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[Yaphett Kotto]

How am I a bigot or a racist because I can acknowledge that there is more to a characters portrayal than their skin color?

You literally just said white people work harder than black people on pursuing a VA career. Come on now.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

If a black VA voiced a white character it wouldn't bother me, as long as the VA was chosen as they best represent the character, regardless of color.

How am I a bigot or a racist because I can acknowledge that there is more to a characters portrayal than their skin color?

People aren't upset because you think characters can be more than their race.

People are upset because you seriously tried to imply that "maybe white people are just more willing and capable of being VAs!' is the absolute only reason why black people are underrepresented in the US voice acting sphere.

I think that (almost) everyone would agree that in a perfect world devoid of our current historical and societal context, any character could be voiced by anyone without issue and that those who can do the best job would get the part. This doesn't have to be an extreme example, nor does it have to be one you whole-hardheartedly condemn or condone, but it's not that hard to at least understand the argument some people are bringing up.

Thank you. This is what it all comes down to and I'm pretty disheartened by how dismissive some people are of what is basically just constructive criticism with no ill intent.

 

[JumpCancel]

U make great points. I think the analogies may be off.

Lack of black characters is the real issue. ND did good!

Companies who lack minority characters in their AAA games should be ashamed.

With people put their energies there instead

Thank you. My last line is playing into the notion that everybody is focusing on the characters skin color and not how well the voice actress portrays her. To me, all I see is a interesting strong female character that I will enjoying watching pay her part in a great game. That's it. I meant no ill will. Clearly people read it as such. I just like that we're getting a interesting character, regardless of her color of the color of her VA. She does a fantastic job regardless.

People aren't upset because you think characters can be more than their race.

People are upset because you seriously tried to imply that "maybe white people are just more willing and capable of being VAs!' is the absolute only reason why black people are underrepresented in the voice acting sphere.

I never said it was the only reason? You all quote me except the part where I said that was the sole reason. It was a point to think on, not take as gospel.

Jesus and you think I'm the one with the problem?

I dont care about ethnicity or skin color. I take the stance that color doesnt matter and I'm dismissive? It might be the lack of representation makes you feel I take this stance because I'm white? Well that isnt the reason.

Everybody misqouting me, using an example I gave and stating I used it as a definitive answer to this issue.

Nice job guys.

 

[Necromanti]

I think that (almost) everyone would agree that in a perfect world devoid of our current historical and societal context, any character could be voiced by anyone without issue and that those who can do the best job would get the part. This doesn't have to be an extreme example, nor does it have to be one you whole-hardheartedly condemn or condone, but it's probably time that we start to at least acknowledge the argument some people are bringing up. My own opinion aside, I can understand why others may have more of a problem with it than others do.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

One of my favorite baseball players is Curtis Granderson, but I don't think his kind should be allowed to play baseball. They force their way into a great land with a rich, established tradition. You would think they would respect that. Instead they try to make their own rules and push their own bastardized culture on those coerced into putting up with them. It doesn't seem right because it's not. Sometimes I wish people would just let things be and stop trying to push their own agendas and appreciate that we even give them the time of day. And that's why I hate the fucking Mets.

Spoiler

this has to be a meme right? right?

 

[Fat4all]

Saying ND included a black character just because, or included a black character as "decoration" is fucking ridiculous.

We know a total of two things about the character.

 

[McBryBry]

The intention, which by all lights, seems pure enough, regarding the decision, dosn't matter, what matters is the result, which is a black character portrayed and voiced by white VA actor.

People are taking issue with this fact, which people has all the right to do so, when the current industry has such a great problem with diversity. Because we, people, question these things is how we can face and resolve such problems.

Facing these issues with arguments like "is ok when a black dude voices a white dude" dosn't really take into consideration the problem.

Maybe this particular instance isn't as aggravating as others (like the lack of non-white leads), but dosn't mean they aren't worth taking into consideration and discuss about it.

Like I said, I agree that there is a problem in general. I don't think there's one here because we've gotten an explanation, and while I get the "black voices white" seems like a cop out, I'm looking at it as a resolution to this specific situation, not the entire issue as a whole. Not even a resolution necessarily, but my mind is going "Well, they're still casting black actors/actresses. They haven't completely written them off."

