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[4Tran]

I answered this in my post you quoted, right after the bold.

She's a feminist with decent points that should be addressed in more than just video games imo. Movies, comics, YouTube, TV shows, and even books are all guilty of what she's calling out.

Shocking news: she tackles those other topics in videos that aren't about video games, and she tackles video games in videos about video games!

 

[Mael]

I answered this in my post you quoted, right after the bold.

She's a feminist with decent points that should be addressed in more than just video games imo. Movies, comics, YouTube, TV shows, and even books are all guilty of what she's calling out.

After you're done with the vid you can watch the rest of FF's shows they also talk about other media.

 

[Vice]

I always feel like she brings up fair enough points, but I also feel like her targeting video games specifically isn't good for video games since it draws attention to it like it's a special case. These things can be usually shown in almost all forms of media to some degree. Starting to feel like she would be more useful critiquing our culture's entertainment in a broader context.

She has videos on other topics. They are on the Feminist Frequency channel.

 

[Lime]

Conversely, If anyone wants to support a nice, diverse game with a brown female protagonist, check out Indivisible.

(fanart by pehesse)

The demo is out on PSN/Steam/Xbox if you want to get an idea about how its gameplay (it's inspired by the best JRPG of all time, Valkyrie Profile)

 

[Nepenthe]

I answered this in my post you quoted, right after the bold.

She's a feminist with decent points that should be addressed in more than just video games imo. Movies, comics, YouTube, TV shows, and even books are all guilty of what she's calling out.

Saying "What about movies?!" is an irrelevant deflection.

 

[ArjanN]

Light = purity = good = God.
Dark = shadows = evil = Satan.

Good old Christianity.

That's pretty much universal across cultures, just a consequence of humans not being nocturnal animals, i.e. darkness is cold and scary and we can't see environmental danger/predators well, so it gets associated with negative things.

 

[Dio]

That's pretty much universal across cultures, just a consequence of humans not being nocturnal animals, i.e. darkness is cold and scary and we can't see environmental danger/predators well, so it gets associated with negative things.

Not all cultures consider darkness 'evil' which is why I said 'Christianity' specifically.

 

[Nepenthe]

I'm laughing about how Resident Evil 5 almost got away with it. They were totally in the clear with the secondary protagonist. They literally didn't have to fuck her character up.

But they did anyway.

 

[GeoGonzo]

I always feel like she brings up fair enough points, but I also feel like her targeting video games specifically isn't good for video games since it draws attention to it like it's a special case. These things can be usually shown in almost all forms of media to some degree. Starting to feel like she would be more useful critiquing our culture's entertainment in a broader context.

I feel its exactly the opposite... There are a lot more people critiquing traditional media, while feminism in videogames is clearly in its infancy. By focusing on them Anita walks a less trodden path, which requires more research and faces more resistance, but it also allows her to be a pioneer.

And if anything, focusing on just videogames is a vote of confidence. It helps to remind people that while videogames can be just dumb toys, they're often so much more than that.

 

[Lime]

I'm laughing about how Resident Evil 5 almost got away with it. They were totally in the clear with the secondary protagonist. They literally didn't have to fuck her character up.

But they did anyway.

I wouldn't say they would've gotten away with it even without the dumb tribal costume. She's still light-skinned in contrast to other NPCs and Professor André Brock published a really good research article on RE and especially Sheva. If you have access to the journal, I'd suggest reading it in full http://gac.sagepub.com/content/6/5/429.abstract

Some excerpts:

The imagery and mechanical representation and interaction with the depicted Africans

Genre plays a part in this analysis; survival horror contributes narrative, mechanics, and genre to structure race and gender in RE5. For example, in sandbox-type games, developers can populate the game world with innocent noncombatants to render the environment less sterile. These NPCs often just wander the streets aimlessly, waiting to be shot or run over. In survival horror, there are no innocents. Early in RE5, the team sees a (extremely) White woman dragged screaming by an African into a second-story apartment.This scene evokes allusions of Black-on-White rape because of the woman's Whiteness as well as historical connotations of Black desire for ‘‘pure'' White women.

