genocide and it does rub some people the wrong way but a lot of the time it has a positive message and unless you watch through it, read through it or in this case play through it you really should hold onto your tongue before you decide to demonize it. But thats just my opinion.
@EDW
Wow you really need to get out more, your comments are on level with a fifth grader at a name calling contest, so do us all a favor go complain about gamers on a different thread not a thread that could potentially have serious repercussions inside the gaming industry.
We cannot bend to criticisms to alter art if it is based on what would happen and realistic based on the fictional settings.
Dragon, that statement doesn't really say anything ... Clarify?
Thank you for your thoughtful posts.
Also, major props to you for mentioning, "The Omega Man," "I Am Legend" and "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things." (Some of my favorite films) :)
I agree 110% ... but in my mind, she served a very valuable purpose, even if she didn't intend it. I think it's great that we, just you and I get to have this conversation. These kinds of conversations need to happen more often. This is where progress is made.
Even for all the nasty names I was called, this is what needs to happen--constructive criticism about what is or might be going on.
Of course anyone can SAY it is racist, but ask Will Smith if he took the role because it was a move in the direction of racist action cinema. I really think in cases where there are dead people and living people, that the fact they are dead should trump the fact they are this color or that color. They are attacking my family to eat our brains!
The same goes for a first person war game, say one that goes through the family lineage, a genealogical experience where you play the role of different family members in different wars. Should you now, whether white or black only be allowed to kill certain races because some are off limits and would be offensive? It is realism. Skip the revolutionary war episode discussion. The civil war episode would have you shooting Southern black solders if you were a Yankee, the same as shooting Russian, German, Irish and other ethnicities. Skip the WW episodes, wade around in Korean and Vietnam a bit. What is the common denominator? You are shooting the enemy. In the modern version you would have to take out all manner of ethnicities flying the flags of those we war upon.
We cannot bend to criticisms to alter art if it is based on what would happen and realistic based on the fictional settings. This is not a KKK game or a Nazi furnace simulator. This is a stupid zombie game that decided for once to change up the setting to actually include other races and ethnicities. Now other developers will likely avoid forging into these arenas and little children will grow up playing games that feature all white casts. Sounds like an NBC sitcom lineup. :(
I'm glad we can come to some sort of an agreement but really this still seems like we are jumping too far ahead of ourselves. I mean for a moment I'll pretend that I am not a long time fan of the series and take the video for what its worth. I will assume that I do understand something about video games today however and because of this I will know that games introduction scenes are usually longer than the trailer that is causing this insanity. Through this mindset I would think perhaps it is a possibility that this game could have be racist but since I have limited access (approximately a minutes worth of video) I would probably be more concerned about seeing more about the game so I could really determine if my initial thoughts are correct.
Now If I do not have any knowledge of video games and I wouldn't realize that video games have complex narratives and can only be completed over a period of several hours(in some cases several of these periods.) Then I might immediately come to the conclusion that this game is racist and I should immediately label it as such so maybe my statements will warn others about it. I can understand why someone that is not familiar with video games would take this stance but I would not agree with them labeling it as racist. I mean for one your knowledge on the subject is extremely limited so anything you say could wrongly place a negative image on whoever makes the product. Two you are leaving yourself open to those who will disagree with you and those who disagree with you might know a lot more about the topic at hand than you do. And then you may very well be wrongly labeling the producers of the game as racist when they had no intentions of insulting an entire race of people.
The reason this is so dangerous is because everyone has very limited information on the subject. So even if an individual has no knowledge on the background of the product their statements are more likely to be taken seriously and this brings the original intent of the game out of context. Yes she has a right to do this if she feels the need to but really she should understand that maybe if she wishes to complain so openly about it perhaps it would be good to begin by asking questions first.
I will admit sometimes I jump to conclusions as does everyone here from time to time. But really I try to do research before I express myself. I like to know a little bit on the subject before I go and put it down. At the same time if this becomes a big issue for Capcom they could solve it by simply releasing more content from the game. Maybe show a few monsters to make it seem less offensive to those who don't really know a great deal about the game. I am afraid they might cancel it or try to change too much to avoid people getting offended. I certainly hope they try to go about educating people a bit more on their upcoming product first.
