Earlier this week, I posted an interview with gaming journalist N’Gai Croal of Newsweek.
During our conversation about the portrayal of black people in games, we talked about the controversy surrounding the “Resident Evil 5” trailer that debuted at last year’s E3.
It depicts a white protagonist going into an apparently poverty-stricken village (the location is unspecified) and killing throngs of black zombified men and women (see the trailer yourself).
Croal’s reactions were so detailed and thoroughly-described that we decided to highlight them in their own post.
Multiplayer editor Stephen Totilo wrote about his uneasiness upon viewing it, and commenters from other outlets discussed whether or not the trailer was racist. Some agreed with Totilo, but quite a few people disagreed. Earlier this week, developer Morgan Gray explained that he didn’t have a problem with it either.
Croal’s first reaction to the trailer was, “Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game.” He explained his thoughts on the trailer and how he would have preferred Capcom to treat it:
“It’s like when you engage that kind of imagery you have to be careful with it. It would be like saying you were going to do some sort of zombie movie that appeared to be set in Europe in the 1940’s with skinny, emaciated, Hasidic-looking people. If you put up that imagery people would be saying, ‘Are you crazy?’ Well, that’s what this stuff looks like. This imagery has a history. It has a history and you can’t pretend otherwise. That imagery still has a history that has to be engaged, that has to be understood. … If you’re going to engage imagery that has that potential, the onus is on the creator to be aware of that because there will be repercussions in the marketplace.”
Here are more of his thoughts on the matter…
(As with all of the articles in this series, we strongly suggest you read the piece in full before commenting.)
Multiplayer: I wanted to ask you about the “Resident Evil 5″ trailer…
Croal: I looked at the “Resident Evil 5″ trailer and I was like, “Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game.” Because I wonder, and I haven’t sort of really dug into it that much, but I wonder what sort of advice Capcom gave them. The point isn’t that you can’t have black zombies. There was a lot of imagery in that trailer that dovetailed with classic racist imagery. What was not funny, but sort of interesting, was that there were so many gamers who could not at all see it. Like literally couldn’t see it. So how could you have a conversation with people who don’t understand what you’re talking about and think that you’re sort of seeing race where nothing exists?
There was stuff like even before the point in the trailer where the crowd turned into zombies. There sort of being, in sort of post-modern parlance, they’re sort of “othered.” They’re hidden in shadows, you can barely see their eyes, and the perspective of the trailer is not even someone who’s coming to help the people. It’s like they’re all dangerous; they all need to be killed. It’s not even like one cute African — or Haitian or Caribbean — child could be saved. They’re all dangerous men, women and children. They all have to be killed. And given the history, given the not so distant post-colonial history, you would say to yourself, why would you uncritically put up those images? It’s not as simple as saying, “Oh, they shot Spanish zombies in ‘Resident Evil 4,’ and now ‘black zombies and that’s why people are getting upset.” The imagery is not the same. It doesn’t carry the same history, it doesn’t carry the same weight. I don’t know how to explain it more clearly than that.
“The audience isn’t demanding much change. They like the games they’re playing.” |
I think the audience isn’t demanding much change. They like the games they’re playing. They’re by and large comfortable with the amounts of stereotypes in their games. You know because another thing that you sort of have gamers run into in situations like this is that, “Oh it’s just a game.” [laughs] You know, if it’s just a game, then why do we care about how culturally relevant they are? I care about how culturally relevant they are. I take games as seriously as other art forms.
If there were a movie that had those images, I’d question it. I’d really want to know what’s going on in this movie. Like where is this coming from? So we hadn’t seen much of the game. It was just a trailer. If it had been me in that situation, I wouldn’t have put out a trailer like that. I think it’s very easy to misunderstand what that game is about based on that trailer. And while I would certainly withhold final judgment, if that’s all the game is, I’d be concerned about that.
Multiplayer: It’s funny how some people argue that it’s “just a game,” but also get really upset of any criticism of it…
Croal: Absolutely. It’s very difficult in this country, in many countries, to have a conversation about race. Everyone brings to it their own history, their own perspective. Some people are engaged in it, some people aren’t. I think some people are concerned because some people think there is a double standard. Some people say that when it’s images of only black people then people get concerned. Some people feel like their hobby is under attack; it’s being misinterpreted or misunderstood. Again the portrayal of Africa, or the Caribbean, since we don’t know where it’s being set, as sort of this dark, dangerous continent filled with people who only want to do you harm goes back a long, long way. And based on the images put up on the trailer, what else are you supposed to take from it? Especially if you’re not familiar with the franchise?
