So are rednecks/religious people the new boogeymen now?

[wulf3n]

Can we stop equating "religious/religion" to JUST Christian?

Cause religious people have been the boogeyman for awhile now, they are called Muslims. And all the Christians up in arms about games like Far Cry 5 are often quite unaware that Muslims have been dealing with this for awhile...and many of those angry Christians too often say "How dare Ubisoft persecute religion...we should be killing Muslims instead"...Uh...really?

I've always felt that was more of a race thing than a religious one. For most games it's not about the default enemies being Muslim but rather being from the middle east.

 

[Redryhno]

There's been a spate of media recently that seems to be drawing on the idea that people from the South/Rural areas or devout Christians are violent, misanthropic, and hateful. Outlast 2 (Which dealt with Christian nutjobs in Arizona.) Resident Evil 7 (Southern-accented psychos from Lousiana.) the new Farcry 5 (In fairness, this is hard to judge, as it hasn't come out yet, but set in Montana.) and while I admittedly know almost nothing about Handmaiden's Tale, it also seems to be depicting Christianity as the root of evil. You decide whether or not these portrayals are a true-to-life depiction or a baseless stereotype.

Given the president we have in office, it's maybe unsurprising that this seems to be the new acceptable target. Still, I'm wondering what people think of the change - if they think any change exists at all. So, uh... discuss, I guess? Meh.

Not to drag this into R&P territory too much, but...

Right-wing extremism is (in the US) regarded as the largest terrorism threat by officials.

Again in the US, right-wing extremism is generally affiliated with Christian ideology[footnote]As in, many of these groups believe they are doing God's work, utilize Christian symbolism, and/or attempt Christian religious justification for their actions. It's similar to terrorist groups in the Middle East wrapping themselves in Islamic religious justifications.[/footnote][footnote]https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2017/active-hate-groups-2016[/footnote].

Of course, I doubt the trend is based on any type of actual data. It's more likely that devs finally got tired of the using "brown" people as the default bad guys and moved onto another target.

I will say that watching various groups that love to call others 'snowflakes,' 'PC police,' and 'triggered' lose their mind over such depictions when they are either completely ambivalent of or actively supportive of other identities being used as enemies is a bit enjoyable. There are already pieces up on sites like Infowars with people complaining about Far Cry 5.

Just one thing there. This article dates back to 2015. 2 years isn't that long, but we do have a new president who seems to represent these guys, or claims to anyway, so they're probably not as anti-government as they were back then.

Problem is, this is also a study from the SPLC, who has labeled pretty much all of the Muslims(or ex-Muslims, as the case may be) that have said that a consolidation of beliefs and morals needs to be done for True Islam to actually survive and in some measure of harmony with the other religions of the world as Anti-Muslim Extremists when all they really do is talk and write about alot of the shit that is seen as acceptable and commonplace in present day Muslim countries. We're talking people that may not like where they came from, but they've had threats, attempts on their lives, and just general bullshittery for anyone that dares to go near them half the time from actual Extremists simply because they're saying that things could be better.

I mean, this is an organization that has citizen journalism as something they ask for and take pride in(no, I'm serious, they have like three different links to report "hate" to in addition to submitted "hate watches".). An organization that has people working for them call Daryl Davis, an actual race relations saint who has gotten people to leave the KKK and all that crap behind, a race-baiter. And I'm pretty sure a couple of years ago labelled the cop that shot Michael Brown a racist when pretty much every credible account of the incident put Brown in the wrong and the cop in question as panicy at worst(simply due to how many shots were fired off).

Just saying I'd be more inclined to believe any of it(beyond the groups still existing and people still wandering in, because 8 billion people on the planet) if it were being touted by an organization that I really have any amount of respect for. Off of a report and publication that is "focused on the radical right"(their words, not mine).

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

Oh noes! Rednecks are suddenly a new target to pick on and make fiction abo....

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

I think it's a little distasteful, but that may just be because I know countless good people who are devout Christians/Southerners, and reducing them to an internet boogeyman feels narrow-minded. But I don't really feel like it's worth getting up-in-arms about either. People like what they like.

I'm a born and bred Virginia mountain inhabitant, and guess what; I hate those people too, and I have no problem with the portrayals in this game. In fact, getting to vicariously take on such people like I used to live in driving distance of (The Butler Compound, West Virginia) gives me an extra dose of appeal.

