Cross-Cultural Blog

I remember that you have been interested in this topic since the beginning of the quarter, and I like the idea of exploring racism in games. Do you plan to use Resident Evil as a case study for a larger message, or are you going to analyze Resident Evil specifically? Additionally, what do you hope to prove or explore? Racism in games is a hugely broad topic that would need to be narrowed down in some way. It sounds to me like you are going to explore racism using Resident Evil 5, which would be a great way to narrow the topic somewhat. Another way you might consider narrowing is the viewing of certain ethnic groups. For example, you might use Resident Evil to comment upon the portrayal of Africans/African-Americans in a variety of games. I also wonder how far into other fields, such as psychology and marketing, you will delve with this paper. Do you plan to keep it true to the games, or bring it into a more perceptive zone with how the gamers and observers view the games, and how they then use the images and ideas of the games in forming their own judgments about the real world around them? This could be a very fascinating topic though, I look forward to reading about it!

I really like this topic because it explores a very difficult and subjective topic that really symbolizes a serious problem with modern society.

Although racism and discrimination are not supported by government anymore, there are obviously still racist events and opinions that occur everyday. I personally did not think that RE5 was racist, but it's interesting to see how other people from different backgrounds think and react.

More interesting is that you consider your ethnicity in the argument which adds a completely new level of complexity and depth that makes this paper especially valuable. Not only will it be based on real info. and research, but it will have your own personal thoughts in relation to the underlying problem being described.

I found lots of good resources for your paper on Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com), just searching for "racism and video games" or "race and video games".

Racism is a concept that although has been legally banished for sometime. the last the world saw of racism was the end of apartheid in 1991 in south africa. however, many people are still to some extent racist, even if they are not aware of it. I am not familiar with this game but as I can see. Making zombies black in color, and the 'good' guys are white is a reinforcement of racism.
generally, video games send stereotypes to their players, and unfortunately enough.. they are just kids who still mold their opinions on different matters of the world.
The problem of sending racist messages through the game is the application of these messages in the child's everyday life. How he or she ( if white) will react to black friends at their school. will they want to destroy them as they do infront of tv screens? and if the kid is black.. will that destroy the kids self esteem? will it make them self conscious about their ethnicity? about who they are? will that be another plus to the discrimination and the oppression they face in society?
This all is on a very broad level but is video games a piece of puzzle contributing to the sense of self and identity of the kids?
I certainly hope not if some of the games are sending racist messages to the kids.

because games are interactive they may have more effect on a player’s real-life behavior than television or film, being that you’re much more engaged with it, hence racism is counter effected. The subject of racism and games is not really discussed and when it is, game developers and some gamers usually denounce the complainers as overly sensitive; a common response to critics is that these are "only games. but honestly speaking, racism is still present in all forms of media (and in American life in general), so it's difficult to single out video games as particularly racist. Honestly, though, if you watched many games (espacailly resident
evil) and were not even able to imagine why an African or African American might have a problem with the way they are depicted, i think people should probably close their eyes and pretend racism doesn't even exist. And such responses would sadden me.

I would like to feel that racism isn't in video games. As mentioned Resident Evil is situated in Africa and the use of African cult is in no way racism in my eyes.

http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1228

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1040-840610.html

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1692920.htm

Those are a few articles that might be useful. I found your topic really interesting, and wanted to further read about it. How come there are no Arab characters! (That don’t show Arabs in a negative way).

I haven't played Resident Evil 5, but i think Platt is right. You have a white character killing Africans, it seems like it could eventually sprout undeserving and negative feelings towards Africans (and black people.)

I'm not sure, but I would certainly think that if children in the Middle East were playing Resident Evil 5, they would most certainly develop negative feelings towards Africans and Blacks (I'm not quite sure if "Blacks" is politically correct, my apologies if it's not) and perhaps they'd even view the white character, Chris Redfield as a hero.

Alright, just some input from across the world.

Good luck!

