Too much promotion of certain cultures is racist?


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InuyashaX

-Hokage
Kouhai
I cant wait for Resident Evil 5 but I hate the people who think the games racist just because it takes place in Africa and the main character is a white guy. If your going to Africa, its not like your going to see a lot of white people around... Dont you think majority of the population is African American? And Resident Evil has an established cast of characters whom they are reusing one of them for this game. I find it so pathetic that people even consider this, in a way its as if promoting other cultures in video games or anywhere in media or society is more racist than if you didnt have them in the media at all.

They did the same thing for Assassins Creed, in the end the creators had to put that white screen in the very beginning which said something like this "This game was made by a distict group of people belonging to various backgrounds and faiths".

Very pathetic indeed. I mean what do these people want? Are they so protective of their culture/traditions that the feel its as if anyone who tried to promote their cast is a racist just because they want to differ from the norm.

I understand things are slowly but surely chaning, but still its attempts like this which makes be baffled.

Are people so over protective of their cast that they find it offensive when someone tries to promote it? Wouldnt it be more offensive if their cast wasnt promoted at all? I'd be proud if someone made a game or movie where being whatever race you were was the star of the show^^

They shouldnt be angry if lets say a person of your religion was a character that could be killed in a fictional game, it happens to everyone, its not that certain casts are off limits, now I would find that racist.

Whats your take on this?
 
Matter of perspective.If it is not your culture in threat ofcourse you would find such arguments hard to believe if not juvenile. All the time western culture is being promoted over other culture. That is the essence of globalisation and the extension of capitalism. Most westerner's have the mentality that their culture is better then others represented by its spread. Not in a direct way but merely its been instilled in them from the society they were brought up in. This mentality leads to people thinking its not a big deal if you have a white killing a load of zombie black guys if that was the storyline of the game or something. This is because it doesnt resonate with westerners.

In terms of cultures, it is under a direct real threat from the pressures of convergence through globalisation, and globalisation is winning. Although its a bit extreme to use the R word for something as trivial as a video game.It is seen globalisation will only be complete when it dominates societies on minute levels such as video games, music, films etc as well as infrastructure such as financial systems. Therefore people of a certain persuasion can argue and quite successfully that games like those shouldnt be made, because it has a stronger resonance with them emotionally then it does to a westerner who dont see the big deal. The world isnt as simple as saying because it happen to everybodyelse it is no big deal. Race, culture, religion gender are always sensitive issues and there are always going to be more sympathy towards the dominated rather then the dominant.

To sum it up, it does seem like examples like these are exaggerated but it may just seem like that because it doesnt particular resonate with you emotionally, you just see it as a game. I would still think that cultures should be protected, i mean we are all gathered at fansub.tv because we enjoy certain aspects of japanese culture that we couldnt necessarily find it our own respective countries. Even then Japan is going through a stockholm americanisation syndrome. So it may seem stupid at first,but if you really look into it, it may not be as exaggerated as you think.
 
QUOTE (franzoir @ Feb 08 2009, 09:17 PM) Matter of perspective.If it is not your culture in threat ofcourse you would find such arguments hard to believe if not juvenile.
Well my culture isnt among the most dominant in the world and in my opinion I'd be proud to see it in media around the world even it it is portrayed in a rash/harsh way.

I think the majority of people who find things racist are those who arent among that culture whos being offended. This is commonly so because those people fully dont understand the culture and think any infringement or depiction of it is racist. If people were more informed on different faiths, then there would be less racist accusations. So in conclusion, I believe the ones who think something is racist are those in fact not belonging to the culture being portrayed in whatever.

I guess, in the times we live it, its still too early for everyone to accept these changes, its understandable, I can only imagine 50 years from now, so much will be changed. America just got its first African American president, so much can be accomplished and proven in the future to come.
 
QUOTE (InuyashaX @ Feb 08 2009, 08:28 PM) Well my culture isnt among the most dominant in the world and in my opinion I'd be proud to see it in media around the world even it it is portrayed in a rash/harsh way.

I think the majority of people who find things racist are those who arent among that culture whos being offended. This is commonly so because those people fully dont understand the culture and think any infringement or depiction of it is racist. If people were more informed on different faiths, then there would be less racist accusations. So in conclusion, I believe the ones who think something is racist are those in fact not belonging to the culture being portrayed in whatever.

I guess, in the times we live it, its still too early for everyone to accept these changes, its understandable, I can only imagine 50 years from now, so much will be changed. America just got its first African American president, so much can be accomplished and proven in the future to come.
Again thats a matter of preference and perspective. For example many Kazakhstanian were upset with Borat for portraying their country in an uncivilised way. If you can accept your culture being portray like that, that is great but it doesnt apply to everyone. Like i said it all depends on how strongly you feel about the matter and to different people one line can have different meanings to alot of people in a positive or negative way. There is no point trying to come up with a universal rule in which no one should complain about. People will always feel differently about about certain issues over others.

