I've not written very much about the Resident Evil 5 racism thing because, frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I decided that I'd need to play the game with my own two hands and gain some context before I could construct a discussion of any kind around the issue. I mean, let's wait until the game's out before we sincerely talk about what it is and isn't, right?
Now that I've played it a bit, I'm still not sure how I feel about it.
When Capcom first started showing trailers, I was one of those who felt a little bit uncomfortable about it, honestly. N'Gai Croal took a ton of flack for what was actually a pretty reasoned position on the issue -- I perhaps didn't take offense as wholly or as easily as he did back then, but I still do feel a little uncomfortable. And when I get that pang, whether or not I agree with everything he said, I remember the one line: "This imagery has a history." It's true. It doesn't feel good.
Still, I've always stopped short of pegging my discomfort on racism per se. Society's evolved into being so defensive and protective on issues of race that I think there's a tendency to see any specific illustration of race as prejudiced, especially if it's unkind. I'm not sure I think that relying on ideas of cultural "otherness" to create fear is discriminatory or wrong. In fact, it may be archetypal.
A lot of times, when I'm trying to decide if themes or imagery are "okay" with me, I ask, "will this hurt anyone?" And I don't think any of the content or imagery in RE5 encourages or promotes real-world fear of others.
But then, I think about the Disney flick Song of the South. When I was a little girl, I innocently adored it, without realizing that the Uncle Remus character was controversial to anyone until I was a lot older. And in this case, it's not that anything in the film is in and of itself upsetting -- it's a nice cartoon about folk tales and my-oh-my wonderful days, and because it used actors, there was no snafu on how one may or may not draw a black cartoon character.
But the film is considered at least a little insulting, because of its facile naivete, rosy suggestions of slavery, and what the NAACP called the "impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship." Even if the film's content is glossy and cheerful, its symbolism provokes reactions. It brings up bad memories, and so it's not okay -- even if those memories are just memories, even if they've got nothing to do with the way the world really works today, and so we can't condone the film just out of respect for history. Is it that way for RE5 too?
Frankly, I'm even a little bit scared to try and discuss it even to this extent. I'm perfectly willing to admit I'm ignorant; I'm no race scholar. Although I reject the idea that only black people are qualified to discuss racism, I think it's worth noting that while my father is half-black and thus my ethnicity's mixed, I have no firsthand concept of what it means to be black in America, I've very little point of personal reference.
So all you'll get from me is a blog post full of weak-wristed and meandering "I think," "I don't think," "I'm not sure," "a little bit," "somewhat," and "maybe" (Stephen Totilo would put the hammer down all over this post).
I'm ambivalent. I don't know if there's a right answer. I could construct strong arguments on either side (neither would contain the phrase "it's just a game," by the way, so let's just forget that one) and still feel like the truth is somewhere in between.
But the entire purpose of this impotent preamble was to point you to what I think is a well-constructed discussion on the issue; over at GameSetWatch, columnist Tom Cross does a decent job of isolating exactly what the problems are with RE5's imagery -- even though while reading it I alternately nodded, chewed my lip, invoked a few cautious counter-arguments, then nodded again.
And, actually, I did write about "the racism thing" a little bit here last year -- my response to the trailer was a lot more decisive, albeit still cautiously so, than my response to the game. Reading back over what I wrote then, I don't feel quite as comfortable.
Finally, I think it's worth noting that since the game's release, people've written more about the death of survival horror, the dubious partner AI and the $5 versus mode than they have about racism, which means either that audiences are more comfortable with the game now that they've seen it in full or they're sick of the discussion.
As usual, please keep comments respectful on this charged and often personal topic!
