Does anyone else find Bioshock Infinite's propaganda posters offensive?

keideki

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Imp Emissary said:
SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Calm down. I dont think this is an attack on america, its just an attempt to create that HURR RACISM HURR WUT IF AMURICA WAS LKE THIS BUY OUR GAME HURR atmosphere that guarantees sales.

You know what else guarantees sales OP? Controversy. If, for some reason, it was in fact their intent to get people revved up you better ignore them instead of giving them more publicity. I couldnt give a flying fuck either way, I thought the first one was overrated, the second one was lacking in the story department with tacked on multiplayer and I suspect this game wont turn out too different.
Anyone else notice that there are a lot of racist enemies in games just recently? I think it's because we have fewer shooters in WW2 where we get to kill Nazis, so now the industry has to pump more "general" racists in other games. I don't mind getting to kill a few racists jerks in a game, but a few more Dragons or really cool looking Demons would be nice.....
Having an enemy that is easy to hate helps to inspire the player to continue playing, plus it helps to remove controversy. People might not play the next WWII game if instead of killing Nazis one had to kill orphanages full of children. Although now that I said it, someone will no doubt say they would love to play a game like that.
 

Genericjim101

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Naww this isn't offensive. Columbia's a dark twisted version anyway and any country was kinda twisted with prejudice back then : P
 

Hammartroll

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evilthecat said:
Oh my god guys.. Did any of you see V for Vendetta? They totally misrepresented the UK! Our police have strict guidelines against brutality and yet in the film they totally went around mistreating people and putting black bags over their heads, and they implied that the government is racist! It's an insult, I say, an insult!

No, of course I'm not missing the point. It's totally offensive!

Hammartroll said:
I understand there was a eugenics movement in the United States some time in the 20s, but it's purpose was to breed out the crippled and mentally ill, basically burdens of the state, not promote a particular race; that was just the Nazies. So once again the game is wrongly portraying the US as racist.
Are you fucking kidding me?

{spoiler]
[/spoiler]

It's probably not very clear what that picture represents, but it's basically suggesting that looking like a black person is a sign of hereditary criminality.

Eugenics grew out of 19th century scientific racism and was explicitly anti-misegenation and racist. Try and find me a picture of a black or jewish kid holding his Fitter Families award.
I have to agree there was plenty of racism, infact Woodrow Wilson who was president at the time of this game (or at lest close to it) was an overt racist.

My annoyance with this is they're obviously trying to make connections with Nazi Germany just to push buttons, but they're demonizing America in the process. Racism or not the government still allowed any race into the nation and still do.

Also that pic you posted was more of a remnant from an old idea that facial features or brain structure could determine if your a criminal or not. It's more focused on the face structure rather than the skin color. They had similar theories about caucasian facial structure.
 

Daveman

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tbh I find it quite accurate because it's right wing nutjobs totally misunderstanding their source material and what it initially stood for, isn't that the point? Hell, isn't that the point of most portrayals of dystopia?
 

Crazycat690

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America is extremely racist even today, even with a black president, actually all the protests did just show how racist people can be there. If I was black, I would even today be afraid to travel to the US.

Anyway, the US was VERY racist back then even, however do remember that the game do take place in an alternative dimension, you are in a flying city. Also, it's created by americans so I wouldn't think they hate USA lol. I'm not offended, the US have always been full of assholes, all the big allies have, they've just been lucky in finding bigger assholes to fight to make themselves look like heroes. The US failed on that point when they went on napalm bombing children and then showing footage and pictures from it lol.
 

2fish

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Hammartroll said:
SomeBritishDude said:

I wouldn't say close the the real thing, we were at war with these people and they happened to be foreign, we also portrayed the Nazies as ugly or demonic but they were white.

As long as the game portrays this as a corrupted version of the American belief system then it's alright, but I'm afraid they might make a modern day connection to imigration and just say that America is and always was evil.
There's enough hatred going on you know? No need to fan the flames with lies.
So I can be cruel as hell if they are white? Japanese were not white and he listed some of those posters... So confused.

Stop worrying about people thinking that America was always evil and what not it is a game a piece of fiction if you want some fun reading about America hating immagrants google Arizona SB 1070.

You count the game as lies? It is fiction just as there is fiction showing that all Russians are still in love with Stalin. I am sure some of our Russian member will tell you they are not like the Russians in video games.

 

Hammartroll

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SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Calm down. I dont think this is an attack on america, its just an attempt to create that HURR RACISM HURR WUT IF AMURICA WAS LKE THIS BUY OUR GAME HURR atmosphere that guarantees sales.

