Resident Evil 5
The new Resident Evil video game depicts a white man in what appears to be Africa killing Black people. The Black people are supposed to be zombies and the white man's job is to destroy them and save humanity. "I have a job to do and I'm gonna see it through."
This is problematic on so many levels, including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people.
This is problematic on so many levels, including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people.
In all the other Resident Evil games, and there are more than just four others, the primary enemies have been white, as the storyline and the outbreak has always taken place in the U.S. or, as in RE 4, Spain.
Many of the enemies throughout the series weren’t even human at all, much less zombies, and in RE 4 none of them were zombies. It was more like the people being mind controlled.
The White Man is a returning character from RE, and now the game appears to be set in Africa. According to the statistics of racial make-up in the world, I’d actually say that whites have been unfairly discriminated against in the series, if anything, since so many of them have been enemies in RE. It only seems fair that Africans get treated equally, and with only one game full of primarily black enemies to six games full of primarily white, from a racial viewpoint I’d say that the Africans are getting off easy.
Now I’d expect, as this has been the case with all other RE games, that this game will be rated Mature, which means only 17+ can buy it. Currently, our retailers have something like an 86% denial for underage buyers, which is far better than the movie industry does at keeping age restricted content away from young people.
Also, since the game is rated M, I find it highly unlikely that Capcom will market it to people under that age, i.e. there won’t be commercials or trailers on kids channels such as Cartoon Network and Nickleodeon, or in kid movies such as Cars and Ratatouille. So beyond that, I don’t see how they could move further from marketing to kids without stopping their marketing.
Hell, adult women are bigger players and purchasers of games that minor males, and the average age of gamers in general is around 33 years old, so specifically advertising towards children would be a waste of money.
And about trying to seed racism in the minds of our youth, the last time I checked Resident Evil was made by Capcom, a Japanese company. And I’ve never heard of the Japanese committing cultural war against Africans or the African culture.
So before you jump to conclusions based off of a short and extremely pre-release trailer, can you please do some actual research and think beyond the surface about what it is that you’re attacking?
I'm from spain, and I saw all this acting here, DO YOU STILL THINK IN RACISM???? IS THERE SOMEONE WHO THINK LIKE THAT?? I THOUGHT WE WERE IN 2007??? another proof that the humanity is his own enemy!!
greets from spain
I agree with Adam Starks, you do overlook a awful lot of facts.
Enemies in the series and spin-offs so far are based on geo- and demographics.
So it would appear to me logical if the majority of the enemies in RE5 would be black if RE5 takes place in Africa.
Take RE 4 for example, the majority of enemies where hispanic because of the geographic setting of the game.
This game will likely, like the whole series, get the Mature rating wich means it can not be targeted and kids, as Adam stated the statistical gamer is about 33 years old. Another point why it would be a waste to target kids with this game.
"Kym Platt
August 1st, 2007 at 5:49 am
R_N,
Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth."
taken from: http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/07/resident_evil_5.html#comment-62630
By stating that all zombies should be white you are beeing racist, racism isn't limited to any color/race/whatever.
Please bear in mind that racism is a bad thing but branding things falsely racist by overlooking all the facts is just as bad.
Well said Adam.
OMG STFU BUTTFUKKING NlGGEROUS NOOBS GODDAMN G0OKS JEWISH CHlNKS
Adam Starks is completely correct. Racism is ugly, but this is not an issue of racism. It would be logical that if a virus that turns people into zombies is spreading in Africa, the zombies would be *gasp* African. Your rant about this subject just sounds like another person finding a way to be offended about something that isn't that big of a deal
I think Kym is overlooking an important fact."Its a game!!" fiction okay im sorry for the what the black race had to go through during slavery but grow up already. All zombies should be white ehh?? looks like someone is being a little whats that word? racist?
This comment is in response to your comments on the game Resident Evil 5.
You are simply shallow minded to think that a video game that is and has always been solely about a fictional plot of saving the world from an infestation of zombies. If you think it goes any deeper than that you might want to start looking at other games about being racist. Try Project Gothem Racing the car is black so if i crash it it must be a racist statement. The game is about zombies, race is irrelevant when the said character has died, looking to most zombie based media will show that a zombie is considered a dead "thing". Back to what i was saying, When the said character has died and becomes hell-bent on eating flesh it is a act of self defense.
