Square Enix Responds to "Racist" Deus Ex Character

thethingthatlurks

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Feb 16, 2010
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mesoforte said:
There is a difference between the portrayal of a character and a portrayal of a race.

If this is within the character, it only applies to that character, not to an entire race of people. Just because a character is portrayed a certain way does not mean its bringing everyone down.

I wish people would stop identifying an individual as anything more than that.
This.
There's a distinction between an individual and an entire group. If all black women in the game had sounded like Latitia (ie vaguely transsexual), we would have a problem. This of course applies to RE5 as well (granted, I haven't played it).
Heh, just imagine if all Caucasian characters in the game had sounded like Adam *amateur Batman impersonator* Jensen...
 

Ranooth

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Mar 26, 2008
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So people aren't concerned about the fact that you can impale her with weird augmented arms, or the fact you can shoot up a whole police station or brutally murder an old women with a fridge but they are with someone's voice and the colour of their skin?!

This is one weird world indeed . . .
 

JdaS

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Oct 16, 2009
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Other than the fact that the voice doesn't fit the character model, AT ALL, I don't really see a problem here.

Damn, that "WEEEELL SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT" got me good... Oh, you.
 

BlueMage

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Jan 22, 2008
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DanielBrown said:
I'm more bothered with the protagonists voice. What's happened to his throat?
Augmentations require you to gargle with gravel. Every day. True fact.
 

swimon

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Jul 23, 2009
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Bribase said:
Carlston said:
When is the last time a GERMAN was in a name and NOT a nazi? Hmmmm?
Hmmn... 2000?

Yeah because if there's one thing you can say for sure about Gunther Hermann, cyborg psycopath, it's that he's not a german stereotype. Also he is not in any way an ersatz (get it? Because he's german... he, he, he) nazi.
 

JAWZxZ

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Mar 21, 2010
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Oh shit, everyone drop everything, somebody was offended by a character in a GAME. How dare they offend me, I need to be as vocal and annoying about this as possible.

The character isn't "racist" calling someone a racial slur or attacking them because they're different than you is racist. This could be a misguided stereotype, and I find it laughable. Anyone who gets genuinely offended by this sort of thing needs to get their priorities straightened out.
 

Mr.Pandah

Pandah Extremist
Jul 20, 2008
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q fucking q. Honestly, People like this just bother me. They're always looking for something. I can't believe that people still get bothered by things like this. So, close your eyes and imagine she's white if it bothers you that god damn much while you're playing this game.

I know why people look for stuff like this, but I still have to ask... WHY DO PEOPLE STILL LOOK FOR STUFF LIKE THIS!? It boggles my mind.
 
Dec 27, 2010
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dogstile said:
She was actually one of the more memorable characters in the game because she had a damn personality.

I love how that personality screams racist nowadays.
Exactly. If anything was actually racist in this game, it would be that Chinese prostitute with the terrible voice-actor or the offhand referral to an Irish man as a "Mick" (an insult that hasn't been used since the eighties, and wasn't even that offensive then), but I don't see people go up in arms over things like that. To quote "To Kill A Mockingbird"; "Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand".
 

EHKOS

Madness to my Methods
Feb 28, 2010
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I thought they'd get more up-in-arms about the whole "Ancient Chinese Secret" comment >.>
 

iniudan

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Apr 27, 2011
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F.A.T. Larry's last line perfectly say my sentiment toward what this guy is saying.
 

EvolutionKills

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dogstile said:
She was actually one of the more memorable characters in the game because she had a damn personality.

I love how that personality screams racist nowadays.

Agreed. I also loves how he completely ignores the other black female you meet in Detroit, Jenny Alexander. The one that is in deep cover as a prostitute, while working in Internal Affairs and getting Jensen to help her out with her case against O'Malley. You know, a strong and dedicated police officer. Whoops, a crooked cop named O'Malley in Detroit? Good god, hope he isn't Irish, or else STEREOTYPE!

