RE5 producer speaks out against allegations of racism
A white protagonist in a military get-up mows down a horde of savage black zombies. “Racism!” cried the Internets. Capcom‘s RE5 (PS3, Xbox 360) producer, Masachika Kawata, spoke out against this point of view during an interview with CVG.
A white protagonist in a military get-up mows down a horde of savage black zombies. “Racism!” cried the Internets.
We’ve been hearing this complaint tossed back and forth in internet forums and blogs since 2007 when they showcased the Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Xbox 360) trailer at E3.
Capcom‘s RE5 producer, Masachika Kawata, spoke out against this point of view during an interview with CVG. He claimed that they were simply following the game’s storyline and had no ulterior agenda besides. “We’re in the entertainment business, we’re not here to state our political opinion or anything like that. It’s unfortunate that some people felt that way.”
Followers of the Resident Evil series would likely agree since this fifth installment in the popular survival horror franchise is supposed to directly follow the events of Code Veronica (GameCube, PS2, Xbox). It was discovered in the course of that game that the Progenitor virus came from Africa, so off to Africa they went. “We’re extending the storyline logically,” explained Kawata.
It does make sense, doesn’t it? When the T virus broke out in Raccoon City, we got to gun down American zombies. When the setting changed to a Spanish village, we shot at Spanish zombies (yes, I know they weren’t *really* zombies exactly, but you get the idea). Moving on to Africa, it only seems logical for there to be African zombies in abundance.
The other side of this argument claims that the logical consistency of the storyline is largely irrelevant since it still depicts black people as savage inhuman killing machines and forces the player to fight and kill them. For a game marketed to children and young adults, this may potentially instill fear and hatred toward black people during their formative years.
I don’t really agree with this but I felt the other side of the debate needed representation. I’ll leave you to form your own opinions.
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