Resident Evil Racist? I Should Say NOT!

I should say NOT!

Over the past couple of days, a couple of sites/magazines who have played full or almost full copies of the game, have been reporting that they've found racist imagery in Capcoms newest game. Similar accusations first began back when screenshots of the game were revealed to the public. The game takes place in a (presumed) South African country. The game features a white protaganist (Chris Redfield), and his enemies, the infected, inherintly black members of this fictional country of Kijuju.



Actually not racist

Now, these allegation could be excused. If it wasn't for the fact that the game is set in Africa. Soon after this was fully explained to the naysayers, the idea of racism, for the most part, fell off the radar.Now, unfortunatly, certain review sites (i.e. Eurogamer) are trying to relight the still glowing embers of this debate. The man who was tasked with reviewing the game (I assume it was the reviewer anyway) claims that RE 5 features outdated ideals about African civilization. He states that one of the first things people will see upon stepping into the shoes of Chris Redfield is the brutal beating of someone or something, in a bag, by a group of non-infected African men. The men glare angrily at Chris as he goes by. While I can see why this could be seen as racist, I am more leaning towards the "not so racist side". Let me explain.

It is a sad, but known fact that many of the people in South Africa are at war. It is a troubling time for them, which would undoubtably lead to many people being raised in unideal conditions, and around constant violence. The fact that people without proper parenting and guidance will likely grow up to commit violent crimes is true everywhere. Be it Africa, or the United States. Where some people will say that I'm reading too much into this in order to find an argument, I don't think so. It doesn't take a large leap of the imagination to see that people raised on the streets, will for the most part resort to crime to get along. And while the in game scenario above may have been Capcom trying to spread racist ideals, I think it's much more likely that it is a group of troubled men.

The makers probably didn't even think that the scene would be a problem, because most people realize that in a Country that is going through what Kijuju is (fictionally) going through, (i.e. The infection of their citizens and subsequent transforming of them into violent murders) would create some civil unrest. It is here that I submit that the "thing" in the bag was in fact, probably an infected person. The group likely captured the person, and is paying them back for something they did. The subsequent glares aimed at Chris could merely be because they don't want him to come near them, for fear of him trying to rescue the infected citizen.

0Once again, I could be reading too much into this.



Uh oh! A black bad guy. Must be racism.

The only other mentioned scene is the taking of a young blonde women, by a group of presumably infected black men. Once the character reaches the women, she is infected as well, and the player is forced to kill her. The reviewer suggests that this is an "outdated notion of African sexual primality". Well... maybe if you're looking for something racist to talk about. While I could see that the disease may have been transmited to her sexually, I also am forced to believe that the men who took her were infected, or were at least being controlled by the main villian of the game in some way. Why else would the women have become infected as well? This would mean that they were not taking her of their own devices, but of someone elses, negating the allegations of racism.

Look. I haven't played the full game. I may not know the full story. But I'm almost positive that this game is not racist. Hell, after the original allegations, white and asian zombies are more prominent now than they should be in an underdeveloped African nation. They even made your partner African as if to create a "See, it's okay, I'm doing it too" vibe. While I can see where the reviewer is coming from, I don't believe that he's looking at this in the right way. But like I said, I haven't played the game, or seen the scenes, so I don't know for sure.

Got a feeling either way? Please, feel free to comment. I'd love to chat.

Also, feel free to check out my website My Secret Online Thoughts