Why Straight White Guys Shouldn't Always Play Games As Themselves

[blackrave]

Do not allow this man to fool you, straight white men are not a hive mind, we're individuals too. I swear.

Wait, we're not?
And here I thought that I simply missed my "Oppression&Privilege" lessons in middle school (or whenever they take place)
Wasn't mental unification part of it?
Wait a minute!!!
[looks at own skin]
I'm not white! That explains everything!
.
.
.
Except Caucasians are supposed to be The White People
.
.
.
Can someone define "White people"?
I'm confused.
What am I?

P.S. And should I be offended or not?

 

[UberPubert]

What am I?

A GDI Wolverine, apparently.

 

[SlightlyEvil]

I enjoy playing a well-written character whose life experiences differ from mine (as a straight white male), such as Lee. However, the game has to be well-written to gain the benefits of that diversity. Lee is engaging for me as a white man because I can notice all the subtle differences in how people treat him, even when they're friendly and aren't intentionally or even consciously racist toward him.

That said, when the game has a more customizable main character (Skyrim comes to mind), I tend to play closer to myself. I find it easier to project into a blank-slate character when he's like me. Also, the thinner characterization means that playing a black character or a female character or such essentially just becomes a palette swap, meaning I sacrifice some of my ability to identify with the character without gaining a new perspective.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I do feel quite bland and boring to others when i admit im straight and pasty white and male. It is a self conscious thing. However, i like to think the almost non-existent self-esteem, chronic depression and anxiety and willingness to self destruct, sort of makes up for that...right?

...Right?

 

[blackrave]

I better play bland protagonist nr.5894, than insulting stereotype
And how well people can design characters they're not familiar with?
Best case scenario they can simply swap gender and/or race of character
For example I couldn't write well black homosexual muslim female character even if my life would depend on it.

What am I?

A GDI Wolverine, apparently.

Dammit, stop being so shallow!
Just because I have bipedal chassis, hardened steel shell and dual miniguns doesn't mean I'm worse than you!

 

[Imp_Emissary]

Thanks for the article Rath.
It reminds me of a particularly annoying argument people make for why this or that media doesn't have more non-white/non-male characters.
"Because the demographics interested in this product are mostly white/male".

It assumes that white men only ever want to play a game that has a protagonist similar to what they are. Which is a load. Heck, some of my favorite characters aren't even human/humanoid. As you said, making a character a different color, or sex isn't going to make it better on it's own. However, adding different types of characters into games can let you tell stories that wouldn't quite work otherwise.

The example you gave of Sleeping Dogs was a good one.

 

[Piorn]

Important article, yes.
The problem is just, the only way to approach this problem is to create interesting characters, and this is not easy, especially due to the bloated way video games are made nowadays. When games can make millions and still be considered a failure, there is no way to take risks, and you have to appeal to an established playerbase. This leads to blander titles, overhyped expectations and more "failures". It's circular logic at it's finest.


On a related note, why do market researchers seem to think you can only "identify" with "your demographic" though, I never understood that. I've never watched a fantasy or Sci-Fi movie where I thought "this person is technically not exactly like me, so I can't identify with it's problems".
The magic of media allows you to mentally put yourself in somebody else's shoes, that is the entire POINT.
I don't play the Witcher because Geralt is a white male, I play it because I am not a tough monster hunter in a medieval fantasy world.
I don't watch Star Wars because Luke is a white male, I watch it because I am not a Jedi apprentice on an Intergalactic adventure.
Race or gender doesn't factor into my enjoyment of these at all.

 

[Phasmal]

I'm still stunned at the amount of comments in topics like this that think that fair representation is `demanding to be catered to`.

Not sure why you're stunned. Opening an article with "your demographic is fucked", clearly to get a reaction will ... get a reaction.

Well sure I guess if you didn't read the article and just made an angry comment? But the article seems to explain itself fairly well.

Not really sure what you're trying to say. This isn't just this article, it's every topic on representation - `Why are all these people coming out of nowhere and demanding to be catered to!` is a common sentiment in topics like these, and still one that confuses me.

But like I said, those people have made up their minds.

 

[Ariseishirou]

If you, as a person, feel helpless to change anything by doing these things, then request change, don't demand it. Explain what your ideas, wishes and wants would bring to the world of gaming and find others who agree to make a group request.
Be courtious, be patient, be factual and be passionate.

