The new trailer for Resident Evil 5, recently shown off at E3, has been met with a generally positive response from fans and marks a new setting for the series. The game sees a return of long-running character, Chris Redfield, who is sent to investigate an incident in a desert locale set in Africa. Much like its predecessor, Resident Evil 4, the indigenous population of the region will provide the basis for the game’s most prevalent antagonists who, like the Ganado of RE4, are not-quite-Zombies but fill that role to all extents and purposes.

Taking the trailer (or, unfortunately, the pictured screenshot) out of context of the series, you have to wonder whether there is cause for concern that this may be taken as subliminally racist, especially when you consider that Chris Redfield is shown shooting at the Black population of the area in the game. That is what Black Looks, a blog devoted to African Women, draws into question:

“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.” “[…] 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.”

I can see how this interpretation of the game’s trailer – and remember this is just a small snippet of the full setting that only the full game will expose – could be seen as treading on dangerous ground. But it is also important to consider how the majority of the non-gaming public will interpret these images, especially as there’s no reason for them to know that the Resident Evil series has previously been set in the U.S., with the previous outing diversifying into a Hispanic, European setting. Certainly there has been no indication of racial prejudice in any of the previous titles.

I am slightly more concerned with what Black Looks goes on to say: “This video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people.” This seems fairly symptomatic of the misinterpretation that video gaming suffers from in the broader public eye – that they are all designed for children. That is simply not true as Resident Evil contains predominantly adult themes and content, and as a result the majority of its titles have received Mature ratings from the ESRB.

Hopefully, once we get a fuller picture of what Resi 5 is all about, it will be a lot clearer that this is a simple, out-of-context misinterpretation of the game’s main theme. The idea that Resident Evil 5 might be unintentionally sowing the seeds of racism could be easily addressed with a broader look at the game’s setting and plot development. I think that’s a pretty good excuse for a new trailer.

However, unless video gaming can break away from the idea that its content is marketed solely towards young impressionable minds unable to grasp the broader contexts of the game, then we risk compromising the creative diversity of the video game medium amidst political correctness gone mad.

Source
Game Politics

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