Resident Racism? (Part 1)
Videogames have always been synonymous with mindless fun. They are played to passthe time as a form of entertainment and have typically been classified as achild’s toy. They have not been viewed as a serious or potential platform forsocial discourse. Video games like most media industries are driven bytechnological advances. Using these advancements it becomes easier to createnew content and spread it to mass audiences. Since games have been deemed achild’s toy and not a platform for social issues, most racial content has beenignored or put aside for racial issues in other media forms, film and music. Butit has become apparent with the rapid growth both technologically and finicallythat video games are an emerging pillar in the media industry. With this growthvideo game developers have a larger responsibility for their content. Some failto see their creation as possibly insensitive or controversial because thereare not used to being so heavily scrutinized. One such video game, ResidentEvil 5 developed by Capcom, has created a controversy surrounding itsrepresentation of race.
The game ResidentEvil 5 is a sequel in a long running franchise of games that deals with azombie apocalypse. The latest installment in the franchise has created an issuewith its representation of Africans. The main event that stirred this issue wasthe release of trailer which shows a sneak peek of the game’s setting,character and enemies. The trailer displays Chris Redfield, a white male, situatedin an African shanty town being attacked by Africans. The trailer has Chrisdefending himself from these ‘savages’ by shooting them. All the Africans aredisplayed with one goal in mind, to attack Chris. The trailer displays imagesof Africans or the black race as a mindless, violent evil horde. There is noreal context related to these images other than it’s a zombie outbreak. Thistrailer offended some members of the media, particularly N’Gai Croal, aNewsweek editor. He stated his discontent and dismay of the images in aninterview with MTV Multiplayer, which will be discussed later. His initialcomments spurned a dialogue of the representation of race in the video gameindustry.
This controversycan be seen as a matter of several topical issues that may be important for thedevelopment, social structure and influential medium of the video gameindustry. This controversy of video games and their representation of raceraise several questions; does this controversy show that video games can nolonger be labeled as simple minded entertainment and could be used to addresssocial issues, such as racism, in society? Do video games have the potential tohave harmful images that are being ignored because of their believed targetedaudience? Does the video game industry reflect the type of racial stereotypesthat were prevalent in early film and television media? These questions arisewhen we observe video games as an equally powerful and influential visual mediaformat as film and television.
To address thesequestions that arise from this controversy the underlying issues must beidentified. The evidence found in this discourse analysis will represent a varietyof arguments forming a divergent discussion of the actual issues in this controversy.The arguments in these sources such as the newspaper articles, blogs, interviewsand online articles will be analyzed using theoretical concepts such as stereotyping,the regime of representation and colorblindness. With these concepts it willhelp to understand why the controversy is significant and how the arguments arestructured. By analyzing these sources found in my discourse analysis withtheoretical concepts the questions concerning how the representation of race isdepicted in the video game industry may be answered.
The first to comment and bring awareness tothe issues of Resident Evil 5 was an MTV interview with N’Gai Croal. Hisinitial reaction to the trailer is ‘Wow, clearly no one black worked on thisgame’ (John, 2008). His main concern with the trailer is the imagery or how theAfricans were portrayed visually. He continues to state that these images havea history behind them that cannot be ignored or glossed over as ‘just a game’.The game developers must be responsible for the images and the message they aresending even though they may not be able to see it. The history of imagery isN’Gai Croal’s main objection to the trailer:
This imagery has a history. It hasa history and you can't pretend otherwise. That imagery still has a historythat has to be engaged, that has to be understood. ... If you're going toengage imagery that has that potential, the onus is on the creator to be awareof that because there will be repercussions in the marketplace. (John 2009)
This argument isbased on the regime of representation through stereotypical images. The conceptof stereotyping is what is behind the argument. Stereotyping is a practice thatreduces, essentializes and naturalizes a certain group’s character with acertain general characteristics and fixes them to those qualities. Severalvideo game correspondents, such as Evan Narcisse’s comments, echo thisdiscontent, “…the idea that scenes from the [Resident Evil 5] uncomfortablycould remind somebody of (1915 silent pro-Ku Klux Klan film) The Birth of aNation” (Snider, 2009, p.7d). He also argues that the images are racially insensitiveand echo the early years of cinema’s insensitivity and improper representationof African-Americans. The images are used to reinforce a stereotype of theother. This has been a common practice starting with commodity racism duringthe colonial era. They depict other races as less or lacking when compared tothe dominant race through the use of collective images that are commonhousehold products. This argument is based on the idea that stereotypical imagesare used to operate power through representation.