“It’s very difficult in this country, in many countries, to have a conversation about race.” |
Even if you are familiar with the franchise, if you are familiar with those images and their historical weight, you look at it and say, “Man, that’s kind of messed up.” Then you look at the music that was used in the trailers, that’s one of the things that was sort of funny in so that you had those people who were saying, “It’s not even Africa, it’s Haiti or somewhere in the Caribbean.” The music that they’re using in the trailer is very reminiscent of the music used in Black Hawk Down which was set in Africa — Somalia. That actually was one of the things that was most disturbing because it sort of had a feeling as like, “Wow, what research did this team do? Did they only watch Black Hawk Down and give it this kind of vibe?”
I don’t want to put down the Capcom team that’s working on it. I hope they did more research than that. But based on that trailer, it’s very difficult to tell. And Black Hawk Down was a very problematic film among a handful of critics and particularly among African-American viewers and African viewers when it came out because of the sort of narrow focus of its portrayal.
That’s the whole thing where only Chris Redfield appears to be human before they turn into zombies; the humanity of other people is in question. It’s like you barely see their faces, he doesn’t really interact with them, he sort of walks through this thing and it’s sort of, “Is he there? Is he not?” It’s a very strange thing, and it taps into sort of this very racist iconography. I think that’s the only way I’m describing it. I’m not saying that was their intent. But it seems that a lot of people who were up in arms about the trailer couldn’t see that and didn’t want to engage it.
I think, again, the point is not that Capcom can’t or shouldn’t make a zombie game set in what appears to be an impoverished country where the majority of residents are black. I’m not saying that. But what I am saying is that if I was Capcom, I wouldn’t have suggested to put out that trailer. I would have said, “You know what, this has tremendous capacity for being misunderstood, and we want to signal that this is not what you might think it is” — and they didn’t do that. That’s what I’m saying.
“This imagery has a history. It has a history and you can’t pretend otherwise.” |
It’s like when you engage that kind of imagery you have to be careful with it. It would be like saying you were going to do some sort of zombie movie that appeared to be set in Europe in the 1940’s with skinny, emaciated, Hasidic-looking people. If you put up that imagery people would be saying, “Are you crazy?” Well, that’s what this stuff looks like. This imagery has a history. It has a history and you can’t pretend otherwise. That imagery still has a history that has to be engaged, that has to be understood. If you’re going to tread, if you’re going to engage imagery that has that potential, the onus is on the creator to be aware of that because there will be repercussions in the marketplace.
I don’t know how Capcom feels about it. I think releasing that game is going to be very difficult. I think there are people and organizations who aren’t very understanding of games that if that imagery is brought to them they’re going to be like, “Wait, hold up. I don’t know how you could put that out.” Then you have to say, “Does Wal-Mart want to deal with that? Does Target want to deal with that?” I’m not saying that censorship is the answer. I’m saying that the same rights that allow Capcom to put the game out are the same rights that allow people to bring pressure on people who might release that game. This is why it is important to whoever works in the American office of a company like Capcom to be able to show this is the history, this is where this comes from, this is where we need to be more sensitive. I’m not sure they’ve done that yet.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:23 am
THis game isn’t racist. It just takes place in Africa. This is exactly how Resident Evil 4 was just a differenet setting. In the other game you were shooting white people. No one said anything about that. I don’t see how using a character from the orginal game in a new enviorment is racist.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I’m going to admit that I haven’t read all the comments, but did read the interview.
N-Gai does have a valid point. With what little we know about the actual game, that trailer does have great potential to be misunderstood. Obviously, that potential is becoming real misunderstanding.
My take-away from the interview was that the spirit of Resident Evil games is being totally derailed by a race issue, whether valid or not.
Could it have been handled by more careful editing? Choice of better scenes? Revealing a bit more of the setting or plot? I really don’t know. But one this is clear to me: the supposed race issue is overshadowing what could be an excellent game. It’s not the responsibility of the press or the public to be more tolerant. It is solely in Capcom’s hands to make sure any misunderstanding is averted. Why? Because they have all the information. We do not.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:35 am
@Atemi
When he discusses how the blacks are portrayed, he refers to the images of some of the really old movies that involved around Africa made back around 1950. These movies portrayed all Africans as grass skirt wearing, mask wearing, blond woman stealing crazy people.
In terms of Black Hawk Down, it makes even less sense. With BHD, it is narrowly focused on a military event, the helicopter that is shot down, and the attempt at rescue. it does not focus on the larger conflict that was occurring in the region.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:49 am
The problem isn’t that the game is set in Africa. The problem is that it continues to portray Africa as a diseased continent. And unless you really engage in African or Caribbean history, that exact image of sickness is what’s being portrayed in the media. Nobody thinks of Spain as a dangerous place to be. Nobody thinks of Spaniards as particularly dangerous either. This game will be particularly dangerous for young kids, and let’s not pretend that they will be playing too, who have no context of the beauty of Africa or the Caribbean.
It seems as if some of the gamers on this board really want to believe that the the world is ahistorical and colorblind, but even virtual reality is not apart from what is happening in the world.
