Resident Evil 5 is RACIST?!!!!

[Salka]

http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/07/resident_evil_5.html

How I'd like to slap her. Because she's black, obviously, not because she's an idiot or anything.

[DanJW]

This already camer up in the RE4 thread.

Well done though.

Oh and reading through the comments is pretty funny, as after a few it becomes clear that the original poster has, in the words of the Bluthe family "made a huge mistake".

[Nachimir]

In context of all the RE games, it's not racist.

People aren't going to look at that context though. Too much effort to play through the other games. People like that blogger are going to ignore the earlier sequences with non-zombified black people (or even misinterpret them).

One commenter said:

A white man should never be seen, at least in popular culture mediums, shooting hordes of indiscriminate blacks because they have actually done it before.

I don't agree with his "should never" because there are a shitload of potential reasons for representing anything, historical or not, but as it stands that kind of representation is a hugely emotive trigger for a large amount of people (from black people to white supremacists). Likewise, the way the zombified black people look is close to the way black people have sometimes been depicted and mocked in other media, even though there's almost certainly no connection between that and the art in RE5.

The reaction to this trailer is an emotive one rather than an informed one, but it's not difficult to watch the trailer and realise why it's come up. If Capcom didn't see it coming, that's dumb. I hope they point out the context given by the other games. I suppose they might throw in some token white people.

If companies keep apologising like Sony instead of putting up any kind of adequate defense, games will eventually just be made with really sterile content :/

(I bet she'd misinterpret the balaclava doodled on my avatar as a racist slur).

[Roderick]

Like I said in a discussion about this a week ago (on some other nondescript place on The Internet), the most you can accuse Capcom of is (either deliberately or not) not taking into account the historical sensitivities with these topics. That doesn't justify those sensitivities, and it's certainly bullshit that there's any racist thought behind the game, but there you have it. That said, there is no reason why Capcom or anyone *has* to take these things into account. They're making games, not social commentaries. In this case, being opinionated in a way that is different from me would be taking the zing out of everything about life; indeed to be sterile.

[DanJW]

I'd be surprised if the game did not also contain black protagonists and white antagonists. What is more, I suspect that the game may well contain at least a subtle political message about poverty in Africa. You don't choose African slums as a setting unless you have a reason to.

[Nachimir]

I don't think Capcom have done anything "wrong".

Remains to be seen whether or not it was stupid though...

[LOPcagney]

In context of all the RE games, it's not racist.

People aren't going to look at that context though. Too much effort to play through the other games. People like that blogger are going to ignore the earlier sequences with non-zombified black people (or even misinterpret them).

One commenter said:

I don't agree with his "should never" because there are a shitload of potential reasons for representing anything, historical or not, but as it stands that kind of representation is a hugely emotive trigger for a large amount of people (from black people to white supremacists). Likewise, the way the zombified black people look is close to the way black people have sometimes been depicted and mocked in other media, even though there's almost certainly no connection between that and the art in RE5.

The reaction to this trailer is an emotive one rather than an informed one, but it's not difficult to watch the trailer and realise why it's come up. If Capcom didn't see it coming, that's dumb. I hope they point out the context given by the other games. I suppose they might throw in some token white people.

If companies keep apologising like Sony instead of putting up any kind of adequate defense, games will eventually just be made with really sterile content :/

(I bet she'd misinterpret the balaclava doodled on my avatar as a racist slur).

I've never played any of the other RE games. I agree completely, that this scenario can be handled tastefully and we can't assume the game's creators are racist just because the zombies happen to be in Africa, but what it the context you are referring to? I'm curious, as I'm sure it would strengthen your (and my) position on this issue.

[miffy495]

The context being that RE 1-3 took place in Raccoon City USA, full of white Americans speaking English and RE4 took place in Spain, full of Spaniards speaking (*gasp!*) Spanish. My kill tally in RE4 on Wii right now tells me I've indiscriminately killed (by explodey headshot whenever possible) over 300 Spanish villagers. For some reason it's so much more wrong when it's on a different continent?

Whatever. Judging by the comments on the blog, this one will be mocked ruthlessly and blow over quickly. Glad to see that the majority of folks on there have some sense.

[vimes]

I must admit that my first thought was : "A sole white guy killing a bunch of black people because he "has something that needs to be done" ? This feels wrong." But it was just that : a visceral reaction; when my brain kicked in, I realized that,like you all saif, it still is like any other Resident Evil games, so no worries, eh ? Still, the trailer makes me feel a bit uneasy.

[Roderick]

Yes, but that statement is such a horribly skewed view on what is actually happening. It SHOULD read: 'a sole skilled agent killing a bunch of zombies because he has a job to do'. But what the girl wrote on that blog is the same as writing: 'a sole white supremist killing a bunch of negro untermensch because he's part of the Ku Klux Klan'. It's a completely overblown statement that speaks of huge ignorance of what's actually happening. Desperate to inspire exactly that visceral first reaction -while it has little bearing on what's actually happening in the game.

[vimes]

I'm not sure this was clear : this was my first thought when watching the trailer - days before I read the linked blog entry - not while reading the blog entry.

[Lama Himself]

In fact I was more disturb by the first comment of the author of this blog entry than the trailer of RE5.

Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth.

I can totally understand that the trailer touch some alert nerves. It really a sensitive subject and more than one person will jump on it and scream racism. But it's obvious after 5 minutes of internet search (for Video Game newb) that this game it's absolutely not White vs Black.

And I am pretty sure that Chris fighting against villagers is only the first part of the game and this discussion will be complety vanished after few hours of gameplay.

[Marek]

If you take a velvet glove approach with these sort of 'sensitivities', doesn't it just make the sensitivities even stronger instead of putting them behind us?

