Zombies and the White Man's Burden

[Geoffrey42]

Bill, when you say "Freudian shenanigans", all I can think of is sex. Was that your intention, my fixation, or some combination of an ulterior motive and zealotry on my part?

More seriously... I once took a class for fun that analyzed the absurd. I spent an entire semester being asked questions like "What did Lewis Carroll really mean by the caucus race with the walrus and the other creatures?" Unless the author specifically states something as their intention, I think its ridiculous/absurd to try and determine what they really meant. At that point, all that is left is what it means to you, which reflects FAR more on yourself (fixation may be a little strong, but its close) than it does on the author.

Although, to the flip side, I'm reminded of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who acheived significant strategic victories by studying his opponent's art, and gleaning the unsaid secrets of his opponent's mind that subconsciously ended up in the art.

 

[Gedrin]

I draw a bright line between the zombie hordes and the living of any race.

When the zombie hordes are knocking down you're door and someone shows up to blow their heads off, you're not going to care if he's a cracker.

White people have more in common with black people, than either do with flesh eating undead.


That's about all I have to say on the subject.

 

[Russ Pitts]

White people have more in common with black people, than either do with flesh eating undead.

That's about all I have to say on the subject.

Amen brother. Can't we all just get along long enough to survive the zombiepocalypse?

 

[Geoffrey42]

Cheeze, it's perfectly obvious!

I'd shoot _________ and _________, because the _________ were just misunderstood!

Really, feel free to stick any of your three in any of the blanks. It's irrelevant.

All I can think of are games like Stubbs the Zombie, or that crazy web-based MMOG where the zombies are player controlled, and have a culture, or even the Ender's Game series (Ender, Speaker, and Xenocide specifically) where people give the flipside. And really, National Socialism has been demonized far beyond the extent that the majority of its members reached. Yeah you had some real lunatics in charge, but does that really embody what Nazi-ism was?

Imagine if some hypothetical Republican leader did something absolutely horrible, and took the rest of the government with him, and the world was shocked and dismayed forever, to the point that Republican took on the connotations of Nazi. Its not the GOP's fault (except maybe for nominating a loon).

 

[Russ Pitts]

Imagine if some hypothetical Republican leader did something absolutely horrible, and took the rest of the government with him, and the world was shocked and dismayed forever, to the point that Republican took on the connotations of Nazi. Its not the GOP's fault (except maybe for nominating a loon).

Are we still being hypothetical here?

 

[Archon]

This conversation is long over according to Gideon's law, and not that we've requisitely (but subtly) compared Bush to Hitler it's safe to say the information content is now zero.

 

[Geoffrey42]

Are we still being hypothetical here?

Of course we're being hypothetical. I certainly don't think Republicans are as bad as everyone thinks the Nazis were. Then again, apparently, I don't think the Nazis were as bad as everyone thinks they were. Probably not a good bellwether.

@Archon: In all honesty, while the parallels to certain current presidents set the stage for my hypothetical, I do not place G.W. Bush in the same level of hell as the leader of the Nazi party. And since I have Democratic leanings, I'd rather hypothesize about the future demonization of Republicans. If you asked me for my most hated Republican, off the top of my head, I would say Lincoln. Go figure.

I'm not familiar with Gideon's Law, and I can't find it in wikipedia, but I'm going to guess you meant [a href=http://xkcd.com/261/]Godwin's Law[/a]? What I can't figure out for the life of me is how the thread that shall not be named managed to get as far as it DID without Nazis, or Hitler. Heck, we're still on the first page of comments for this one!

 

[Godheval]

I think this is an excellent article, and that you make a lot of great points - namely that this game could really bring us face to face with the moral conundrum we've long ignored in video games - the real difficulty of kill or be killed.

But I'd be careful not to overestimate "how far we've come" with regards to racism in society, or how quick you dismiss cries of racism as "crying wolf at passing shadows", because unless you are a member of an aggrieved minority group - one who has experienced racism, there are things that you simply won't notice, and that they will.

Going back to RE5 - this game has SO much potential. And until we see what it's about, I think people should remain quiet about how racist the game is or isn't. We just don't know yet. If they chose to, Capcom could even go a little political with this, and bring to light the FACT that Africa has historically be a testing ground for all kinds of disgusting shit - a government or company (like Umbrella) exposing poor African villagers to some kind of sinister agent (like a bacteria or virus) is totally within the realm of reality. That shit has happened and CONTINUES to happen to this day.

If this game touches on that kind of thing even a LITTLE, then I'll be satisfied, and think that Africa is exactly the place where the game should be set. It would also help matters if they included an important African protagonist (and while I'm wishful thinking, a female protagonist that is NOT a love interest, but an independently viable character) to offset the already mainstream consensus that Africans - zombified or not - are uncivilized and backwards.

Of course none of this will change the fact that racist gamers will use RE5 as their outlet to finally be justified in "killing niggers". But that's not Capcom's fault...

---Godheval
http://www.godheval.com

 

[Russ Pitts]

Godheval, Thanks for the kind words. Your points about racism are well taken. I have nothing to add to that.

In regards to RE5, I, too, hope there's a little more than an accidental or (typically for Capcom) clumsy reference to world events. But if all we get out of the game is a bitter twinge at the thought of putting the gun to people who don't really deserve it, then I think it will be a good day for games. That kind of thing (accidental or not) has been a long time coming.

 

[Kemmler0]

I cannot believe that peoples 'moral outrage' is so displaced that they are focused on a fictional event portrayed in a video game. While actual events that cause the murder and suffering of millions of 3rd world citizens go relatively unnoticed. Blood diamonds, genocides linked to military dictators, famine, to name a few. Please notice that none of these are caused by the infamous gun-toting 'white devil'.

Why don't these people stop moaning about a game they morally object to. Stop buying it, which is the only protest the game industry will listen to, and spend the money on a cause to help fight human suffering. I don't even care which cause they support.

I know i sound like a bleeding heart liberal. But believe me you won't find me in line to donate to Oxfam.

Stop whining about a stupid video game, its not even real. There are much worse things going on.