Colorblindness isthe concept that can be seen in the next argument and counter-argument. Accordingto the lectures Patricia Williams believes that to understand racism we need tobe able to see the role of race and ethnicity play in our social realities.Colorblindness is to dismiss the differences of races either by ignorance orinnocence in order to approach a social issue. The argument is that the gameand trailer aren’t racially insensitive but need to be contextualized tounderstand what is being displayed. The Resident Evil franchise is aboutzombies. Seth Schiesel in a New York Times article (2009) argues that the gameonly ‘exposes the uncomfortable truth that blacks and Arabs can become zombiestoo, just like anyone else’. He also argues that no one should seriously judgea game or its intent based on images, games themselves do not concernthemselves with creating controversy or enticing racial views. Seth (2009)continues his argument with the idea that in games that ‘no matter whether theenemies are aliens or Nazis or zombies…or any other categories we use to denote“acceptable to kill”’. This argument is constructed from the theoreticalconcept of colorblindness. He believes that the player uses this concept of colorblindnessand is innocent to indentify or acknowledge the race of others in the contextof the game mechanics. His statement that it doesn’t matter what categoricalsubject you are killing in a game shows that he believes that race should notmatter because we are innocent and potentially ignorant to recognize the otheras anything but a negative aggressor. By being colorblind the player should notdistinguish between the racial categories of the game’s enemies but recognizethem as in the game’s context as hostile. So Seth believes that you shouldignore the difference because it is a game that has no real world implicationsor effects.
This is quiteopposite from another view point posted on Black Looks website. Kym Plattstates that ‘…the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing ofBlack people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this videogame is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young… fearing,hating, and destroying Black people’ (Platt 2007). Her last sentence isimportant because it addresses the idea of innocent colorblindness as harmfulto the youth. If the children are accustomed to these images withoutacknowledging the differences shown it will begin a potential harmful growingexperience for the child. This is similar to Patricia Williams’ view oncolorblindness and its larger implications for society’s youth.
The last viewpointsin this controversy concern the issue of race as a social construct as well asour socio-historical subject positions. Victor Godinez’s (2008) article in TheDallas Morning Star exposes why this controversial representation is seen asracism, ‘And it could well be that Americans are so unconsciously drilled onwhat is and is not acceptable in discussions of race that discomfort over thetrailer is simply subconscious political correctness kicking in.’ This idea showsthat American society has been formed by an accepted racial social constructthat anything that may resemble a racial issue is automatically deemed as one.This is important view because it demonstrates that race is a social constructand is determined by what society you identify with. The developers behind thegame are Japanese and they do not have the same social practices and racialconstructs as America. The concept of asocio-historical subject position can be seen in another viewpoint. Everyoneoccupies a socio-historical position which shapes our perspectives andidentity. IGN editor Hilary Goldstein states that, ‘That doesn't mean onlyblacks will view RE5 as racist or that every white gamer is going to see it asinnocent gameplay, but it does illustrate the point that how we perceive racismcan change based on who we are and how we grew up.’ (Goldstein 2009). He arguesthat racism is a perception based upon social environments and normativebehavior of an individual growing up. That our position and historicalpreference determines what we see as racism. These viewpoints show thatdifferent perspectives are important to understand when discussingcontroversial social issues.
This controversyof Resident Evil 5’s representation of race in video games shows that the videogame industry has the same faults that other media outlets have when it comesto race. Video game developers must be more responsible and aware whendepicting race or social constructs because it may replicate the kind ofstereotypes that were prevalent in early cinema. The potential problem forvideo games, according to the research, is that the insensitive images may getdismissed because prejudice attitudes towards games view and label them asmindless entertainment not capable for higher thought concepts or constructs. Itmay be harmful for the development of children if those images become accepted orignored without acknowledging what may linger behind the images. When analyzingthe arguments with theoretical concepts it can be seen that video games andtheir developers need to be aware of what may be viewed from otherperspectives. They need to adjust to their globally diverse audience in orderto not neglect nor offend others. The video game industry must develop cautiouslybecause it may fall victim to the faults of early cinema’s representation notrace.
Sources
Videogames have always been synonymous with mindless fun. They are played to passthe time as a form of entertainment and have typically been classified as achild’s toy. They have not been viewed as a serious or potential platform forsocial discourse. Video games like most media industries are driven bytechnological advances. Using these advancements it becomes easier to createnew content and spread it to mass audiences. Since games have been deemed achild’s toy and not a platform for social issues, most racial content has beenignored or put aside for racial issues in other media forms, film and music. Butit has become apparent with the rapid growth both technologically and finicallythat video games are an emerging pillar in the media industry. With this growthvideo game developers have a larger responsibility for their content. Some failto see their creation as possibly insensitive or controversial because thereare not used to being so heavily scrutinized. One such video game, ResidentEvil 5 developed by Capcom, has created a controversy surrounding itsrepresentation of race.