Because of this, I view it as this not being the specific situation to take this issue out on. I agree completely that there's an issue! Just not at ND.

 

[Perun]

What's embarassing is your lack of critical thought.

Nice.

Druckmann may be a meritocrat but the industry isn't, and the issue we're discussing - reminder: the reprensentation of black people and other minorities - is an industrial problem.

What's being addressed in most of the posts has nothing to do with this issue - the silly racial controversy that was later debunked by Druckmann is what boiled these waters. Besides, I'm writing to you and address your arguments. What you're trying to bring across is some ill-conceived idea of diversity for the sake of diversity:

"Those roles should prioritise talented black actors filling them over talented white actors in order to promote diversity on and behind the screen in the industry."

"prioritise" - Jeez!

That doesn't even say anything of value (and assumes every talent is equal). No, no one should be prioritized because of being a member of a minority just to tingle your sense of social justice.

All you're conveying is that you're convinced the industry is biased (I assume you do have solid proofs of blatant discrimination in this context?), but I might as well throw an argument that there's a shortage of good black voice actors compared to the amount of good white VAs. Maybe this whole Nadine Ross/Laura Bailey situation only proves this rule, did that even cross your mind?

 

[Triggafinga]

The inverse is not the same, and it's irritating to see it come up again and again. There's no under representation of white characters, they are the incredible majority in both movies and games. It's not the same shit.

so only white characters can have a diverse pool of VAs

while black characters (which are few in number because of obstacles like this thread) will lack the diversity afforded to white characters.

Why do black characters have so many obstacles to overcome. You're indirectly hurting diversity.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Mocap introduces a new type of acting that blurs lines between VA and live-action — really realistic characters that have to be a certain percentage similar to their actor in order to work. In the context of history where (white, at least in America) people have mocked/dehumanized other races through media, it can hearken back to that time (though it still happens, just not as outwardly).

I think it's sad that Mocap which can allow total freedom in all aspect end up being think of that way to some people .
But then again we don't live in a perfect world where things are equal .

 

[ZangBa]

Unfortunately the consequence of people creating bullshit controversy about everything is that when there are actual issues they are disregarded.

I feel this is becoming more and more prevalent. This is a non-issue, it's only going to annoy people and cause real ones to be ignored or dismissed.

 

[Xplatformer]

The inverse is not the same, and it's irritating to see it come up again and again. There's no under representation of white characters, they are the incredible majority in both movies and games. It's not the same shit.

Sorry. I clearly understand the lack of representation.

Voice acting (when 90% of the people that play Uncharted 4 will assume the voice actress is black) a person of a different race doesn't bother me in the least. And imo it shouldn't.

I'm trying to think that if Naughty Dog had made Drake a black man, but voiced his character with a white voice actor if it would have bothered me...

Nope...it wouldn't have. But that's just me. A 48 year old black man that has "other" representation issues.

 

[igordennis]

Saying ND included a black character just because, or included a black character as "decoration" is fucking ridiculous.

We know a total of two things about the character.

Yes i dont really understand how someone comes to this conclusion:

What ND actually gave us was blackness as decoration.

 

[TheOfficeMut]

I find the issue stems from the fact that there is an underwhelming amount of voice actors who are minorities, therefore the talent pool from which developers have to choose, which is predominantly white, is going to favor whites regardless; and as a developer, if you're going to choose the most qualified voice actor based on merit and ability, then you're significantly more likely to choose a white person because they outnumber minorities. Similar to certain types of jobs where a certain race or sex is more common than another, you're going to have trouble finding someone who fits the bill with regard to ability and race/sex.

But that doesn't mean that a person shouldn't go the distance and try harder to diversify the cast, and in this case it seems as if Neil did try to do that. I don't blame him for choosing the actress because he not only interviewed a multitude of people from different backgrounds, but still maintained that the actress' talent was the most important.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

I feel this is becoming more and more prevalent. This is a non-issue, it's only going to annoy people and cause real ones to be ignored or dismissed.

