It was a very fascinating lecture as not only did it look into the history of the past relating to these themes, but it also considered the relevance of these themes today.
You can read my notes on this session below:
- The term post coloninalism means the interactions between European countries and the areas they once colonised and how these nations have shaped one another.
- By the end of this module I will know 'what makes a game' e.g. how to create convincing worlds in gaming.
- Edward Said's writing was refered to throughout the presentation as he has written a lot of books on western and oriental culture and therefore is a very interesting person to look at in this field of study.
- Rudolf Ernst painted a picture titled 'A Sultan With A Tiger' from his own imagination of what he believed the East to be like e.g. very exotic and appropriate for sultans to own tigers as pets. And yet the piece is in fact a mixture of cultures which are depicted by clothing and architecture.
- To keep tourism some Eastern / post colonial areas end up portraying themselves in a way which they think will be attractive to outsiders and as a result influence our western perceptions, particularly for westerners who have not visited the East. In the same way people from the East may be influenced by images of the west which show only certain aspects of our life and culture.
- Supposedly twenty four Plymouths exist all over the world as boats from Plymouth traveled to other lands, colonised them and used the same city name for places over and over again.
- Watch 'Blade Runner: The Final Cut' as not only was I not around around to see it last year like the rest of the class, but it is also a very good example in this field of research. For example, in the movie multiple languages have been mixed together and are spoken by the inhabitants as they live in a world where people constantly travel and therefore need to know multiple languages. This is similar to how languages in general are created as languages consist of words and phases adopted and adapted from other languages over time.
- 'Plundered' is an interesting term. For example, countries may plunder things from other countries and cultures e.g. food, clothing etc. and adapt them into their own culture. Countries also plunder actual artifacts from other countries and keep them for themselves in museums for example. This has happened in the case of the Elgin Marbles although Greece wants them back. Thus making the word still relevant today.
Since writing the above I have watched the recommended version of 'Blade Runner'. I regonise the themes in it are very familiar to those discussed by my lecturer and now I also understand the presentation a little more. Although the film was very good it confused me and therefore had the lecturer not brought up the themes we were looking at I may have missed them completely.
After watching the presentation I read the paper by Vit Sisler which proved to be a very interesting read as it changed some of my own opinions on the matters of post colonialism.
You can read my personal thoughts on the subjects discussed in the lecture below:
Originally I didn't have a problem with representing different cultures by using selected images and objects. But, after reading Vit Sisler's work and looking back at the presentation for a second time I have reconsidered my opinion. I understood this even further when I read how war games use Eastern terrorists as a regular foe in gaming and that not only are they represented as primitive, but are also labeled as only the bad guys which is just wrong. Also it is worrying that sales for games involving the killing of such ethnic groups increased after the shocking world events of 9/11. Furthermore, the president at the time George W Bush said how America was 'Good' and the enemy (in this case the East) were 'Evil' and although this was understandable given the circumstances, what he said was clearly stereotypical.
Personal Research - examples of stereotyping in gaming:
One example of a game I can think of with terrible stereotyping in it is 'Resident Evil 5' in which the game takes place in a country in Africa which is plagued by a zombie virus.
Initially, many gamers seeing its earliest trailer in 2007 were concerned that the player would only be killing black zombies. Even the developers were surprised by this reaction as the producer Jun Takeuchi said when interviewed in 2008 by MTV that the company "certainly didn't anticipate the reaction". Thankfully when the game was released it contained a more mixed ethnic group of zombies despite the game's setting, thus showing that outside opinion can change a game for the better.
However, the biggest mis-interpretation of the country came from certain black zombies which were dressed as primitive tribesmen and used spears and shields against the players arsenal of guns. This ended up stereotyping black people. Whilst I can understand the developers wanting to make the African setting as realistic as possible they did not need to depict the enemies as primitive tribesmen since many African tribesman have now adopted modern day cultures so the way they are depicted in the game seems out of place. Especially since the game was only released six years ago in 2009.
Adding insult to injury, the player can unlock a costume that dresses one of the main characters (a black African girl) in tribal wear. This insulted a lot of people as not only was it stereotypical of her race, but it was also incorrect both in tribal style and in the way it oversexualised her.
Perhaps it was a lack of research by the Japanese games' company who made the game? Or, perhaps it was because Japan isn't as concerned about the representation of different cultures as the western world. Regardless, someone in the company should have assessed the risks and ethics of setting their game in Africa and therefore shouldn't have included stereotypes or racist misconceptions within the game. This is surprising as in the previously mentioned interview producer Jun Takeuchi mentioned that "there are black members in the development team...who are aware of the historical background and we are constantly checking these kinds of things with them."
Overall:
Even though I have mentioned the above examples, I still don't believe that using objects from other cultures is a bad thing in gaming. I understand how using cultural references is a good way of helping an audience, reader or even a player understand or recognise the location and authenticity of an area without need for constant reminders. At the same time this can lead to stereotyping and similar mistakes as seen in the painting 'A Sultan With A Tiger' and in the examples above. Therefore, as long as it is used sensibly, ethically and morally I believe that is is something that is still useful and can continue to work in both the games industry and others. I also recognise the importance of improving some of the areas mentioned above. For example, if you are going to have a game about terrorists then at least make them more human and have a reason for why they do what they do and don't just say they are simply the 'bad guys'.
Harvard Referencing:
- Goldstein, H. (2009) Editorial: Is Resident Evil 5 Racist? Available at: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2009/02/10/editorial-is-resident-evil-5-racist (Accessed: 8/1/2013).
- Groenendijk, F. (2009) Tribal Wear [Online image]. Available at: http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2009/03/13/resident-evil-5-cheats-for-unlockables-like-bsaa-emblems-easy-money-playable-sheva-and-new-modes.htm (Accessed: 8/1/2013).
- Unknown. (Unknown) Zombie Tribesmen [Online image]. Available at: http://residentevil.wikia.com/Ndipaya_Kingdom (Accessed: 8/1/2013).
- Unknown. (Unknown) Shooting gun screenshot [Online image]. Available at: http://news.bigdownload.com/photos/2009-console-games-that-should-be-pc-games/ (Accessed: 8/1/2013).
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