There’s danger in being oblivious or apathetic to the underlying currents of things.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:50 am
@Matt Gilenbach
Birth of a Nation is racist. The guy who made it believed in what he made. Birth of a Nation is the exact opposite of RE5. They do not belong in the same comparison.
The problem many of us have is that this topic carries so much weight. By which I mean that the inappropriate that Croal brings up, or the racist that other African Americans bring up carry the ability to censor. And there is little defense for this accusation in America today.
You also bring up a point. Culturally insensitive. In this case it is African American culture. But if you think about it, white, asian, Hispanic, and native American culture are not hurt. Now instead of just playing the simple way out of says “respect his culture.” Why not as the more difficult question of “Why is it that this only affects African American culture?”
April 11th, 2008 at 9:55 am
I think the issue with tone N’gai has could possibly be with the trailer more so than the game.
The trailer, not having much content (as is usual for most early game trailers) allows the racial conflict to be highlighted as the main story of the trailer. Sure, the game may be neither a racist endeavor, nor racially insensitive, but it comes off that way when all the trailer really shows is a white man killing black people (who just happen, by coincidence or not, to be portrayed in ways that have traditionally been rascist).
@N’gai: How do you feel about the game being made in Japan, a country generally considered to be much less race obsessed as America?
April 11th, 2008 at 9:59 am
“that trailer does have great potential to be misunderstood”
i think this is the crux of the stupid (in both the original article and the comments). let’s step back and look at the bigger picture of life …
* cars (even well-constructed ones) have a great potential for accidents
* rusty nails have a great potential for tetanus
* nachos have a great potential for deliciousness
“misunderstood”? how so? misunderstood, in that it has racial overtones? well, i didn’t (and i think the majority of people here) see that. we saw a guy wanting to not get chomped by zombies.
i think this bears repeating: if you watch this and race comes up as an “issue” to you, you are racist (whether actively or passively). racism isn’t necessarily animosity directed to a group of people designated by skin color or geographical location - it can also be the pre-occupation and fixation of a single (or multiple) race(s) above others. racism is scary like that - it can take many forms.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:03 am
@ Ichabod
“FACT: It’s only a video game. It cannot be racist”
Statements like this are what will hold back the video game industry. And you’re someone who claims to “create video game websites .” Congratulations, you’re a dense, ignorant #?$*?@?#%@~@.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Well I was going to reply with a well thought out comment but as I read on I saw you did absolutely no research on the Resident Evil series at all I decided that a comment like “Grow Up” or something like that.
So what we can’t have black people in a game? It can’t take place in Africa?Seriously it’s a game, about zombies, I’m almost 100% sure this isn’t a device to get into the heads of children to team up and kill all black people.
Well hell if were going to get mad at Res. 5 let’s get mad at other media too.
Look at that in Land of the Dead the lead zombie is black, OMG racist!
April 11th, 2008 at 10:11 am
@nuklearswan (and everyone else who mirrored this sentiment)
“it can also be the pre-occupation and fixation of a single (or multiple) race(s) above others. racism is scary like that - it can take many forms.”
So having a racial conscious is racism now? I guess you’re right, we should just go back to ignoring the problem, that will get alot done, right?
Do I think RE5 is a racist game? No. Am I appalled by how many people in these comments are ignoring the fact that it isnt that YOU think its not rascist, its that OTHERS do. And let me tell you buddy boy, you’re not the center of the world.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:13 am
How the hell is this even remotely racists? Did anyone complain when white zombies were shot? No! Did anyone complain when spanish zombies were shot? No! So why complain when zombies from Haiti (or was it Africa?) were the population is black is being shot? That makes no sense at all how that can be racist.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:13 am
This guy is an idiot, everyone has difficult things in their history, grow up and deal with it. The truth is that in this country people are too afraid to have race thrown in their face instead of saying what they feel, and defending their position. I have no problem talking about race because I can defend my positions and opinions. In this case, all the “racist overtones” are simply menacing overtones, used by Capcom to enhance the gameplay and immerse the gamer. Maybe you see these villains as representing your community or maybe your being offended on behalf of people that you think care, they don’t. Real people, dealing with racism and actual problems don’t have time to discuss or even care about this sort of stuff. They are too busy surviving and working hard, that is really all you need in this country is a strong work ethic, which can only breed success.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:15 am
From a gamer’s point of view .. Well, what I see in this, Mr. Redfield is being attacked by a mob (zombie mob, which makes it impossible to REASON with them, if we want to explore the situation “out of the box”) and he is trying to defend himself from axes, kukris, pitchforks, etc..
.. How would the imagery turn around if the protagonist himself was African? One can change the future in how this matter will be dealt with, but nothing changes the past with the topic on hand.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:17 am
@Hey [censored]
I’ve stayed out of the comments until now. But you got my attention. Knock off the name-calling, show some spine and use your real name when you post, and, no, it’s not cute or clever that you filed your e-mail address as “stupid black people at hotmail.” Feel free to never come back to our site if you can’t provide more intelligent feedback.