Finally, race stands in for cultural evil. Even before becoming infected, the Africans are depicted as malevolent and savage. As Chris and Sheva walk through Kijuju, they encounter three villagers beating a writhing human-sized sack with sticks, while on another street a group of armed men eye the pair threateningly. Once infected, the Majini (Swahili for ‘‘evil spirit''), are savagely violent yet capable of (incomprehensible) communication, can evade attacks, wield projectile weapons. Cultural differences and Western stereotypes of Black degeneracy combine in RE5's
African zombies, and the game justifies these depictions by creative manipulations of its backstory and rationale.

Why did the developers make the Majini ethnic? The ludic reasons are obvious; the racial ones less facile. With respect to gameplay, ethnicity aids the visual and auditory representation of avatars and enemies. Dyer (1997) suggests that Whites are often brightly lit in film to mark their spiritual and physical purity. Certainly, in RE5 Chris Redfield is much brighter visually than the Majini, as is Sheva. The Majini's use of a foreign language to communicate is another marker of difference. The calls between the Majini, the exhortations of the leader Majini, and various radio broadcasts are not translated into English nor subtitled. This renders the Majini mute, despite their ability to talk with one another, and adds to their inhumanity.

The human-like behavior of the Majini introduces an ethical dilemma. Despite Sheva's vague concerns over her countrymen's fate, if the Majini retain much of their humanity—and the parasite can be removed—is the player-as-Sheva killing people or zombies? In video game parlance, this isn't much of a conundrum. The rationale of the game is kill or be killed, so murder is the default interaction. Humanity is reserved for the protagonist; every infected enemy has forfeited their claim to personhood. The parasitic infection provides the tipping point for those wondering if the infected should be preserved for healing and a possible return to full humanity. The only communication between the players and the Majini is violence and death; there is no other alternative. The combination of narrative, game mechanics, and cultural rationales of primitive strength and genetic susceptibility yield this result: an electronic rendition of savage, deformed, colored bodies that build upon long-standing stereotypes and in-game mechanics to power the player's revulsion and justify their extinction.

The analysis of Sheva

RE5 was originally designed as a single-player experience, according to developer Jun Takeuchi (Kelly, 2009). This seems to be borne out by the 2007 E3 trailer, and indeed Sheva Alomar's introduction appears to be a response to the outcry over the racial depictions in that cinematic. Karen Dyer, Sheva's motion-capture model, remarked that she received a call to audition in 2008 (Gametrailers.com, 2009a), nearly 2 years after the game began development.

Sheva's voice sounds British, with no traces of French, Afro-Asiatic, or Niger-Congo accents. She understands Swahili, but never speaks it during the game. When accosted by a Swahili-speaking soldier in an early cutscene, she replies in English. She does not offer to translate the Swahili radio broadcasts infrequently featured during the game.

RE5's co-op play constrains the player to monitor their partner's safety and neglecting this duty results in death, thus increasing tension. Sheva's move-set reveals the difficulties of programming friendly AI. She follows Chris on a virtual tether around the game map, but only Chris can advance the narrative. She will defend Chris with melee attacks when he's threatened, but her ranged attacks rarely garner the prized headshot that finishes enemies more efficiently (thus wasting ammunition). She picks up objects unprompted but will not use them. The player must organize her inventory, ration her ammunition, and heal her. This does little to encourage sympathy for Sheva; in fact, her move-set and the game's inventory system encourages players to minimize her agency and treat her like a beast of burden. As I played through the game, Sheva's limitations became more apparent. She is only a minor plot device, nor does her character ever become fleshed out. [...] Sheva is simply a game mechanic; incorporated to shunt aside criticism of the game's racial overtones

RE5, however, utilizes a character set more frequently seen in action movies: a skilled, laconic White mercenary type teamed up with an exotic female partner. Sheva's African origins lead one to believe that she will serve as a native guide, but her AI capabilities are not robust enough to allow her to survive autonomously plus she is apparently unfamiliar with the area. At all times, she requires Chris' assistance to
fend off enemies and provide direction. In her role as support person, Sheva does little to challenge gendered and racialized stereotypes of women in media.

