Muslim Should Not Equal Villain
- Thread starter Saladin Ahmed
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Yeah fair enough, However I do think its slightly different with the inasane amount of Islamiphobia going on at the moment in America. Ground zero mosque is just a prime example of this. Most steriotypes of muslims portray them as terroists, not all german or russian sterotypes do (and even IF they do they are hiccups from the past not opinions which are being formed in the present). Please read this article guys though so funny and a great piece of satire. http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-already-knows-everything-he-needs-to-know-abou,17990/JourneyThroughHell said:
"I almost gave in and listened to that guy defend Islam with words I didn't want to hear," Gentries said. "But then I remembered how much easier it is to live in a world of black-and-white in which I can assign the label of 'other' to someone and use him as a vessel for all my fears and insecurities."
Indeed, the Western media has a troubled relationship with the Middle East, and much of it can be a kneejerk reaction to Islam's rising presence in global politics. It would serve us well to try to reach a deeper understanding with the Middle East and understand how human they are, just as much as the rest of us.
On the other hand, keep in mind that Middle Easterns are sort of to blame too. A lot of Americans are calling it like they see it because, quite frankly, most of what they see isn't very pleasant. Since very few people are unwilling to recognize how much of a problem Israel is in relation to all this extremism. Since Islam has nothing much in the way of a centralized authority willing to declare what's right and wrong, the opportunity is always there for the message to be hijacked and presented as something it isn't necessarily. Americans tend to forget that the religious rhetoric and motivations of militants, extremists, terrorists, freedom fighters, or whatnot, are expressions so fundamentally immeshed with politics as to be rendered unrecognizable to Islamic orthodoxy. The Middle East is embroiled in confrontational politics in the form of Israel's continued racism, aggression, and expansionism, and since Islam, in all its forms, is basically the one commonl variable the Arabs and Palestinians have, it's their quickest, most digestible way to channel their political grievances. It's a mistake to equate Islam with the actions we Americans see, because they're ultimately expressions of earthly concerns that anyone in the position of a Middle Eastern, religious or not, would at least understand, if not condone.
Muslims and Middle Easterns in general have to put in more effort to clarify this to the West, and the West needs to take steps towards not being Israel's ***** and supporting Middle Eastern dictatorships. That's the only way we're truly going to get past this thick cultural barrier.
On the other hand, keep in mind that Middle Easterns are sort of to blame too. A lot of Americans are calling it like they see it because, quite frankly, most of what they see isn't very pleasant. Since very few people are unwilling to recognize how much of a problem Israel is in relation to all this extremism. Since Islam has nothing much in the way of a centralized authority willing to declare what's right and wrong, the opportunity is always there for the message to be hijacked and presented as something it isn't necessarily. Americans tend to forget that the religious rhetoric and motivations of militants, extremists, terrorists, freedom fighters, or whatnot, are expressions so fundamentally immeshed with politics as to be rendered unrecognizable to Islamic orthodoxy. The Middle East is embroiled in confrontational politics in the form of Israel's continued racism, aggression, and expansionism, and since Islam, in all its forms, is basically the one commonl variable the Arabs and Palestinians have, it's their quickest, most digestible way to channel their political grievances. It's a mistake to equate Islam with the actions we Americans see, because they're ultimately expressions of earthly concerns that anyone in the position of a Middle Eastern, religious or not, would at least understand, if not condone.
Muslims and Middle Easterns in general have to put in more effort to clarify this to the West, and the West needs to take steps towards not being Israel's ***** and supporting Middle Eastern dictatorships. That's the only way we're truly going to get past this thick cultural barrier.
There's a difference in that there aren't any current conflicts between the US and russia/germany so the situation is a bit more complex.
That said, the article writer didn't so much ask game designers to stop portraying people from muslim countries as villains so much as letting them be heroes too.
That said, the article writer didn't so much ask game designers to stop portraying people from muslim countries as villains so much as letting them be heroes too.