If we're all really against racism then everyone should embrace giving both black and white people equal roles and equal meaning in our media. No more discrimination. Black men getting killed by a white man? So what. It doesn't mean anything special because in today's world, it shouldn't really be anything special.

Pointing at RE5 and going 'but that's racist!' is, in itself, perhaps racist.

Do as Stephen Colbert does: be colorblind.

[Roderick]

That's precisely the argument with which I won that earlier discussion

Without the Steven Colbert reference. I should do that by the way. It's quite a nifty trick: just be colourblind in these situations and there can be no talk of racism.

[Roderick]

Spaceman came down to answer some things,

the world gathered 'round, from paupers to kings,

'I'll answers your questions, I'll answer them true,

I'll show you the way, you know what to do.'

Who is wrong and who is right?

Yellow, brown, black or white?

Spaceman he answered, 'you no longer mind,

I've opened your eyes, you're now colourblind.'

[brkl]

I found the trailer interesting because the black zombies, who are obviously zombies, act exactly how hordes of black Africans act in many movies, even though they are supposed to be human. I thought it made for a nice commentary.

[Nachimir]

If you take a velvet glove approach with these sort of 'sensitivities', doesn't it just make the sensitivities even stronger instead of putting them behind us?

If we're all really against racism then everyone should embrace giving both black and white people equal roles and equal meaning in our media. No more discrimination. Black men getting killed by a white man? So what. It doesn't mean anything special because in today's world, it shouldn't really be anything special.

Well said.

I'm glad to see blog comments seem to have taken care of it; my first thought on seeing the trailer was "Shit, this is headed straight for TV news". I doubt this blog post is the last time it will come up, but it's a pretty favourable precedent. Let's hope Capcom realise...

I'm pretty sick of seeing developers and publishers buckle to negative press. If this gets bigger, I anticipate the first four RE games being renamed to RESIDENT EVIL: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, or a United Colors of Benetton zombie shooter full of equal opportunities brain eating.

That Village Voice piece saying that the non-zombified black people have still been made to look like zombies is just fucked.

but what it the context you are referring to? I'm curious, as I'm sure it would strengthen your (and my) position on this issue.

Miffy has it.

[DanJW]

There's a short story by Arthur C. Clarke called "Reunion". It's about the aliens from which humanity is descended returning to take us "home" - humans having been abandoned on Earth due to a strange plague. It's told in the form of a transmission from the said aliens as they approach orbit and ends with the sentence "If any of you are still white, we can cure you".

[Thrik]

When I saw that trailer, I saw a game involving a guy shooting up a load of frenzied zombies. At no point did any kind of racist connotations occur to me.

When the writer saw the trailer, she saw a game involving a racist guy indiscriminately shooting up a load of blacks because they're black. At every point racist connotations occurred to her.

Clearly the writer and anybody supporting her is the racist here, and is responsible for the continuing struggles of equality.

[Salka]

agreed.

[SpiderMonkey]

Did anyone read the follow-up yet?

I'm disgusted. It's been a long time since I've seen something so completely lacking in honesty and integrity, yet claiming to be so honorable and upstanding. A blog that claims to be campaigning against ill-informed prejudice and misrepresentation of the many by the actions of the few, is openly indulging in ill-informed prejudice and using actions of the few to tar an entire group of people.

This is my un-favourite part:

Kym has been called bitch, nigger, black hooker, whore in an attempt to intimidate her here on BL, on her own blog and also on other sites (Technorati has over 50 links on this post).

Why does that bracketed sentence belong in the main sentence (as indicated by the position of the full stop)? The guy is trying to imply that every one of those "over 50 links" - simply pieces discussing the original piece, taking all stances - is attempting to intimidate the author.

Their response after that second clusterfuck (even more comments than the first) appears to be to bury the story by posting 4 different stories in as many hours, each with comments turned off. Why act so proud and defiant? If you are happy to admit your gross ignorance ("Like Kym, the only game I play is the occasional solitaire on my pc and have no interest in playing video games of any kind"), why can't you admit the possibility that you might have been wrong? I guess this is what happens when the world's leaders refuse to have any humility and decency. Why should anyone else?

[BooJaka]

Doesnt take much of a brain to figure where the “resident evil” lies - Like Kym, the only game I play is the occasional solitaire on my pc and have no interest in playing video games of any kind however 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?

Wow!

And that's not being offensive how exactly?

[DanJW]

Yeah, insinuating that people are killers simply because they disagree with you - that's not very nice. Admittedly some of the commentors were arseholes, but killers? I doubt it. Looks like JT et al have been fairly succesful in making a connection in peoples brains between "gamer" and "high-school shooting". That sucks.

[Wrestlevania]

Bunch o' cunts.

Being honest, my immediate reaction to the civilians in the extended Resi 5 trailer was, "fuck... now those poor bastards have to contend with their friends and family turning into flesh-eating lunatics, too." If that's inherently racist, then I'm deeply apologetic for it, but at no time did I think, "look at the crazy niggers!" or similarly despicable crap.

It did occur to me that certain shitheads people would see this as political leverage, so I'm not surprised by what's happened as a result--nor the total lack of integrity these same people possess. Their response equates to, "Look over here! Now look over here! Now look over here! Just don't look over there anymore."

Transparently amateurish; as is the convenient smokescreen of pulling the tired old argument that "games heighten aggression". Which is utter horseshit to anyone, except the navel-gazing gallery that the author(s) like to hide amongst whenever common sense starts to spill over into these topics.

I'll say it again: bunch o' cunts.

Also: Resi 5 is going to be fucking brilliant! And I'm glad to see Capcom continuing to explore new environments and locations. I expect the story will pan out to be much more grown-up and reasonable, too. They must have known full well what a stir this might cause, and that people won't stomach shitty generic storytelling in the final game as a result.