Sheva Alomar's depiction evokes possibilities of changing industry perspectives on female videogame leads. Unfortunately, Sheva's character conforms to Western hegemonic conceptions of femininity and race: she is brown, inarticulate, and supportive of the White hero.

Sheva's separation fromany African culture—even a fictional one—and her inability to interact with the Africans in the game (a function of game mechanics as well as a property of the genre) remove any possibilities of cultural affinity. It is entirely appropriate to ask why Capcom did not use Sheva's backstory as a springboard to involve her more deeply in the narrative. Without any emotional, geographic, or linguistic connection to RE5's rendition of Africa, Sheva is the videogame equivalent of Pocahontas: a woman of color coerced into ‘‘guiding'' White explorers across a foreign land that she is presumed to be familiar with because of her ethnic heritage.

On the missed opportunities by Capcom:

At no point are the Africans allowed to be anything other than savage; they are never seen within familiar Western contexts such as high-rise buildings, shopping centers, or at leisure. The setting of Africa allows the savagery of Wesker's treatment of the native Africans as well as his coconspirators; it encourages the viciousness of Chris' response to the infected Majinis; and the continent becomes reduced to an obstacle course as the game rewards players for winning the game in less than 5 hr. While some of these problems are endemic to videogames, RE5 is a wasted possibility for a different take that could have centered people of color and their homelands in the pursuit of the horror experience.

On Josh as a much more fitting protagonist:

The greatest irony with respect to the depictions of race in this game is that Capcom could have avoided controversy altogether by utilizing a character they developed for the game. Josh Stone, a BSAA unit captain, is only the second African American male to be depicted in the series. He isn't playable in the original game, although he can be played in the multiplayer modes and in later downloadable content. Josh's appearance indicates that the developers can develop plausible characters of color; his reticence and complex motivations give him more depth than Sheva, even with less screen time. On the gaming enthusiast blog Graffiti Gamer, Daniel asks why Josh is not Sheva's partner (Purvis, 2009). Stone as protagonist would have gone some ways toward quelling some of the talk engendered by the E3 trailer's depiction of a White man killing Africans. The absence of an African hero defending his homeland points toward Western norms of White supremacy and control. T. J. Storm, the actor modeling Stone, points out during an interview that the game is set in Africa and the ‘‘American comes and tries to help out with the African ‘problem''' (Gametrailers.com, 2009b).

 

[PtM]

Light = purity = good = God.
Dark = shadows = evil = Satan.

Good old Christianity.

Surely it has nothing to do with being afraid of the dark.

 

[Dio]

Surely it has nothing to do with being afraid of the dark.

There's that, too, but Christian imagery especially puts a really big emphasis on it. You know, heavenly beams from the clouds and all that.

 

[Catalix]

Kingdom hearts is racist!? But darkness and light are apart of the basic core themes...i think sometimes people go too far.

I'm surprised you would take such great issue about what I described. Kingdom Hearts absolutely does play into the dark skin = evil trope that Anita was addressing. I doubt Nomura and crew were being intentionally malicious when designing their various original characters over the franchise's multiple entries. But the resulting pattern is pretty blatant.

At this point there's gotta be, what, at least a couple dozen non-Disney, non-Final Fantasy characters that they've created. It's not a coincidence that the darkest dudes in the roster just happen to be the main villain, or one of his many other incarnations.

The idea of light being righteous, and dark being evil is a centuries old concept deeply rooted in many different cultures around the world. That much is obvious. The problem is when that same morality spectrum is directly associated with a person's skin color. In no way is that an acceptable notion to perpetuate in modern media. That fact that it's still being done by some of our favorite creators, often subconsciously, shouldn't be an excuse.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Surely it has nothing to do with being afraid of the dark.

A rebuttal which would have some merit if we were talking purely about costuming and not about skin tone.

 

[Kalamoj]

There's that, too, but Christian imagery especially puts a really big emphasis on it. You know, heavenly beams from the clouds and all that.

What about anchient Egyipt? Those guys were really obsessed with the sun.
Light and dark is deeply rooted in all human cultures, regardless of skin colour.

