For reasons known only to God and his brother Jim—ooh, sacrilege—plenty of people are still calling Resident Evil 5 racist. The list now includes The Atlantic and Eurogamer; don’t forget N’Gai Croal brought this issue to everyone’s attention last year. Me? I’m sorry, but I have bills to pay, and I simply cannot be bothered to argue, in print or otherwise, whether or some piece of garbage video game is racist or not. It may be, or it may not be. In any event, I don’t care. At least I’m honest about my total lack of interest in the subject, without having to mug for the camera, so to speak.
PC Gamer has a well-written counter argument to those who claim the game to be racist. I’ll just go ahead and block quote the main point:
Which, if you want to start tallying up who did what to whom, and when, and for how long, is all kinds of crazy. No one “owns” victimization at the hands of historically barbaric practices like slavery. Exploitation and subjugation is hardly the purview of a single ethnicity. Appealing to historical proportionality to dismiss one type of “negative” portrayal, e.g. the Spaniards in Resident Evil 4, while criticizing another, e.g. the multifarious “African” ethnicities in Resident Evil 5, is also both insulting and asinine.
Exactly. What good does it do to hold centuries-old grudges against one another? Am I supposed to hate present-day Spain for sending some boats down to Puerto Rico back in the day and taking over? Nope, don’t care.
In conclusion, as is painfully obvious, I have zero tolerance for people who shout RACISM! at the top of their lungs over every little thing. It just seems simple-minded. But maybe I’m crazy, I don’t know.
You don’t care because you are a RACIST!
Now you know.
and knowing is half the battle
So you are basically saying that you have zero tolerance for people who are at the receiving end of racism and dont give a fuck about those who causes them? Racist indeed.
I totqally agree dude, I don’t care just as much as,… uh? I mean, i care as little as you do about it. I wish people would let it go already, but some find it to be their way of getting what they want.
You guys are idiots. He is saying he doesn’t care because a. Resident Evil 5 is not racist and b. People are just saying it is racist because they don’t understand Africa and the game and because they want some limelight. People think before you guys post a comment. It is embarrassing.
Hmm….. Who lives in Africa (except South Africa)? A bunch of whites? Come on people, that’s just like setting the scene in China and killing only Asians and calling it racist; it’s where they frickin’ reside! If everyone just ignored racism, we’d be fine!
1. It’s a game!
2. What’s the point of this?
There’s something perverse about the leftist culture and mind set. They complain about racism when in reality all were doing is holding blacks to the same standerds as everyone else. But people like the moron leftists at the Atlantic see blacks and think “because they’re black we have to grant them special privilages and exemptions because they can’t possibly function normally in society with out them”. Yet were the racist? Liberalism is a mental disease.
I am not going to buy this game just because of this. I hate racism and we need to send a message that WE the consumer will not stand for this crap.
Yeah…while we’re at it, why not just boycott world war 2 games because slaughtering japs is a terrible thing. IT’S A GAME!!!!! Resident Evil 5 is total fiction…use your brain! Like MB states in his comment above – who lives in africa?? I mean seriously. Your a #$*&ing tool.
Amen to everyone’s opinion that this is just a stupid claim that does nothing but perpetuate these type of thoughts.
I remember when Crunch gear wrote an article about this subject quite a while ago, I wrote in essence a dissertation in response. It’s not worth my time or anyone’s elses for that matter. Someone with a negative point of view, I.E. that this game is purely racist propaganda will never be swayed or have a change of heart.
I’ll be concerned about racism when there’s actually a problem. Then I’ll come to stand for what I believe in, and what is right. This is just silly means that gives someone an outlet to bitch.
I hope everyone breaks their nose after they fall off of their soap box.
hello. i’m black and live in the bronx. if i kill africain zombies in a game, does that give me a free membership to the KKK?
No it does not, it makes you a gamer killing fictional characters. There’s no malicious intent behind gameplay unless you put some behind it.
residentb i think you will be becuse people will most likely call you a racist so i wouldnt doubt it
seriously all of you need to die in a fire on a four lane highway
the virus was not made in africa so the diesiese thing about africa is not portrayed, over the years the T-virus evolves and grows darker, whites to mexicans, to black and if you look some of them are like colored with a black crayon they’re so black it’s not racism
if i said nigger everyone would throw a fit but killing white people and mexicans IN A GAME!!! no less everyone sits there
which is good
we’re tolerant ,except for SOME blacks who are so fuckin stupid and ignorant
grow the fuck up
-love, Clown
to be honest the whole racism thing is a joke i men common his partner is even black and plus like others its in africa you are not going to see eskimos in africa common now use yall brains now people use th racism now like its candy its dumb people need just grow up and get a life
if you also think about it gta4 has black people killing white peopole but we dont call that racist do we no we dont and also in movies how black people kill white people but still we dont call that racist
Personally, I think the worst part about all this. Is that, finally game developers are TRYING to show some interest in other cultures (Specifically, the African culture/society) and what ends up happening? It ends up getting thrown back in their face.