As for internet boogeymen, doesn't bother me either, given the internet I've stared at. The real people are scary enough.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Hey, it works for me. What's that? The antagonists are devout Christian whackjobs? Fucking SOLD!!

 

[pookie101]

considering the terrible things ive done in the name of religion in crusader kings 2.. its only fair i clean up the mess in far cry 5

 

[takanabanana]

RE7 and Outlast 2 are kinda bad examples, in one the people are crazy because of some science mumbo jumbo towers, and the other they're crazy because they're zambinos. They just happen to be Christians. No idea how far cry 5 will handle it, but i doubt it'll be as sci-fi as the others

 

[Frankster]

Honestly i think this is all just a big storm in a dustpan.

Rednecks have never been (in my view) anything more then bottom tier enemies, even in horror films i'd rate them as ok (they tend to come with cool extras and leatherface is quite the emblem but other then that..i prefer other types of antagonists in my horror films ty vm) at best.

Thus i don't think they are the new boogeyman at all, at least i hope not, cuz i find them kinda boring really and as a euro if i wanted to kick on the dumb and ugly lower classes, we have a way better trope: knights crushing dumbass stupid stinky peasants, so in other words, ill go play bretonnia in total warhammer!

Just seems to me like farcry thing came at the right time to take advantage of the current political climate, i mean from a PR point of view this gambit seems to worked at getting a strong reaction which will probably translate into strong sales.

I'd really hate for rednecks to become a craze like with zombies, i just don't see the appeal of them in large doses.

I'm a born and bred Virginia mountain inhabitant, and guess what; I hate those people too, and I have no problem with the portrayals in this game. In fact, getting to vicariously take on such people like I used to live in driving distance of (The Butler Compound, West Virginia) gives me an extra dose of appeal.

I'm confused, you once ROYALLY aggressively flipped out on me out of the blue (considering i can be rather volatile myself that's saying something) accusing me of insulting and denigrating against "people like you" and when I answered I had no friggin idea when if, ever, i have discriminated against you and asked for some clarification you never answered back or even apologized. Pure hit and run bitchiness, i can respect that, and have since learned to do it myself

I assumed at the time you were just trying to throw me off in an argument i was having with one of your buddies (it worked btw, i lost interest in the conversation after that, guess you can pat yerself on the back and score one for your idealogy!) but now reading about how you're a "born and bred virginia mountain inhabitant" who actually quite likes the idea of slaughtering and taking frustrations out (fictionally of course) on your fellows... You can understand why im -^ at reading that. Still its nice to finally get an answer to something i was somewhat curious about a while back!

considering the terrible things ive done in the name of religion in crusader kings 2.. its only fair i clean up the mess in far cry 5

On a more positive note.. Should i ever finally cease to post on this site, i'd just like to say you are one of the most pleasant users on this site and your comments like this usually made me smile
Stay awesome pookie!

 

[pookie101]

Honestly i think this is all just a big storm in a dustpan.

Rednecks have never been (in my view) anything more then bottom tier enemies, even in horror films i'd rate them as ok (they tend to come with cool extras and leatherface is quite the emblem but other then that..i prefer other types of antagonists in my horror films ty vm) at best.

Thus i don't think they are the new boogeyman at all, at least i hope not, cuz i find them kinda boring really and as a euro if i wanted to kick on the dumb and ugly lower classes, we have a way better trope: knights crushing dumbass stupid stinky peasants, so in other words, ill go play bretonnia in total warhammer!

Just seems to me like farcry thing came at the right time to take advantage of the current political climate, i mean from a PR point of view this gambit seems to worked at getting a strong reaction which will probably translate into strong sales.

I'd really hate for rednecks to become a craze like with zombies, i just don't see the appeal of them in large doses.

I'm a born and bred Virginia mountain inhabitant, and guess what; I hate those people too, and I have no problem with the portrayals in this game. In fact, getting to vicariously take on such people like I used to live in driving distance of (The Butler Compound, West Virginia) gives me an extra dose of appeal.

