Resident Evil 5 - racist or not?

[Nembot]

You should be careful what you say. What you've written makes you sound like a racist. I'm sure you're not but that's the way it appears.

No it doesn`t, it`s a reasonable point. He`s just saying that these organisations take political correctness to a level bordering on the absurd. We`ve seen plenty of examples of these over recent weeks where games have been withdrawn because they contain the word "spastic", ridiculous!!

I`m sure that when Capcom decided to set Resident Evil 5 in Africa it wasn`t because they have a dislike for black people and dream of slaughtering black people in a Robert Mugabe stylee. If we were seeing games like "JEWHUNT: Mass Genocide" or "Super Gaybasher Alpha 2" then I`d understand, but some people are too quick to play the minority card. If Resident Evil 5 was to suffer because of pressure from anti-racism groups then society is really in trouble.

[Kotatsu Neko]

any one thinks there will be crys of racism in the press when this comes out?

"kids play as a white american soldier and slaughter an entire african village"

Frankly you would have to be utterly retarded to make a case that RE5 is racist, unless somehow it's now not politically correct to blow the heads of zombies with a shot gun. I doubt even hyper conservative gutter rags like the Daily Mail would remove context to the extent required here to attack RE5. They'll probably be too busy uncovering new 'evidence' that polish immigrants are eating english children while claiming benefits and having free brain surgery on the NHS.

[Kaladron]

No it doesn`t, it`s a reasonable point. He`s just saying that these organisations take political correctness to a level bordering on the absurd. We`ve seen plenty of examples of these over recent weeks where games have been withdrawn because they contain the word "spastic", ridiculous!!

I'm well aware of what he meant, I'm not stupid. But if you take what he said literally - "I dislike anti-racism groups" and "those kinds of groups are unfair" - then it does come across as extremely racist in an "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem" sort of logic. I'm not saying I disagree with him, just that he should be careful about the way he words his post. Nothing wrong with that.

[Kaladron]

Frankly you would have to be utterly retarded to make a case that RE5 is racist, unless somehow it's now not politically correct to blow the heads of zombies with a shot gun. I doubt even hyper conservative gutter rags like the Daily Mail would remove context to the extent required here to attack RE5. They'll probably be too busy uncovering new 'evidence' that polish immigrants are eating english children while claiming benefits and having free brain surgery on the NHS.

Sorry to bang on about this but I don't think anyone will brand RE5 racist simply because it involves shooting black people. The issue is a lot more complicated than that and comes down to one of representation. Look at those opening shots from the trailer, showing the gazes that Chris gets from some of the civilians. There are classic signs of othering there that could be argued to play on racist preconceptions.

Personally, I don't think the trailer or the game is racist but it's easy to see how someone might argue the opposite.

[Team Andromeda]

Personally, I don't think the trailer or the game is racist but it's easy to see how someone might argue the opposite.

No its not and the people that think that are the ones with the probelms. Making a issue out of somthing that's not even there . I sick of the PC Brigade running down the country , what with them and the EU it doesn' feel like our own country any more . What next , baning every WW II becasue it makes the Germans look bad

[Kotatsu Neko]

Sorry to bang on about this but I don't think anyone will brand RE5 racist simply because it involves shooting black people. The issue is a lot more complicated than that and comes down to one of representation. Look at those opening shots from the trailer, showing the gazes that Chris gets from some of the civilians. There are classic signs of othering there that could be argued to play on racist preconceptions.

Personally, I don't think the trailer or the game is racist but it's easy to see how someone might argue the opposite.

Are you Japanese? If not, go to Tokyo and see how everyone stares at you.

It's a simple fact that in cultures where there is little immigration and so limited (if any) exposure to foreigners then an unfamiliar face will be stared at.

So you have a poverty stricken remote African village where people are brutally killed or turned into zombies... then in walks some white American guy with comedy muscles and a t-shirt so small it would better fit a small child. Would the locals let him wander around, or perhaps think 'this guy is a) an outside and must be killed, or b) this guy is an outsider and must be killed'?

Being serious to say this is racist is just crazy, and is the type of political correctness which is nothing more than a cancer on creativity. People are so terrified of not offending anyone they go to absurd lengths, when the reality is people aren't offended and guess what, there really are differences between different cultures and ethnicities, and there's nothing wrong with using people from anywhere in the world as zombie fodder.

If anyone here is worried that this game is in any way racist then by all means don't buy it. Me, I'll be there on day one and it's already my most anticipated game by a long way. I can't wait.

[Kaladron]

Are you Japanese? If not, go to Tokyo and see how everyone stares at you.

It's a simple fact that in cultures where there is little immigration and so limited (if any) exposure to foreigners then an unfamiliar face will be stared at.

Well you're right (sort of) but when those traits are used as a reason to fear those isolated cultures and races, that's when you'll start to see accusations of racism. Again, as I suggested in my previous post, this isn't about the actions of certain characters in the game, it's about the way certain cultures are represented. Nevertheless, I'm interested to see how Capcom handles the plot; RE4 had its anti-globalism, anti-establishment sub-plot to it and I suspect that trend will continue in RE5, only in a more politically abrasive way.

I also agree with your comment about politcal correctness stifling creativity but I still think Capcom is going to have to be very careful about the way it handles RE5. With the whole world seemingly out to get videogames at the moment, it's inevitable that Resident Evil is going to come under fire eventually.



EDIT: Oh and I have been to Tokyo and people did stare at me. I never thought they were going to kill me though. In fact, most of them just wanted to talk to me and have their photo taken with me. And no, I'm not a celebrity.

[John Beaulieu]

Resident Evil 5 - racist or not?

In the Resident Evil 5 headlines thread it drifted way off-topic into a debate about whether setting the game in Africa could be deemed racist or not. I will be merging across the posts removed from that thread into this one.

[Malc]

You could say this about anything - What about the time when you mow down hundreds of english people in games, we never complain, it just seems when games use other nationalities of people for enimies, do people think of this.

[ItsThere]

No.

No further discussion is needed of this. Is San Andreas racist when you have to kill white people in it's missions? No.

Why do we have to check the colour of someones skin before we are allowed to hurt/kill them in videogames? Surely even putting forward the argument that there needs to be a distinction is more racist? It infers there is a difference between black and white enemies...

[Swallow]

It's Heart of Darkness writ large - we can admire how good a zombified moving target these people will make, but refuse to look beyond this.

[John Beaulieu]

how good a zombified moving target these people will make

eh? "These people" ....

my first thoughts on seeing the trailer was - ****, thats a lot of zombies - the colour of them didn't really register until my 2nd viewing then it was more a case of 'capcom could get hassle for that' more than a 'oh dear, going to be shooting a ton of africans in this one'

When Sony can be forced to apologise for having a game where you shoot aliens in the digital representation of a cathedral then Capcom can surely get in trouble (with the media) for having a game where a white soldier-type figure kills black africans in a township.

[Swallow]

Barbaric people who contain the "spirit of darkness".

It's a moral, rather than race, or indeed creed, difference between the observer and the protagonists.

[spagmasterswift]

Funny you should mention Heart of Darkness as some of the images in that trailer brought Conrad's novel to my mind. With the suggestion that 'light' and 'darkness' are to be actual game play elements it makes sense for them to be explored thematically too.

[jimmbob]

I'm quite frankly appalled that Capcom have set a game in Africa and then had the gall to represent Africans as Black. I mean LOL, whatever next!