I happened to stumble across this blog post by Kym Platt of Ask This Black Woman in which she briefly, and I mean briefly comments on Resident Evil 5 and the images of black people in the game. What is extremely disturbing is the crass and "dictionary" racist remarks made on her blog in regards to that post. Commentary that I know full well would never EVER been posted or tolerated at sites such as GameSpot.
Examples:
the owner of this blog is a rascist bitch
You stupid bitch
This is a game about Zombies set in Afric, did you expect the Zombies to be chinese? stupid fucking black hooker playing the race card as usual…
Get back into the cotton fields, you filthy nigger.
FUCK OFF AND DIE!
PRETOS DO CARALHO!
I play video games. I'm not a big "kill everything that moves" fan, but I play enough and follow enough to know full well that dictionary racism is alive and well in the gaming industry as in most of the entertainment industry. The biggest games with main characters that are black are mostly Sports and DEF Jam wrestling and other franchises, none of which I indulge in. Personally I'd like to see a nice Black Panther game, where say, you get to off the pigs. I wonder just how that kind of game would go over. Oh, I know one. How about "Deacons for Defense" where the main black characters get to off Klan members and their supporters.
Oh! Oh! Oh! how about a video game set in Africa as the Europeans arrive, It's your job to off the settlers and change history as we know it. Oh Oh Oh!! I know, How about a re-enactment of the Haitian revolution. Off Brits, Spaniards AND Frenchemen and free your people! Oh Oh another idea! How about a game called "Urban Rebellion" were you are placed in various urban "riots" of the last century. You can shoot at police, Army Reserve or make your way into nice suburban neighborhoods and do some "payback". Maybe that's to heavy on the black for some. I know... how about a vietnam game where you're the vietnamese and you get to off the invading US soldiers. I mean we ALLL know by now that the whole vietnam affair was wrong. So there shouldn't be a problem.
But I don't quite expect to see these kinds of games because, well, they don't exactly fit the target demographic of young white males.
Ultimately though it's not about whether Kym had a clue about the game or not. Simply put the kind of commentary directed at her was simply due to her being a black female outsider; emphasis on the black and female. There are always arguments on game boards about games and game systems, In my experience I have simply never seen people sink to this level on those boards. Whether that is due to moderation, I cannot say, but if the people involved have such vitrol about black people they don't even know, then I don't think playing a game where they get to shoot at them is a good idea.
(17 years of informed commentary)
2 comments:
Actually, you CAN have these games. And you already have some of them.
"How about a game called "Urban Rebellion" were you are placed in various urban "riots" of the last century. You can shoot at police, Army Reserve or make your way into nice suburban neighborhoods and do some "payback"."
In some way, "State of Emergency" allows to do that, but I think the character is white. Else, you can try that on "GTA : San Andreas".
"how about a vietnam game where you're the vietnamese and you get to off the invading US soldiers."
That exists. First, in some way, "Battlefield : Vietnam". Second, "Squad Battles : Vietnam" by HPS (very complex, but awful graphics, as per usual in many wargames). I don't know if "Vietcong 1 & 2" allow to play... Viet-congs, indeed.
About the other games... well, you can either try to modify the content of other games (First-Person Shooters, Role-Playing or Strategy), or create an amateur mini-game. They're easy-to-do, and some of them are already very popular.
By the way, if you want video games with main or major characters that are black, try Role-Playing games. In most ones ("Morrowind", "Oblivion", "Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2"), you can customize your hero so that he's Black, and you'll encounter many other Black people in the game. Another game where the hero is "automatically" black is "Redguard", but it's getting old.
Hi; Thanks for your comment.
1) regarding "State of Emergency" As you pointed out "I think the character is white". my point in Urban rebellion is the specific and purposefull killing (or what have you) of whites by a black character with "justification"as a specific "point" of the game. Not going to fly too well here in the States.
2)I'm familiar with the Battlefield" games you mentioned though I do not play them (they simply do not interest me). Again you are not sure on whether you can take the Vietcong side, but the point being that since Vietnam was a wholly imperial and unjustifiable (and I believe, illegeal)war on the part of the US, it would only be right to have a Vietnam game in which the clear aggresors, in this case the US, were always portrayed as the bad guys and always lose. That would also not fly here in the states.
3) In regards to character forming I have done so in Jedi Academy and KOTOR. The point is though, that I'm not particularly interested in games in "black face" which is what many of the "skin your character" games do.
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