 

[Hilbert]

I wouldn't say they would've gotten away with it even without the dumb tribal costume. She's still light-skinned in contrast to other NPCs and Professor André Brock published a really good research article on RE and especially Sheva. If you have access to the journal, I'd suggest reading it in full http://gac.sagepub.com/content/6/5/429.abstract

Some excerpts:

The imagery and mechanical representation and interaction with the depicted Africans









The analysis of Sheva













On the missed opportunities by Capcom:



On Josh as a much more fitting protagonist:

This is all really good stuff, and I thank you for posting it.

 

[PtM]

A rebuttal which would have some merit if we were talking purely about costuming and not about skin tone.

We were talking about everything.
For what it's worth, I can believe that some instances just took the overarching theme and applied it to skin without a second thought nor any race ideas.

Also thanks Lime, going to look at that pdf sometime.

 

[Messofanego]

Kingdom hearts is racist!? But darkness and light are apart of the basic core themes...i think sometimes people go too far.

Light and dark when applied to abstract things.

Light and dark when applied to skin colour as to identify good vs bad, that's when it gets messed up.

 

[Messofanego]

She's a feminist with decent points that should be addressed in more than just video games imo. Movies, comics, YouTube, TV shows, and even books are all guilty of what she's calling out.

She has covered other mediums haha!

Haven't you watched older Feminist Frequency videos?

https://www.youtube.com/user/feministfrequency/videos?flow=grid&sort=da&view=0

 

[ArkkAngel007]

I wouldn't say they would've gotten away with it even without the dumb tribal costume. She's still light-skinned in contrast to other NPCs and Professor André Brock published a really good research article on RE and especially Sheva. If you have access to the journal, I'd suggest reading it in full http://gac.sagepub.com/content/6/5/429.abstract

Some excerpts:

The imagery and mechanical representation and interaction with the depicted Africans









The analysis of Sheva













On the missed opportunities by Capcom:



On Josh as a much more fitting protagonist:

I'd argue that the people encountered on the streets of Kijuju are actually Majini, but otherwise I agree with much of these pieces. Sheva and the setting were wasted, among other things.

 

[Catalix]

Light and dark when applied to abstract things.

Light and dark when applied to skin colour as to identify good vs bad, that's when it gets messed up.

Exactly. That was my main concern. It's super weird when artists continue to reinforce that harmful stereotype.

 

[GLAMr]

They should name her Scantae instead...

Shots fired! I love it.

Seriously though, the Shantae images are borderline pornographic. If I had found some of those images in a magazine or instruction manual as a kid, I would have squirreled them away in my porno stash. I'm not saying that to be funny or creepy; it was just the pre-internet age and those images are pornographic AF.

The problem here isn't one sexualised foreigner; its that EVERY GOD DAMN FEMALE CHARACTER HAS TO BE SEXY. If they are not, they are usually there for comedic relief or gross-out factor. If we had more substantial, realistic female PoC game characters, a few sexualised ones wouldn't be as big a problem.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Shots fired! I love it.

Seriously though, the Shantae images are borderline pornographic. If I had found some of those images in a magazine or instruction manual as a kid, I would have squirreled them away in my porno stash. I'm not saying that to be funny or creepy; it was just the pre-internet age and those images are pornographic AF.

The problem here isn't one sexualised foreigner; its that EVERY GOD DAMN FEMALE CHARACTER HAS TO BE SEXY. If they are not, they are usually there for comedic relief or gross-out factor. If we had more substantial, realistic female PoC game characters, a few sexualised ones wouldn't be as big a problem.

I never played the games, so I had no idea it was this bad. I thought it was just the protag and handwaved it 'cause "ok, belly dancer, w/e".

So it's like in Dragon's Crown when the game routinely rewards you with borderline-hentai artworks or something? (For those who don't know, the gratuitous sexualization in Dragon's Crown is far from being limited to the sorceress, by doing side-quests you can unlock gallery artworks like [NSFW] this or this and of course this, there's tons of those... a lot of them are really creepy too, like that victimized/tied up girl. It's very tiresome). Not to mention all the randomly sexualized NPCs like the main vendor, a chained up half-naked girl, the creepy spread-eagle nun moaning softly (from a wound, duh, of course), etc.

 

[petran79]

Shots fired! I love it.