Plenty of people in this thread are taking the time to read the full interview and engage what was actually said. You can too.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:27 am
@nuklearswan
““misunderstood”? how so? misunderstood, in that it has racial overtones? well, i didn’t (and i think the majority of people here) see that. we saw a guy wanting to not get chomped by zombies.”
Whether there is actual racism in the trailer or not is very much NOT the point. The point is that some people do believe it does. I’m not saying one way or the other because it’s not the point.
To be absolutely clear: In my eyes, race is not the issue. The attention given to race is.
The simple fact that a majority of the comments to this article are specifically about race lends credence to the notion that the race issue has totally derailed what may actually be a great game.
And that’s the real shame of the situation.
Since the trailer only allows us a brief window into the game, we can’t comment on the game itself. We can only comment on what’s shown. If the detractors shouldn’t pass judgment on the game based on that, then the supporters shouldn’t pass judgment either. Neither side has any more insight into the game than the other. That’s why Capcom really needs to do a better job of clearing up the misunderstanding.
So yes, there clearly is misunderstanding or the discussion wouldn’t have gone on for 4 pages (as of this comment).
April 11th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I realize his point and true, when dealing with any race people must be as politically correct as possible. But if this does in fact take place in Africa, then we must remember that this how it really is. There is no denying they are a primarily poverty ridden nation. And as far as the racism of Chris Redfield being white and murdering the Black people (they many not be African, however most primarily Black nations are in fact povertous) is simply coincedence. I’m sure the developers at Capcom saw an oppurtunity to expand the type of setting for a RE game and jumped on it, but this whole thing has been blown out of proportion since its ludacris conception.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Let me ask you, if you see white people in a ghetto in russia as zombies in a video game do you get up in arms as it is so obviously racist for depicting white people in such a negative light? The reason people get defensive is because you put people on the defensive with this micro-attentive scrutiny of things as trivial as a “shoot em up” zombie video game as “racist”. It’s just as “racist” to feel any depiction of your own race as less than positive is a horrible racist message to be sending to the world as it is to single one race out. This article borders on ridiculousness, you critique something as absurd as depictions of ZOMBIES, for being negative, simply because the zombies in this case happen to be black, i.e. if the zombies were white, or latino, or gay, or female, no problem, but black, oh no wait a minute, that’s racist! Stop the presses, we have to do something about this. I don’t see many black people writing articles about the ridiculous racist depictions of white people in countless black films, as we all know, it’s only “racist” when white people do bad things to black people, and never the reverse. I have to wonder, did it ever cross your mind to interview anyone from capcom or anyone involved with the design of this game for their take on this issue? Or was the purpose to pat eachother on the back for being so correct in your analytical interpritations of a zombie video game? The thing is, if you want to complain about the historical treatment of Africans in the world, or even the current state of Africa, or Haiti, or wherever, you have a completely valid claim, but to bring all this baggage to critiquing a video game about ZOMBIES is ridiculous. For instance, you say you value realism in a game, and if this is in fact set in Somalia, or Haiti, or whatever, what color people are you likely to see? So is it really the depictions of them as poor people living in Africa or Haiti that bothers you? Or the reality that black people do in fact live in massive poverty in Africa and Haiti that bothers you? If the later, I think a video game about zombies is not exactly the most productive avenue to venture for change in, and if it’s simply the fact that black people are depicted as zombies in the first place that bothers you perhaps you need to ask yourself why it wouldn’t bother you if they were white? Or at very least why you wouldn’t consider that to be “racist”.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:51 am
As a black male of Guyanese/Jamaican descent living in Canada I can tell you I watched that entire trailer without any notions of racism or racist ideology until AFTER the comparisions came out. Then I noticed the little “blackface” moment in the dark shadow. but the thing is….even after seeing that it did not offend me because I read into in and if I ever needed a roadsign to let me know that, the fact that I did not percieve anything from the trailer the first time through was it.
We are living in an age where as people from African descent we should have a maturity around our sensitivities and realize that as the cultures we are living in have left the normalcy of what was racist ideology at nauseum behind…WE CAN TOO. I think it is time to stop reaching into the past and start not seeing things just as I did because we are evolving past a period of Martin Luther King and into what he dreamed of. Knowledge of the past does not have to be your ruler for the future. Progress, these are different times.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:54 am
As a black male of Guyanese/Jamaican descent living in Canada I can tell you I watched that entire trailer without any notions of racism or racist ideology until AFTER the comparisions came out. Then I noticed the little “blackface” moment in the dark shadow. but the thing is….even after seeing that it did not offend me because I read into in and if I ever needed a roadsign to let me know that, the fact that I did not percieve anything from the trailer the first time through was it.