I'm confused, you once ROYALLY aggressively flipped out on me out of the blue (considering i can be rather volatile myself that's saying something) accusing me of insulting and denigrating against "people like you" and when I answered I had no friggin idea when if, ever, i have discriminated against you and asked for some clarification you never answered back or even apologized. Pure hit and run bitchiness, i can respect that, and have since learned to do it myself

I assumed at the time you were just trying to throw me off in an argument i was having with one of your buddies (it worked btw, i lost interest in the conversation after that, guess you can pat yerself on the back and score one for your idealogy!) but now reading about how you're a "born and bred virginia mountain inhabitant" who actually quite likes the idea of slaughtering and taking frustrations out (fictionally of course) on your fellows... You can understand why im -^ at reading that. Still its nice to finally get an answer to something i was somewhat curious about a while back!

considering the terrible things ive done in the name of religion in crusader kings 2.. its only fair i clean up the mess in far cry 5

On a more positive note.. Should i ever finally cease to post on this site, i'd just like to say you are one of the most pleasant users on this site and your comments like this usually made me smile
Stay awesome pookie!

haha thank you what can i say.. its pookie power !

Psst your money is in the post

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Are the antagonists in FC5 Christian, or just another cult that borrows messianic elements, fire and brimstone OT symbolism and psuedo-religious iconography? I'm leaning it toward being the latter.[footnote]Yes, I'm aware there are people that level the same criticism against modern Christianity[/footnote]

 

[happyninja42]

Are the antagonists in FC5 Christian, or just another cult that borrows messianic elements, fire and brimstone OT symbolism and psuedo-religious iconography? I'm leaning it toward being the latter.[footnote]Yes, I'm aware there are people that level the same criticism against modern Christianity[/footnote]

Considering there are over 3000 variations on Christianity, and none of them can agree on any of the same aspects of their faith, your question doesn't actually matter. They have a lot of the Christian iconography, they are in the most stereotypical "Christian" looking church you can have in classic Americana, they are in the middle of the United States of America (a predominantly Christian country), and have a guy talking about being their father and leading them, and all that shit.

So yeah, they're Christians. You can consider them variation 3001+ if you like.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Rednecks have always been fair game ... cross-cuturally, too. I mean the Australian government heavily provided funding to culture and the arts back in the 70s to explicitly show the signs and dangers of social collapse when we allow the human to wallow in cultural decay. That you should grab them by the collar and drag them to cultural improvement.

One movie, Wake in Fright, co-stars Chips Rafferty (in his last movie) who is basically Australia's Captain America, only Australian ... and real. An enlisted soldier that fought Axis forces, entertained troops, and served as a keystone of Australian war propaganda film. Wake in Fright is an awesome movie about the unseemly nature of cultural degradation, by the way. People should look it up. Sordid realism at its finest.

There is a reason why Mad Max came about and why Australian filmmakers were really, really good at showing dystopian films. Less action schlock, more 70s paranoia of whatever happens when civilization begins to unravel through inattentiveness to maintain it. Underlying theories that humans are basically scumbags if you take your eyes off them for a second and all civilization isbuilt on structured ideas and rules of co-habitation.

Turned out to be bollocks, but it was the social psychology viewpoint Miller holds in the original Mad Max movie and it bleeds through quite well. How all Man is but a few shades away from violently insane regardless of who they are.

As for religious people, specifically? Not so much.

Though I would imagine if I lived in the U.S. whereby you have all manner of neo-Protestant cults being created I would decidedly be un-religious, too. Though as an Australian I don't have to deal with that nonsense anywhere near as much. Say what you like about my standpoint on theists, I have made arguments in favour of a deist outlook numerous times on these forums... but when confronted with the idea of Space Christ my patience for saying something more nuanced than 'no' is sorely lacking.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

New, no, as pretty much everyone else has already said.

However, I would suggest that people are noticing it more because of the current climate here in the U.S. People are either saying, "These games are no longer that far fetched" (I personally am falling into that group), or they're going, "Just another bunch of liberal crap trying to paint us as bad people!"
So yeah, I think a lot more people are noticing it now because it's striking a LOT closer to home than it usually does.

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

but now reading about how you're a "born and bred virginia mountain inhabitant" who actually quite likes the idea of slaughtering and taking frustrations out (fictionally of course) on your fellows... You can understand why im -^ at reading that.

