It's silly to call Resident Evil 5 racist, says expert |
The release of Resident Evil 5 (PS3, 360) is looming, but the issue of the game being racist has yet to die down. Stepping into the scene is Glenn Bowman, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kent, who says that the game isn't racist at all. Always good to have a professional third-party opinion.
Bowman says that "I think people are looking too quickly to be able to jam that label onto it. [...] I don't find this very racist. I think what they're trying to do is make a setting of terror, of anxiety." That's his opinion in a nutshell, one that a lot of gamers made as well. But unlike most gamers, he has years of study in the area, and he doesn't cuss in comments.
He also addresses the issue of the most recent Resident Evil 5 scene that went under fire, portraying a white blonde woman being dragged along, supposedly to be infected:
We could go back to the mention of that one scene you claim that people were using as a sign of racism, where supposedly a blonde white woman is being dragged into a second floor house to be raped - it looked like to be raped.
Well there's a couple of problems there. One is she wasn't being dragged in to be raped, she was being dragged in to be infected. And secondly the person who dragged her in is not black.
Maybe there is an awareness by the makers of the game that there is a problem with a threat of racism and therefore they've diluted that problem by bringing in a number of white characters. Maybe they're simply working on the threat scenario. Certainly the presence of a lot of white characters, one) diffuses the idea that it's explicitly racist, but it also suggests they know it might be accused of being racist and possibly that's why they're doing it.
He adds that the game is actually full of anti-colonial themes, which is really quite contrary to the claims of the game being racist. He says that
There's the diary left behind by the kid who's eventually infected (found on a table in the Native Village section), which points out very clearly that in the past the colonials came in and exploited the local people, ripped them off of stuff, damaged them. He says that maybe they came back to give us this immunisation because they felt guilty.
There's something quite interesting going on with that. The fact that they actually came back to screw them up once again and infect them with this virus or disease, seems to me to be far more damning of the colonial powers towards Africa than it says anything about whether or not blacks are some sort of savages. The blacks here are clearly being set up as victims, alterity, frightening.
And finally, he also addresses the setting of the game, stating the same argument that a lot of gamers have already made:
They've got to use somewhere as threat, and as far as I know from what you've told me the last game used rural Spain as threat. Basically if you want to make a frightening scene you take whatever characteristics of that scene are salient and turn them align.
So you get vicious Spaniards who I suspect are running around with knives or whatever. Here you get infected Africans. Maybe they'll make the next game happen in Finland and you'll have a whole series of Inuits and the like being really scary and running around with Walrus heads on. I think it's silly to call it racist.
Related Articles:
- Resident Evil 5 trailer stirs criticism over race portrayal
- Another day, another bill: this time to protect kids from racist games
- RE5 producer speaks out against allegations of racism
- Takeuchi: black people are working on RE5
Via VideoGamer
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Comments [refresh]
Games should never be considered racist, for something like this.
If the person playing the game derived some kind of sick twisted pleasure from only killing people of 1 race....that's racist. now only including one race in your game is just a lazy planning error.(there are white people in africa BTW)
Its always great to hear someone who is looked up to and respected, like a professor of anthropology, listing off racial stereotypes for different regions of the world. I literally almost shot milk out my nose I was laughing so hard.
some people are just WAY too sensitive.
Oh give me a *****ing break with the damn racism. There is NO FREAKIN RACISM anymore. This country is *****ing ageist and homophobic now, NOT RACIST. God damn blacks make me mad. I cant even vote yet these scumbags are complaining because there were zombies that happen to be black in a video game?
Lol @ the racism in this comment XD
I was playing the demo and I heard a zombie say "*****a please." I was extremely offended.
Everyone seems to forget that you have the option to play as a BLACK FEMALE in the game. Oh, let's all overlook that. Totally racist. No one said ***** when RE4 had you massacring Spaniards for the entire game.
I wonder how many people ignore the "setting" of the game. I was playing the demo and I noticed white people. hell, I even saw a mexican guy, along with a hoard of asian people, which I think were added by Capcom to get rid of the so-called "racist" stuff. I had a few laughs when I saw the mexican and asian guys...oh capcom.
Look at all the past Resident Evil games. It contained mostly white people up to Resident Evil 3.
RE4 contained spanish, and RE5 contains black people and a few others, such as russian looking and asian looking people.
People are always jumping to conclusions that something is racist once blacks are involved but not when others are.
about the fact that they were black, I mean I knew they were but my first thought was "Oh god zombies, DIE DIE!"
Exactly.
HA!
I myself am Black, but it's always funny how every other ethnicity can be involved, but as soon as one black guy gets put in, it's racist. And this is supposed to be 2009.
Resident 4 was full of spanish people!
Didn't* not did
I have a Mexican friend who is DARKER than the "usual", and they confuse him as an African American . I've seen people from Cuba, Salvador and Honduras who are dark people too . It's not being racist its just they way they are, how do they know its not them or mixture of both races in the game? I say that these people get offended way too easily .
The way I see it is, if they had it set in Africa, but DIDN'T primarily feature black people as the locals, then that could be construed as racist.
It's quite difficult to explain, but I think the people who scrutinise a piece of work for supposed racism, nine times out of ten, have to be thinking in a racist fashion. If I took the time, I could probably describe what I mean a little better, but I'm going to trust that the more educated among you will be able to see my point.
geez just because you can kill a black person the game is automatically labeled racist ¬_¬
i find this rather pathetic tbh
doesn't sound half bad. the idea of shooting someone in the head who is wearing a walrus head seems kinda funny.
