Posted Aug 01, 2007 at 02:47AM by Victor B. Listed in: Resident Evil 5, Games, Opinions & Analysis Tags: Capcom
Ó

Here's something novel we found through GamePolitics. It seems that the E3 game trailer for Capcom's Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Xbox 360) has managed to raise a big fuss over at Black Looks, a blog devoted to African women. In the blog entry, the author finds the portrayal of black people in the trailer as racist, especially given the scenario of a white man (Chris Redfield) shooting at them.

The post states,


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....


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.


Of course, there might be some problems with this complaint. For one thing, since the setting is in Africa, it stands to reason that most of the people in area affected by a viral zombie outbreak would be black. Furthermore, previous Resident Evil games had the protagonists shooting at Americans or Spanish folk, depending on the game's setting, so there shouldn't be an issue of race here: zombification chooses no race. Lastly, a game like this isn't supposed to be meant for "children and young adults;" it's meant for mature audiences.

In any case, why not view the video again for yourself and come to your own conclusions? Watch it below.




[Via Black Looks] Permalink  |   Email this  |   Linking Blogs   |   Digg It!

Bookmark / Find this article on:


75 Comments


Sort by:
   by BeerManMike (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » Very stupid

OK i could see this being racist if it was in america, russia, japan or somewhere... but its staged in AFRICA! jesus christ! Of course they'll be black zombies! how f'in stupid would it be to kill white, brown, black, asian looking ...you get the picture.. zombies in africa? Now if i was in california shooting zombies and i saw ALL black zombies then you can make an argument, but it would still be stupid because its a video game! lighten the f.u.c.k up people

   by wa (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » ha

everybodys rasist to a degree think about it on saint patrics day in the usa all kinds of people dress up in big green hats drink green beer and ast stupid put up big beer displays in stores like all irish people are drunks. and when some one say any thing about a english men thay all have bad dental work and are uptight are when you say anything about a mexican theyhad to jump accross the border. get my point every bodys rasict to a certin degree and to say your not is lying every bodys has preconcieved noticens about other races its just how you act on them. sorry about by spelling im mexican.


   Re: bob2 (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » irish

i'm irish... AND RARARAR

-we _ARE_ all drunks- duh!!
   by Jon Van Dalen (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » Treating Differently

I have posted my take on this to my blog:

http://jonvandalen.com/home/black-zombies/

People like Kym Platt and Al Sharpton are teaching America to treat blacks differently.

   by killjoy777 (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » poor zombies

I think it's horrible that zombies are depicted as black... zombies everywhere must be humiliated

   by killjoy777 (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » poor zombies

I think it's horrible that zombies are depicted as black... zombies everywhere must be humiliated

   by Malcolm X (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » Rascist

This video just shows the opression the white man instills upon us brothers! Down with the white man!


   Re: Chris (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » Holy *****

Zombie Malcolm X!!!! IT'S ALREADY BEGUN!
   by Advertising -
   by killjoy777 (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » poor zombies

I think it's horrible that zombies are depicted as black... zombies everywhere must be humiliated

   by Anonibuts (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » Zombies

This is so cool Africa as a game setting... T-virus+AIDS+*****as= Sweet gameplay

   by nalk7 (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » bullcrap

come on im spanish and i didnt get offended by resident evil 4, and it takes place im asturias where my cousins live. in my opinion that guy has issues. i havnt seen anyone here in spain react negatively to the game, and the guys are called ganado (spanish for cattle) i guess that could be considered racist, i mean after all we are the poor guys in europe. but w.e. we have a sense of humor and we can take ***** like that. i bet ppl from africa wouldnt take that as offensive, i bet who ever wrote that was some sorry ass african american that cant get over the fact they were once slaves. so i say dude relax and enjoy your freedoms.


   Re: bob2 (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » cattle?

cool, didn't know that.. guess it makes sense considering they were mindless zombies..

+1 :)

   Re: irony (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » ha

Funny ...they can't get over the fact that they are decendents of slaves.....but I think they all ignore the fact that in egypt blacks enslaved the jews.....perhaps if the US ever decided to pay reparations (which some *****head always brings up every election...mine as well say hey white people here is a reason to finally start a race war) then the jews should demand reperations.... and *****...black people enslaved moses...thats some bull *****!
   by chris (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » ass holes

So you can kill spanish people in part 4 and no big stink
And becase its a black thing its white on black give me a break I don't care who he kills the game looks *****ing sweet so suck my ass losers and get a life how many of you actually been to hatie ya it takes place in hatie get your facts straight


   by d3crypt3r (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » big f'n deal

so in GTA: San Andreas since the character is black and there happen to be white people but that is not racism. Oh but if a white man kills a black man then it most deffinitely IS racism. No one except losers that no one likes is a racist anymore.

   by SUPERUNKNOWN (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » I had a feeling...

it would come to this. I'm black and I don't see a problem with it. I've been a fan of the RE series for a long time and Chris is my fav character in the series. If Chris wasn't used in the game and it was like some new black character it wouldn't be a big deal. I didn't see them fight when Kenneth got killed in the beginning of RE1. Oh and the RE movies sucks total ASS

   by Mr.Gibson (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » ??