Seriously though, the Shantae images are borderline pornographic. If I had found some of those images in a magazine or instruction manual as a kid, I would have squirreled them away in my porno stash. I'm not saying that to be funny or creepy; it was just the pre-internet age and those images are pornographic AF.

The problem here isn't one sexualised foreigner; its that EVERY GOD DAMN FEMALE CHARACTER HAS TO BE SEXY. If they are not, they are usually there for comedic relief or gross-out factor. If we had more substantial, realistic female PoC game characters, a few sexualised ones wouldn't be as big a problem.

What Shantae! You should have played Golden Axe, Flashgal, Athena or Barbarian when they were popular and seen their promotional posters... But those games were for arcade going teens or computer players where censorship wasnt much of an issue (ehm...Leisure Suit Larry).


The female lead in Wonderboy IV from which Shantae was inspired is actually well designed without being as sexy. They could have designed her similarly and she'd have lost none of her charm.
There is at least comedic relief. Popful Mail is much better in this regard. Both ENG and JAP voice actors are top notch
Especially the Japanesr of Slayers fame

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

Shantae is an odd one, because it's so over the top cheesecake that it's more comedy then actual titillation. everything that can have boobs has them, and they all bounce to the games musical rhythm.

But I do have respect for the fans making sure that she was properly dark skinned, and not light skinned like the first art depicted her in the kickstarter.

And well, outside the cheesecake, it's got some wonderful art, played well, and was worth backing over all.

Just glad I didn't fight that mermaid boss in front of my wife.

 

[Dyna]

I never played the games, so I had no idea it was this bad. I thought it was just the protag and handwaved it 'cause "ok, belly dancer, w/e".

So it's like in Dragon's Crown when the game routinely rewards you with borderline-hentai artworks or something? (For those who don't know, the gratuitous sexualization in Dragon's Crown is far from being limited to the sorceress, by doing side-quests you can unlock gallery artworks like [NSFW] this or this and of course this, there's tons of those... a lot of them are really creepy too, like that victimized/tied up girl. It's very tiresome). Not to mention all the randomly sexualized NPCs like the main vendor, a chained up half-naked girl, the creepy spread-eagle nun moaning softly (from a wound, duh, of course), etc.

I'll probably catch some flak for this, but I honestly don't mind Dragon's Crown's artwork, I like the game quite a lot. Sure, the women in the game are super sexualized but so is everyone else, everything in the game is ridiculously caricaturized and exaggerated and I found that sort of charming, the game has a unique style to it. Shantae on the other hand, like I mentioned in my previous post, is really confusing to me because the games are essentially made (or at least rated) for kids but they still include completely unnecessary and out-of-the-blue sexualization of female characters. Dragon's Crown is at least rated twelve and up IIRC and the borderline absurd sexualization - as bad as it may sound to some - "fits" the overall art style of the game. But yeah, Shantae I just don't get really.

 

[PtM]

It's easy, the devs like cute and sexy. This is their personal threshold where they think they don't compromise their characters/sales/whatever.

And it's working, the fans tolerate it because of the quality and it's all cutesy and humorous, why should anyone take anything seriously, really? Lighten up already, jeez Louise!

 

[Wace]

Well among other things the idea of a group of white males heading off to an exotic location where the indigenous people are seen as tribal savages contributes to the notion of the Other. This seems to ring true in the case of Far Cry 3 which depicts the other races as helpless and waiting for a western, white saviour to rescue them from their barbarism.

Thank you, I think I understand it better now. I guess most troubles for me getting it is that US citizens have some kind of heightened awareness of the skin color. Might be because of lots of different skin colors in their real lifes, dunno. So I suspect that if FC3 would feature, e.g., black/brown/yellow/red/non-white protagonist with whole band-of-friends group being in different colors, and savages would be represented by pure-white Golding's heroes, it would not change anything about the game itself (not one line of dialogue, I guess), while at the same time would save them from being scolded for racism. On the other hand, in my very humble opinion, it wouldn't change anything about the game for those who are not a part of the culture(s) appearing in the game. I know it wouldn't for me. It still would be rightfully criticized for "exotic lustful women" trope, though.