"I tell ya what lady, I'll lock you in a room with a shotgun and about people who have been exposed to the T virus and see if you start shooting." this was posted on G4tv.com in response to your blasphemy by ManOfTeal
Now think about it. are you seriously concerned about this issue or do you just need something to get attention with. BTW i am not a supporter.
i agree with all posts on this page, except of course that useless racist comment, that is utter nonsense. Now if that comment were posted in a game it would be racist.
Strange. I'm black and I live in the Bronx and I've experienced racism. But this is not a topic about racism. You are nothing but a big hypocrite. I agree with everyone that has posted here. You are nothing but a racist yourself. You also don't speak for every black person. You give all of us a bad name. Seriously please just STFU. ITS ONLY A GOD DAMN GAME that was made by the Japanese that probably didnt THINK it would have had an impact because there are like what nearly a couple thousand blacks living in Japan.
All in all you're just a racist. That's all. I should make a website called askanonracistblackman.com Your site is just filled to the top with stupid ignorance. And all this is coming from a fellow african american that has experienced racism. Dont cry wolf when theres nothing to cry about. Talk about blowing things out of context. I'm sure the spanish people should boycott and bitch about RE4 since it was based in spain and you got to shoot spainish people. Seriously... Your ignorance goes through the roof.
I find it amusing that Kym Platt have totally dodged all of the genuine points in her follow-up entries.
The valid points include:
- the previous episodes of the game have too depicted people of other races as the enemies. The first few games of the series have white people as zombies, and the previous installment portray the Spanish as the enemies (or Spanish monsters to be more accurate)
- The spinoff of the series (Resident Evil Outbreak) feature multiple playable characters of all races, including 2 black characters (by the name of Jim and Mark), and both of them 'survived' in the game story.
- Most if not all of the past Resident Evil games have an ESRB rating of M(Mature), which means for age 17 and above. You don't need to be a genius to deduct that the series isn't aim for children.
- The enemies is portrayed more as 'monsters' rather than normal people.
I know she's going to ignore this post and continue with her BS, but hopefully this post will at least straighten (for her audience) the 'spins' she made. Nobody complained when the Whites were depicted as zombies nor the Spanish in Resident Evil 4. The only racist here is Kym Platt for not allowing Capcom (the developing company of the game series) to do the same treatment they have given to the Spanish and the White people. She needs a brain check.
I respect your right to have an opinion, but honestly, you don't understand our (gamers) culture. When it comes to games and the gamers rights to play games, they can at times be somewhat over zealous. Their comments such as "whore" and even the racially charged words like "nigger" come from chatting with people online, MOST of which are young black men who in everyday speech use such words. I'm not saying that this is right, but at least own your own races ability to insult itself. On another note, like MANY others have said, this is a GAME, not real life. A recent study showed that violent games do not within themselves make violent people. The person must already have violent tendencies for the game to influence them and bring out that violence. But heck, lets face it, movies can do the same thing, as well as other forms of entertainment. Why are you so mad at violence towards Blacks and NOT mad about violence towards the Hispanics in RE4? Are you saying that violence towards Blacks is worse than Violence towards Hispanics? If thats the case, then some of the comments these others have been making sound sort of realistic. You are pushing for equality of the races, you are pushing for superiority of YOUR race. Seriously, games have enough problems these days with NUTS in the white house trying to censor EVERYTHING that the game designers try to make, why don't you just LEAVE US ALONE? -Sigh- next thing you know you will be harassing Blizzard because the night elves are purple, and thats close to black and they have big ears so thats insulting. Learn to research your comments and KNOW what you are getting yourself into from now on.
Gryffian
dear kym
altho i find the racist attacks on you by fellow gamers appalling i would have liked you to consider these three things before writing this piece
1 - i would have appreciated you going to the capcom RE website, there you would have seen an age restriction to enter, thus not for children
2 - it would have been nice if you had looked into the previous storylines of the RE games
and lastly it would have been nice for you consider that its articles like these that make the game developers "color conscious" you very rarely see main charactors of any colors or colored enemies. and its articles like these that promote fear in the game developers mind. they dont want a game pulled because some people find it racist
dear kym
altho i find the racist attacks on you by fellow gamers appalling i would have liked you to consider these three things before writing this piece
1 - i would have appreciated you going to the capcom RE website, there you would have seen an age restriction to enter, thus not for children
2 - it would have been nice if you had looked into the previous storylines of the RE games
and lastly it would have been nice for you consider that its articles like these that make the game developers "color conscious" you very rarely see main charactors of any colors or colored enemies. and its articles like these that promote fear in the game developers mind. they dont want a game pulled because some people find it racist
Oh for crying out loud. The Resident Evil series isn't racist at all. It seems to be that you're trying to find fault of something you are clearly unfamiliar with.