RACE WAR!!!!!!


   Re: Advertising -


   Re: armagedon (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » no ....

It´s the old and pretty freedom war, without think what´s is your race, the racism is something that just live on hurted hearts at the world, on mind of ppl that need to be polemic to justify your fails ...
Go Capcom we are in your side ... all of us, all races united counter this polemic sssshhhhiiiiittttt ...
   by IodineX (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » ...

No race is superior to another, thats utter crap. You know what we all are under the skin? Do you? Bone, muscle, vital organs...thats it. I hate it when anyone of any race thinks they are superior to others because of the *****ing color of their skin...A COLOR! OMG! A SHADE ON THE WHEEL OF COLORS! Anyone who thinks whites are superior to blacks is an idiot. Any blacks who think they are superior to whites, also idiots...seriously, we need *****ing get over ourselves and worry about something more important such as um...trying to improve the *****ty world we live in. Who gives a rats ass if RE5 has an all antagonist group of zombie black people...ITS A *****ING GAME! Racism is all a problem with the insecurity of ones own self.

   by heavyarms (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » not racist

come on people are overreacting over this. The location is africa, what do you expect. like one of the comments said best, zombies dont care about race. And in previous installments of resident evil zombies have been white or other races, why no complaints there. So if chris was shooting at white zombies there would be no complaints right. Grow up people and see this as just a game and a setting so the game as 2 fit the setting.

   by VenpaCas (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » LMFAO

I KILLED MY"KIND" IN RE4 LOL dats racist *****in people LMAO wow y do ppl always look for a way to ***** ***** up for real. i never gave it a racist thought on RE4 nor RE5 yall ppl needs to *****ing get over it there will always b racism only thing u can do is deal with it I DO EVERY SINGLE DAY *****!

   by Teflon-Hahn (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » This is Bull*****

I Am Black. Yep. And I think it's BS. You killed Americans. You killed Spanish. And now you kill africans and it's RACIAL?!? WTF?!?! It was ok to kill the spanih and *****?! Gimme a break. I'm black and I comepletely disagree with this crap

   by nik (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » thanks for perpetuating racism....

how is this even a story? who in the hell on this site goes and reads blogs about black women. i would say he/she is not doing their job of looking for gaming news. racism is still around because of people like this. my kids will hear about racism because people like this look for it in every single aspect of their miserable lives, and cry it whenever something does not go exactly how they think it should. it's a truly sad state of affairs. if we left racism to the stupid half wits that still believe in it, it would die out in a generation or so. unfortunately well educated people of some significance continue to make it their sole mission in life to find some unfairness, and then blame it on the color of someone's skin. what a complete waste of time. somehow they don't realize that by making racism a public issue, they are perpetuating it far better than some backwater moron that is truly racist ever could.

   by Dj Natas (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » So for the last 15 years

it was okay to shoot white people, man this country is so f'd up!

   by Smart (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » Its not racist if you kill whites...

For some reason if I change the rolls around it isn't racist anymore...

"The new Resident Evil video game depicts a black man in what appears to be America killing White people. The White people are supposed to be zombies and the black man’s job is to destroy them and save humanity....

This is problematic on so many levels, including the depiction of White people as inhuman savages, the killing of White people by a black 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 White people."

You stupid ignorant black racists! Why the F should us white people take to your racist discrimination and in the same situation suck your small ***** to not look bad. F U and F your ignorant racist views you F'ing losers!

   by Latency (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » um...

I think capcom could fix the entire issue by making the main character colorblind

   by ha (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » typical

Typical racist american black person.

This is why all black people in the world hate american blacks and why most think that politically outspoken american blacks are a laughing stock. They complain about e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

Anything that happens to an American black is always a sign of racism and if an American black perpetrates a crime or has any problem/difficulty then he/she is a product of racist white america..... what a joke. And my god...a white uniformed protagonist fighting hordes of zombies.....my god....how racists.....it is not like the majority of people in africa are say ...black!?

I wonder if the protagonist in this game were a black man if they would scream Japanese games designers promote self inflicted black genocide.

Funny, when BLADE was killing white vampires along with his sidekick old white guy.....I didn't see anyone get upset......