If it annoys people, it's not the fault of those who are disappointed in the issue. It does not cause "real" issues to be ignored.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

One of my favorite baseball players is Curtis Granderson, but I don't think his kind should be allowed to play baseball. They force their way into a great land with a rich, established tradition. You would think they would respect that. Instead they try to make their own rules and push their own bastardized culture on those coerced into putting up with them. It doesn't seem right because it's not. Sometimes I wish people would just let things be and stop trying to push their own agendas and appreciate that we even give them the time of day. And that's why I hate the fucking Mets.

What is this?

 

[2San]

It's good that he explained the matter, but I am still confused as to why people view others making it a controversy (before the explanation) was such a wrong thing to do, what's with all the "wait, there's a controversy?" blah blah comments.

I mean, people rightfully condemned Hollywood when they whitewash actors like in the case of 21 or Gods of Egypt. Why can't people expect black characters to be played by black actors here as well, in the sense that it gives black actors more opportunity to flourish in a field dominated by white performers?

Again, it's good that he explained it, and hearing his explanation was satisfactory enough I guess, but people blaming others for getting upset when they find out that the black character was played by a white actor was just weird for me personally.

Yeah, I missed out on the previous thread. I really don't see whats wrong with posters thinking what the hell is going, considering how the industry consistently shafts minorities.

I feel this is becoming more and more prevalent. This is a non-issue, it's only going to annoy people and cause real ones to be ignored or dismissed.

This would have been an example of a real issue. If the circumstance behind the casting where different.

 

[MThanded]

One of my favorite baseball players is Curtis Granderson, but I don't think his kind should be allowed to play baseball. They force their way into a great land with a rich, established tradition. You would think they would respect that. Instead they try to make their own rules and push their own bastardized culture on those coerced into putting up with them. It doesn't seem right because it's not. Sometimes I wish people would just let things be and stop trying to push their own agendas and appreciate that we even give them the time of day. And that's why I hate the fucking Mets.

This must be over my head.

 

[KyleP29]

Certain groups of people are worse off in society and afforded less opportunities than others. In order for this to be rectified we have to as a society strive to make things fair. It's why we have things like affirmative action.

Trying to use the representation of minorities in video games as a platform to promote diversity in voice acting mirrors the same flaws that are found with affirmative action. Both are steps in the right direction, but in reality creating a job, or having a quota to fill, on the basis of race is no real solution for discrimination on the basis of race.

To me the important thing is to ensure that individuals of all races have the same opportunities, feel encouraged to pursue them, and are given the same consideration for the job as every other race.

In that regard i feel that diversifying the representation within video games will go a lot further in encouraging minorities to pursue work in VA (and for developers to considers minorities for every role) more than telling someone they cant voice race x because they are race z.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I feel this is becoming more and more prevalent. This is a non-issue, it's only going to annoy people and cause real ones to be ignored or dismissed.

citation needed?

 

[firehawk12]

Before I check out, I just wanted to raise Sleeping Dogs as example:

They went out of their way to cast Asian actors in all the Asian roles. They didn't have to do that, and probably no one noticed, but one of the reasons why I supported the game was because they intentionally went out of their way to make this happen.

Perhaps the fundamental problem is that Naughty Dog had no idea what the character would look like when they cast Bailey, and maybe they should have nailed down character designs first before thinking about who would play those characters.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

I never said it was the only reason? You all quote me except the part where I said that was the sole reason. It was a point to think on, not take as gospel.

Jesus and you think I'm the one with the problem?

I mean you literally started off by using it as a thinking point. Your thinking point is inherently flawed. There are actual, deeply-ingrained and decade-long social reasons for why black and minority groups are underrepresented in acting circles compared to white people. Your first thinking point involves deliberately ignoring these factors.

I'm sorry but if you really cannot see what the problem there is then there's really no way I can help you. I'm sorry.

 

[Htown]

Cant believe Druckmann actually answered to this. This is a non-issue.

It's obviously not a non-issue. Druckmann agrees, which is why he answered this.

It's a fucking videogame goddamnit.

Sorry, bro. Video games are art. You want to sit at the table with the big dogs like movies, tv, books, etc. as far as storytelling goes? Congratulations, you made it, and criticism is part of your welcome basket.

They have the choice of choosing the voice actor for any character.

And people can choose to criticize the casting if they want to.

If Nathan Drake was voiced by a 3 year old asian girl and would FIT in the game.. I dont see the problem. Bart simpson was voiced by an adult woman.