Using stereotypes in depicting cultures is somewhat inevitable, I guess, and shouldn't, in my opinion, be branded as malicious on the whole. If someone uses Hollywood shows or Ubisoft games as a reference point to reality... well, bad for them. As someone who hasn't seen anything but stereotypes and lack of effort for Russians in 99.9% of foreign TV shows/games, I won't ever assume that Bangkok is portrayed faithfully in Hangover 2, or that Columbia is just one big safari park for those who hunt drug dealers, for example, but that shouldn't prevent me from enjoying a game or a movie.

I hope I didn't sound offensive in this rant. And, please, excuse me (and my bad English) if I did.

 

[Soodanim]

I wouldn't say they would've gotten away with it even without the dumb tribal costume. She's still light-skinned in contrast to other NPCs and Professor André Brock published a really good research article on RE and especially Sheva. If you have access to the journal, I'd suggest reading it in full http://gac.sagepub.com/content/6/5/429.abstract

Some excerpts:

The imagery and mechanical representation and interaction with the depicted Africans


The analysis of Sheva



On the missed opportunities by Capcom:



On Josh as a much more fitting protagonist:

I need to replay 5 to refresh my memory and to get a more recent perspective on the game, but I take issue with some of the points you bolded. You can't use shit AI and other gameplay elements to make a point about race, because gameplay and story are disconnected. That goes for the game having a white man shoot Africans, too. No, they're enemies you shoot just like in 4, it's basically a pallette swap. I can't address any other points I missed because I'm on mobile and it takes too long to format a post well, but the point about the Majini language seems bad to me as well. No subtitles to make them voiceless? I don't see it that way. I see it as something that further isolates the characters and increases the danger. Maybe it's because I'm seeing it from the inside looking out, as a fan of the series and as someone who can see it from the gameplay mechanics perspective as opposed to someone just seeing the game and not knowing the series' story.

This is what happens when you shoehorn in co-op, Capcom. Never do it again.

 

[PtM]

I need to replay 5 to refresh my memory and to get a more recent perspective on the game, but I take issue with some of the points you bolded. You can't use shit AI and other gameplay elements to make a point about race, because gameplay and story are disconnected. That goes for the game having a white man shoot Africans, too. No, they're enemies you shoot just like in 4, it's basically a pallette swap. I can't address any other points I missed because I'm on mobile and it takes too long to format a post well, but the point about the Majini language seems bad to me as well. No subtitles to make them voiceless? I don't see it that way. I see it as something that further isolates the characters and increases the danger.

This is what happens when you shoehorn in co-op, Capcom. Never do it again.

Are you one of those "I see only gameplay" types?

If something isolates the protags from the enemies, then in turn it also isolates the enemies from the protags.

 

[Fahzgoolin]

I feel its exactly the opposite... There are a lot more people critiquing traditional media, while feminism in videogames is clearly in its infancy. By focusing on them Anita walks a less trodden path, which requires more research and faces more resistance, but it also allows her to be a pioneer.

And if anything, focusing on just videogames is a vote of confidence. It helps to remind people that while videogames can be just dumb toys, they're often so much more than that.

Huh, I like this perspective.

Thanks everyone for letting me know more about what's out there!

She has covered other mediums haha!

Haven't you watched older Feminist Frequency videos?

https://www.youtube.com/user/feministfrequency/videos?flow=grid&sort=da&view=0

LOL nope. I have only seen what GAF posts. Thanks though!

 

[Figboy79]

I never played the games, so I had no idea it was this bad. I thought it was just the protag and handwaved it 'cause "ok, belly dancer, w/e".

So it's like in Dragon's Crown when the game routinely rewards you with borderline-hentai artworks or something? (For those who don't know, the gratuitous sexualization in Dragon's Crown is far from being limited to the sorceress, by doing side-quests you can unlock gallery artworks like [NSFW] this or this and of course this, there's tons of those... a lot of them are really creepy too, like that victimized/tied up girl. It's very tiresome). Not to mention all the randomly sexualized NPCs like the main vendor, a chained up half-naked girl, the creepy spread-eagle nun moaning softly (from a wound, duh, of course), etc.