You know what else guarantees sales OP? Controversy. If, for some reason, it was in fact their intent to get people revved up you better ignore them instead of giving them more publicity. I couldnt give a flying fuck either way, I thought the first one was overrated, the second one was lacking in the story department with tacked on multiplayer and I suspect this game wont turn out too different.

Your right. I'm being a little bit reactionary and probably should wait for the game to come out, it's just I'm so sick and tired of people hating on America just for the sake for hating on America and then thinking they're so deep and profound for saying something that dosn't actually make sense.
 

kokoska

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i cant believe this thread even exists, and whats more, can actually feel tangible anger welling up in me due to the direction this thread has veered. and the worst wart is that i have posted in it. i need to go punch a wall.
 

Sammaul

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I can understand the problems you have with these ''portrayals'', so to speak, but aren't the -Shock games always in a 'what-if' universe?
 

raankh

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Hammartroll said:
I understand there was a eugenics movement in the United States some time in the 20s, but it's purpose was to breed out the crippled and mentally ill, basically burdens of the state, not promote a particular race; that was just the Nazies. So once again the game is wrongly portraying the US as racist.
You do realise you just tried to justify racial biology? You have missed the entire point of eugencis: racial hygiene. That is the reason for sterilizing, imprisoning or even killing cripples, mentally ill, handicapped, addicts and those of inferior genetics, ie race.

It's absolutely a big part of what the Nazis believed in during WW2, but Sweden and Australia kept up their eugencis activities until the early-mid 70's.

Its definitely racism and it was, and is, much more widespread than historical Germany.

I'm not even going to comment further on the "wrongly portraying the US as racist" when the facts that the US is racist are so blatantly obvious. Arabs? Chinese? Right, American's really love those two "races".
 

Mark Flanagan

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No, It's propaganda. End of the day the US has a less than spotless record for racism especially during when this is set and even today isn't the shining beacon of the modern world it would like to pretend it is.
 

Archany

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It's satire, the game is rather heavy-handedly showing that purism and segregation are wrong
 

DracoSuave

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Hammartroll said:
-other ranting snipped-

I know the US has been involved in some questionable activities both today and through out history, but to miscontrue us as total bad guys and disregard the strides in equality and humanity America has made is just looking at things in black and white and if anything, it's a sign that the creators of this game are victims of anti-American propaganda themselves.
It's an obvious work of satire for fuck sake.

If you can't understand such an obvious thing as that, you are not capable of judging the work... just like someone who cannot understand english is not capable of judging an english copy of Moby Dick.
 

dibblywibbles

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stop the huns! we must stop this vile propaganda from being made in a twisted fantasy world where there is a giant flying city! that's what I'm supposed to be upset about right? we get it. America is awesome(my neighbour to the south and I have genuinely fond feelings for each other), flying cities are stupid bourgeois racists, and propaganda should never be misleading and should be done in a just and balanced manner. like fox news.

oh and I guess to answer the question... no. there is not one bit of offensiveness in those posters.

and something off topic... ads in the stupid captcha thing on the bottom now? it was already inconvenient when you weren't trying to sell me laundry detergent. i like my gain thank you very much and I refuse to switch!
 

Imp_Emissary

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Hammartroll said:
evilthecat said:
Oh my god guys.. Did any of you see V for Vendetta? They totally misrepresented the UK! Our police have strict guidelines against brutality and yet in the film they totally went around mistreating people and putting black bags over their heads, and they implied that the government is racist! It's an insult, I say, an insult!

No, of course I'm not missing the point. It's totally offensive!

Hammartroll said:
I understand there was a eugenics movement in the United States some time in the 20s, but it's purpose was to breed out the crippled and mentally ill, basically burdens of the state, not promote a particular race; that was just the Nazies. So once again the game is wrongly portraying the US as racist.
Are you fucking kidding me?

{spoiler]
[/spoiler]

It's probably not very clear what that picture represents, but it's basically suggesting that looking like a black person is a sign of hereditary criminality.

Eugenics grew out of 19th century scientific racism and was explicitly anti-misegenation and racist. Try and find me a picture of a black or jewish kid holding his Fitter Families award.
I have to agree there was plenty of racism, infact Woodrow Wilson who was president at the time of this game (or at lest close to it) was an overt racist.

My annoyance with this is they're obviously trying to make connections with Nazi Germany just to push buttons, but they're demonizing America in the process. Racism or not the government still allowed any race into the nation and still do.

Also that pic you posted was more of a remnant from an old idea that facial features or brain structure could determine if your a criminal or not. It's more focused on the face structure rather than the skin color. They had similar theories about caucasian facial structure.
I may be wrong, but wasn't Woodrow the one who said Birth of a Nation was really good and really true? If so, yeah...very racist.