We are living in an age where as people from African descent we should have a maturity around our sensitivities and realize that as the cultures we are living in have left the normalcy of what was racist ideology at nauseum behind…WE CAN TOO. I think it is time to stop reaching into the past and start not seeing things just as I did because we are evolving past a period of Martin Luther King and into what he dreamed of. Knowledge of the past does not have to be your ruler for the future. Progress, these are different times.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I was totally with N’Gai, all the way up until he let it be known that “Mellon Collie” was one of his favorite albums of the 90’s. That thing was limp as an Oscar Mayer wiener and had twice the filling. Goodbye credibility.
But seriously folks, all of you who can’t see his point or even begin to agree with it, you’re idiots or ignorant or both. And I feel pretty secure in saying that. He stated his terms, laid out the factorums on paper for you, backed them up with real-world evidence and stated his conclusions.
There’s no accounting for taste (especially in music), but there is accounting for facts.
Welcome to “You’re Wrong” night, dummies.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I think the important thing that N’gai is missing here is this; The trailer was set in a certain context. That context being, Chris Redfield is investigating the village. The reason the residents of that village are treated suspiciously in the trailer is because something suspicious must be going on there for Chris Redfield to be there. Obviously Mr. Croal missed the part of the video where Chris sees a group of men drag a man into a hut against his will. Chris then follows them into the building and discovers them infecting that man. Now, what I take from this trailer is not a racist theme, but a theme of corruption and oppression. Not oppression of black people, but oppression of a poor village by an, as of yet, unseen villain. No more and no less. In a situation like that, most people would tend to act as suspiciously as the people seen in the trailer, for fear of pissing of the antagonist. Also, I think Mr. Croal fails to realize that even tho other countries are aware of our country’s history of slavery, they were not part of it and therefore can’t be presumed to be racist just because they use a setting that is predominantly filled with black people. It goes right to the point of RE4 with the Spanish zombies. Nobody cried “racist!” when wave upon wave of Spaniards attacked a white protagonist. They saw it for what it was, a remote village in Spain that was full of suspicious activity and an agent, who happens to be white, was sent to investigate. I think that we as a country really need to stop with the race nonsense. All of the people who were involved in slavery are now dead and in the ground. You cannot hold accountable the present generations for something that their ancestors did. And you especially cannot hold accountable people from a country on the other side of the planet to a standard that doesn’t really apply to them. To clarify that statement, I am not saying it would be alright for them to release a blatantly racist game, but their idea of racism is no where near most of the people in this country.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I dont remember the Spanish making a big deal out of this. Good thing nobody takes Afro-Carribean people seriously at all anyway, rightfully so aswell if they get upset over something like this.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:34 am
I looked and scanned for the racism, and I’m sorry, but this seems to be much ado about nothing. I love cultural diversity and I think it should be celebrated. Therefore African zombies are a good thing. In fact, if one was killing lots of white zombies in Africa, something would be amiss, no? As far as the area being impoverished, well, from the RE storyline, most of the world is impoverished and has gone to heck in a handbasket, right? As far as the shadows, well, that’s just a lack of lighting in a place without electricity.
I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be sensitive to cultural issues, it just seems like this has blown up due to media attention. As many have pointed out, there have been other stereotypes (worse ones in my opinion) that have played out in video games and not one peep has been said. GTA San Andreas anyone? Black gangster shooting up people? Anyone?
Another, note, as a large company, I’m sure that Capcom had to do Global research in order to avoid stereotypes in the game. That being said, the only racism in this trailer or game, is that which is projected upon it by the viewer. Remember, you’re just killing zombies in an area of the world where many people happen to be black.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Wow, I just saw one dude in a village filled with other dudes. Is that wrong of me? Do I need to second guess my own perception because I don’t find this racist? Is that what I am being told here?
Violence is violence. Setting is setting. It’s disheartening that this is even being discussed. I mean seriously. Someone is “reaching” for something. This feels forced.
Do I have to tell you my race to have an opinion here? Is that required? Do we have to tiptoe around a setting because some people see black people and other people just see people? I mean, I saw people I knew would soon be zombies, and I thought that was sad, because it’s a sad story.
There will be violence in this game. It will be committed against people. Why? It’s a sequel in a series of games where the main character must commit violence to those around him to survive. The people the main character is committing violence to is and always has been linked to his surroundings. It has to be, in order for the game to make sense. It’s how you weave a story.
It is a story of survival. It is a story a violence. I don’t think race is or ever has been important in the Resident Evil games.
If the main character was black, would we be having this conversation? I think that if Capcom made the main character black, that would seem wrong to me, because then it would prove that they saw the color of skin and made a decision based on it.
As it stands, I don’t see that. I see a gaming company making a decision to further the story in a new setting. That setting happens to be populated by black people.
I think most of us can see who the elephant is who is doing the tiptoe dance through the minefield.
Of course, none of this came to mind until now, because I didn’t even notice it. I just saw a sequel to a game in a nice setting. How silly of me, I guess.
