The debate about whether Resident Evil 5 is racist or not continues to simmer. It’s easy to coldly and calmly rationalise the scenes that RE5 depicts on the basis that since it’s set in Africa, the chances are that the majority of the zombies are going to be black - it would be pretty stupid for it to be otherwise. Makes perfect sense. But, the fact is that the depiction of a white guy striding through an African village, gunning down the local populace, even if they are zombies, cannot be taken in isolation when there is far too much painful and rather recent history involved here - RE5 may be just adhering to common sense, but it invokes imagery which has strong parallels with real-life racism and oppression. I don’t think RE5 is itself racist at all, but I do think it is insensitive, and blind to the real-world context in which it exists. Imagine if instead the game featured a set piece where in order to destroy the zombie horde, you had to blow up a skyscaper in a major US city. That isn’t advocating terrorism and is explained by a valid plot device, but I’m sure people would find the imagery hugely distasteful. This is a case of game content being perfectly reasonable in a vacuum, but the real-world context makes it inappropriate.
Yes, you can say that RE4 had the exact same issues because all the zombies were Spanish - thus RE5 is no more racist than RE4. This is entirely true - but it’s also an irrelevant argument. This isn’t about RE5 being racist, it’s about certain elements of RE5’s imagery having very stong resonance with dark moments in real-world history. The simple fact is that the same kind of recent history of oppression, dominion and enslavement doesn’t exist in connection with the Spanish, and when it comes to subjects like this, history & context is relevant, and gamers who scoff at the sensitivities RE5 disturbs, even tangentally, are blind, ignorant, or both.
You could claim that society has progressed to an extent that images like this, which are not in substance connected with that history and do have a valid plot justification, should be viable because to avoid them in fact avoids dealing with / discussing that history, and in fact making it an issue perpetuates the race arguments. I wish we were at such a cold and logical juncture, but the problem is that these issues are not really historical yet. I recently saw on TV some reactions from regular US citizens to Obama’s ascendence to the Democratic candidacy (something I personally welcomed), and was appalled to hear a few of them say that despite being democrats, they wouldn’t support Obama because he was black, or were ‘considering their position’ based on that factor. I was appalled, not only that someone should think that’s an issue, but that they were willing to say it on camera, to an international audience, and act like it’s a totally cogent argument. The 21st century didn’t feel so progressive all of a sudden.
So, no matter how much RE5 might be able to logically explain the hordes of black zombies that must be dispatched, and thus not be racist in itself, the imagery it uses has too much resonance to be taken outside of the context of our imperfect world. The fact that the designers seem to have failed to see that is quite surprising to me, although I’m aware that Japan isn’t the most racially aware of countries. Plus, their argument that simple statistics denote that most of the zombies will be black doesn’t explain why the main character is white. I realise this is probably because they’re carrying forward a character from previous titles in the series, but isn’t it actually more believable that a local, so far uninfected by the zombie virus, would be making a stand rather than waiting for some American to fly over and save the day? After all in the original Resident Evil it was a local town law enforcer who was first on the case, so why is it different here? You can’t use common sense for one thing and ignore it for another. I’m not sure the protests would have been entirely absent had that been done, but I’m certain they would have been far less acute.
I’m not trying to be politically correct for the sake of it here, and like I say I don’t believe RE5 is itself racist. You should be able to have a game about zombies in any configuration and it shouldn’t be a race issue - after all with equality should come the equal right to be turned into a zombie and then blown away (in a virtual sense). But to pretend that history never happened, that we live in an equal world already, and that sensitivities around certain types of imagery don’t exist is frankly ludicrous. At the end of the day I don’t find RE5 offensive or racist, but I can definitely see how it has the potential to be construed as such for some people, particularly those who don’t know the RE history or who aren’t gamers, and ignoring that or saying it doesn’t exist, or is only present in ’stupid people’ is plain wrong. We should be concentrating on getting to the stage where there isn’t any reason for anyone to find such things offensive, but pretending that we’re there already is turning a blind eye to reality.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:17 pm
In the game you will pair up with a black girl so it kinda evens out:)
“We should be concentrating on getting to the stage where there isn’t any reason for anyone to find such things offensive” well I think RE5 takes a steps in that direction already why are you calling it “pretending” ?