As I feel, racism isn't in video games. It is in the eyes of the gamer of the player.

As I feel, racism isn't in video games. It is in the eyes of the gamer or the player.

Ok.

this would make sense...if you didnt spend the previous four Resident Evil's killing white zombies. So what...that taught black players to hate whites. HAHA

Ok.

this would make sense...if you didnt spend the previous four Resident Evil's killing white zombies. So what...that taught black players to hate whites. HAHA

Brandom M demonstrates just how stupid your average caucasian gamer is, when it comes to race. HOW could the previous Resident Evil games teach blacks to hate whites? You were playing as a white guy, who was killing OTHER WHITES. Yes, that includes Resident Evil 4, since Spaniards are still considered European and NOT MEXICAN (which many caucasian gamers fail to realize).

If anything, the previous RE games are teaching black players that their only role in video games is to either be cannon fodder. Or be the eternal sidekick, who's only purpose is to make the leading white protagonist/antagonist look better by comparison, by being useless.

Its not the fact that you are a white guy killing black zombies it is just you never see a black protagonist killing white antagonist. I know it is a killed or be killed situation it is just you do not see it with the shoe on the other foot. Suppose Resident Evil 6 your character was a black guy in England shooting up white people. I'm pretty sure being a white person playing the game would make you feel uncomfortable.

so resident Evil 4, who had a white guy shooting boatloads of Spanish people, was not racist. Or Call of Duty which has you killing japanese and german soldiers like theres no tomorrow is A O.K. NO i suppose it would be okay if they fought against us in a war.

Thanks for post. It’s really informative stuff.
I really like to read.Hope to learn a lot and have a nice experience here! my best regards guys!
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Should be an interesting study.

Very interesting study. I realize you think its racism because they happen to be black zombies? But wouldn't it be strange if you had white zombies in Africa? I mean arn't the people in africa mostly black? Maybe its just being realistic. If the game took place in Iceland, then they could all be white-zombies.

very good!

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It is the way that we look at things which make all the difference. For example we tend to take notice of the fact that a non-white is killing people in a game, when in practice there are many games in which there are whites which are killing people.

i think there is no popular games applying racism thoughts.

Thank you for sharing this information. I found your article very interesting, I tried to find out more by searching on the internet but I have not found ... Can you please give me some websites that also speaks about the subject of your post?

Henry

I think racism should not be in a video game. I do not like it and unhappy if I find my kid play it. Thank you for sharing the idea.

No one wants to create a racist game. It is how people perceive a game, which makes all the difference.

This a a very touchy subject to explore yet alone with the racial tension of black and white. I do think that Platt's statement is an over reaction considering the fact that there is a choice to be an African American women as well. It would have been a racist game if in fact there was only two white characters to choose from killing a whole bunch of African Americans which is not the case. I mean its resident evil of course the child won't percieve the treating towards a zombie would be equivelent as to where a human should be treated . This also diversifies the game, usually capcom games arent predominately black and this changes the gaming experience in a positive way. These are cases you can tackle to oppose Pratt's statement and you can even reseacrh more upon capcom as why the choice of the African region was made.

This a a very touchy subject to explore yet alone with the racial tension of black and white. I do think that Platt's statement is an over reaction considering the fact that there is a choice to be an African American women as well. It would have been a racist game if in fact there was only two white characters to choose from killing a whole bunch of African Americans which is not the case. I mean its resident evil of course the child won't percieve the treating towards a zombie would be equivelent as to where a human should be treated . This also diversifies the game, usually capcom games arent predominately black and this changes the gaming experience in a positive way. These are cases you can tackle to oppose Pratt's statement and you can even reseacrh more upon capcom as why the choice of the African region was made.

Video games are to be considered as any other entertaining sports. Its understandable on the part of the producers to put ethnic colors on the characters of the game to make it more interesting and marketable but if this is affecting human sentiments then it is really a matter of concern.

I'm pretty sure being a white person playing the game would make you feel uncomfortable.

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