It's a SUPER uncomfortable game to play. It's fine when me and my wife are playing it by ourselves, but it's not something we'll put on when company is over. It's too fucking awkward. Which is a shame, because it's such a fun game to play co-op, with gorgeous artwork.

One of the rules I abide by when drawing pages for my comic book (which stars three teenage girls who gain super powers after a gamma irradiated electrical storm bombards their town./end logline), is that if I were reading the book on the bus, and turned to the next page, would anyone sitting next to me and looking over my shoulder roll their eyes or side eye the fuck out of me? If the girls are drawn in some sexualized position for no fucking reason other than to look sexy, I don't do it. If I'd be uncomfortable reading the comic in public, I think twice about the layout of the page and the character's poses now, which isn't something I did in my early comic book days. And I'm not a saint; I love looking at beautiful women, but in my book, specifically, I'm not trying to titillate (I have other projects for that...).

I look back at a lot of my older comics and projects, and yeah, they are cringey as fuck. I was clearly a horny teenager who was enjoying the notion of having some artistic talent enough to draw "sexy" ladies. It's weird to me that there are grown adults in the entertainment industry (games, movies, television, etc, etc), that still think like teenagers. At the very least, I try to get as many perspectives as possible on my portrayal of people not short black/samoan dudes nicknamed "Figboy." My wife has been invaluable for offering a woman's perspective on the development of my protagonists and their portrayal. Discussing these things is the only way we'll learn from them. Getting defensive because someone "dares" to criticize a game/movie/book/comic/cartoon/television show you hav ea love affair with is the opposite of being a mature adult.

 

[Soodanim]

Are you one of those "I see only gameplay" types?

If something isolates the protags from the enemies, then in turn it also isolates the enemies from the protags.

Not at all, but to use gameplay stuff as a point of argument implies that they think it has some connection to Sheva's race or gender, which I can't see being the case.

That's true, and the fact that it's disconnecting on both sides means it isn't a "Look how monstrous, non-white and non-English speaking these black people are" thing, it's just "We're completely cut off, we don't even understand what they're saying" which was true when Leon was in Spain and didn't speak Spanish.

 

[Ferr986]

I never played the games, so I had no idea it was this bad. I thought it was just the protag and handwaved it 'cause "ok, belly dancer, w/e".

So it's like in Dragon's Crown when the game routinely rewards you with borderline-hentai artworks or something? (For those who don't know, the gratuitous sexualization in Dragon's Crown is far from being limited to the sorceress, by doing side-quests you can unlock gallery artworks like [NSFW] this or this and of course this, there's tons of those... a lot of them are really creepy too, like that victimized/tied up girl. It's very tiresome). Not to mention all the randomly sexualized NPCs like the main vendor, a chained up half-naked girl, the creepy spread-eagle nun moaning softly (from a wound, duh, of course), etc.

It's not as bad as Dragons Crown. There's no pics rewards other than one after the credits with the MC with a bikini.
There's a weird section where all the girls are dressed with Leia Slave kind of outfit that is kinda creepy, but it's played in a silly way, there's no actual sexual dialogue/animation/imaginery like those portraits with the girls that looks they 're having an orgasm .

Shantae is basically sexualized designs in a non related sexualized game. The big tits/hips and revealing clothes on every female character are the only sexualized part of the game (not that it makes it OK). No weird poses, sexual happening, sexy dialogue, fanservicey lose poses... It's a world apart from DC.

Shots fired! I love it.

Seriously though, the Shantae images are borderline pornographic. If I had found some of those images in a magazine or instruction manual as a kid, I would have squirreled them away in my porno stash. I'm not saying that to be funny or creepy; it was just the pre-internet age and those images are pornographic AF.

The problem here isn't one sexualised foreigner; its that EVERY GOD DAMN FEMALE CHARACTER HAS TO BE SEXY. If they are not, they are usually there for comedic relief or gross-out factor. If we had more substantial, realistic female PoC game characters, a few sexualised ones wouldn't be as big a problem.

I agree with Shantae females design being questionable but pornographic is a bit much. The most extreme design is basically Shantae in Leia slave outfit, and I don't think that's considered pornographic.

 

[hotcyder]

Really great video; I always thought the inclusion of the alt-skin in RE5 was pretty tasteless (alongside other elements of the title) - and agreed with most of the points brought up.

