[ 
Mood: Confused ]
[ 
Currently: Listening to Zombie by The Cranberries ]
A disease has broken out in Africa. Those suffering from this condition don’t know that they’re infected until its probably far too late. Physical symptoms appear quickly, yet its dehabilitating effects are so subtle, people don’t even realize what is happening to their bodies and minds.
In a region already strife with poverty, hunger, genocide, language barriers between neighbors, sickness, and the highest infant mortality rate in the world, this disease has proved it possible that tensions could get even worse. It spreads exponentially, and there is no cure besides immediately amputating a limb or taking a bullet to the head. What is this horror?
Aside from the horrible, horrible American voice acting in the early days, the Resident Evil games have been delivering strong activist messages to gamers for years now. The zombie genre can be a masturbatory holy land for the deranged and egotistical to stage their political fantasies, but it can also be the host to some of the most eloquent synopses of society’s flaws and triumphs. This is where the franchise has always excelled, and where I believe it will continue to succeed with Resident Evil 5.
Like most Japanese film, games and anime, the message of the first few Resident Evil titles was "Nuclear war is bad." With various spin off franchises, they examined a number of other issues. In one spin off focusing on survivors from the first game, the writers explored the worth of an imminently doomed human existence. No matter how you played the game, the zombie infested town would be nuked to contain the zombie threat, making your character a tragic hero, perhaps even a martyr. In other Resident Evil games, they’ve pondered the dangers of religious extremism, xenophobia, science untempered by humanity, and deep rooted psychological disorders, such as gender confusion. If only the movies could be so deep.
To most people, zombie related media is all about the scary horrible monsters walking around trying to devour anything with a pulse. And at its core, that’s the purest way to enjoy this slice of the horror genre – just let your adrenaline get pumped up as you desperately cheer for the protagonists to survive the night – except for that one smug asshole who deserves to get disemboweled from eight different angles.
But for some people, their sensitivities make doing that without understanding the subtext, well, dangerous. In other words, this happens:
| Quote: |
| 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. “I have a job to do and I’m gonna see it through.”
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. |