I for one, see this constant double standard of “If it’s anything vs. anyone that seems African American, then we’ll scream racism… But… if any other ethnicity is getting their brains blown out by a white person. it’s totally cool.” Just continues to hinder game developers from WANTING to make the focus be, or even include African Americans in some situations; or all of them just to be safe.
I mean, in situations like this, all game developers; thanks to whoever keeps playing the race card of such trivial crap like this. Are put in a position of having a double edged sword thrust upon them. Alright, so they want to have the setting be in Africa; so they can do one of two things (And I’m specifically talking Resident Evil here) 1) They can include Africans, in Africa (Oh my god, go figure) but of course, be called racist. Even though, from my review of the whole reason for Chris being there. It makes a lot of sense that he would be. IE, a white man, going and ‘cappin’ some African Zombies. (Once again, Africa, what kind of Zombies should they have?) Option 2) They could make it, that even in Africa, since that is the setting they wanted, to culturally expand on the series. Well, here we are, we’ve arrived in Africa, and oh no; we’re greeted by hordes of angry white people. Just don’t make much sense does it? Of course, by having white people. You get those same race card playing flip floppers going. “THE GAME IS SET IN AFRICA! WHY DON’T WE SEE ANY BLACK PEOPLE?! YOU GUYS ARE RACIST!” So, either way, they’re damned if they do, and they’re damned if they don’t.
As someone who doesn’t create games, but is very laid back. I am honestly surprised game developers even try to add in multiculturalism anymore. “Eh… We’ll get shit either way, might as well just not try to incorporate new things into games when it’ll just take us more time, while resulting in the same shit storm.”
So, these Race Card throwing people, who may or may not actually care about the racial issue; really are only hurting themselves by constantly screaming Racism. Because someday, game dev’s are just going to throw their hands up, and go “You know what, screw you guys, from now on, all we know are white people. Happy?”
so i guess its ok for all different ethinc people to shoot a white person shoots a different ethinic its all hell broke loose and starts all this drama i dont understand most of these people that are calling this game a racist game they dont even play it i swear learn from the begining and just an fyi most of the series was white people killing white people
HEY ITS NOT RACIST IF THERE ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!
ZOMG!!!!!!!!!!
people great news its all about to be over because it comes out tomorrow im so excited cant wait woohoo
ok so let me get this right,
killing black zombies is racist
black protagonist killings whites a stereotype
not having black people is also racist,
so what exactly do you do?
actually i have an idea, CHILL OUT ITS A GAME,
the only racist context behind it is your own,
if you think its a racist game perhaps it is you and your own mind set that makes it racist telling everyone here more about you then about the game.
honestly people keep using the race card, all it will do is piss off everyone else until they cant take it anymore.
i wonder how many people will be offended if someone said the game should be played at night then you wouldnt see anything.
you could say this is true or that fact that people with dark skin are harder to see in darker settings then those with lighter skin racist or unavoidable phyics. perhaps science is racist to.
Alright, people must be pretty stupid to believe this game is Racist…
For starters, where the hell do you think the events in the game take place? “Africa…”
I wonder why thier are black… Thier are white “Perisites” in this game also, i know because i have played it enough.
The thought of saying this game is Racist, is obserd. I don’t see you pointing a finger and calling ActiVision Racist for Call of Duty- World at War… You are killing Nazi’s, Japanesse, German, and American’s, so why not point the finger at them or anyone other for that matter.
The game is based on events that are not real. There for it is not a Racist game, i think you just want to point fingers at people and think they are what they are not.
Africa has black people… end of story.
Plus the racisim is over for black people… there is a black person in the “White House”
The self-obsorbed people need to go and call themselves Racist, for the fact that most people yell the word at others just to hide the fact about themselves.
Get off CapCom’s back, they are Intelligent game corp. and i hope they keep up the good work. ;)
ok dan first i want to say that i agree with your comment except for the fact that you seem to think that racism is now gone just because a black man has been elected. hes not jesus even though people seem to want him to be.
“Maybe I’m just crazy, I don’t know.”
No, you’re just a jackass. And I’m SURE of that.