Basically what I'm trying to express in my rantings is that we are all just stating our predictions and perhaps this blogger should express that as well. You shouldn't label something as racist when no one besides Capcom employees know anything of value. And unless your a long time fan of Resident Evil or you at least know a great deal about the series perhaps you should be more responsible about your statements and warn people that you don't know much about what your talking about.
No, but if Hitler knew I was eating 2 tunafish tortilla wraps for lunch he might come back from the grave and brain me. If he was hostile against meat eaters as much as everyone else. It's hard to believe that a failed artist caused the world so much trouble. That is like a comic book plot.
The art of civil discussion is dying, I fear.
As far as it goes, making a black protagonist killing black antagonists gives a whole new perspective on the situation. It would be possible and valid to make the argument you pose and claim the film racist. Hard to say though, how said female will respond to given texts.
Yeah, who needs logic? What this country needs to heal are more raw, ill-informed accusations; that's the way to go.
Yes it is true that the village voice piece was less inflammatory and that might be why it didn't get criticized. I also suspect that most people read the black looks post and didn't notice the link to the village voice article.
Regarding the black looks comment about all zombies should be white, I can only think that was supposed to be sarcasm because in another post she "apologized" by saying that she was high on meth and heroin at the time which (I really hope) was a joke.
http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/08/where_lies_the_resident_evil.html#comm...
For example, the entry from GP addressing concerns over the recent Wii puzzle game, (forgive me the name's escaped me for the moment) showed that out of ignorance, the game designers did not intend to offend the people of the Muslim community. Thus, as I believe DarkeSword put it (again the name's escaped me) the community more than likely felt they did not want the chant to become reduced to nothing but a sound byte for a game. This is an example of ignorance on the game designer's part. They did not know it would offend anyone, nor did they mean to, and they adjusted accordingly.
Now, what's malice? Malice is the intentional use of stereotyping, in any shape of form, with the pre-determined thought of destructive and hurtful use. For example, organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan have the clear intention of malice for people of color. That, is malice. While I can't think of a popular video game that defines this, anyone who can contribute is more than welcome, this is open discussion after all. Anyways...
Why do I say this? Because at 22 years old, and a gamer since I was about 3 years old when my dad first bought me Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, I have very, very, rarely seen a game, or if ever with a name as well known as Biohazard (Resident Evil) to come out and be intentionally malicious towards any race. I'm more than positive there are racist video games/internet games out there. Search the internet long enough and you'll probably find some.
(Note: I'm not in any way saying they're right, but I acknowledge they exist because I know there are people willing to make hateful games. To think otherwise is naive, but that alone can not define the gaming community.)
But, if you are going to say those are the kind of games aimed at the vast majority of the gaming community, I would have to disagree. Go to Best Buy, go to Fry's, go to Gamestop, any of the popular retail stores. Go through and see what kind of games are being released for the public and popularly sold. This will give an idea of what video games are out there for the majority of gamers.
If any of them seem even remotely racist, stop and ask yourself, why? What makes it racist or hateful in any way? Chances are, if it was as hateful to where it was malicious, it should not be there on the shelf in the first place. One has to look at the game as a whole and see what the point of the game is.
Lastly, I can see where people such as Ms. Platt find the RE5 Trailer offensive. They bring up the imagery, historical context associated with them and etc. But tying everything all together, I have to question Capcom's intention. I have never known Capcom to be a racist company. And I have to admit, I highly doubt they mean to be racist. And knowing Capcom, they will probably respond soon about where they'll go from here.
Before I submit this comment, I just want to address a few more things. People can claim because I'm a gamer, I'm biased. But it is my sincere hope that the above has laid out a neutral ground for people to look at and not say "Hey he's right!" Rather, I just want to get people thinking and and I hope I've contributed something constructive.
