Oh Lord Capcom accused of Racism for RE5

[foont]

Hello, I've been lurking this site for over a year, enjoying reading the discussions and various opinions of the members. This site is one of the more intelligent forums on the internet, and although I almost never participate in forums, I feel compelled to throw my opinion into the pile.

I've been closely following the reactions to Resident Evil 5's controversy since the first few images of the game were released.

First of all, I agree-- it's hypocritical that it seems OK for a white to kill white, or black to kill white, but not white to kill black. In an ideal world, race wouldn't matter at all, and people would just be individuals.

That said, we don't live in an ideal world, and images can carry strong historical and social connotations. Video games are a highly visual medium, and even though they're meant to be fun, they can also provoke thought and provide us with images that make us happy, sad, embarrassed etc. I think we can all agree that images can be powerful.

So why would people be upset about the images in RE5? Why can't we all just get along? Well, I really don't think it's that hard to understand why it's potentially upsetting. The images in it are highly symbolic, whether it's intentional or not. It's a white American, killing (savage) diseased Africans.

There is a history to this, one that still affects and hurts many people, white, black, or otherwise. It would be nice if we could just put all that behind us, but that's easier for some than others.

For the sake of argument: what if RE5 took place in a prison complex in Poland, and it was implied that the game's enemies were Polish Jews? And what if the easiest way to kill a large amount of the enemies was to herd them into a gas chamber?

It's not hard to see how that could be an upsetting image. RE5's images are comparatively and equally upsetting. Canadian politician and diplomat Stephen Lewis, has called the fact that we have not yet resolved the AIDS pandemic in Africa a form of "subterranean racism" -- that is, racism that may not take the form of hanging or lynching, but is more quiet and subtle; equally dangerous and damaging.

RE5 may not be intentionally racist, but the images do reflect and perpetuate centuries of fear and hatred.

Saying "it's just a game" is no longer good enough. Games are beginning to make aesthetic choices analogous to literature and film, and many are regarding it as a medium meant to be more than a child's time waster. We can't simply take the artistic praise for games like Bioshock, and brush off the criticism for games like Resident Evil 5. It's a valid discussion, and one that I think is too quickly ignored by gamers.

Thanks for posting IGN's article, it was a great exploration of the issue.

And sorry for the big-ass first post.