April 11th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
You think it’s racist the people in the beginning are shifty-eyed? Did you happen to think they are perhaps already affected? The Grenados in RE4 looked human at first aside from being a little dirty. It looks like the same exact thing here. But I say wait until Capcom gives more info out like if it’s a virus or whatever.
And you think it’s racist imagery that the environment is strikingly similiar to an actual Haitian village? Would you rather Capcom made a totally wrong locale or make it more cartoony? This is next-gen gaming, developers are striving for more realism.
April 11th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
You’re reading too much into this trailer if you see it as racist, It looks almost exactly like RE4 with a new coat of paint. Leon Kennedy is now Chris Redfield and Spanish villagers are now Haitian villagers. I realize though how racist it can seem to those who haven’t played RE4 and aren’t used to these more intelligent normal looking type of zombies. This is how the spanish villagers acted in RE4 as well. It’s just a fresh setting for the game we played before. I don’t feel we should be looking at games or any media really for accurate depictions of race and culture. And more specifically, black people need to stop worrying about race. It’s a skin color, it doesn’t define you. What you see in that trailer is not you, nor does it make everyone think you’re a dumb savage.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Ok this is the most disturbing morning i have had in a long time. I’m so upset i missed breakfast and will possibly have a bad day at work. ITS A VIDEO GAME!!! don’t ever say its like going back to the 40’s and killing Jews. what time frame is this game set in? I’m sure they didn’t have that gun style back in the 1940’s. Why is it that when a racially sensitive race has something to say about a situation that could be controversial they immediately jump to the most messed up thing that didn’t happen to their race? Seriously this is what its turned into? Lets all bury our heads in the sand and let our government burn books and tell us to suppress our feelings like in equilibrium because we are afraid of enacting our constitutional rights. Sure, if this game started and you were a white guy and there were regular Africans depicted and no zombie epidemic ensued and your objective was to run about and kill, ya i would be totally offended. but the truth of the matter is this. what if we start having zombie epidemics. because of your approach to racism and its affect on people we will shoot everyone of the zombies except the black ones and the Jewish. i don’t want to be viewed as racist so I’m not shooting no Jews or burning the building they are in next to the school full of multi racial children that aren’t affected. that was just a concept based on the way of thinking that comes about and is then applied to real life. no real person would think that way if the chips were thrown down. you would try to survive, not think of the color of skin. RE5 has more to do with RE4 than any “what if” thought up in the 1940’s. so when someone makes a logical comparison rather than a extremely skewed one, i tend to side with that. now for the part that shouldn’t matter. I am black. I grew up in areas where there was lots of poverty. my father is from the south and my grandparents have stories to tell about racism and what happened in this country. so i am sensitive to that. but ill be damned if i have to sit here and have that past marred by people who don’t get it comparing a situational 7 minute trailer of a obvious epidemic zombie event in a impoverish Africa to the history of my family and their struggle to get rights and the raping, killing, selling, and mental torture they went through. dear god Ngai? i seriously saw you on G4 and thought, hey cool a positive black role model in gaming industry. i don’t think differently but your stance here has given me doubts. not because you spoke your opinion. but because of your logic behind it.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Now I must admit, I have yet to see the RE5 trailer, but judging from the article and some of the comments I’m going to have to agree that yes, it is possible that this situation can be seen as racist.
However, if the setting of RE5 is in an area where these images would have taken place, then it may not be racist in of itself. In Africa or Haiti these Shantytowns exist. (I just watched the trailer to get a better idea of what I’m talking about)
The introductory scenes of the trailer up until the point where we first see the people get infected make the Africans seem very human, almost attempting to draw your sympathy to them for their poor living conditions.
We see this all the time in movies, why is it then when we see it in games it can be construed as racism? Is it racist that things like this are actually going on in the setting? I don’t know.
However, I can see the fact that the protagonist is a white guy shooting up black people being seen as racist. Even if the black people are zombies/parasite infected people from RE4.
Me, I just go poor guy when the guy gets infected, and then go holy …. when they all start attacking. I don’t know how my black friends reacted to this video, but there is a chance that they’d react the same.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
History shouldn’t play a part in what can and cannot be presented in videogames, nor should how a particular race of people see what is in a trailer alter the development of a videogame. We’ve only been supplied with a small snippet of what is Resident Evil 5, we don’t know the final outcome of what is to be presented, we don’t know that there is just black zombies and wether there is or isn’t shouldn’t matter in the slightest, the same way the Spanish setting wasn’t made a fuss of for Resident Evil 4 even though everytime I see an American TV show on British TV, its the Hispanic character cutting the lawns of the rich black, white and asian families in said shows.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I never really planned to post anything on this because I’m usually a troll on most things. And man do I wish my brain could type what it’s thinking without my fingers.
So here’s my issue. As a well respected journalist in the video game scene who runs a very intellectual blog, I just thought N’Gai was above racial issues. I guess I expected more from him since he has such an important stature in the gaming realm.