Yeah, that comment pissed me off more than anything. If our side too logical then their side must be idiots. How else could you interpret a comment like that.
I agree with you on the bulk of the posts of yesterday and today to be some variation in trash talking or pulling the opinions held dear close as a shield. I respect the woman for her opinion but don't agree with it. I need more info before I go making such a statement out of context about a game that isn't even out yet.
My earlier question remains though. Do you think the woman who hates RE so due to her view that is encourages racism will enjoy Will Smith potentially killing black zombies on the big screen in theaters? Different medium, black actor as the hero instead of white game character but potentially the same effect if she believes Will is just an agent of the white hand of society.
I am not concerned at the moment how the images make me feel. I am concerned with how poorly people (including the woman under fire) have discussed this. You would have thought both gamers and she both were zombies.
Hitler was black??????
Can you say double standard? Or maybe this inept woman has a forked tounge.
Sure Baseball might be boring to some but I know a great deal of people who enjoy it. I personally am a fan of football. Its kind of a war-like sport.
It provides a difference of opinion, helps stave off static thought and stagnant culture. A catalyst of Change, if you will. I'm sure it serves other purposes, but looking at it as I do, the more perspectives you have on any given situation, the better conclusion you will arrive at. Thats the value I give to "Thug Life" as we are calling it.
I didn't mean to imply earlier that we shouldn't step up and defend the industry when a baseless attack is made. What I meant was that there is a very. VERY vocal minority amongst us that simply does not have the emotional or intelectual maturity to say anything other than stfu or some other drivel.
When someone makes an accusation like the one leveled at RE5 it has to be responded to with civility and clarity. Getting angry over it won't accomplish anything. Using derogatory language only hurts our argument and reinforces the oppositions misguided concepts.
We HAVE to get past this idea that any questioning of content is a bad thing. Questions need to be asked so that a dialogue can begin. Once that happens things will begin running much smoother for all parties involved.
A better example would be that in a century ago, movies were considered crap and inferior and silly compared to theater.
Again, the only person really worth discussing anything with. So the plot thickens indeed. Yes, we also should put the game into the context of the rest of the series. Given the entirety of the cultural artifact (RE5), the overall interpretation will undoubtedly change. As it stands, Mrs. Platt has a viable point worth discussing, though I cringe at calling most of these posts discussion so much as trash-talking with sprinkles to make it look important.
I don't think my stance is any more valid when the game comes out versus working with the piece that we have. I'm taking this text as discrete, not diffuse. If I were taking a diffuse critique, then yes my argument becomes more valid because we have the rest of the picture. I think there's value to taking the text as discrete as well, and talking about what these specific images, taken out of the whole (as it was intended mind you), make us feel.
"If its an asian zombe; its funny"
Well, yeah. Think about it... "Blains!... Blains!" How is that NOT funny!?
Aside from my off color joke, which I do know a good number of you who will read this, will either 1) chuckle and then feel bad about it, or 2) not get it all, I would like to point out an observation that I feel has been missed by the whole.
Many of the horror genre based media either mean to critic some facet of our cultural identity or some part of life as a whole, or gets that meaning placed on it years afterwards when it was meant to just be a "horror flick." Examples include "Dawn of the Dead" inwhich it can be seen as a critic on the American consumerism, "The Body Snatchers" (1978) being a critic on the decadence of America at the time and Frankenstien being seen as a warning of unlimited scientific advancement without pondering the consequences of the 19th century.
With this in mind, upon first seeing the trailer for RE5, and seeing the setting and what I hear about in the news media (disinfo.com salon.com cnn.com) my first reaction is that this is going to take place somewhere in the Sudan, Somalia, Chad or even the Congo. And here's why; few countries in the world are in the throws of such chaos and disrepair that tribalism has taken hold. In the Congo, during the Second Congo War, cannibalism was strongly urged against ethnic minorities and enemies.
Somalia is run by warlords whose henchmen mark territories by the use of severed body parts including heads, hands, legs, torso, will actually go out looking for rival groups to mutilate for this purpose.