I agree. Voice acting is a different thing.

Druckmann said a white character is voiced by a black person so where is the issue?

The issue is that for most of modern American history, in many entertainment mediums, representation of non-white characters has been a problem. We're finally at the technological point where everyone has the ability to communicate about anything at any time, so you sometimes get a large chorus of voices going "hey isn't this kind of bullshit?"

In this case, i don't really agree that it is bullshit, but it's definitely worth having the conversation.

I really don't understand the problem

There are plenty of people willing to explain their problem if you want to stop freaking out and read something.

Give developers the choice to choose who voices their fictional characters for gods sakes

And who took that choice away from them? When did that happen?

 

[Daingurse]

Sorry. I clearly understand the lack of representation.

Voice acting (when 90% of the people that play Uncharted 4 will assume the voice actress is black) a person of a different race doesn't bother me in the least. And imo it shouldn't.

I'm trying to think that if Naughty Dog had made Drake a black man, but voiced his character with a white voice actor if it would have bothered me...

Nope...it wouldn't have. But that's just me. A 48 year old black man that has "other" representation issues.

I don't care man. I happen to be a 25 year old black man who does care about such things. And that doesn't really matter either. There are far more important things to worry about, of course, but it really doesn't take much effort to voice my disapproval on a forum. And I will do so if I feel the inclination.

 

[Totaleclipes]

Well, if you watched the video, they cast get before they had decided on a character model for Nadine. They did a bunch of work with Laura, then they decided, wow, that model of Nadine is perfect!

Laura was the best VA for the character. The model they chose matched best with the character AND Laura's performance.

So they thought the black model fit Laura best? Then ND brought the backlash on themselves while i have np with LB and shes a great voice over actress i dont get why ND would chose her to voice a black character, why not just make the character white?

 

[Dictator93]

This is an interesting conversation and I think Mo-Cap stands between VA and Acting.

I tbh, never even considered this. They are quite obviously mo-caping the character and even performance capturing the facial points for animation purposes.

That adds a good dimension to consider. For everyone.

 

[Akara]

Something to think about everyone.

Just to finally not fan the fire, this issue isn't with ND, at least not for me.

This issue is just in the past with race bending and what people are worried about.

I believe personally VA is safe if the VA is representing the character accurately rather than stereotypically or jokingly. That's where I take offense if the representation is done in ill taste. Example of a recent film is Stonewall, Avatar the Last Air Bender and many more.

Films such as The Normal Heart or Philadelphia portray gay people with straight actors but do it tastefully and respectfully. That's what VA is like to me since you can't see the VA's race or sexuality or gender identity. If Laura Bailey respects the character and does a great job with it, more power to her.

Till we get statistics on VA races, let's get more minorities on the screen of films and video games. Mo-Capping is an interesting subject since it isn't only VA.

That's my stance.

 

[Fat4all]

You ever stop to think that maybe there are more white VA because they pursue the industry harder and become more talented, regardless of color?

Much like how Black sprinters typically run faster and are more prominent in the Olympics. Is it down to color, or maybe because they train harder than other people, regardless of color?

This focus on color over character furthers the divide between ethnicities. Again the lack of black characters in games can be attributed to those with creative power, the lack of highly talented black VA or any other number of reasons.

Or are you so focused on a video games characters skin that the person voiceing them must also be black? Are you so insecure about the identity of the character being associated as simply a "black woman" that you feel the need to reinforce it with a black voice actress?

When I see Nadine Ross, I see more than her skin. Apparently you dont.

One of my favorite baseball players is Curtis Granderson, but I don't think his kind should be allowed to play baseball. They force their way into a great land with a rich, established tradition. You would think they would respect that. Instead they try to make their own rules and push their own bastardized culture on those coerced into putting up with them. It doesn't seem right because it's not. Sometimes I wish people would just let things be and stop trying to push their own agendas and appreciate that we even give them the time of day. And that's why I hate the fucking Mets.

Well, this thread certainly went places.

 

[JumpCancel]

I mean you literally started off by using it as a thinking point. Your thinking point is inherently flawed. There are actual, deeply-ingrained and decade-long social reasons for why black and minority groups are underrepresented in acting circles compared to white people. Your first thinking point involves deliberately ignoring these factors and going under the belief that white people are simply more motivated and thus better.

