trty00 said:
So, let me get this straight...
Mr. Wreden created a game that had an image somebody was particularly upset with. They then decided to contact him and let him know of their issue, and Mr. Wreden, not wanting to upset anybody in the extreme, decided to change it. After all, he's the creator of the work! Therefore, it's his right to change something if he also feels it's an issue, and he doesn't just live in an elitist bubble that's somehow above criticism! The image can easily be replaced with one that has no racial connotations, which would probably be better in the long run anyway as the image of the downtrodden black male being overpowered by the well dressed white male is still heavily burdened by racist symbolism. One day, it won't be, but that day is not today.
But no, let's close our eyes and ears, pretend the problem doesn't exist, hold on to the laughable notion that art is objectively above this kind of serious criticism and scream 'POLITIKAL CORRECTNESS' if anyone says otherwise! YAY!
FUCK!
There's this thing called satire, see. It's often used to comment on a broad social issue. It commonly does this with parody. Now, there was an era called the 50's. It existed between 1950 and 1959. This was a time of civil unrest in the United States of America. This was also a time of great cultural painting, wherein certain supposed and desired norms of certain wealthy groups were relayed en mass via the booming medias of television and propaganda. Thus, the white American dream with a white picket fence and two to three white children was born. Oh yes, this was an age of greatness for the white men. Indeed, being white and American was just the best damn thing around. Sadly, those unlucky enough not to be white or born in the land of freedom, were plum up poop creek. But never fear! The brave American men and women prayed for them and did their darndest to seem as if they cared.
But that was then and this is now! Right? Not so much. See, that mass popularization of moral and often religious values continued to this very day! Instead of posters and humorous radio adverts reminding us how great white people are, we have ghetto slums and the racial branding of crime! Ho ho.
Now, stay with me here. This is tricky. What if - what
if someone was to comment on the broad racial classing that bloomed in the 50's and continues to this day, by demonstrating how absurd it is, using, get this, a parody of one of those very adverts! I know what you're thinking, it's shockingly brilliant. But let me finish. See, what this might do, is make us think about racism in our own lives and how our behaviors and pop culture will seem to those of the future in some forty years time. It's almost as if by parodying this example of the white washed American dream, the artist hoped to make us all a little more aware of a social media that only grows in reach and influence, while also giving you a little chuckle at how absurd it all is.
But fuck all that! Let's all pretend we care about racism and get angry in a forum! Thinking about things is too hard. Social media? Ingrained racism? Commentary on the very nature of society and classism? Why bother with all that when we can point at something, yell "racist!" and pretend we are in any way contributing to the betterment of society. We need to get back to "helping" the "Muslims" by burning down their homes. 9/11. Terrorism. WMD. Al-Qaeda. Oh shit, I just spelled out the joke, didn't. Well shit!
They even put a black child in the poster to make it
more obvious. How blatant does one have to be before people get it? Should they have just written satire on a black frying pan and hit us over the head with it? That'd probably be too subtle. Christ!