Sudan, during the throws of the Darfar conflict, which really hasn't been addressed, used cannibalism along with genocide to terrorize and "cleanse" the local population there.
If you have seen any news footage coming from these front lines, you'll notice how a group of people can be rallied in much the same way as the trailer depicts. It's horrifying due to the truth of the matter. These crazy people act just like zombies.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fGIivYgN_Aw
No, what's racist is the value you are attaching to it. To say, "I dislike that culture..." is one thing. To say, "I dislike that culture and based purely on my beliefs think that my culture is better..." is the racist ideal. I don't like thug culture either, nor do I endorse the violence. But just because I don't like it doesn't mean that it doesn't have its place.
In reality, no one person’s interpretation of a piece of media is any more “Right” than any other.
Translation: We can call anybody as racist as we want, and nobody can prove us wrong! Woo!
True but the game is still released and there is very limited information in both text and visual previews. Would you agree that your stance would be more valid if the game was already released or even if we had more content to view to judge if we should or should not be offended by this production? I mean we don't have much to judge from right now. I do know when someone is arguing something is racist and then long time fans of the series come to its defense it should make people think twice and maybe research into the past games to see where exactly the game might actually be like. This is Resident Evil 5. If this didn't belong to a series of games I do think Mrs. Platt's stance would definitely be more respectable. However it is a recent addition to the Resident Evil series and from my personal experience with the series I do not the final production will reflect any kind of racism from the most important of consumers... the player of the game.
As you may not be aware, there is a bit of dispute based on semantics in your first line. Various sources claim that the white majority cannot be truly acted upon by anyone else and call it racist. The reason is because racism, sometimes categorized by itself as institutionalized racism, but more often just racism is a product of white people in power. It's a state of status quo built over years by those in power that pervades every institution of our society. The authors who fall behind this argument label black people who engage in similar acts as racial bigots. Semantics though.
To be aware of this opinion of labeling is fine. Sociology is full of it. Our experience with it depends on where we find ourselves. In different situations different people have the upper hand. White privilege exists in some places the same as black privilege or hispanic/latino privilege exists elsewhere. Untold crimes are committed and the people never caught. You have no idea who commits the most amount of crime. A white man can steal millions of dollars from investors or a president lie to the public to lead us into war (killing thousands) over his financial interests (the old weight of the Military-Industrial complex) and see little penalty but a slap on the wrist but a black or hispanic man will sit in prison for possession of drugs they intended to use themselves or speeding.
It's about money not skin color CrazyBlue. Everyone commits one crime or another depending on the state or county they live in. Poorer people just have the bad luck to be the first ones look upon. Plus the company you keep really does put you on police radar, whether you've done wrong or not. It all depends on what the officers have in their heads. I know a lot of local cops and most of them have their own issues and biases, same as the people they are arresting. Class and wealth is a bigger force dictating who gets caught let alone escapes the charge. We even separate them as white and blue collar crime. It's insane. I don't excuse black people who live in rough neighborhoods from selling drugs but sad to say they are filling a service people of many colors (including rich white people) desire. White people buy and sell drugs too, for the same reasons. Some gets thrills, some cannot or will not make better decisions to escape the neighborhoods they feel trapped in. Drugs and drug-related crimes bring up bigger societal issues naturally but too many people focus on just the MICRO view rather than factoring in the MACRO view of the problems facing communities around the country and world.
I'm sure when Baseball was first created people thought it was a silly thing for people to do. Throwing a ball and hitting with sticks while you run in a circle. And I'm sure they also expressed their statements in ways very similar to EDW. Little did they know Baseball would become so popular and accepted by society.
History repeats itself I suppose.
And many gamers do all those things AND find time to game. So kindly take your bigoted vitriol elsewhere.
What place does the "thug life" have in society?
My point is the group of jerks lumped in your "dark side of gaming" are really just socially inept, basement dwelling jerks that happen to spend their free time playing video games because they can't get along anywhere else.