I'm sorry but if you really cannot see what the problem there is then there's really no way I can help you. I'm sorry.

Thank you for elaborating on the point. You are the first to do so, and I appreciate it. Again it was an example that people misread and mistook for something else.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Because there's no reason a voice actor has to look like the character they are playing.

...not really the point.

The point is to give minority actors more chance to flourish in an area dominated by mostly white actors---not to "make the character look the same as the VA."

 

[Frog-fu]

I wasn't trying to "get ya", I was genuinely curious to know since I got the impression you weren't convinced by it.

It sure feels that way given how you're repeating the same questions just phrased slightly differently as if you're hoping for a different answer that is somehow contradictory.

It's not only one, but their last one. They not only represented black people well, but they also tackled homosexuallity very respectfully.

Anyway, If they don't deserve the benefit of the doubt when they had good reason to, then they don't deserve the criticism they got for no reason at all.

First or last, it's irrelevant. They've made one game where they did it right. That has earned them my giving Druckmann the benefit of the doubt by believing him. Nothing more. They'll be entitled to my trust when they make a habit of doing the right thing.

I don't know what point you think you're making but it's confusing.

What do you mean by moan? Does it bother you that there's people who think that there's a place for everything? That you don't need to discuss every issue, everywhere, every time, specially when it's unreasonable given the context?

You whining that people are discussing a topic you don't like.

It bothers me that you - and so many others - seem to think you can legislate racial discourse to suit your preferences.

You can't. Stop trying to.

 

[R_thanatos]

Just saw this ..and i wasn't even aware there was a controversy .
I don't even understand the reasonning. and i do think some people on the internet overreacted . Is there even enough material for a controversy ? What do we even know about the character ?

i'm legit scared. i bet the next controversy on the internet will be about what i choose for breakfast yesterday.

Edit : and yeah i've read the pages here, but i can't understand the logic involved for it to be a controversy , really.

 

[Xplatformer]

Before I check out, I just wanted to raise Sleeping Dogs as example:


They went out of their way to cast Asian actors in all the Asian roles. They didn't have to do that, and probably no one noticed, but one of the reasons why I supported the game was because they intentionally went out of their way to make this happen.

Perhaps the fundamental problem is that Naughty Dog had no idea what the character would look like when they cast Bailey, and maybe they should have nailed down character designs first before thinking about who would play those characters.

Wow. I didn't even know that. I applaud them for that.

It doesn't mean I think Naughty Dog did anything wrong. I just happen to think the producers of Sleeping Dogs did something right. Good for them.

 

[firehawk12]

Wow. I didn't even know that. I applaud them for that.

It doesn't mean I think Naughty Dog did anything wrong. I just happen to think the producers of Sleeping Dogs did something right. Good for them.

Yep. It's one of the things that I, as someone who is Asian, thought was a really cool thing that they did.

And yeah, this is absent this decision by Naughty Dog. I'm just saying that you can be aware of race and casting and make an effort, if you wanted to do so.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Before I check out, I just wanted to raise Sleeping Dogs as example:


They went out of their way to cast Asian actors in all the Asian roles. They didn't have to do that, and probably no one noticed, but one of the reasons why I supported the game was because they intentionally went out of their way to make this happen.

Perhaps the fundamental problem is that Naughty Dog had no idea what the character would look like when they cast Bailey, and maybe they should have nailed down character designs first before thinking about who would play those characters.

Well that could come down to a problem with the development of UC4 .
As we know the game went threw some issues .

 

[orthodoxy1095]

I tbh, never even considered this. They are quite obviously mo-caping the character and even performance capturing the facial points for animation purposes.

That adds a good dimension to consider. For everyone.

I don't think it ads that much really. A lot of the actors don't look too much like their character, the exception being Emily Rose.

Huh. Us multiracial people are portrayed more than I thought. Still not much, but interesting nonetheless.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

I think people are kind of focusing on the wrong problem here.
The fact that the skin color was decided so late in the process pretty much means that skin color has absolutely nothing to do with her character, but that also means that her cultural background probably doesn't have anything to do with her character, which means that all the people praising ND for diversity and what not should not do so in this case. It is easy for developers to just palette swap characters and fill their minority quotas, but it would be even better if they actually took time to incorporate the different experience and culture that the character would exhibit as a result of the said color.