Listen and listen good;

People like them are NOT my "fellows". They're at best, edgelords who aren't that popular even with pretty traditionalist minded people around here, and at worst, they're public menaces who threaten to abduct and murder police officers and judges, okay? I like the idea of a game where I get to vicariously fry their bacon.

That clear?

 

[BarkBarker]

It's the changing of the winds to the next fun target after we got bored of the last, chillax man.

 

[Drathnoxis]

What? You never saw Deliverance?

^^^This!^^^ So very much this! It was the first thing that came to mind, in fact.

The hillbillies depicted in Deliverance re-branded hillbillies for generations. Ye gods! It had the same effect on people going camping and canoeing as Jaws did for beach goers i.e. it scared folks off and ravaged tourist industries.

The male on male rape scene remains one of the most disturbing scenes in Hollywood history for countless people (especially men).

On the plus side the movie made "Dueling Banjos" ultra-famous.

Way to post the hacked down theatrical version. The full version is so much better!

 

[pookie101]

Can we stop equating "religious/religion" to JUST Christian?

Cause religious people have been the boogeyman for awhile now, they are called Muslims. And all the Christians up in arms about games like Far Cry 5 are often quite unaware that Muslims have been dealing with this for awhile...and many of those angry Christians too often say "How dare Ubisoft persecute religion...we should be killing Muslims instead"...Uh...really?

Freedom of Religion would mean ALL religions get that benefit, but it seems alot of Christians dont understand that their religion is not the only religion in the world.

The hypocrisy is suffocating.

shh your logic, and common sense is showing haha

They've been an acceptable target since forever, and will probably be for a long time after.

Personally, I'm not a fan of it, it reeks of rampant classicism and kind of epitomizes the Us vs Them mentality that permeates the urban vs rural/exurban rivalry, it's quite frankly dehumanizing. It's not like there wasn't a lot of racist bigots amongst them though.

In any case, here's my contribution to the long list of redneck used as evil antagonists in fiction in this thread, the Peacock family from the X-Files:

That episode gives me the willies.

i had blocked that episode out.. thank you for giving me nightmares again

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I guess the people behind the petition has never seen a horror movie in their life.

I mean, rednecks/hillbillies/cults/religious zealots are practically a staple in that genre right next to monsters and the supernatural.

I just think it's precious that they feel offended because of a poster for a game, of which not much is known yet in terms of actual plot. But, no, this is not new and the cultural and political climate in the US now is just super sensitive to this now, for some reason, and they're just gonna have to deal with it.

They're both tropes which have a basis in real life, and I'm thinking it's hitting a little too close to home for those people. Of which they should probably take a good look at themselves if they have a problem with it, and not much else.

 

[Frankster]

Listen and listen good;

I don't really care about your hatreds and prejudices, i was just semi curious because you accused me of saying shit and insinuating things about you and where you lived, when i didn't even know where you are from or who you were and you didn't deign reply when i asked for clarification. So now i know you're from redneck country (i guess? im assuming just by what you're saying anyways) it seems there was indeed no substance to your previous outburst to me. Whether you just felt like being a dick, helping out your buddy,or some other reason, i care not, what matters to me is your accusation was baseless and thus that mini mystery is solved ^^

 

[Trunkage]

Are the antagonists in FC5 Christian, or just another cult that borrows messianic elements, fire and brimstone OT symbolism and psuedo-religious iconography? I'm leaning it toward being the latter.[footnote]Yes, I'm aware there are people that level the same criticism against modern Christianity[/footnote]

Considering there are over 3000 variations on Christianity, and none of them can agree on any of the same aspects of their faith, your question doesn't actually matter. They have a lot of the Christian iconography, they are in the most stereotypical "Christian" looking church you can have in classic Americana, they are in the middle of the United States of America (a predominantly Christian country), and have a guy talking about being their father and leading them, and all that shit.

So yeah, they're Christians. You can consider them variation 3001+ if you like.

I think it's time I should point that most religions have this problem. There are Buddists suicide bombing Myammar (although all of that county is f'ed up at the moment) and Hindus massacring Muslims near the top of India. ISIL, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram dissavow each other becuase they aren't the right type of Musilm, Just to make sure that I'm completely anti-religious, massacres of religious people were carried out by atheists under Mao and Stalin. Fortunately, nothing lately. So points to atheists I suppose. Those two had a completely different idea of what Communism was.