RE4 was in south america and i didnt hear any spaniards complaining and all the others were just white people and mutant monsters. We never complained morons like who ever was offended by this game are stunting the growth of the video gaming industry
Spain is Europe
http://europa.eu/abc/maps/images/europe.gif
I will be proud if CAPCOM uses my country for the next Resident Evil. Just think about it, instead of having herbs, you could have tacos, you can combine a quesadilla with sirlon, and create a Pirata, that heals all your HP.
I mean, what with all the scandal of racism in RE4 over killing spanish people and spanish people only.
Oh.. wait.. that never happened.
I hope you're joking about being offended. That word is used milllions of times by people in casual conversation now (and you know I don't mean white people). Even if you think it shouldn't be used in a game, it's used in movies.
..Everyone's a Little Bit Racist
But the fact is RE5 sucked big time, sorry if you're a fan of this genre. But as a new comer to it, I downloaded the demo and didn't enjoy it at all. I much prefer Left4Dead, much better zombie survival thriller.
not all black people are offended by this game, i have not met one that is offended but i have met some that could possibly see how this game could have been racist when it was first debuted.
they added things like playing as a black female and other colored characters to the game later on, when we saw the first demo, every one was black except for one guy who was kinda lighter than the rest.
at this point i don't think any one cares, i think the people who are saying it is racist are just out of tune with what is actually going on.
one more thing, the last game was in spain and no one complained because the Spanish were not enslaved for hundreds of years by Americans, nor did they have to deal with Jim crow and the civil rights movement. THAT IS NOT TO SAY THAT MAKES IT RIGHT but it does mean that the issue will be a little more sensitive.
JUST UNDERSTAND the need for some kind of sensitivity, but this game is not racist and it would never have been seen that way if it never made it to America, our perception was making it that way and they tried to fix it as much as they could but if at this point you are saying it is racist or that your tired of "BLACK" people crying about racism...then you are probably racist...
The Chinese have been a major group in south a for many years, China and Africa have been involved in major trade since the 80s and there are literally hundreds of thousands of Chinese people in south Africa, if you don't believe me then Google it.
so don't laugh when you see Asian people in resident evil 5 or other races...there are other races in Africa than just black, again sorry to double post.
If the next zombie bunch are Arabs...... Capcom has an Agenda.
this game does not insult african people - it's not the point.
but there ARE racist or offensive games. or games that attempt to be a historical recreation of some events, but twist them to alter history in favor of somebody.
there was e.g. some muslim-made fps game where the player would play a sniper or a soldier that would kill american soldiers. not that i would mind that, but the real problem was how were americans depicted - drunkards, and trigger-happy idiots with no shred of humanity.
it was clearly a game which main intent was not to give player entertainment, but mostly a tool of propaganda, written by a bunch of religious/political zealots.
re5 is not racist, same as re4 was not targeted against spanish people. it was not the point of the game. games are to entertain, but there are certain things they should not be used for.
"WHITE POWER! Colin Powell... Condoleezza Rice. Condoleezza Rice, sounds like Mexican dish. Maybe we should put her on a plate and send her to Mexico so the Mexicans will eat her. White Power!"
Clayton Bigsby.
I always get a kicked out of it. many ignorant people out there.
It's still racist because she has a lighter skin tone than all the other black people. lol
bloody genius.
same thing happened if you don't agree, or dislike Obama (which is me) you were considered a racist. It's very annoying, and people need to get off their high horse and shut up.
poeple need to seriously stop looking at what a game or movie is depicting and watch it or play it for what it is. The ONLY 2 video game in recent years i can even remotely consider stereo typing or racial profiling aka other types of racism...was GTA III with all the taxi drivers are arabs. Also Hitman 2 where all the arabs had pink boxers. Verbal abuse isnt so much of a problem anymore because there are only a select few special people who get offended by words like when a white person is to say the special N word. but no one really cares anymore. Now if i made a game where all white people walked around either nerdy or gay and blondes are stupid asking dumb questions like how many days are in a week? Would white people complain? Nah i dont think so... But to get back on topic..."PLAY GAMES FOR WHAT THEY ARE NOT WHAT THEY ARE DISPLAYING!!!"
I think that games cant be racist. ITS A FRIGGIN GAME!!!
If this is racist with all these white zombies in Africa which is a black country then WTF?
IS Call OF Duty WAW racist? You get to shoot a lot of Asians. I like that level but no its not.
Is Vietcong racist for only shooting Asians? No but thats one awesome game.
If Vietcong was in New York and all you did was kill the Asians then yea it would be racist and I would love it but that game dont exist.
Was my comments here racist? I f'ing hope so. This is to prove games cant be racist but people can be.
If you dont like it then STFU and dont post crap like the first person that said RE5 is racist.
I don't think it was the fact of not supporting Obama. I think it followed better along the lines of, if you supported Palin in specific, you were a racist. Look at some of their campaigns and tell me different. As a Arab-American myself, I was pretty insulted by the way they spoke about people. All the hate at the Palin rallies. I would NEVER want someone like that to represent myself or my country.
Maybe you need to take a look down from YOUR high horse and look at all the people you are running over.
Back to topic. RE5 racist? LOL that is just crazy talk. What did they want, a bunch of rednecks running around Africa? Get over it. lol seriously.
Unfortunately,
There are people out there who are going to say that racism appears in certain movies, games, etc even when there is no racism.
hey i came from a Hispanic decent and i had no problem with the Spanish speaking zombies!
i was actually happy... i had the edged against them lol....
No, i was called a racist for not liking his government dependent socialism. You have to understand I attend College, which is where most liberals reside. Just because I supported Mccain, Does NOT mean I'm a racist. If we had a republican African-American candidate, I may have voted for him. Same thing happened if you didn't agree or like Hillary. You'd then be deemed as sexist. but its really the people trying to call you out, are the ones who are really racist or sexist. Sorry for liking Free market capitalism.
Not on topic, but I do like to defend myself.