However I think this is why more diversification needs to occur behind the scenes in the video games industry. It is tough for people to write about the cultural experiences and problems that certain skin colors and geographical backgrounds may entail if the designers and writers don't have a lot of experience with that demographic/culture/history.

A similar thing happened to the Witcher 3 where people complained that the main game had almost no minority presence, so they tried to improve it in the DLC and they did, but mostly on the outside, you had cool Eastern weapon and clothes design, but from a story and character perspective there was still nothing.

I'm on the other end of the spectrum compared to you. Why does a brown character have to be brown culturally? White characters aren't culturally white, whatever that is. The fact is when a character can be anything because race isn't relevant they typically are white because we have ourselves in some kind of white is default situation. So when a character that could have been anything isn't white I see that as equally progressive.

 

[Akara]

...not really the point.

The point is to give minority actors more chance to flourish in an area dominated by mostly white actors---not to "make the character look the same as the VA."

No one lost a job here though. They saw Laura Bailey, gave her the job, afterwards they designed the character to be black. If you're discussing a larger context that's an entirely different issue that we need to explore with research and statistics. I'm not seeing the complaint in the VA regarding racebending or hiring white people to play black character. The more bigger issues is hiring prominent VA's over VA's that aren't that prominent. VA in the US has utilized big names such as Tom Hanks or Mel Gibson to voice characters in films and cartoons while Hollywood utilize their big power names to draw in audiences.

This is done in Japan with animes when they use a VA's name to bring in fans that are familiar with that person's voice. I've read somewhere that they call in a professional VA, record them and pay them a little and call in a very famous person to do the voice over instead while training with the recorded voice of the professional VA. A gross practice that should be looked into. If anything the over use of hollywood actor's instead of actual VA is disgusting.

 

[firehawk12]

Well that could come down to a problem with the development of UC4 .
As we know the game went threw some issues .

Sure, I assume they had to hack together a story in probably half the time they usually would have had.

 

[TeddyShardik]

...not really the point.

The point is to give minority actors more chance to flourish in an area dominated by mostly white actors---not to "make the character look the same as the VA."

And they do get that chance whentheir voice suits the character. Why does dicersity in VAs not count when they happen to voice a majority white character?

Don't get me wrong, in volume we're miles away from equal representation, I agree but why are the instances where black actors are considered to be the best choice just ignored because thei character doesn't match their skin color?
Not to mention that so many roles are headed by just a handful of actors in general.

 

[Dictator93]

It is not just VA, people. They are quite literally mapping the the captured facial data to a character model's face, along with, presumably, capture body motion if drake is to go by.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Yep. It's one of the things that I, as someone who is Asian, thought was a really cool thing that they did.

And yeah, this is absent this decision by Naughty Dog. I'm just saying that you can be aware of race and casting and make an effort, if you wanted to do so.

I feel like they were very conscious of it since the studio is in Vancouver. Though I don't know where the game was recorded, so maybe there's more to it.

 

[toddhunter]

I can't help but think of Bart Simpson. Once my mind was blown about his voice actor, all those years ago, I think I just accepted that any character can have any voice.

 

[Usobuko]

Something to think about everyone.

Just to finally not fan the fire, this issue isn't with ND, at least not for me.

This issue is just in the past with race bending and what people are worried about.

I believe personally VA is safe if the VA is representing the character accurately rather than stereotypically or jokingly. That's where I take offense if the representation is done in ill taste. Example of a recent film is Stonewall, Avatar the Last Air Bender and many more.

Films such as The Normal Heart or Philadelphia portray gay people with straight actors but do it tastefully and respectfully. That's what VA is like to me since you can't see the VA's race or sexuality or gender identity. If Laura Bailey respects the character and does a great job with it, more power to her.

Till we get statistics on VA races, let's get more minorities on the screen of films and video games. Mo-Capping is an interesting subject since it isn't only VA.

That's my stance.

Do you have the source which leads to the graph?

Well, I do know the representation are terrible for minority though, just want to know the degree of it.

 

[Akara]

It is not just VA, people. They are quite literally mapping the the captured facial data to a character model's face, along with, presumably, capture body motion if drake is to go by.

