Square Enix Responds to "Racist" Deus Ex Character

[Logan Westbrook]

Why is it a mistake? Are you seriously telling me that absolutely every individual living in an inner city area doesn't speak with such heavy affectation and slang? Because even here in the UK, people from the inner city areas, particularly around London, do have a significant "street speak" about their dialect. It's not just black people, either. White people who are brought up in the inner city who associate with what was generally seen as 'black culture' also adopt that way of speech and how they carry themselves. While Letitia does have something of the fifties about her, i think it's a bit myopic to not see inner city culture having its roots in what was once hyperbolised by the privileged majority. I would've considered it to be more jarring if she spoke with perfect diction. She already looks a little bit too neat to be a hobo as it is. (Then again, all hobos in Detroit seem to have that problem)

I'm not saying - and never did say - that every character should have perfect diction. What I'm saying, and what the original complaint is, is that the dialogue written for Letitia draws on old negative stereotypes for African-Americans. It's worth pointing out as well, that no other character in the game, not the other hobos, punks, or whatever, speak like she does.

Africa is still a third world country by most standards. I appreciate the mud hut villages and savage portrayal of native Africans throwing spears and such is upsetting, but what else would you expect to find? Sprawling cities and paved streets? If Capcom didn't want to draw on that imagery, they shouldn't have chosen Africa as the stage. What bothers me is how people claim to have no problem with the game being set in Africa yet fail to recognise such imagery would be inevitable given the location. It's not even as if the entirety of the game was that one painful trudge through the mud hut villages; before that you had a reasonable shanty town and later on an escapade through a vast military complex.

That's the thing, such imagery isn't inevitable in an African setting. I suppose it's a bit much to expect nuance and subtly in a Resident Evil game, but what Capcom presented was, at best, a caricature of Africa, and not an especially kind or accurate one either.

 

[Treblaine]

...to object so vehemently to her portrayal would mean you'd have to object to...the Asian stereotypes in Cooking with Mama.

First, point of accuracy; it's called Cooking Mama; no "with".

Second, that's a rather strange thing to say, even for the purposes of exaggeration in an analogy. It's a Japanese game and that's a real Japanese woman speaking actual terrible English. It's not any kind of attempt by the Japanese devs to portray their own culture in any way at all. It's just gratuitous English like in so many Japanese games, as badly done as usual.

Hmm Japanese housewife in the kitchen, cooking and NOTHING ELSE? While curiously joyful at the menial task of chopping carrots?

There, anyone can play the Racism-game and make things out as "offensive stereotypes" here the double whammy of "woman in the kitchen" and "deferential Asian housewife".

It doesn't matter if there really are women like that, or that Japanese men (or even housewives) may have made it, it's still a stereotype and you can crucify people for that just with innuendo of racism.

I don't think cooking mama is offensive, just that it can be made to appear offensive.

 

[debossman21]

this guy is just another poor asshole trying to make a little cash by screaming "RACISM" at the to of his lungs every time an ethnic person is involved. problem is, the louder and more frequently he yells it, the more credibility he loses

 

[Dutch 924]

Noone seemed to complain about Dead Rising 2 when the black lady you have to escort would randomly blurt out phrases like "Say whaaat?" I don't see how this is any different.

 

[Chronologger]

As far as I am concerned, if it was not MEANT to be racist, then it isn't racism.

The KKK are racist.
Neo nazis are racist.

"There's a different group to get pissed off at you in this country for everything your not supposed to say. Can't say ******, Boogie, Jig, Jigaboo, Skinhead, Moolimoolinyon, Schvatzit, Junglebunny. Greaser, Greaseball, Dago, Guinea, Whop, Ginzo, Kike, Zebe, Heed, Yid, Mocky, Himie, Mick, Donkey, Turkey, Limey, Frog. Zip, Zipperhead, Squarehead, Crout, Hiney, Jerry, Hun, Slope, Slopehead, *****, Gook. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those words in and of themselves. Their only words. It's the context that counts. It's the user. It's the intention behind the words that makes them good or bad. The words are completely neutral. The words are innocent. I get tired of people talking about bad words and bad language. Bullshit! It's the context that makes them good or bad. The context." - George Carlin

 

[Macgyvercas]

I fail to see why it really matters in the grand scheme of things how someone (especially a fictional character) is portrayed in a game.

What all these politically correct morons need to learn is that no matter who you are, if you live on this planet, you are fair game to be made the bad guy or have the piss taken out of. NO EXCEPTIONS!