Would you be crying foul if the main character was black and the zombies were all white? Most likely not. Is it alright to have the reverse then? Is it good to kill white zombies instead? How about other races that aren't black?
The only racist here is yourself.
The game is not for children and is of the genre of Survival Horror. Ugh... I just can't think straight after reading the crap you've written in your blog.
I feel sickened knowing that people like you create a hatered towards anyone that isn't of your race.
I suggest that you write an open apology on your blog because as you probably know by now, you were epicly wrong.
You shouldn't have pulled the race card on this, it only made your blog look very very dumb.
This was just idiotic nonsensical attentionwhoring.
p.s. and i quote a comment "I feel sickened knowing that people like you create a hatred towards anyone that isn't of your race."
God forbid that Capcom would put members of the African people in the middle of Africa! What would you say if the story took place in the same setting, yet the town in Africa was full of white people? Wouldn't that also be racist? Or would that be okay, because no 'black people' are killed.
You see I was under the impression that things like the Civil Rights Movement were for EQUAL rights, not so that 'blacks' were given special treatment.
You say 'depicting black people as inhuman savages.' Have you looked into the background for this game? Do you know the story? In every other game, almost all of the actual people you kill are 'inhuman savages.' They are, on one level or another, zombies, which may be defined as an inhuman savage. Yet for some reason you seem offended that the developers removed a lot of stuff that could potentially have been considered racism.
'...military clothing...' Again, do you know the story behind this game? Because pretty much what you're saying is 'Capcom should not follow the story that they already made that I did not whine about. Because a member of a military group in previous games should not be a member of a military group in a sequel!'
'...is marketed to children and young adults...' DO YOUR RESEARCH. THERE IS NO RATING. You, in a very presumptuous and bigoted fashion just assumed this. I get the feeling that you just wanted to make your already clearly weak point seem stronger and more serious. As I said, the game has not been rated as of yet, so you can't assume without reasonable doubt that this game will be marketed to 'children.' Considering that this is the 5th installment of the series, it is very unlikely that those who you call 'children' will have heard of this series, seeing as how they were like... 5 or 6 years old when the last one came out. It wouldn't even be a good marketing idea. And even if they did decide to market it, its the job of a parent to decide what their children play or buy. Not yours. If you have kids, fine, don't let them buy this game. But are not allowed to prevent other people from getting this game.
Finally: 'Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people.' I'm not too sure what to say. You've taken one already clearly illogical and illegitimate point about marketing things to children and then made a ridiculous claim. I have news for you. Others have said it, I will repeat it. ITS A GAME. Players of the game are intelligent enough to know that these 'inhuman savages' are fake. I highly doubt that after playing this game, the people of America will run away screaming to get their weapons when they see a black person, because everyone else is intelligent enough to know that Resident Evil is a game.
Please do your research and think things out more before you make absurd claims like this one.
Oh no, she has discovered our plans of training children to commit mass genocide. I guess it's time to come out now since we've been foiled by this genius deduction.
We are not based in Japan like everyone thinks. This is a conspiracy. We are owned by the KKK.
You ma'am are the most brilliant sleuth to ever infiltrate the racist corporate underworld of video games.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OMFG DUDE I LOVE YOU, YOU CHEERED ME UP SO MUCH MAN, i swear to god its rediculous whats going on about RE5 but thank you, i wont be comming back to this site but my email is gamefag65@aol.com if you want to talk
"Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth."
-Kim Platt
http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/07/resident_evil_5.html#comment-62630
Doesn't this comment nullify the racial equality reasoning? Why should there be nothing but white zombies in a predominantly black area? Should black hawk down been with all white people? I find the simple idea that black people are somehow different then the white and Spanish people (in the previous games), insulting to black people.
I'm black .. i'm sorry to say uninformed attacks like this do more damage to the "cause" than anything.
I'm black... I"m buying this game when it comes out.. and I'm pettitioning Capcom to change the name of re5 to Niggahunter5 so that people like this woman have something to complain about.
