8/03/2007

Zombie Discrimination

From GamePolitics.com: African Women’s Blog Critical of Resident Evil 5 Trailer
Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 hasn’t even got a release date, but it’ s already drawn the ire of a blog devoted to African women.

Black Looks calls into question the game’s setting as depicted in the trailer, first shown at this year’s E3 in Santa Monica:
The new Resident Evil video game depicts a white man in what appears to be Africa killing Black people. 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.
The point has been made by some gamers as well. In fact, GamePolitics reader Quad9Damage raised the same issue in a letter to GP just the other day.
The trailer in question:


This is ridiculous. To claim that this game is racist because your enemies are African people living in Africa who've been turned into zombies is insane. It's about killing zombies because they're zombies who are trying to kill you.

It's things like this that make it practically impossible to point out real racism in the world. When you find real racism and point it out, they just cluck their tongues and say, "But people like you also think that video games are racist when they aren't, so why should I believe you, you PC thug?"

Thanks, reactionary idiots, for making life harder for those of us who actually want to change the world.