This is true but only for some games. Some Mo-Cap actors look nothing like their video game counter part. You can Mo-Cap as someone else and VA as someone else. But still, this is interesting.

Do you have the source which leads to the graph?

Well, I do know the representation are terrible for minority though, just want to know the degree of it.

here you go http://www.racebending.com/v4/about/what-is-racebending/ and the representation for minority is pretty terrible if you want my honest opinion. (has nothing to do with ND just film industry and game industry)

 

[Audible Phonetics]

Something to think about everyone.

Just to finally not fan the fire, this issue isn't with ND, at least not for me.

This issue is just in the past with race bending and what people are worried about.

I believe personally VA is safe if the VA is representing the character accurately rather than stereotypically or jokingly. That's where I take offense if the representation is done in ill taste. Example of a recent film is Stonewall, Avatar the Last Air Bender and many more.

Films such as The Normal Heart or Philadelphia portray gay people with straight actors but do it tastefully and respectfully. That's what VA is like to me since you can't see the VA's race or sexuality or gender identity. If Laura Bailey respects the character and does a great job with it, more power to her.

Till we get statistics on VA races, let's get more minorities on the screen of films and video games. Mo-Capping is an interesting subject since it isn't only VA.

That's my stance.

This speaks volumes.....just sayin

 

[duckroll]

Before I check out, I just wanted to raise Sleeping Dogs as example:


They went out of their way to cast Asian actors in all the Asian roles. They didn't have to do that, and probably no one noticed, but one of the reasons why I supported the game was because they intentionally went out of their way to make this happen.

Perhaps the fundamental problem is that Naughty Dog had no idea what the character would look like when they cast Bailey, and maybe they should have nailed down character designs first before thinking about who would play those characters.

Sleeping Dogs is an interesting example because I think to really nail the Asian setting, they would have had to cast the way they did. It's always so easy for me to tell how authentic a Chinese-speaking setting is in terms of language/dialect/accent even between places like Hong Kong, mainland China, or other parts of Asia, so I'm glad they put in some effort. it wasn't perfect, but it was close enough that it didn't take me out of the game every time anyone said something in Mandarin or Cantonese, so that's a huge plus, especially for an open world game.

 

[Akara]

Sleeping Dogs is an interesting example because I think to really nail the Asian setting, they would have had to cast the way they did. It's always so easy for me to tell how authentic a Chinese-speaking setting is in terms of language/dialect/accent even between places like Hong Kong, mainland China, or other parts of Asia, so I'm glad they put in some effort. it wasn't perfect, but it was close enough that it didn't take me out of the game every time anyone said something in Mandarin or Cantonese, so that's a huge plus, especially for an open world game.

Didn't notice that post but there is a genuine appreciation that is had when things like this are done. Although they could've hired other races that may have had perfect dialect, this is really nice.

 

[firehawk12]

Sleeping Dogs is an interesting example because I think to really nail the Asian setting, they would have had to cast the way they did. It's always so easy for me to tell how authentic a Chinese-speaking setting is in terms of language/dialect/accent even between places like Hong Kong, mainland China, or other parts of Asia, so I'm glad they put in some effort. it wasn't perfect, but it was close enough that it didn't take me out of the game every time anyone said something in Mandarin or Cantonese, so that's a huge plus, especially for an open world game.

Oh sure, and some of the actors threw in some random Cantonese in their dialog, which is something that many non-Chinese actors probably couldn't have convincingly done.

I feel like they were very conscious of it since the studio is in Vancouver. Though I don't know where the game was recorded, so maybe there's more to it.

I didn't even think about that, but maybe that really was a factor.

 

[Mattenth]

I'm honestly pretty shocked by this debate. Nadine Ross isn't a person, she's a completely fictional character.

And it's not even the first time this has happened... This is something that routinely happens in anime, cartoons and other games. I mean, League of Legends' Lucian is black and voiced by Patrick Seitz. Xin Zhao has many Asian traits and is also voiced by a white guy (Richard Epcar).

Are we going to scold caucasian writers for writing dialogue for Asian characters?

So why would we get upset for a caucasian voice actress bringing voice to a South African character?

Was it OK for white men to animate a black woman?

Where do you draw the line?