RIGHT at the START of the preview it shows you how peaceful normal life is in the village!! It shows an infection taking place .. and then people start acting weird. The game is following chris this time.. Chris is there to investigate the INFECTION. But he's trained to take out victims of the infection as it makes them violent.
nothing racist there.. it just so happens that this is happening in hati.
and the game isn't even complete.. we don't know if there will be a black protagnist helping chris.. we dont even know if it's just those villagers. and the rest of the time you are defending the rest of the citi from infected white people.. so esentially STFU do your homework before you start talking shit bitch.
We will take the idea of changing the name of Resident Evil to Nigga Hunter into serious consideration. No point in hiding our company's racism anymore. In the Street Fighter II opening we purposely had the black guy get punched out by the white guy.
We plan on renaming Megaman to Whiteman and have him kill black robots as well. Our company is committed to the highest standards of racism and plans on marketting to the hundreds of millions of Nazis in America.
The only "racist" I see here is the OP "Black Woman".I'm Hispanic an was not at all offended when Resident Evil 4's zombies were from Spanish decent. Why should black people feel offended?
OP is really a closet racist that think the whole world is out to get the black race. Have you ever been outside of America? More importantly, are you really from Africa like the characters from RE5 appear to be? I doubt it, you're just another loud mouth that has to always find some hidden racist agenda in order to feel important.
Do us all a favor and get a real job and actually do some good. Also have you looked at in reverse? Oh my god! There's black people trying to kill a white guy? Oh NOOO!!! That's so racists!!! I'm going to right a blog and point out how stupid I am.
"5. Kym Platt
August 1st, 2007 at 5:49 am
R_N,
Yes… I am more comfortable with the zombies being white. In fact, ALL zombies should be white from this day forth."
http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/07/resident_evil_5.html
This was posted without any racial comments to provoke it. So where's the racism.
Just a thing I found interesting, why exactly are there blogs specifically to ask Black people things? Do you imagine that because of your race, you are above the rest of us? That's racist! You should be ashamed that in fact you oppress white people by stating that you are better than them!
See how easy it is to act stupid with very little facts on something completely baseless in the first place? Please think things through before crying wolf, because it makes people who actually do get persecuted for their race seem trivial. Please refrain from making judgemental and idiotic claims. If you want the stereotype that Blacks are uneducated to disapear, do not reinforce it by acting like a third grader. Look for facts. Report accurately. Or leave it to journalists who know what they are doing. I know this is a mere blog, but making quite a claim such as that is... asking for attention. And you got that. But it seems mostly negative, hm?
If, perhaps, you would like an analogy for your infantile brain, you are such as the Minister Corneilius Fudge, from the popular book series Harry Potter. Most see you as a fool who cannot see that which is directly in front of him, but you seem to think you are correct in all you do. Pray you do not get legal rammifications for libelling and/or slanderizing those who are innocent.
Also, I'd like to applaud the general gaming community. For every racist troller that has responded there are five others, at least, who responded by presenting facts and explaining exactly why they believe you are wrong.
You're a dumbass
I would like to respectfully request that you shut you ignorant, racist, nagging bitch mouth. So what if the fucking zombies are black? they're fucking zombies. there are white zombies in the game too. the T virus doesn't discriminate, so why the fuck should we? You idiots make the world worse by actiing like every single fucking person who's not black is the fucking KKK. get over your fucking self, you stupid bitch.
As soon as I saw that trailer on G4 I just knew that some fool that doesn't even play the damn games would get tunnel vision and make it about racism. It's people like you[the author of this article] that make me lose faith in all humanity. I'M BLACK AND I HATE YOU. THE GAME WAS MADE IN JAPAN BY JAPANESE PEOPLE. Shit, where were you when the poor defenseless Portuguese were getting slaughtered by the white devil Leon Kennedy?! I'll tell you where you were. YOU WERE SCOURING THE MEDIA FOR ANYTHING THAT COULD BE TWISTED INTO ANTI-AFRO PROPAGANDA. This is the same shit that happened with GTA:Vice City. How many other ethnic gangs were in that game other than the Haitians? This better not interfere with RE5's American release.
If I had a revolver, just one bullet with you and the Grand Wizard of the KKK standing in front of me I'd have a hard time deciding who to kill.
[img]http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v117/49/24/637995182/n637995182_939452_2521.jpg[/img]
I would like to start off my saying, you ma'am, are a racist.