Suprised that Assassin's Creed Liberation wasn't mentioned though - a game about race that even baked it into the mechanics, thought it was handled pretty well.

 

[Surface of Me]

Just started up the video and holy shit at the Zelda example of good being white and evil being dark skinned. Who thought that would be okay?

 

[Crema]

Just started up the video and holy shit at the Zelda example of good being white and evil being dark skinned. Who thought that would be okay?

I think the problem is that it's so culturally ingrained that dark=evil no one questioned it and considered the implications.

It's why these videos are so important.

 

[petran79]

Thank you, I think I understand it better now. I guess most troubles for me getting it is that US citizens have some kind of heightened awareness of the skin color. Might be because of lots of different skin colors in their real lifes, dunno. So I suspect that if FC3 would feature, e.g., black/brown/yellow/red/non-white protagonist with whole band-of-friends group being in different colors, and savages would be represented by pure-white Golding's heroes, it would not change anything about the game itself (not one line of dialogue, I guess), while at the same time would save them from being scolded for racism. On the other hand, in my very humble opinion, it wouldn't change anything about the game for those who are not a part of the culture(s) appearing in the game. I know it wouldn't for me. It still would be rightfully criticized for "exotic lustful women" trope, though.

Any strategy or action game featuring the Roman Empire is fit for this. There germanic tribes are depicted as savages and barbaric and their women are depicted as exotic slaves.

With the same crass generalizations

 

[Murkas]

She has covered other mediums haha!

Haven't you watched older Feminist Frequency videos?

https://www.youtube.com/user/feministfrequency/videos?flow=grid&sort=da&view=0

I remember watching those videos years ago before her Kickstarter and Gamergate kicking off, it looked like she used to have fun making those videos.

Now = Her smile and optimism : gone.

 

[zoukka]

Now = Her smile and optimism : gone.

When you have to face the shit reality of this world on daily basis it sucks the life out of you.

 

[Lime]

I remember watching those videos years ago before her Kickstarter and Gamergate kicking off, it looked like she used to have fun making those videos.

Now = Her smile and optimism : gone.

I would too with the terrorism that she and so many others face when they're outspoken in public.

This is also a big reason for why many, many other people in games culture and within the industry won't speak up. EA's PR division told EA's employees that they shouldn't say anything during Gamergate's harassment campaign. They're scared and do not want the bigots brought down on them.

 

[Soodanim]

I think the problem is that it's so culturally ingrained that dark=evil no one questioned it and considered the implications.

It's why these videos are so important.

Genuine question: is Star Wars' light side and dark side considered bad?

 

[Messofanego]

Genuine question: is Star Wars' light side and dark side considered bad?

I don't think in Star Wars the light and dark side are based on skin colour, so it's not as bad. The black characters are actually the heroes like Mace Windu and Lando. It's when you have exclusively darker skinned characters like mentioned in the video as the villains and it's tied to light and dark as good and evil, that's when you have an issue.

 

[PtM]

Yeah, as said before, the theme largely becomes bad when applied to skin.

Not at all, but to use gameplay stuff as a point of argument implies that they think it has some connection to Sheva's race or gender, which I can't see being the case.

Why wouldn't you conflate narrative and gameplay? They're presented in one package.

 

[Waddle Dee]

Does she really need to put spoiler warnings in her video for Far Cry 3, a game from over 4 years ago? C'mon people.

Good video, obviously. The tribal women thing in particular has been played to death and is so lazy and shit.

 

[HeelPower]

I wouldn't say they would've gotten away with it even without the dumb tribal costume. She's still light-skinned in contrast to other NPCs and Professor André Brock published a really good research article on RE and especially Sheva. If you have access to the journal, I'd suggest reading it in full http://gac.sagepub.com/content/6/5/429.abstract

Some excerpts:

The imagery and mechanical representation and interaction with the depicted Africans









The analysis of Sheva













On the missed opportunities by Capcom:



On Josh as a much more fitting protagonist:

This is truly fraught with problems.

A frighteningly terrible depiction of race.Probably should be regarded as a reference of what not to do when handling race in a game.