June 21st, 2008 at 10:06 pm
I think the hot debates about it are exactly what they wanted, gets the word spread pretty quickly, free advertisement. isn’t AOC (conan) doings something similar ? “most violent game ever” or so ? might be a new trend in marketing to spread the word by doing something highly controversial.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Hmmm… first, I don’t see anything wrong in RE5 just as i dont see any problem killing down all those Japanese people in Red Steel (because, although you are American, you still are in Japan! so it makes sense… more or less
)
But… I can understand how people see it’s racist, having an American hero as it has, attacking infected African villages. Should they have thought it’d happen? Sure!! It’s impossible to not see it would be bothersome to so many people, so why they didnt change it? Have a local hero like you say?…
Well… The only reason i find is… Sales (and money is God ;)). It’s a global game. So what if just a “minority” complains? It doesn’t matter, as you appeal the majority of players, being them, mostly the prototype of “white hero/player”.
Think about it… it’s just about stereotypes… you need a hero, the right choose will sell million copies (metal gear?) the wrong will bury u… so you take someone that everybody will acknowledge as a hero… looking at films, comics, other games… most of them are white Caucasian heroes (mostly Americans). And that is what they did, so their players can identify themselves with the starring role.
Anyway, i think they should have approached the story from a more local angle… problem with this is that, they dont know anything about the local environment, so they take stereotypes, as they work…
PS. dont make me talk about RE4!
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
Re ‘pretending’, I was really talking about the people who respond glibly & dismissively to those who are offended by the imagery. If there were no equality issues in the world anymore and if the historical problems were sufficiently distant, that would be an acceptable stance, but just saying ‘get over it’ is to pretend that these issues are already solved and do not cast any shadows anymore, which is false.
You might be right that any publicity is good publicity, it’s just a little tasteless if that is the case.
I think the prevalence of the white american (male) hero in games is disturbing and sad. The fact that it is assumed the majority could not identify with a black/asian/latino lead character is a terrible indictment not just of the games industry but on society as a whole. We are at least starting to see the occasional female lead (and I mean default lead, not configurable characters like in RPGs or Skate / GH), and I would love to see more non-white leads in games. The industry can use more cultural diversity - it would help to keep games more interesting.
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I am Asian but I still like to play as Caucasian, In my case I prefer caucasians more, for the reason of physical attractiveness they really are full of more features, compare with africans who has everything almost reversed. So may be that is a factor. As going by only aesthetic sense white/caucasian boy/girl is the first choice. Now if that sells and is more preferable, as we are genetically attracted towards what is beautiful, then I see no problem in that. After all we paly games to enjoy. But yes the imagry in a game is too strong and influential and history is not good in this matter as u said, world is also not sp simple and distanced so then maybe it has problems. Anyway I think mature people dont care. I like Caucasians most, and I have to keep reminding myself that thopugh every other day a Nigerian tries to scam me , not evrey african is a criminal or bad guy. I really think all depends on person concerned. It is so good to see mature people not bothering on skin color and ethnicity nowadays. I think we should just play the game and enjoy.
June 22nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
“for the reason of physical attractiveness they really are full of more features, compare with africans who has everything almost reversed. ”
Sad to say but this statement would get you in big trouble in a typical corporate office.
“a white guy striding through an African village, gunning down the local populace, even if they are zombies, cannot be taken in isolation when there is far too much painful and rather recent history involved here ”
Actually during the past 30 years or so , a white guy striding thru an African village was more likely to represent help and salvation than anything else - an armed black guy on other hand is what you see when watching newscast from destroyed African towns/villages.
June 22nd, 2008 at 6:06 pm
@kinjel: I definitely don’t agree with your generalisations in the slightest.
@warmi: “Actually during the past 30 years or so , a white guy striding thru an African village was more likely to represent help and salvation than anything else”
Point taken, and that would be ok except that in this case the character is gunning down all and sundry, which is why it tends to remind some of much earlier events rather than modern times.
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:16 pm
“Actually during the past 30 years or so , a white guy striding thru an African village was more likely to represent help and salvation than anything else”
Try the past 18 years or so. Prominent example being South Africa, where Apartheid was enforced until 1990.
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 am
“Try the past 18 years or so. Prominent example being South Africa, where Apartheid was enforced until 1990.”
Nah …. That was nothing … in fact, the country was better off than it is now.
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:31 am
“Nah …. That was nothing … in fact, the country was better off than it is now.”
Wow. I thought we were at a point in history where people would no longer advocate racial segregation (at least in public). Guess I was wrong.
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:35 pm
@Steve: I was not generalising. I said clearly at start - In My Case. I said - Keep reminding myself, meaning I try to throw away any genralisation in my mind out. As far as choice of a race that is a personal choice as everyone has personal choices.
and i agree with - that would be ok except that in this case the character is gunning down all and sundry , which is why it tends to remind some of much earlier events rather than modern times.
that is the issue with re5.