I’ve seen a good handful of posts that discuss the fact that if we continue to see the HUMAN race divided by color, than racial issues will continue to thrive. I’m not saying that I’m a saint when it comes to race, but I do like to think that I usually see human beings as equals regardless of their color.
Racism will always be with us if we don’t try to change our point of views about race! I am a human. That is my race. I’ve seen a lot of comments on this interview that use the words “white”, “black”, or “spanish”. The issue with this trailer shouldn’t be “Why is that white man shooting all those black zombies?” The real issue is “Why is that alive human shooting and killing zombies, who are still human in a way?”
If anybody has read or watched “I Am Legend”, then that is a good reference point from where I’m coming from. In this, Robert Neville is trying to save the HUMAN race. It is a bit different than a zombie film/book, but it does say something about how we should all see eachother.
I really hope my point isn’t thrown off as being too optimistic here like I’ve seen others with an equal view have been. But I really honestly think if we don’t teach our children and change our point of views to see each person as an equal human being, then how will racism ever go away? When will we as humans stop labeling each other with colors? Will it honestly take another 100 years? Will racism still be alive into the 2100’s? I sincerely hope not.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Whilst I do respect N’Gai’s comments personally I hope none of this delays the game.
I’m not into many titles, just got so picky over the years, but I love Bio Hazard. Since the 4th in the series I haven’t found a game I enjoyed so much.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Suuuuuure, kill us spics as many times as you want, but don’t kill a black person! OH NO! that would be racist!
I’m sick and tired of this politically correct world! It’s taking away freedom of speech and freedom of thinking! Us South Americans were an oppressed people as well, you don’t hear us complaining as much as black people. Yeah, we complain, but they don’t listen to us as much as they listen to black people!
April 11th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I hope he gets over this, its a game just like movies are movies and books are books. this is just like people getting upset over Lebron James recent cover its just a f—ing picture. people are trying to bring up issues where there are none. im sure all the devs at capcom are on this game going lets make a racist re5 and have a white dude kill a bunch of black zombies…
April 11th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
“…there were so many gamers who could not at all see it. Like literally couldn’t see it. So how could you have a conversation with people who don’t understand what you’re talking about and think that you’re sort of seeing race where nothing exists?”
if the target audience of the game does not see the alleged racism, is that not a GOOD thing? Don’t we want racism to be a non-issue? Why are you trying to set us back and exacerbate the problem?
April 11th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
When sex is more offensive to the parent of a video game player, and probably to most americans in general, where does that leave racial issues, especially in regards to violence and video games?
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/11/gay-kissing-as-bad-as-severed-head-welcome-to-america/
April 11th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Just another case of people making a story out of something that shouldn’t be. (Which, I admit, N’Gai is fantastic at.) The ONLY reason this is even talked about as racist is because of the African people involved. If it were Mexicans, I wouldn’t be going around talking about how obviously racist it was that the obvious enemies in the game were portrayed in a creepy fashion. Would you rather they’re skipping rope and playing with puppies then turn into zombies, N’Gai?
It’s a game, it’s no different than any of the past RE games in its portrayal of the zombies/enemies, and people are only trying to make it an issue because they want to find a hot button story that will get them lots of attention.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
This guy is a complete idiot.
If he knew ANYTHING about the Resident Evil series he’d know that its NOT RACIST.
Before this game it was Hispanics. Before that it was Caucasians. I don’t know WHY ITS SO HARD TO DO SOME F—ING RESEARCH BEFORE YOU COME UP WITH AN OPINION.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
if they change this game i will not buy it….and i am african….great game …keep it the way it is …spooky.scary…its just a game …get real people
April 11th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
You see, this actually makes sense to me. It’s not racist at all. Where talking ab out a virus that turns people into zombies. Where does AIDS take the largest toll on human life? Africa. They’ve been in an AIDS crisis for a long time over there and it hasn’t gotten any better. Because AIDS screws up your immune system, of course the ideal place for a virus to turn a lot of people into zombies would be Africa. In Resident Evil 5, this could be symbolic of the AIDS crisis and might even help raise a little more interest in the dire situation over there. I don’t know, but Resident Evil 5 might be catering more to a more intelligent, socially-minded gamer than before. Even the Living Dead series has incorporated race in order to promote a larger social or political message. This is about the same thing, but this time we’re in control of shooting the African zombies. I guess that’s where a lot of people draw the line, and I can see that point, but I will approach this game consciously.
PS I originally posted the first half of this as Sylar on the Kotaku forums.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Research? Please, N’gai is a self-proclaimed “hardcasual” gamer and doesn’t play as much as everyone thinks.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Has anybody taken into consideration the discrimination that is being made towards the other party–zombies? I know quite a few zombies who are good folk; as a matter of fact they are mostly nonviolent vegans who spend their whole days (when not working in real estate) volunteering at veternarian clinics and homeless shelters. Don’t you think this game disrespects them? Not all zombies want to eat you, yaknow.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
by the way…just a few hours ago it was confirmed that the game is set in africa.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
The trailer is risque, but I thought that it was very well done. It’s a horror game, it was intended to make the viewer feel uncomfortable … the image of a person shooting at women and children (zombie or not) is an uncomfortable one, regardless of the skin colour of the people in question.