People do that though, and it changes nothing. Publishers cater to what they think their market demands.

This is why I take a very different tack with media when I want change: if it has something I don't like in it, I don't buy it. And I encourage others who agree with me not to buy it. And if it does have what I want, I buy it, and encourage others to buy it. When I learned that Watch_Dogs had certain misogynistic tropes I absolutely despise, I cancelled my pre-order immedately, and encouraged others who shared the same viewpoint to do the same. When I learned that Far Cry 4 wasn't going to feature Yet Another White Guy saving the Noble Savages, but rather someone actually from the region where it was set, I pre-ordered it and encouraged others to do the same. Sure, Watch_Dogs sold well, but maybe not as well as it could have otherwise, and I did the same thing with Brink - as did many others - when they revealed that despite having several billion customization options (literally) for your player character, not one of them would allow you to be female, and that game sold terribly.

If it affects their bottom line, maybe it might actually start to change things. So I can see why people blog railing about the problems of a given source of media; spread signal to noise, and cost publishers money, i.e. what they actually care about.

 

[Vegosiux]

Title is ambiguous.

Do you mean "Why straight white guys shouldn't play as straight white guys" or do you mean "Why straight white guys shouldn't play as themselves"?

Because, I am a straight white guy, and I always play as myself...and most of the characters I play are not straight white guys.

And yes, I get hung up on titles like that, because after all, impressions matter.

 

[90sgamer]

I usually enjoy your articles, Robert, but something feels wrong with this one. I'm not confident I can articulate what that wrongness is. Perhaps I feel that you are better able to internalize themes (imagined or real) and transplant them onto a medium where they do not exist than your average person, and you wrongly assumed everyone else can do as you do. For example, while playing The Walking Dead I never got the feeling that being black mattered. In fact, I felt that Lee could have been white and nothing about any of the dialogue would have been different. I expect your are more aware and concerned with social justice issues than I am, and that your background painted how you interpreted its subjective themes.

Or, perhaps I am bothered by the admission that role playing in a game can have a lasting affect on a person's understanding of the world. I did not feel like a murderer after playing Call of Duty 8: Mass Carnage, nor a Terrorist after playing Counter-Strike. Your argument seems to parallel that of alarmists claiming violent video games makes children (and adults) apathetic to violence.

I wish you would have brought up the possibility that the message in videos games is only as accurate and truthful as the creator of the game. If everything you said is true, then games could also be misleading, or even propaganda -- encouraging players to become sympathetic with a cause, whether its progressivism, or acceptance of transgenders, or even racism (a la 4chan /pol/).

Or, maybe I did not comprehend properly what you wrote and I took away the wrong message.

 

[Phasmal]

Snip.

Sorry, I have no interest in discussing this. I was surprised at the sentiment, but I've seen enough of your posts to know your mind is made up about the subject, and don't wish to continue.

I'm sure we can both be adult about that.

 

[Olas]

I dont know...
I usually dont care whether I am a flying reptile, man, woman, white, black or purple. As long as he/she/it can have a british accent, I am pleased. Or speaks in Vodka. Or can wear badass clothes.

I've heard responses like this a lot, and I think it's worth addressing the problem I have with them.

While I can only speak from my own perception, getting to play as a race or species that is totally fictional is fundamentally different than playing as an actual minority group that exists here on earth. Fictional races carry none of the historical and even modern-day baggage and significance of actual race relations. Ya sure, the story may feature discrimination between these groups that attempts to mirror real world prejudice, but it's still fictional and therefore ultimately lighter than anything with a foot grounded in reality. So saying that you're willing to play as a "purple" person doesn't really speak of any sort of extreme openness the way people often seem to think it does. This is especially true if the purple person has all the physiology and mannerisms of a stereotypical white person who looks like they just painted their skin another color.

edit: Although with that last point in mind, I would also say that past a certain point, it becomes EASIER, not harder, to identify with a character as they become more and more far removed from humanity and therefore recognizable reality. Most people, even total bigots, don't have much of a problem with pac-man.

 

[K12]

To me this is the more important aspect of the diverse protagonists issue.

Giving people the option to play as a version of themselves in games which have a blank (or semi-blank) protagonist won't really make better games. It just stops some people from needing to compromise on an already good game.

From a purely selfish point of view (I'm white, male and straight so I can always play as myself if I want to) I want to play as as many varied types of protagonists as I can rather than creating the variety myself.