And now I can post comments on ur blog, earlier the browser just stopped generally. Since u have did this new design all is fine.
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
“no longer advocate racial segregation (at least in public). Guess I was wrong.”
Racial segregation had nothing to do with the relative prosperity and economic strength of SA.
In fact, for all its faults and racial bigotry, South Africa was a destination for a lot of illegal immigrants from bordering countries – that should tell you something.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
A couple of points. If you watch anime, you will observe that Japanese tend to view themselves more as “white”, and not so much asian skin toned. So, a white hero is pretty natural in that sense as well.
And, I hate to say it but the numerous Asian’s I know tend to sterotypically look on blacks as “all talk, but no follow through”, among other “faults”, which could have subconsciously come into play here too.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:37 am
I am going to give the Japanese a pass on RE5 since they are genuinely ignorant of racial issues. They simply do not know any better. Sure I can see the logic in having a hero with mass appeal to boost sales. The problem is that there are many non-whites with computers and video gaming consoles worldwide now. They would make a financially viable market if tapped properly. I guess the game companies have not noticed yet. Most people would rather play characters that look like themselves. I am mostly indifferent now to what the hero looks like because we usually do not have a choice.
@Steve: You presented the clearest case for game hero diversity. Well done.
@kinjel: You have a lot of self-hate and I strongly disagree with your assertions. What do you hate about yourself and why would you want to be anything other than what you are? People like you are the reason anime characters generally look like whites instead of asian. There is nothing wrong with the way asians or africans look compared to caucasians. They just look different. When you are playing a game, watching TV or movies, you are seeing an idealized version of a white person. There are plenty of ugly whites in the world. In addition to ugly blacks, east asians, indians and such. As for you and your distaste for Nigerian scammers and blacks in general, there are many cyber-criminals of all races. The Chinese hack American servers daily. Europe has plenty of hackers and scammers. They are the ones stealing passwords and hacking bank systems. What about them? Just because they smile and look friendly does not mean that they are. I am sure that your coworkers smile at you while they are secretly plotting your downfall.
All of you that are debating whether whites have been beneficial to Africa need to stop. In my opinion, they should have never come. Then we all would not have to even care. To the rest of you with the sense to know that what has happened in Africa was wrong, bless you. Don’t get me wrong, whites can make great countries anywhere. However, they usually set the countries up in Africa to benefit themselves - the minority, not everyone. The expression is “It is better to be hungry and free than be well-fed slaves”. If the blacks want to run their countries into the ground, then so be it. It was theirs to run into the ground anyway. You generally do not hear about the good news and GDP improvements that are happening because good news about Africa is not “sexy” enough to print. (Disregarding Zimbabwe)
June 25th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
@DoomBringer, I was already thinking on my comment, as what was in my mind as what u say is perfectly true, good and bad people are everywhere and in every race and I am perfectly aware of that. Now beauty is once again a matter of personal choice. It is also well known that people want to play as someone who is alike them. But some people aslo want a different character. For example I am male but I choose female characters many times, that doesn’t change me and I enjoy the game much more in that way.
I think I said too much explicitly that - Caucaians are more beautiful, as if it were a rule. I apologize for that.
I actually meant that - I feel that in comparison evrything being equal, many a times, white color is more preferable to black one when selecting the skin color for a character in video game I am playing, and that also that many times black suits much more to many face types.
I dont hate myself for not being a caucasian, or anyone for being african.
I actually said that though I am being scammed by loads of Nigerians and not british,germans(It happens with me, in my experience), I try to avoid any generalisations.
As for real world people I perfectly agree that there are good and bad people anywhere and everywhere. And I dont hate any particular race.
It is just like If I like american heroines more that doesnt mean smething is wrong with Japanese heroines.
What really matters is how I consider about people, and I fell the only difference is good and bad, and that too on rethinking all are humans first and even evil can corrected.
Hope Anybody not angry now.
October 18th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Listen … what is wrong with you …
you’d rather elect a black president, elect all black governors and work for them, only because they are black ? are you sure being black means more democracy - just look at all the wars in Africa.
Do you expect that THEY will treat you the same way as you want to treat them ? They will laugh at you. They will ignore you and destroy if they can. You all live in a naive little world.
wake up.
I’m white, my country has never oppressed any of the blacks and please don’t try to enforce any black rules yourself… and in your own country.
October 18th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I suppose, in a wake of political correctness we should all paint our skins black because any white color must be painful for them, isn’t it ?