Hindus Upset Over Asura's Wrath

[Andy Chalk]

Hindus Upset Over Asura's Wrath

The Universal Society of Hinduism is "upset" about Asura's Wrath, saying the game trivializes the symbols and concepts of the Hindu religion.

I don't know much about Hinduism or Asura's Wrath, but a quick glance at Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asura%27s_Wrath] tells me that the game "takes elements from Hindu mythology and blends them with science fiction." I guess that would explain why Rajan Zed, the president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, is none too happy with the game. In a press release, Zed said that "such trivializing and reimagining of highly revered symbols and concepts of Hinduism was not okay as it is upsetting for the devotees."

Durga, the murdered wife of Asura in Asura's Wrath, is actually a major Hindu deity who destroyed the buffalo-demon Mahisasura, a well-known asura - a power-seeking deity mostly living in ancient South India, again according to Wiki [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asura], sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. Zed acknowledged that freedom of expression is "important" but added that faith is sacred, and game developers should be more sensitive when dealing with such matters. If developers cannot "accurately and authentically deliver religious imagery and symbolism," he said, then they should not "unnecessarily poke into religion."

"No faith, large or small, should be plundered," Zed said. Refreshingly, he did not threaten an international boycott of Capcom, Sony, Microsoft or anyone else; instead, he said that he or other Hindu scholars "would gladly provide genuine seekers from [the] videogames industry the resources they needed for their study and research regarding Hinduism."

Hinduism is the oldest and third-largest of the world's major religions, with an estimated one billion adherents around the world. Asura's Wrath [http://www.amazon.com/Asuras-Wrath-Playstation-3/dp/B003O6HLOK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331082930&sr=8-1] has a Metacritic score of 73, and is available now for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.


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[Eric the Orange]

I'm not particularly religious, so I always find it odd that some people who are get so easily offended about it. By this I mean that there are things that I hold in high regard but I don't really care if other people dislike them or disrespect them. But it seems that people are especially touchy when it come to matters of belief.

 

[RaikuFA]

So they're not upset that the game was bad?

Either way, don't tell them about Digital Devil Saga, they'll have a breakdown.

 

[DJ_DEnM]

I read the title as hine-duhs. I was like "WTF is a Hine-duh?". Then I realized how stupid I am /facepalm...

OT: I'm fairly sure that Asura's Wrath isn't 100% associated with hinduism, so they can't really be that pissed off about it...

 

[Hal10k]

Okay. Asura's Wrath has us covered on Hinduism. Games like Dante's Inferno and Darksiders incorporate elements from Christianity. Prince of Persia takes at least a few superficial elements from Islam. Games have been borrowing from the ideas of Buddhist monks & Tao philosophy for years. Pokemon is essentially Shinto, and every robots-fighting-humanity story borrows from the Jewish folktale of the Rabbi's golem.

We need a game based off of Scientology if we want to be thorough on this.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Really? Is this really something to get upset about?

Silly Hindus.

 

[gigastar]

Well, knew it was going to piss someone off with the religious based content.

Though considering several of the things on Wiki about Durga, the one in Asura's Wrath is easily one of the most butchered interpretations ive ever seen of a deity.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Prince of Persia takes at least a few superficial elements from Islam.

The 2008 game pretty directly took a lot from Zoroastrianism, actually. That's not something you see every day.

 

[Dasick]

All they're asking for is for fair portrayal in the media.

No one is "upset", they just want ideologies to be portrayed as they are, not as a loose collection of superficial symbolism and stereotypes. Hinduism (and religion in general) is a big thing, and understanding it properly is a big step towards understanding a lot of people.

 

[Mr C]

This guy's right, all faiths deserve respect. As a Viking descendent I was greatly offended by Too Human.

 

[viranimus]

Shhh no one mention final fantasy to them or else there going to be PIIIIISED

 

[oldtaku]

'the game trivializes the symbols and concepts of the Hindu religion.'

The game takes the symbols and concepts of the Hindu religion and makes them awesome.

 

[Uratoh]

I can understand being upset by this, but at the same time, it's nothing remotely new...every religion has pretty much been raided and tossed about for visuals and etc. It seems to be a bit late in the game to start complaining...

 

[Versuvius]

This guy's right, all faiths deserve respect. As a Viking descendent I was greatly offended by Too Human.

I'll raise a flagon to that. I too was greatly offended by how crap it was and how Baldur was portrayed as a slowass mothers bo-...nevermind. Totally accurate. Carry on.

 

[Dasick]

'the game trivializes the symbols and concepts of the Hindu religion.'

The game takes the symbols and concepts of the Hindu religion and makes them awesome.

How? By removing all of the meaning associated with the symbols and using them in a superficial manner?

 

[Screamarie]

What's this? A leader in a religion giving a tempered and intelligent response? Don't wake me from the dream!

But yeah, all joking aside, I see what he's getting at, but I personally don't see the point in getting uspet over it at all, course I'm not a Hindu or really very religious at all. But at least he's not boycotting and demanding stuff and is actually providing a rational solution. His response is very refreshing.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Dumbest thing I've read all day. Is it so hard to just ignore things?

 

[gentlemanghost]

This guy's right, all faiths deserve respect. As a Viking descendent I was greatly offended by Too Human.

I think everyone was offended by Too Human

 

[Tanis]

O, go bonk yourself Zed.

This coming from a society with a caste system, forced arranged marriages, and has folks bathing in a river so polluted it makes the sewage pipes near Fox News look like they've been run through a Brita Filter.

It's not like AW was making fun of Hinduism/Indians (SEE: The Simpson's) or abusing & twisting some of the iconography (SEE: Nazi's).

Zed needs to get his panties out of their bunch and chill.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I understand how most people could consider this to be trivial, but I can also see how some Hindus could be bothered.

More often than not, High Fantasy or Sci Fi plot design seems to work with a kitchen sink approach to flesh out the initially laid-out world. Tolkien liberally borrowed from Celtic and Norse mythology for Lord of the Rings, everyone knows how Narnia's steeped in Judeo-Christian symbolism and more often than not, Japanese developers tend to sprinkle elements from Shinto into some of their JRPG plots. It probably comes across as giving a more grounded feel to the game's plot, at least from the point of view of a Japanese audience. The same happens when they borrow from Christian iconography, which happens very, very often.

Religion is a cultural product. It shifts in shape and tone as time passes. It makes sense for us to try and pluck elements from it and to try and insert it into new mediums, seeing as we've been doing that pretty much forever. It creates new areas where these faiths can reach new audiences - people that normally wouldn't be touched.

So in essence, it's sad that Asura's Wrath butchered Hinduism, but that alteration process at least has the merit of garnering interest in Hinduism to begin with, which is what matters most. People who are honestly interested and who want to learn more about that religion are likely to use the game as a drop-off point and start their own research from there.

In an ideal world, nobody would ever feel the need to spin religion around at all. Nobody's faith would ever be bothered, and beliefs held sacred wouldn't be open to reinterpretation. The fact is, however, that since none of the above is likely to happen any time soon, it creates a living, breathing ground for reception and interpretation - which is actually what's needed for religions to survive.

Taking a mythology and making it go out of whack is one thing; but reinterpreting or revisiting it - while creating interest in the same process - is another.