Please, PLEASE do not lump all "gamers" into this category. I love to play video games, I am married and have a fantastic job...and I did find all those terrible, horrific racist remarks infuriating. But then again, I expected because that is the Internet for you: A bunch of 14 year old assholes that operate without parent supervision."
Well good for you. You're enjoying yourself in your own way. And coincidently, last weekend my sister had a BIG party with her friends in the apartment. Lots of wine, good quality beer that is to die for, lots of dancing and music, and The Nintendo Wii was a big hit in the party, and none of the guest who played it are even gamers. Wii sports was the game of the party.
Just goes to show you that we are not a hivemind. We have our own way of having fun.
Another thing, Real Tennis and Real bowling are not much fun as party games. In actuality, the real thing requires a lot of skill and practice, not exactly party material is it? Also, it costs a lot of money to rent the court, additional money to learn the game and some people have trouble trying to get to said locations. Plus, some cities don't even HAVE those facilities.
The Point of the Wii is to get people together to have fun and enjoy, especially for parties. You sound like the kind of person who hates fun of any kind.
And now I'm up to 5 ...
And you're just an ass.
You missed my point with the porn comment in relation to his own.
Mrs. white chick used a bit more tact, and didn't say anything like all zombies must be white from now on. She's still tragically misinformed, and we are feeling the consequences of her idiocy right now.
Mrs. black chick's post came off as more of a call to censorship or banning, and since the Manhunt 2 bullshit is basically a slippery slope of art censorship that has left people on edge, she was crucified for her post. Rightly so if you ask me, bloggers who make sweeping generalizations like that have no place on the internet.
"on the other hand, the images used in the game, already disturbing because it is resident evil, also reflect hateful images that were real and meant to invoke hate towards black people in the not too distant history of america…"
That word in bold really stuck out in my mind. Last I checked psychics were a sci fi thing and a bunch of hoaxs. How in the seven layers does one know the intent of an artist these days, or for that matter anyone they have never met? Gotta agree with Sigma 7, the trolls are out for lulz again.
Oh yeah, there were several obvious attempts by Stormtards to "cleverly" use sockpuppets in an attempt to proove their points (I still think that Darrel appering and going on a "I hate all white people" rant *very* conveniantly coincided with Chris getting unmasked as a closet Stormtard).
I find the Idea of the "Thug Life" offensive. I find a lifestyle that is materialistic in the extreme, promotes attitudes about women that border on misogynistic, promotes violence, and promotes constant pointless flouting of authority offensive.
Now if you want to call my attitude racist fine. But in doing so, you also claim that Misogyny and materialism are somehow permanently linked to Black culture.
There's a major problem with equality and respect in our world. There are serious image issues that have to be dealt with as far as RE5's trailer goes. Statements by capcom mentioning the lack of racial intent in the game, and the intention of using the social climate of Saudi Arabia as a backdrop to a horror genre (As is used in many movies for action movies) would have put out this fire immediately.
Since that didn't happen, and instead you've got a bunch of intolerant, arrogant young white kids (Note: I did not say all gamers, or all young white kids. The people doing this are all young white kids, however) tooting their horns and making gross generalizations about black people because "them durn nigrs attked r videogames!" In the same swift blow of the idiot-club, you've got young angry black flag wavers claiming racism where there is racial ignorance and insecurities. A majority of the 'racism' happening surrounding this issue is nothing more than immaturity and idiocy.
A sound and logical observation of this situation yields a bunch of idiots trying to make a statement about each other, and instead are jeopardizing freedom of speech by trying to claim any one speech is more valid than another. Black people are pissed because america has shit on them, and this video looks a whole lot like some of that shitting. White kids are pissed because they don't get it, they just see their harmless videogame getting attacked by people who claim inferiority. In the end, it's just a bunch of idiots playing ignorance footsie and making a mountain out of a mole hill.
What should be drawn from all of this is simple: Capcom is not trying to make a racial strike against anyone, and is instead using a valid, real world setting for their generic and claustrophobic zombie shooter. White kids tend to be unthoughtful and incapable of sympathizing with racial tension. Black kids tend to misunderstand generic videogames for racial tension. Lots of people are immature.
they sound immature because they need to downgrade their words for people like you.