Have you ever played the Resident Evil series before? Have you even played a video game? You know when you buy a game like this and see the little M in the corner? That M stands for 'Mature' which means that it’s meant for people age 17 and up. NOT CHILDREN. I recommend you check out the ESRB website and familiarize yourself with the ratings. If a parent is irresponsible enough to allow their child access to a game like this, then it is the parent’s fault, not the evil Japanese game developer who wants to instill racism in the minds of our youth.
Have you ever played a game called Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? Where the main character is a black male who is also a gangster and refers to all his friends as niggers? Well I guess you haven’t or maybe you have and you just don’t care because the guy saying nigger is black.
When I was younger, one of my best friends was Rastafarian. As I got older he stopped hanging out with me and began hanging out with a more ethnic group of children. I was white, and he didn't want to be my friend anymore because of it. Why am I telling you this? Because I know what racism is and if you think that Resident Evil 5 is racist than you yourself are the racist.
I am a long time fan of the Resident Evil series. Did you know that dogs in the resident evil series can become zombies? The T-virus does not discriminate against race, gender or even species. Last time I checked PETA wasn't getting angry because I shot a T-virus infected dog in Resident Evil 1, so why do you get angry when you see a black zombie getting shot? A zombie is a zombie. They are mindless drones that have a taste for living flesh. You should look them up on Wikipedia after you finish checking the ESRB website.
I don't remember anyone getting angry when European Spaniards who were infected with parasites were being killed in Resident Evil 4. So why should it be different when a parasite infected
African gets killed in Resident Evil 5? Are you saying that an Africans life is more important than a Europeans life, simply because the African is black?
The main character in the game is a veteran of the series. His name is Chris. He appeared in Resident Evil 1, 3 and Code veronica. He has a sister named Claire who has starred in Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica along side her brother.
Would you be as angry as you are now if the main character in 5 was Claire? A white WOMAN. I don't think you would, because I believe, from reading your blog, that you are also sexist.
A white man shoots a black zombie, that's racist. A white woman shoots a black zombie, that's self-defense. I guess you could say I'm stereotyping you now, but that's alright because there is no doubt in my mind that you're a sexist, racist, black woman.
You are your own worst enemy. I'd pity you if you weren't so goddamn irritating.
Alright, so you're obviously pissed about all the zombies in this game being black.
But you don't seem to be disturbed by the fact that nearly all the antagonists in the previous game (Resident Evil 4) are mexican/european?
Hmmmm.
In every Resident Evil game, the player is faced with overwhelming odds, not to mention an entire region of people in "Raccoon City" lost. The tragedy in itself revolves around the lives that are being destroyed because of the infamous "G-virus" and "T-virus".
In later Resident Evil's like 4, a new virus is destroying lives, only this time in a primitive spaniard setting. The main character is essentially trying to survive or look for someone. The idea was never to intentionally harm the innocent.
Now, in RE5, the 'zombies' have taken a different look. Once again, the result of experimentation has destroyed the lives of a people, and it appears it's up to Chris Redfield to deal with a highly volatile situation. The protaganist is the hunted, not the hunter.
So, before you bitch about racism, understand the context that is going on within the plot. Every race of people in this series susceptible to being reduced to "inhuman savages". Don't let your pitiful ego's defense try to demonstrate how it is inconvenient that the enemies in a video game have your skin color.
Don't worry, in Resident Evil Honky, you can take a sigh of relief.
Wow, you really are un-educated. First off resident evil is a video game in which you are fighting for your life against (you guessed it, zombies shocker huh?) In the previous 10 games all of the zombies have been either white or spainard, now let me ask you this, was it racist to kill them? I am sorry but if some onry son of a b*tch comes up to me and tries to eat my brains im not gonna let him. This particular installment of the game is set in africa what did u expect to find there, albinos? But i do ensure you that if any black person comes up and tries to harm me i will tell him im not going to defend myself because i then would be a racist biggot. On another point the game is rated M hangon let me make that more noticible for you
!!!!!![M]!!!!!!
That letter stands for mature not many little children will buy this game and want to harm black people. Please educate yourself more before making such outrageous accusations,
yours truly
RE5 HONKY
Wow Kym -
If anything proved your point it was the nature of the commenters!
Please take heart - not everyone is so willfully ignorant. You do good work and your comments are right on target. Thanks for your insight. And gamer/commenters, thanks for proving Kym's arguments right, in your very own hateful way.