*roll eyes*
 

thedoclc

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Jun 24, 2008
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LilithSlave said:
These types of characters do happen a bit too often in media though, and have spread some negative stereotypes about black people that will be hard to undo.

Like Barret of Final Fantasy VII, it's not racist perhaps in and of itself, but it could be seen as part of a larger trend that is negative for black people.
I'm leaving out your comments about cultural imperialism as that is a different can of worms.

Actually, Square back then did catch some flack for Barrett. There was backlash and defense on both sides. Now, I am not an expert on Japanese culture, but I have a passing familiarity with it. (No, watching anime and playing JRPGs does not make you an expert on Japanese culture, folks.) The Japanese often include stereotypes completely unironically and without even realizing they could be taken as offensively. RE 5 is without a doubt the obvious example. I think almost every American developer would have had a little red flag go up. Even if it isn't racially offensive, the Mighty Whitey protagonist shooting up native Africans with his Not Too Black hottie (braindead) sidekick just has to be handled with kid gloves.

I do not believe the Japanese get that.

American developers aren't much better, to be frank. I just conducted a little informal survey of my current gen games. Of, sure, Louis and Rochelle of L4D are minority characters who don't stumble all over themselves as racial stereotypes. Lots of shooters have the Black Heavy Weapons Guy who plays second fiddle to the white-as-snow commander. Prey was almost stunning in its preachy "native Americans good - and totally a stereotype" vein. I counted that in 33 of 35 games where there was a defined protagonist AND the game isn't in a fantasy 'verse, he was white. (ME, Rockband, sports games, etc all create a protagonist or play a team. A fantasy 'verse might excuse the lack of racial minorities. Etc. I'm counting games where there is one or two clearly defined protagonists.)

This line up is whiter than a 1920's golf course. And females? Doing better than minorities, which should not be mistaken as doing well.

And then, the exceptions: Garcia Fucking Hotspur, a character so disgustingly full of stereotype he comes around again into full parody mode. Tommy, the Cherokee from Prey so hackneyed and forgettable I had to look him up, and the black cop from House of the Dead: Overkill, a character so busy speaking jive and saying ************ I can't be assed to look him up.

Against these stereotypes, what well rounded, non-white, non-Japanese characters can I spot? I can spot a couple of token black guys in shooters. Jacob Taylor may be an annoying character, but at least it's not due to an attempt to portray race. The captain from Dead Space, also so forgettable I don't care to find out his name.

And no, I don't want to hear about Carl from GTA; that series can't clear up its hammy ethnic gangs by having one minority protagonist, especially when he's a criminal.

Yeah. This industry has a long way to go on this. Still, while it seems to me Japanese developers tend to load up on walking stereotypes almost unintentionally (just look at the Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter or Soul Caliber line-ups, OK?), western developers just don't even portray well-written minority characters.

And Gracia Fucking Hotspur? Seriously, did no one on that team decide that making a Mexican character who speaks maybe twelve words of Spanish, eight of them obscene, regains health by drinking tequila, and who speaks with an accent more stereotyped than Speedy Gonzales was a wee bit much?
 

Mr. 47

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May 25, 2011
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I HATE it when people declare things like this racist. PEOPLE TALK LIKE THIS IN REAL LIFE. Very, VERY stupid statement. One of the scientists in the game was African-American, there were many different african-american characters in the game, and because ONE talked like she was from the deep south, it is instantly racist? There isn't even anything racist about a southern accent for crying out loud! There was a guy with a strong Irish accent who said 'Lad' and 'Wankers' they must also hate the irish, huh?
The heart of the vast conspiracy of the game is in Montreal! Damn them Canucks!







(slap yourself if you are offended by this, it's a joke, and I AM CANADIAN!)
One of the bad guys is crippled! Damn their not malfunctioning bodies; taking our tax money and killing millions.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Jul 18, 2009
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Sober Thal said:
Does this mean Bill Cosby is racist for making Fat Albert?
The way she talks, I nearly expected him to walk on stage.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going down Adam?"