The game ResidentEvil 5 is a sequel in a long running franchise of games that deals with azombie apocalypse. The latest installment in the franchise has created an issuewith its representation of Africans. The main event that stirred this issue wasthe release of trailer which shows a sneak peek of the game’s setting,character and enemies. The trailer displays Chris Redfield, a white male, situatedin an African shanty town being attacked by Africans. The trailer has Chrisdefending himself from these ‘savages’ by shooting them. All the Africans aredisplayed with one goal in mind, to attack Chris. The trailer displays imagesof Africans or the black race as a mindless, violent evil horde. There is noreal context related to these images other than it’s a zombie outbreak. Thistrailer offended some members of the media, particularly N’Gai Croal, aNewsweek editor. He stated his discontent and dismay of the images in aninterview with MTV Multiplayer, which will be discussed later. His initialcomments spurned a dialogue of the representation of race in the video gameindustry.
This controversycan be seen as a matter of several topical issues that may be important for thedevelopment, social structure and influential medium of the video gameindustry. This controversy of video games and their representation of raceraise several questions; does this controversy show that video games can nolonger be labeled as simple minded entertainment and could be used to addresssocial issues, such as racism, in society? Do video games have the potential tohave harmful images that are being ignored because of their believed targetedaudience? Does the video game industry reflect the type of racial stereotypesthat were prevalent in early film and television media? These questions arisewhen we observe video games as an equally powerful and influential visual mediaformat as film and television.
To address thesequestions that arise from this controversy the underlying issues must beidentified. The evidence found in this discourse analysis will represent a varietyof arguments forming a divergent discussion of the actual issues in this controversy.The arguments in these sources such as the newspaper articles, blogs, interviewsand online articles will be analyzed using theoretical concepts such as stereotyping,the regime of representation and colorblindness. With these concepts it willhelp to understand why the controversy is significant and how the arguments arestructured. By analyzing these sources found in my discourse analysis withtheoretical concepts the questions concerning how the representation of race isdepicted in the video game industry may be answered.
The first to comment and bring awareness tothe issues of Resident Evil 5 was an MTV interview with N’Gai Croal. Hisinitial reaction to the trailer is ‘Wow, clearly no one black worked on thisgame’ (John, 2008). His main concern with the trailer is the imagery or how theAfricans were portrayed visually. He continues to state that these images havea history behind them that cannot be ignored or glossed over as ‘just a game’.The game developers must be responsible for the images and the message they aresending even though they may not be able to see it. The history of imagery isN’Gai Croal’s main objection to the trailer:
This imagery has a history. It hasa history and you can't pretend otherwise. That imagery still has a historythat has to be engaged, that has to be understood. ... If you're going toengage imagery that has that potential, the onus is on the creator to be awareof that because there will be repercussions in the marketplace. (John 2009)
This argument isbased on the regime of representation through stereotypical images. The conceptof stereotyping is what is behind the argument. Stereotyping is a practice thatreduces, essentializes and naturalizes a certain group’s character with acertain general characteristics and fixes them to those qualities. Severalvideo game correspondents, such as Evan Narcisse’s comments, echo thisdiscontent, “…the idea that scenes from the [Resident Evil 5] uncomfortablycould remind somebody of (1915 silent pro-Ku Klux Klan film) The Birth of aNation” (Snider, 2009, p.7d). He also argues that the images are racially insensitiveand echo the early years of cinema’s insensitivity and improper representationof African-Americans. The images are used to reinforce a stereotype of theother. This has been a common practice starting with commodity racism duringthe colonial era. They depict other races as less or lacking when compared tothe dominant race through the use of collective images that are commonhousehold products. This argument is based on the idea that stereotypical imagesare used to operate power through representation.
