I finished
Heavy Rain yesterday, and it was a fine, fine experience. It was a thoroughly rewarding feeling to see all of my characters make it through without a premature death. The story was functional, and a little more conventional than the ridiculous reveal of
Indigo Prophecy. I can't wait to play it again and see all the different directions I can go within each scene.
But what troubles me is just how freaking racist this game is. I chalk it up to the fact that the Frech-based developers Quantic Dream don't quite understand the intricacies of race here in the United States, and some shoddy localization (further demonstrated in voice acting that was all over the place). Two examples:
1. Mad Jack. The moment this guy jumps down from his bulldozer (what a weird mix, chop shop and junkyard - this guy can do it all!), he calls my character a cracker. Being a cracker myself, I've heard that word from time to time, but not with that much pure hate for a perfect stranger. Considering that this game is set a year into the future, maybe reverse-racism will have reared its ugly head by then?
2. Paco Mendez. This fucking guy. I'm okay with him being a pervert (you know, the kind that is okay with achieving sexual fulfillment at gunpoint), but does he have to have such a sleazy, ridiculous hispanic accent? And don't get me started on his outfit. Lemme guess, he climbed the ranks of organized crime to own a nightclub by being the best dressed guy around?
Other than that,
great game.
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1. It doesn't seem wrong for the musclebound criminal that runs the scrapyard to be socially insensitive and otherwise lacking in cultural diplomacy. Hamfisted way to build a character, but it tells you where he's at in his life.
2. Sleazy guy is sleazy. Building that character as a man of America-local ethnicity helps convince us that this doesn't take place in Canada. :) Again, hamfisted, but it functions.
Not great characters, maybe. I think you could have come up with a better description than "is racist".
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=reverse%20racism
I was trying to be sarcastic; apparently I don't have the "Destructoid flow" down just yet. Obviously, Heavy Rain isn't racist. It's more likely than not the result of the French trying to accurately portray the subtleties of a culture that isn't theirs, and how someone native to that culture might misinterpret their end product and overreact.
Damnit, I promised myself that I wouldn't defend my posts.
anyways, the actual definition of racism is pretty much when people or institutions hold a dominate position in society due to their dominant racial status and exercise power over those with a lower social standing due to their minority status.
sooooooooo, that black guy can be prejudiced, and he might be involved in reverse discrimination ... but he's not racist.
I really hate defending my comments, let alone my posts, but I can't let a wrong definition remain on my post without saying something.
I'm afraid you have the three terms racism, discrimination, and prejudice a little skewed. Prejudice is unjust behavior that isn't based on reason. Racism is prejudice based on race. Discrimination is the act of unjust treatment based on prejudice. The definition of racism in your comment above is more akin to the definition of discrimination that anything.
I used the term "reverse racism" due to the fact that Mad Jack used a racial slur against someone in the majority (which is actually incorrect, and my bust, because I just checked and Philadelphia is 43% black and 41% white according to a demographic study in 2008). Discrimination implies action, and the denial of someone's rights based on prejudice - and that's why "cracker" is a racial slur, not a discriminatory slur.
Okay, I'm done with this post.
Its interesting how complicated some people make the term "racism".
I'm a fan of the mirriam webster version
Judgement of superiority by a factor of race. Majority population or socio-economic standing needn't be a factor.
If I think a Charizard is better than an Abrakadabra simply because he's a fire pokemon, that's racist. And stupid. Because everyone knows PSY pokemons are the master race.
Being a member of a majority, and being a member of the dominant group are two completely different things. Apartheid South Africa comes to mind.