Did the Borderlands series receive any controversy over its depiction of 'little people'

[kilenem]

Also yeah, but you ever notice it's the stupid ones of any group that is also the loudest and most outspoken. Like the male gamers sending threats to feminist game journalists...yeah.. small, asshole minority. The rst of us gamers are busy working our jobs, having or fuin and generally being productive well balanced members of society. But as with anythjing in the media.. it's the polaraized extremes that get the most attention, because people having calm rational discussion and coming to consensus is boooooring news.

That is true the stupid people have the loudest voices.

 

[JayRPG]

(I don't like the term 'little people, it feels patronizing, so I'm using the term short people).

I don't like the term little people

... 'little people' is the correct term, this is the politically correct term and any little person will tell you that 'little person' is their preferred 'title' if they are being referenced in such a way.

It is the most commonly used, and most preferred term (by little people) in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and just about every English speaking country.

I didn't even read the rest of the post which I'm sure is just blowing things about of proportion.

 

[Mezahmay]

I think they actually are dropping the "Midget" prefix for a "lil" one for The Pre-Sequel. I think there actually were some complaints after BL2 became so popular.

I'm not one for political correctness, but I actually like the sound of throwing "lil" in front of enemy titles for midget enemies. It sounds sillier and more aligned with the series' humor in general.

 

[Something Amyss]

Borderlands got a pass on almost everything.

The biggest huff I heard was over the notion that Axton might be bisexual.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

snip

If you don't like the term 'little people' then why'd you put it in the title.

The reason there are so many 'short people' on Pandora, is because people have all mutated. The people living in organized towns are decently healthy, but the ones living in caves covered in skag shit and indulging in cannibalism have mutated, one of these mutations being stunted growth (going either way).

I really think it's just you being oversensitive.

 

[EHKOS]

Well its also fair game if the potentially offended party is ok with it.

Spoiler

Though maybe it only defends the 4th dlc pack.

(2:55 for the relevant portion, I know it can be done but I don't know how to time-stamp an embedded video)

That um...Salvador's lines were written by the same studio who created the whole game. I could create a game where everyone was wearing black face, put one black guy in it, and have a VA say "Naw, it's aight wit me homie." That doesn't excuse it nor does it speak for the majority of the black population. The singular black man is just a puppet on my strings. And to be honest, I felt like San Andreas was pretty racist, but that is probably me over reacting.

OT: I was surprised that no one ever said anything, but I honestly didn't care, just like I don't care about all the other issues. I play games, that's that. But yes I was waiting for someone to bring it up, but it never came up and I had always found it a bit odd.

 

[Battenberg]

it feels dehumanizing taking a whole group and portraying them as psychopaths.

Serious question - do you think there's ANY chance than anyone would come away from this game under the impression the vertically challenged are all psychopaths?

To put it another way is this offensive?

Perhaps I'm wrong but I would guess you don't think so. I assume you also don't think anyone under 4 ft spends their day singing and dancing while wearing flamboyant face paint and wigs.

In both cases there is no reason to assume that any real world group is being portrayed.Both examples take place in a very clearly fictional setting full of very clearly fictional characters. If anything is it not more offensive to say that you believe the axe wielding maniacs in hockey masks appear similar enough to small people to make that comparison?

Aside from all that I believe there is also an explanation within the game for those characters. They are essentially the result of mutation, much like the 8ft 'badass psychos' and the muscle covered 'bruisers'. It's just one of many body shapes that has come about as a result of the conditions on Pandora. The word 'midget' is the term the people used to describe them (as opposed to any real world reference or insult) and it stuck, in keeping with the "colloquial" language that a lot of characters you encounter use.


Of course all that aside as well it's a video game. A video game that relies on humour and does so in a cartoonish and often crude way, particularly when it comes to characters/ enemies. No one's having any major world views changed by it, honestly this seems like a good example of reading too much into something.

 

[Ronald Nand]

I've been playing Borderlands 2 and I don't like its portrayal of short people (I don't like the term 'little people, it feels patronizing, so I'm using the term short people).

"Little people" is the generally accepted term BY little people. I think the only patronizing thing is to assume you know better than they how they like to be referred to.

Well if its the accepted term, I have to live with it but it feels insulting in my opinion, its like we're saying their inferior and not to be taken seriously.

snip

If you don't like the term 'little people' then why'd you put it in the title.

I used the term because it was the term that best word I could use to get people to understand what I was talking about.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

And there's multiple examples where you scratch beneath the surface of a situation and there's an underplayed tragedy at its core. Even Handsome Jack ends up having a couple of moments where, beneath his twisted evil, it's clear he cares deeply about a particular character... even while completely mistreating them. Tiny Tina's story is largely someone clearly not dealing with the really horrible thing which had happened to her when she was younger... or perhaps reacting to it in the only way open to her on Pandora, by going completely mad. The wacky comedy is always the focus, but there's a rich vein of tragedy throughout the game which is touched upon in all sorts of surprising and unexpected ways.

This is a pretty good summary of some of the things that bumps Borderlands 2's writing from "alright justification for mayhem" into "actually kind of good and self-aware". Handsome Jack, for all his over the top villainy, actually has noble intentions and while he is a jackass, he is also sincere in his belief that he's creating a better life for people on Pandora. The game realizes this and hints at it several times (especially in the plot lines regarding the person he cares about and when you attack his model city), just as the game realizes that the protagonists are all a bunch of genocidal maniacs out to get rich and have fun while causing wanton destruction and often riffs on this fact.

Borderlands 2 probably gets a pass because it is obvious the writing team behind it are quite good at what they do and as such managed to avoid the pitfalls that would have caused controversy about the portrayal of various groups of people.

 

[communist gamer]

OP i think you need to take a chill pill and stop looking for controvesys everywhere. It's comedy, made to poke fun at stuff, no one is going to feal hurt about it, just play the damn game and dont look for stuff that are not there

 

[Ronald Nand]

OP i think you need to take a chill pill and stop looking for controvesys everywhere. It's comedy, made to poke fun at stuff, no one is going to feal hurt about it, just play the damn game and dont look for stuff that are not there

I know, I don't usually make a big deal of this stuff, and I'm enjoying the game, I just found it weird that no-one in the media was attacking Borderlands, especially with the way it being so over the top and using so many stereotypes.

 

[Lilani]

I've been playing Borderlands 2 and I don't like its portrayal of short people (I don't like the term 'little people, it feels patronizing, so I'm using the term short people).

"Little people" is the generally accepted term BY little people. I think the only patronizing thing is to assume you know better than they how they like to be referred to.

Well if its the accepted term, I have to live with it but it feels insulting in my opinion, its like we're saying their inferior and not to be taken seriously.

snip

If you don't like the term 'little people' then why'd you put it in the title.

I used the term because it was the term that best word I could use to get people to understand what I was talking about.

I think you kind of answered your own problem in your response to CPT, there. "Short people" is how we describe people who are shorter in stature but not due to any kind of medical problem. I'm sure the way we refer to little people will change even more in the future, just as the way we refer to every minority changes. But I doubt we'll ever go back to "midgets" because that's just a bit on the derogatory side, and "short people" wouldn't be helpful in a linguistic sense. Words and titles are meant to clarify ideas, not muddle them. At this point I think little people is the accepted term because it at least established they are PEOPLE. Other titles from the past such as "midget" or "lilliputian" practically made them their own species separate from humans.