I accept the fact that maybe its not the people of the culture speaking directly about it but other. Like maybe the whole "Free tibet" thing. I wonder how many campaigner are actually aware of the long history of Tibet and China. Even so, even if people from another country are slightly ignorant about history and the context they use the R word. It doesnt matter as long as it gains attention for some cultures that are clearly being suppress then its worth it, ultimately.

As for the first AA President. I am in two minds about that. If AA's had use their voting power like they what their forefathers envisioned, change would of come alot quicker without needing a AA President.

I am always a bit dubious about people who use racism as an argument these days since its not a dominant factor in contemporary life more an underlying factor. However i can sympathesise for people who want to protect their culture if it is not the dominant one on any level because like i say the threat is real and by no means exagerated. You may have a problem with people using the R word because of how people naturally react to the word. It is an extreme word but in cases like those there is an element of imperialism and racism but just to a lesser degree.
 
QUOTE If your going to Africa, its not like your going to see a lot of white people around... Dont you think majority of the population is African American?

No, I don't.
rolleyes.gif
 
QUOTE (Dalriada @ Feb 09 2009, 08:13 AM)
No, I don't.
rolleyes.gif

Well demographically it is comprised of many backgrounds ranging from asian to arabic and houses many different tribes. But I wouldnt go so far as to say theres enough white people to make a impact on the demographics. Resident Evil 5 is taking place in a fictional village by the wayXD
 
QUOTE (InuyashaX @ Feb 09 2009, 07:33 AM) Well demographically it is comprised of many backgrounds ranging from asian to arabic and houses many different tribes. But I wouldnt go so far as to say theres enough white people to make a impact on the demographics. Resident Evil 5 is taking place in a fictional village by the wayXD
You didn't see my point : In Africa, there's a lot of Africans, not Africans-Americans.
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Except in Liberia, but even there, there's far more Africans than African-Americans.
And of course, the whole North-Africa is more often described as 'arabs' (although they are more berber than arab), but certainly not black.

It's a nitpck, but an important one in a thread dealing with various cultures.
 
QUOTE (Dalriada @ Feb 09 2009, 08:39 AM) You didn't see my point : In Africa, there's a lot of Africans, not Africans-Americans.
wink.gif


Dang yea my bad, I chose the wrong words. Anyways you know what I meant, not African Americans but pure Africans.
 
QUOTE (InuyashaX @ Feb 08 2009, 09:17 PM)I cant wait for Resident Evil 5 but I hate the people who think the games racist just because it takes place in Africa and the main character is a white guy. If your going to Africa, its not like your going to see a lot of white people around... Dont you think majority of the population is African American? As Dalriada already said, there are a lot of people of arab origin in the north of Africa. As for the south, there are many white people living there. Not the majority but it's a lot more than a few people here and there.

But if I understand correctly what you are asking, the demographics of Africa is not the root of what you are debating.


QUOTE (InuyashaX @ Feb 08 2009, 09:17 PM)Very pathetic indeed. I mean what do these people want? Are they so protective of their culture/traditions that the feel its as if anyone who tried to promote their cast is a racist just because they want to differ from the norm. It's not really a question of being protective. While lately some people have abused the courts with claims related to racism, there are other case where it is questionnable.

Let's take another setting completely. There are plenty of games being played in the second world war. Some are strategy games, other shooters. In many of those games, you can only play the "good side". The side of the allies. In the games where you can play the Axis side, its usually meant as a way to provide opposition to the allies (as in battlefield 1942). It would not be very fun to play soldier on a battlefield with only allies on it!! Usually those games are never branded as racism or antisemitic.

But let's imagine if someone was to make a game where you were playing a German soldier and the objective of the game was to kill as many Jews as possible. Such a game would probably be regarded as racism and discriminatory. And rightly so.

The question of racism depicted in movies, games, publicity, etc is one of context and intent on the part of the person publishing the content. Some years ago, in American movies you could only see black people as factory workers and housekeepers. It was a reflection of the society at that time. That does not mean that a movie made today would be racist if it depicted the same events. But if it was doing it while implying that it was better that way or that we should go back to it, then it would be leaning toward being racist.

In the end, it is all a question of judgment and case by case analysis. In the case of resident evil, a sociologist may be interested in making a more detail analysis as to why the target audience of the game find it interesting to fight and kill black people, but it's not possible to say the game is racist simply with that description.
 
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