Croal is being very overly sensitive and the media is frankly chasing what they believe might be a good story (or that might find some traction in the broader media). The trailer is fine, for what it is - given the wars, poverty and mass murder of Africans against other Africans in that unfortunate continent, the images portray the grim situation in a way that gets the point across very, very effectively.
N’gai should focus his attention against something that might actually help those poor people - like removing their dictatorships and fascists that are ruling and killing the people - rather than on a freaking videogame.
Nuts to him.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Wow, it’s amazing that in a medium filled with some of the most racist, discriminatory material in the world someone managed to fire blindly into it and pick something so incredibly NOT racist. Why don’t you attack Coletrain from Gears Of War, every character in the Ready 2 Rumble franchise, and racist stereotypes in Army of Two and Uncharted first…then we can talk about the maybe, but not really, racist imagery in a trailer for a horror video game.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Ngai said: ” The problem is that the trailer shows little to no humanity in *any* of the black characters. They have no lines of dialogue. Their faces are often hidden in shadow. Their movements are slowed down in slow-motion. They look menacingly at the camera. The protagonist doesn’t interact with them. And everything I’ve just described takes place before the protagonist is attacked, before the gameplay footage begins. In my reading of the trailer, the black extras are already being portrayed as zombies, as something less than human, before all hell breaks loose. Again, I don’t know what Capcom intended, but given the history of these kinds of images, they’ve put out a trailer that makes such readings possible.”
There was some pretty powerful imagery. But keep in mind that this was a short trailer for a game that was over a year away. You would want a trailer that leaves a deep impact in such a situation. Showing humanizing factors in the people and setting might have worked too much against the desired art direction.
What has the world come to when instead of judging a game (still unreleased) on its own merits, we begin by criticizing its advertisements?
April 11th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
A white guy in GTA gunning down African-American pimps, cops, and even innocent pedestrians… thats fine.
A white guy killing infected and evil cult members… somehow racist?
Give me a break. Every races has killed and enslaved each other over the course of history. I think we’re all even. I’m Anglo-English … my people were persecuted and slaughtered by the Romans and Gals for centuries… does that mean I should be offended when I watch Gladiator?
April 11th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
N’Gai, thanks for taking the time to write out thoughtful responses to people who were perhaps too agitated by what they imagined your opinion might be that they never got around to reading the interview.
Since you’ve handled the discussion articulately, and used arguments that I tend to agree with, what I chiefly have to add is my support. Although I pride myself on being a devil’s advocate, I’m having an extremely difficult time creating a logically coherent and sympathetic argument opposed to yours.
Here’s my best effort: This is a trailer and not a TV commercial, and will tend to be seen by people who are unfamiliar with classically racist imagery, but who are familiar with the Resident Evil franchise. Most ambiguity of interpretation will be resolved in favor of a zombie-killing good time, by people (as you said) who literally cannot see anything else. Even so, this is only an argument as to the extent of the possible harm, and not against its existence.
Good work.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I’d like to comment on one aspect of N’gai’s perspective. I find it disturbing that his answers to everyone’s counter points seem to consist of:
“It’s *my* opinion and thus your point is negated by the fact that it’s *my* opinion and you can’t prove *my* opinion wrong.”
Sure dude, but what’s the point of responding if that’s the best you can do?
It’s simplified, but that’s the general impression I’m getting from his answers.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I understand his criticism, but one thing he’s ignoring is that in the trailer, it’s implied that they ARE IN FACT INHUMAN. The parasite from RE4 infects people before symptoms show, and I think they were trying to imply that these people were already infected. N’Gai got the imagery and implication PERFECTLY, but he got it for the entirely WRONG REASONS. They’re not inhuman because they’re black, or poor, or African natives, they’re inhuman because they’re infested with murderous zombifying parasites.
I think we see what we want. The fact that most gamers didn’t see the subtext he saw may in fact be a good thing. Not because they implicitly tie it in with race, but because they don’t see why race has anything to do with it. They’re black because of the game’s setting, but because the creators had some sort of KKK style methodology.
That being said, I do feel their setting could’ve used more consideration, though not because of the racial issue. Mostly because it’s set in a region where many people are suffering, and it’s a serious issue. My objection to his example, of Hasidic looking white people being the zombies, isn’t because of who they are, but because of what they endured in the context of history, so in that, I partially agree with him, but again, I don’t see why race is dragged into this.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Woops, typo:
*They’re black because of the game’s setting, _not_ because the creators had some sort of KKK style methodology.