With the recent talk of Capcom being linked to racism in its latest release of Resident Evil 5, I began to wonder about all of the other occurrences where a video game had been accused of racism. We all know that racism is predominant in our society and that discrimination and stereotypes are well played out and displayed in many Hollywood movies, but is the video game industry following that same trend?
First I would like to get something straight. I am a 23 year old year Indian male, born and raised in a small town in British Columbia in Canada. I know racism. The world may see Canada as a human rights leader and a giant fighter against racism, but that is not true. There is a lot of racism in this country, and it"s everywhere. Every race I have encountered is racist, all of them. No one is perfect and even I have had some stereotypical thoughts of people, especially of my own people (we"re not all cheap :P ). I have been called racist things, I have been victimized because of it and I have always been fascinated by people"s obsessions of racial power. But I digress...
The recent, like mentioned earlier, was Capcom latest blockbuster title Resident Evil 5. It had been accused of disrespecting African people and that main character, in this case Chris Redfield, a white male, is going into Africa and slaying black people who are infected and now zombies. Black Looks had the following to say:
"The Black people are supposed to be zombies and the white man"s job is to destroy them and save humanity...
This is problematic on so many levels, including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young... fearing, hating, and destroying Black people. "
To me, that"s a little farfetched. Chris"s sidekick in this game is a black woman from the country where the zombie infestation is taking place. She is fighting and killing those same black people that the racist white man is killing, fighting the exact same cause that the white man is fighting and listening to the same higher level people that the white man is listening to, regardless of skin colour. If Chris is so racist, why is his partner black? Is she his slave?
What about Punch Out? This classic game is being redone for the Nintendo Wii, and in all honesty, I am now a little angry at myself for selling the system (but then I look at my Xbox and remember how much I love NHL 09). But what exactly is the premise of this game? You are a tiny white great hope, boxing your way around the world fighting every single stereotype known to man. I may not have agreed with the accusations Resident Evil 5 received, but this one is just too blatant. You fight a pizza loving Italian, a vodka drinking Russian and an Indian that obviously has a turban (most Indian"s don"t wear turbans) and can do magic. I don"t think you can get any more racist then that in a video game.
But of course they can, I know this one isn"t really a game, but it does have to do with the industry. Sony launched a campaign regarding the Playstation Portable. The point of the advertisement was to promote the upcoming white coloured Playstation Portable. There is no way no one at Sony didn"t see what they were doing.
And what about the main characters of a video game? Why are they always white? Marcus Phoenix of Gears of War, white. Snake of the Metal Gear Solid series, white. God of War, Resistance, Halo, (well, we don"t really if I Master Chief is white or not, but if you had to take a guess) Killzone etc. They are always white. Unreal Tournament had a black main character in the form of Malcolm, but they cut him in this latest iteration (karma for why the game has been an absolute disaster for Epic). Rockstar"s Grand Theft Auto series though did have a black main character in the game San Andreas, but oh that"s right, you were a gangbanger. The game Farcry let you chose the nationality of the characters, which was nice. And just like the movies, why are there never any black people in most World War 2 games? Black people never fought in the war for the United States?
What could be the reason for this? Maybe the video game industry is just run by a bunch of white people? Or maybe they just think that their market is predominantly white? Either way I think this trend needs to stop. I know people are going to say that I am over reacting, and that it is just a video game, but when the video game industry is making about the same monetarily as the movie industry and growing every year, something needs to change. Little children are playing these games, why should they be susceptive to the same stereotypes that most people in my generation and older deal have and continue to deal with?