Fun Stuff > CLIKC
Resident Evil 5
Nodaisho:
--- Quote from: Johnny C on 17 Mar 2009, 16:33 ---
--- Quote from: Ozymandias on 17 Mar 2009, 08:02 ---There's 1 with African zombies.
--- End quote ---
Okay but the way that one game treats Africa is important? Come on dude, there's a reason for this debate. Historically, Africa has been treated as a dark continent full of savagery and its inhabitants have frequently been portrayed either as dumb and easily cowed or dumb and inhumanly vicious. Either the noble savage or the wild animal. It's disingenuous to suggest that this can just be ignored. Narrative representations of Africa in the 21st century have to take this historical portrayal of the region and its people into account.
This is really a basic post-colonial conceit.
--- End quote ---
And in this game, it treats it as a continent country region full of FUCKING ZOMBIES! Of course they are vicious, see point ZOMBIES! Before the first battle, sure you see some people beating a moving sack with sticks, but they do mention that the region is in turmoil, the only difference between that and how things happen over here is that over here, people usually find someplace they won't be seen before beating someone to death with sticks. And over here, they use bats because it is easier to find those than tree limbs or a well-shaped piece of firewood in cities.
Are you saying it would be less offensive if the game was set in Harlem, for example, rather than africa? Just the first place I can think of that is commonly thought of has having an almost completely black population. Is it somehow less offensive to be shooting American blacks, English blacks, rather than African blacks? That is what you are making it sound like with your mention of Africa rather than the skin color.
Yes, there is a reason for this debate. The reason is that some people look for reasons to be offended and then BAWWWW to no end. And the media, always eager for ratings, rather than telling them to shut the fuck up, runs the story, and all of a sudden we have a shitstorm.
A wise man once wrote that there is more than one way to burn a book, and the world is full of people running around with lit matches. I guess you can debate this all you want, if I were to try to stop you, I would be a hypocrite. People can debate whatever pointless or stupid thing they want, my worry here is that the ever-present moral guardians would attempt to ban this game. Hasn't happened, as far as I can tell, but it could have, and it still might.
Ozymandias:
--- Quote from: Johnny C on 17 Mar 2009, 16:33 ---Okay but the way that one game treats Africa is important? Come on dude, there's a reason for this debate. Historically, Africa has been treated as a dark continent full of savagery and its inhabitants have frequently been portrayed either as dumb and easily cowed or dumb and inhumanly vicious. Either the noble savage or the wild animal. It's disingenuous to suggest that this can just be ignored. Narrative representations of Africa in the 21st century have to take this historical portrayal of the region and its people into account.
This is really a basic post-colonial conceit.
--- End quote ---
And RE4's treatment of Spain as a bunch of backwoods, savagely angry farmers who live in hovels went completely unnoticed.
And RE0-3's treatment of America as corrupt and violent, a nation of people who would create monsters in the pursuit of war is just par for the course.
Johnny C:
Nobody wants a ban on the game. However, anyone interested in fiction that takes place in a realistic Africa should be at least cognizant of the narrative problems presented by the setting. I can't really speak to it more without the game but come on dude - I don't think it's racist, but I do think the debate is important for the reasons outlined above, reasons which are a large part of contemporary fictional treatment of Africa.
Read this and then come back to this thread!
buncha suckas who aint heard of postcolonialism itt
Johnny C:
Was rural Spain colonized, enslaved and brutalized? Was the contemporary American military-industrial complex a victim of institutionalized, nationally-sanctioned racism? Jesus.
Ozymandias:
Dude, so, wait.
I mean, is Africa just completely off limits then because shit happened? It's never allowed to be a setting unless it's making some deep statement about how wrong shit was?
It's only okay if it's not Africa is what you're telling me here.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version