   Re: Advertising -


   Re: The ONE (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » And this is why I don't like these type of topics

"This is why all black people in the world hate american blacks"

Er no, please don't generalise about 'black people in the world' and 'American blacks', because that's the same kind of generalisation behind the act of racism.

This topic comes from a blog of a black women who clearly knows nothing about video games, therefore she has taken what she's seen of RE5 on face value, with no research at all into the previous versions.

If she had seen RE4 and earlier, THEN she would have been able to put version 5 into context. Instead, all she demonstrates is her own ignorance.

So attack her if you must, but I wish you (and some others here) would stop responding by insulting whole groups of people because of the ignorance of the minority.
   by decaden - 2007-08-01
 » Racism on Resident Evil? Please, spare me the bullcrap

I think this topic is a waste of time, and is just adding to the hype of the next resident evil game. If you think this game is racist then you're an idiot, RE4 had spanish zombies, noone said anything racist about that. And the majority of the zombies in the first 3 were white, again no problems. King of scotland came out, nope nothing there but hey hold the phone, Resident 5 becomes the talk of oprah etc. Honestly people use your *****ing brain, its part of the hype, rumours and specualtion spreads like the bloody g virus around the web. Anyone up for a game of marioKart?

   by MadSkillz (Unregistered) - 2007-08-01
 » ....

Its more racist towards white people, all the black people want the white guy dead.

   by nights (Unregistered) - 2007-08-02
 » Wow

Seriously you are allowed to shoot white people in EVERY GAME but yet no white folk every complain.

   by Ildefonso (Unregistered) - 2007-08-02
 » For God's sake!

It's okay for him to kill 19thcenturyish south-american-spanish-speaking european VILLAGERS (not zombies), with nobody saying anything about the utterly wrong way it portraits the people of the only spanish-speaking country in Europe (Spain, obviously), but when it comes to black people things are different? Man, the only racist man here is the guy who got offended by the trailer in the first time, looking for racist features where there are actually none!!

   by anon (Unregistered) - 2007-08-02
 » makes me mad

it burns my a** when black people tjink that white people are always after them. seriously if we were after... you would know it. and what about ving rhames in dawn of the dead black dude killing white zombies yet no one raises a finger or second gueses the imagry

   by Ildefonso (Unregistered) - 2007-08-02
 » And by the way...

And by the way, the whole "zombie" conept is originary from the mithology of a black tribe (I'm sorry i don't know which one, but I know it's black), and then it became popular amongst the white after they enslaved them, thus incorporating to the white mithology an idea that was originary of Africa. Then, if zombies are originally african, then why can't Resident Evil, the best-known zombie vieogame saga, make a release based on this? Shall we put prejudices before both history and enjoyment? It's a game, for God's sake!

   by loser_dude (Unregistered) - 2007-08-02
 » omfg...

I NEED THIS GAME... RE 4 WITH BLACK GUYS AND NEXT GEN GRAPHICS = SMEXY FUN TIME

   by infinitysend (Unregistered) - 2007-08-02
 » too many comments

I doubt anyone will read this but i'm going to just mention...

Has anyone ever seen the original Night of the Living Dead? Great zombie movie. And guess who is the only survivor? That's right, a black guy. And when he's yelling for help through a window in the last second of the movie, he gets capped by a cop. THAT'S racism. A white guy shooting at zombie Africans is not. Get over yourself.

As many people have already stated, people can't WAIT to jump on some kind of media that could be twisted around and seen as racist. Hell, someone thought LocoRoco had Blackface... (and Oilman from Megaman powered up DOES have Blackface BUT that's a different story)

Capcom is not a racist company. They are just trying to depict a great interactive story in a realistic setting.



The QJ.net Network RSS Feeds
QJ Forums
PC Gaming
Sony PSP
PlayStation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
Blog of Blogs Feed / PDA
QJ.NET RSS / PDA
Gaming Consoles Feed / PDA
Nintendo DS RSS / PDA
PlayStation 3 RSS / PDA
PSP Updates RSS / PDA
Wii RSS / PDA
Xbox 360 RSS / PDA
PC Gaming Feed / PDA
MMORPG RSS / PDA
Personal Computer Games RSS / PDA
World of Warcraft RSS / PDA
Technology Feed / PDA
Apple RSS / PDA
iPhone - iPod Touch RSS / PDA
Add QJ.NET
Add to My Yahoo!
Google Reader Subscribe with Bloglines
Add  to your Kinja digest Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Add 'www.qj.net' to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Subscribe with SearchFox RSS del.icio.us www.qj.net
Add to Technorati Favorite! Add to My AOL
furl! it Stumble for Treehugger!