Colorblindness isthe concept that can be seen in the next argument and counter-argument. Accordingto the lectures Patricia Williams believes that to understand racism we need tobe able to see the role of race and ethnicity play in our social realities.Colorblindness is to dismiss the differences of races either by ignorance orinnocence in order to approach a social issue. The argument is that the gameand trailer aren’t racially insensitive but need to be contextualized tounderstand what is being displayed. The Resident Evil franchise is aboutzombies. Seth Schiesel in a New York Times article (2009) argues that the gameonly ‘exposes the uncomfortable truth that blacks and Arabs can become zombiestoo, just like anyone else’. He also argues that no one should seriously judgea game or its intent based on images, games themselves do not concernthemselves with creating controversy or enticing racial views. Seth (2009)continues his argument with the idea that in games that ‘no matter whether theenemies are aliens or Nazis or zombies…or any other categories we use to denote“acceptable to kill”’. This argument is constructed from the theoreticalconcept of colorblindness. He believes that the player uses this concept of colorblindnessand is innocent to indentify or acknowledge the race of others in the contextof the game mechanics. His statement that it doesn’t matter what categoricalsubject you are killing in a game shows that he believes that race should notmatter because we are innocent and potentially ignorant to recognize the otheras anything but a negative aggressor. By being colorblind the player should notdistinguish between the racial categories of the game’s enemies but recognizethem as in the game’s context as hostile. So Seth believes that you shouldignore the difference because it is a game that has no real world implicationsor effects.
This is quiteopposite from another view point posted on Black Looks website. Kym Plattstates that ‘…the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing ofBlack people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this videogame is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young… fearing,hating, and destroying Black people’ (Platt 2007). Her last sentence isimportant because it addresses the idea of innocent colorblindness as harmfulto the youth. If the children are accustomed to these images withoutacknowledging the differences shown it will begin a potential harmful growingexperience for the child. This is similar to Patricia Williams’ view oncolorblindness and its larger implications for society’s youth.
The last viewpointsin this controversy concern the issue of race as a social construct as well asour socio-historical subject positions. Victor Godinez’s (2008) article in TheDallas Morning Star exposes why this controversial representation is seen asracism, ‘And it could well be that Americans are so unconsciously drilled onwhat is and is not acceptable in discussions of race that discomfort over thetrailer is simply subconscious political correctness kicking in.’ This idea showsthat American society has been formed by an accepted racial social constructthat anything that may resemble a racial issue is automatically deemed as one.This is important view because it demonstrates that race is a social constructand is determined by what society you identify with. The developers behind thegame are Japanese and they do not have the same social practices and racialconstructs as America. The concept of asocio-historical subject position can be seen in another viewpoint. Everyoneoccupies a socio-historical position which shapes our perspectives andidentity. IGN editor Hilary Goldstein states that, ‘That doesn't mean onlyblacks will view RE5 as racist or that every white gamer is going to see it asinnocent gameplay, but it does illustrate the point that how we perceive racismcan change based on who we are and how we grew up.’ (Goldstein 2009). He arguesthat racism is a perception based upon social environments and normativebehavior of an individual growing up. That our position and historicalpreference determines what we see as racism. These viewpoints show thatdifferent perspectives are important to understand when discussingcontroversial social issues.
This controversyof Resident Evil 5’s representation of race in video games shows that the videogame industry has the same faults that other media outlets have when it comesto race. Video game developers must be more responsible and aware whendepicting race or social constructs because it may replicate the kind ofstereotypes that were prevalent in early cinema. The potential problem forvideo games, according to the research, is that the insensitive images may getdismissed because prejudice attitudes towards games view and label them asmindless entertainment not capable for higher thought concepts or constructs. Itmay be harmful for the development of children if those images become accepted orignored without acknowledging what may linger behind the images. When analyzingthe arguments with theoretical concepts it can be seen that video games andtheir developers need to be aware of what may be viewed from otherperspectives. They need to adjust to their globally diverse audience in orderto not neglect nor offend others. The video game industry must develop cautiouslybecause it may fall victim to the faults of early cinema’s representation notrace.
Sources
Goldstein, Hilary. (2009, February 10). Editorial: Is Resident Evil 5Racist?. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/953/953129p1.html
Godinez,Victor. (2008, April 12). Zombies in ‘Resident Evil 5’ become issue of race. The Dallas Morning News. http://ezproxy.gsu.edu:2638/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=113&sid=22b0867b-17bb-4a78-bd40-6833e17bb858%40sessionmgr110 &bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=nfh&AN=2W61082136166
John, Tracey. (2008, April 10). Newsweek's N'Gai Croal On The 'ResidentEvil 5' Trailer: 'This Imagery Has A History'. http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/04/10/newsweeks-ngai-croal-on-the-resident-evil-5-trailer-this-imagery-has-a-history/
Platt, Kym. (2007, July 31). Resident Evil 5. http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/07/resident_evil_5.html
Schiesel,Seth. (2009, March 16). There’s No Time to Rest Until the Last Zombie in AfricaIs Toast. New York Times, p. C1.
Snider,Mike. (2009, March 10). Critics Question Imagery. USA Today. Section: Life, Pg. 07d. http://ezproxy.gsu.edu:2638/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=113&sid=22b0867b-17bb-4a78-bd40-6833e17bb858%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=nfh&AN=2W61082136166