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

I'VE MET PEOPLE WHO TALK LIKE THAT. Jesus Christ, what a kneejerking sanctimonious fuck.

 

[Namewithheld]

I'm amused that people are freaking out over a character I never even met in the entire game. I didn't realize you COULD talk to her...

 

[Logan Westbrook]

I wonder would he consider this racist:


Hmm, they're talking in "broken english" therefore Steven Spielberg and Alice Walker are RACISTS!

Seriously? You're using The Color Purple to make that point?

 

[Logan Westbrook]

This isn't the double post you're looking for. Move along.

 

[Alon Shechter]

That South Park episode about the flag comes to mind.
Really, if they stop paying attention to EVER SINGLE black character in EVERY SINGLE game, it will just stop being a big deal and nobody would give a damn that the character is freakin' black.

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

Hey.

The Deus Ex vocal racism is funny as hell to me. Breaks my immersion a bit. But makes me laugh.

I, personally, didn't feel that anyone should be offended, then again...I'm a white male.

Besides, remember the accents from DE1?

Yeah...

Hahahaha. Thanks for reminding me of so much I've forgotten. I might even re-play it soon (for the 20th time full play through or something).


EDIT: OT: Say whaaaaa? No, I don't believe it's racist. Just like I don't believe that it's sexist when Oprah caters to women, or smartish when Jeremy Kyle caters to chavs.

It's a STEREOTYPE. A stereotype for a reason (it actually existed), and it's played with a straight face. We're not 'poking fun at the blackies', we're just looking at a possible outcome of society.

Why in this modern day and age, can we have serial killers in our games, but as soon as we put a woman with an apron behind a stove, everybody jumps?

 

[wangtron5000]

So what if that particular character spoke weird. So Jensin, with his deadpan gruff voice was a portrayal of all white people? Or are all the other characters in the game just "portrayed more PC", and the developers crossed the line on just one? There are gang bangers in my town for example, who intimidate and make everyone else feel uncomfortable, is there anyone who would say that they are representing everyone of that culture? Reviewers love to show how worldly they are by mentioning these things they see in games. Not a representation of all reviewers of the race they belong to, but they as a single person are not smart and lack critical thinking skills. Letitia isn't the problem, Racemongers are.

 

[hooksashands]

I'm going to Kentucky tomorrow and pretty much everyone from around there talks like this, black and white.

 

[garjian]

is it not racist to assume that they are trying to portray black people as a whole?

there are plenty of black people in this game and only one of them is her.

 

[The Lugz]

I've seen people talk like that, usually drug users
( or i assume they are or perhaps just a bit dimwitted and lazy / weird with their speech )
i don't see anything particularly racist, a little over exaggerated voice acting perhaps but that's not a crime
( although sometimes it should be )

frankly, the human race isnt grown up enough to be worrying about possible accidental racism in computer-games we make so many elementary mistakes on a daily basis and insult people by accident that really, what's one computer game npc?.. really?

 

[SillyBear]

snip for length

What is wrong with expecting artists and writers to present characters that are valid on their own terms, and don't appeal to tacky stereotypes?

The execution of this character is appalling. It's overly cliched and offensively stereotypical. How can we get past racism and race divisions when this type of classless shit is going on? When every time someone creates some one dimensional character that has one character detail:

Stereotypically black.

Answer is we can't. Defending this is defending the stereotype, but more annoyingly, its defending the amount of effort and work that went into this character. It's cheap, it isn't classy and it is degrading. Like I said earlier, I'm black, and female and no this doesn't offend me. It's nowhere near enough to get offended over, it's nothing major. It just annoys me. We need to be better than this.

But the real annoying thing is that there are so many people defending this. I don't care if you don't think it is racist despite many black people believing it to be so. I don't care if you aren't offended. I only care about the fact that you apparently see nothing wrong with this rubbish. Surely you can't condone the characterisation here? Surely you are in favour of presenting in depth characters and putting thought into this art form?

Racist or not, this was an issue that really broke immersion for me in game and put a smudge on what otherwise was a game I enjoyed. I don't like to see my race portrayed like this, because I know the evil and the persecution that is behind these stereotypes in the first place. I don't beleive the writers were intentionally being racist, and they probably have no malicious bone in their body - but they are being tacky. And I don't like it, especially because it is my own race they are being tacky with.

I just like to think that characterisation is past this. It's apparently not.