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There is an interesting story on 1up.com about possible racism in the new PSP game, Loco Roco. Some of the characters bears striking resemblance to derogatory stereotypes of Blacks, inlcuding the apparent use of blackface.
The characters in question:
Here is the article:
[quote name='"1up.com"'] 1UP blogger Alejandro Quan-Madrid has a problem with Sony's seemingly harmless LocoRoco. Quan-Madrid takes the game to task for its portrayal of characters that (to his credit) do harken back to images of blackface.
It's easy to note the visual similarities, here, but is Quan-Madrid reaching to tie racism to the Japanese-developed game?
"I'm not accusing the developers of being racist, nor am I accusing LocoRoco of being a racist game. I simply hope believe that this is a product of unchecked institutionalized racism that need's calling out." - Alejandro Quan-Madrid
Gameblog Kotaku had their usually-snarky Florian Eckhardt weigh-in after Japanese correspondent Brian Ashcraft's original report. Eckhardt offered this:
"To be fair, I don't think Alejandro is racist, but I do think he is making himself out to be one of those knee-jerk reactionaries who measures his own importance by his ability to be self-righteously offended. Not only is his argument silly and worthy of derision (LocoRoco as a metaphor for white flight? In a game about yellow amorphous blobs?), but it demeans the struggle against actual racism."
Eckhardt is probably closer to the mark than Alejandro. While the visual similarities are obvious, it's hard to not give the developers the benefit of the doubt (perhaps that's naivete on our part, however). Sony has also weighed in on possible racism in LocoRoco's:
"LocoRoco is a fantasy game geared towards a worldwide audience that takes place in a vibrant pastel world with colorful landscapes and characters and is not based on real-life places, people or things."
It's hard to dispute the visual similarities presented above, but it's even more difficult to try and connect those images as institutional racism (and that's an incredible dangerous leap to take). How do you, the readers of 1UP, feel about these images? Is merely a coincidence? A backhanded slap at Blacks? Do the images offend you? This is a a potentially heated and delicate issue, we expect your posts to reflect that. You post, we'll read.[/quote]
While I wouldn't go so far as to call the developers racist, I won't deny the absolutely demeaning qualities that those characters possess. The developers have resorted to crude stereotypes of Blacks, and in the process, are hearkening back to images that were historically used to belittle an entire group of people. Anybody who wants a gritty look at blackface and its effects should check out Spike Lee's Bamboozled. While Sony has stated that the game takes place in a fictional world with fantastical elements, you can't deny the immense power and negativity in those designs.
The characters in question:
Here is the article:
[quote name='"1up.com"'] 1UP blogger Alejandro Quan-Madrid has a problem with Sony's seemingly harmless LocoRoco. Quan-Madrid takes the game to task for its portrayal of characters that (to his credit) do harken back to images of blackface.
It's easy to note the visual similarities, here, but is Quan-Madrid reaching to tie racism to the Japanese-developed game?
"I'm not accusing the developers of being racist, nor am I accusing LocoRoco of being a racist game. I simply hope believe that this is a product of unchecked institutionalized racism that need's calling out." - Alejandro Quan-Madrid
Gameblog Kotaku had their usually-snarky Florian Eckhardt weigh-in after Japanese correspondent Brian Ashcraft's original report. Eckhardt offered this:
"To be fair, I don't think Alejandro is racist, but I do think he is making himself out to be one of those knee-jerk reactionaries who measures his own importance by his ability to be self-righteously offended. Not only is his argument silly and worthy of derision (LocoRoco as a metaphor for white flight? In a game about yellow amorphous blobs?), but it demeans the struggle against actual racism."
Eckhardt is probably closer to the mark than Alejandro. While the visual similarities are obvious, it's hard to not give the developers the benefit of the doubt (perhaps that's naivete on our part, however). Sony has also weighed in on possible racism in LocoRoco's:
"LocoRoco is a fantasy game geared towards a worldwide audience that takes place in a vibrant pastel world with colorful landscapes and characters and is not based on real-life places, people or things."
It's hard to dispute the visual similarities presented above, but it's even more difficult to try and connect those images as institutional racism (and that's an incredible dangerous leap to take). How do you, the readers of 1UP, feel about these images? Is merely a coincidence? A backhanded slap at Blacks? Do the images offend you? This is a a potentially heated and delicate issue, we expect your posts to reflect that. You post, we'll read.[/quote]
While I wouldn't go so far as to call the developers racist, I won't deny the absolutely demeaning qualities that those characters possess. The developers have resorted to crude stereotypes of Blacks, and in the process, are hearkening back to images that were historically used to belittle an entire group of people. Anybody who wants a gritty look at blackface and its effects should check out Spike Lee's Bamboozled. While Sony has stated that the game takes place in a fictional world with fantastical elements, you can't deny the immense power and negativity in those designs.
ing- wooooo.