I can't believe you actually reacted to all the reactions. these people are mostly right. It's now just sad that you still hold on to your words.
heheh. Someone needs to write to the guys who make lil bush and see if they'll add Lil Jack.
Isn't interesting how the village voice post was first and was the inspiration for the Black Looks post and yet very few people are condemning the self proclaimed "white girl" who wrote the village voice post?
Didn't someone confirm that the game takes place in Saudi Arabia?
Didn't someone confirm that the game takes place in Saudi Arabia?
This is all coming from someone who is 1) A quarter Japanese, 2) Has had a huge majority of African American Friends in his life, 3) has had to see the degradation of this country through such crap as Hip Hop, Rap, the classic "Wannabe black" White boy, and the idiotic actions of many African Americans who only harm the image of the average African American.
Again, I am not a racist.
Is that the same person who, before the bulk of the insults came in, stated that zombies should be only-white? Is it also the same person that failed to research the basics of the Resident Evil Series, and failed to research the history of zombies?
If she was seriously worried about racism, she would have contacted the NAACP or whatever organization to pressure Capcom.
Don't feed the trolls, btw.
Contrary to your belief, not all games are GTA and the like.
In fact, you can't really lump Brain Training, Hotel Dusk, Phoenix Wight, The Mario games and all the other E or T rated games with games like GTA. I'd really like to see you try and make Brain Training look bad.
It's like trying to lump "Lassie" with "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
Also, gamers are actually increasing in number, thanks to the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii because they showed none gamers that gaming can do more than pander to the "violence only" audience. Also, most gamers these days are growing up to become adults.
Plus, in South Korea, gaming is a national sport and they earn big money from playing games. Are you going to start calling them losers or that South Korea should be nuked off the face of the Earth?
You may not like games, and that's fine, but please refrain from personal insults. Not playing games doesn't make you better than everyone else. You'd have to be a real shallow person to judge people just because they play games.
You are just a-dorable. I'm gonna start calling you Lil' Jack. Smaller mind, smaller thoughts, smaller attitude.
You're probably the same pompous pseudo-christian extremist who thinks you're better than all of us because you don't drink, smoke, dance, or watch movies.
wtf...?
As a matter of fact, I spend alot of my time doing things other than play video games. I got Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Midnight on it's release, I go to the movies with friends, I'm going to the mall in about 10 minutes, I BMX a little bit, and I'm on my school's swim team, which i practice in some of my spare time. So shut the F*** up before you generalize about gamers. We are not like child pornagraphers in any way. Our enteratainment is legal, and safe, and is meant to be fun.
The brits weren't the only ones who lefts things royally fucked up.
i hope your joking. i really do.
All I can say to that is Oh. My. God.
Oh for the love of god, because I advocate free speech and talking about the way something is portrayed? I'm not saying that anyone needs to think this is bad, I'm just saying that it needs to be discussed, in the open air. Its not about offending or not offending -- I'm not attaching a value judgment to this at all, you are.
ya know the old phrase (probably not) "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
"It’s idiots like these that are causing problems with society, taking away our liberties, making us walk on eggshells for fear of offending someone. I thought we were doing away with this sort of crap"
fascist much?
So you're not the same Darrel(?) that stated that white people only want to shoot black people, or some garbage like that? I want to apologize to you, then. I thought you were, and kinda ignored you for your first few comments.
Onto the topic at hand. I'm kind of surprised that this little insignificant women is getting so much attention. While I looked at her site and read some comments to see if its all true, I never posted a response. It seems it would of been ignored at any rate.
I'm starting to become jaded to concerns of racism. I've heard and seen far more false claims of racism than real ones. Real racism still exists, but its much more underground and hidden. Its hard to find real cases of it because they know its vilified. The fact that a mainstream company would produce this trailer should nullify any concerns of racism. It doesn't sell after all.
Remember people, we all bleed red.