It's like a diverse group of friends going to the same restaurant every week and asking them to put curry on the menu for the Indian guy; spaghetti for the Italian guy etc. rather than just eating at a bunch of different restaurants and everyone ordering their speciality.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Interesting piece. I'll note that it doesn't apply only to straight white guys;

Most people who read and write these articles believe only white people can be racist and having a non-white heterosexual male character is somehow virtuous.

Truer words...

I dont care what kind of character I'm playing as long as its a good one.

I'd love to see Black Panther on the silver screen. Not because he's black, but because its an interesting character with a potentially exotic and different setting.

I'd love to see a Wonder Woman movie. Not because I want to secretly be a girl, but because I love the character.

If I CAN choose, I will almost always choose to play as something ELSE than a white male, because thats what I am, and I enjoy imagining to be something else. In RPGs I've played females, dwarves, gnomes, elves, aliens...you name it. One of my most interesting characters ever was the Dwarven Princess I played in Dragon Age: Origins. And she was that interesting not because she was female, nor because she was a dwarf, but because of the fantastic intro-quest with the dwarven nobility and the resulting relationships with my/her siblings.

I will respectfully disagree a tiny bit with the article author and repeat myself from similar threads: We dont need more diverse protagonists, we need more INTERESTING protagonists. Interesting characters are not interesting because they are white or black, or a dwarven princess. They are interesting because of the situation they are put in and the experiences they have had/have.

I don't know if they are truer words.

Simply because there are truths that we casually look away because we say 'well, we didn't do it'.

How many movie companies and game companies have to come out and say '... uh... we don't want to touch anything but White, Straight Males because of sales'?

I don't think anyone NEEDS to play a different race. If I can, I pick Black Straight Guy all the time. Sure, I can go with the tired and true "Well, there not that many of us in gaming, so it's nice to have the difference." But the simple fact is I like who I am. I like to connect with who I am. I'd like to be me in these different, fantastic scenarios. There's nothing wrong with that.

Back to why it's not truer words.

Anyone can be racist. I can be racist. Anyone can. That's not a white only thing.

But by and large, most of the world is still a Good Ole Boy's club. And to even join, you have to say things like "Oh, I just enjoy doing what I'm doing" and not have an hidden feminine, black, gay, latino, asian, Native American agenda. Just follow suit with what we want and what we believe will sell.

It's Casually Accepted Prejudice. It's "Well, we're in charge.. why shouldn't we want to see what we want to see?"

And the answer is frankly you should see what you want to see.

But the issue comes with the Casually Accepted Prejudice. It swings both ways. While I shouldn't demand white people in charge to "include me, please, please, please YOU OWE ME", it can't be helped that I and others are bothered by the fundamental lack of understanding how to deal with other people. Those people (not you) who act like anyone with a different skin color or background are a world apart. They might not hate or even dislike these people, but they have such a lack of understanding on how to even relate to these people that it's unnerving.

I remember my old boss talking to me about how I felt about Trayvon after the shootings to make sure that I was not going to bring it up with the Rich White Clientele. I remember those Republicans shutting up any time I got into the room because it was another round of Bash Obama.

To sum up the point, when we allow the Casually Accepted Prejudice to seep into things, we create worlds that don't really need to exist. When game designers or movie execs have to Whiten up the cast of characters because they think it sells, and we go 'INB4 ANYONE TALKS ANYTHING PC BECAUSE I'M SICK OF THAT SHIT'... that creates differences. We don't need any more.

Captcha: Glass Ceiling. You know what? Fuck you, Internet. I know this Captcha thing is a real being. What the hell, man?!

 

[Tsun Tzu]

I always play a female character, whenever the option is available...so. I'm not sure that this article is directed at me, as a straight, white male.

Seriously now. Throw any protagonist at me, black, white, yellow, brown, gay, straight, bi, female, male, terrier, octagon, human sized almond...I don't really mind. So long as the writing is good and the gameplay can back it up, in the words of Mr. Lewis Black, "Fire that son of a ***** up and throw it at my head!"

But this article...why does it always feel like I'm being talked down to in articles on this subject? Not once while playing Walking Dead did it even enter my mind that I was playing a "black protagonist." It was a dude with a good VO.

It sincerely feels like the inference is that, because I and others are white dudes, we view things in a racially biased fashion or are incapable of recognizing, on our own, that "different" walks of life exist within the human spectrum...what the hell, man?