Personally, I find extremists in general to be the 'bad guys'. And the extremists who get the most press currently tend to be of the Muslim extraction. I find stories of the latest 'pronouncements' of some ultra-right wing Christian - I'm thinking of that eejit who not too long ago said that the disaster in Haiti was because they'd made a deal with the devil a hundred years ago to get rid of the French - just as worrisome as I find some of the coverage of Muslim extremism. But if you're developing a game that's not based on any historical fact or event, and you need a bad guy, you're probably gonna pick a group that a majority of your target audience distrusts.
"Hey... we need a bad guy for this new shooter we've creating. Any ideas?"
"Grandmas!"
"Boy Scouts!"
"People who read to the blind!"
"Criminals!"
"Lawyers!"
"France!!"
"Muslims!"
And currently, the easiest sell for the game devs is probably the Muslims. It's the world we live in right now. But the reality - or the reality we're shown through the lenses of the tv news cameras - we're seeing is acts of terrorism being done by Muslims. Not to mention the odd story here and there of how Sharia law rules on a case involving a woman. And as long as they are the current bad guys on the nightly news; they're gonna be the current bad guys in video games as well. North Korea was making a play for the big bad guy role, but as expected, they kind of sputtered and whimpered off the world stage - for now at least.
"Hey... we need a bad guy for this new shooter we've creating. Any ideas?"
"Grandmas!"
"Boy Scouts!"
"People who read to the blind!"
"Criminals!"
"Lawyers!"
"France!!"
"Muslims!"
And currently, the easiest sell for the game devs is probably the Muslims. It's the world we live in right now. But the reality - or the reality we're shown through the lenses of the tv news cameras - we're seeing is acts of terrorism being done by Muslims. Not to mention the odd story here and there of how Sharia law rules on a case involving a woman. And as long as they are the current bad guys on the nightly news; they're gonna be the current bad guys in video games as well. North Korea was making a play for the big bad guy role, but as expected, they kind of sputtered and whimpered off the world stage - for now at least.
Barely a protest and once again in medal of honor the single player isnt about the taliban from the eyes of the taliban if you dont see the difference then you're not smart enough.Pugiron said:Mafia 2 Was already protested for portraying an ethnic stereotype. The game features fictionalized people loosely based on real events, just like the Medal Of Honor Taliban. if you cannot see the correlation, you're not smart enough to be part of this discussion. The Nazi's killed more people than the Taliban and people have played the Germans in Medal of Honor multiplayer without a huge uproar. Get a clue.Fr33Kye said:Pugiron said:mafia 2 is loosely based on the mafia that existed, you expecting to play as a terrorist in a few years? Because in mafia 2 you aren't shooting at the mobsters you are one. They mafia is depicted as real people. There isn't a problem with revisiting the time but if all you did in mafia 2 was be a cop and shoot at people yelling in italian there might be an issue.
I really doubt all the people posting read anymore than the title.
You know, I'm currently reading The Arabian Nights as translated by Husain Haddawy, while the morals on display are certainly a little...outdated, (see: King Shayrayar and King Shahzaman killing their wives for cheating on them, and then being forced to have sex with the wife of a demon...yeah, which of course is only the prologue, and starts off Shayrayar's subsequent new wife killings and meeting Shahrazad. Fun stuff though.) it'd certainly be something fascinating to tap into and make a videogame out of, maybe a RPG?
Okay..maybe not the best source to get a 'good' Arab character out of (though there are plenty), but, at the risk of sounding like I'm against the idea (I'm not), it seems the general advice given to artists of any kind is to write/draw/create what you know. However, this advice is clearly both held to and ignored at the same time, with creators at once creating only solid, well thought out characters that they can relate to, that share their skin colour or culture, while at the same time, trying to paint what cultures or persons they may not have very good knowledge about as being only bad guys.
You know though, if you were looking for a representation of good Arab characters, personally I thought Blizzard did an excellent job in Lut Golien in Diablo 2. The entire chapter of course loosely based on everything Middle Eastern, yet without relegating the NPC's in the area to outright stereotypes.
Okay..maybe not the best source to get a 'good' Arab character out of (though there are plenty), but, at the risk of sounding like I'm against the idea (I'm not), it seems the general advice given to artists of any kind is to write/draw/create what you know. However, this advice is clearly both held to and ignored at the same time, with creators at once creating only solid, well thought out characters that they can relate to, that share their skin colour or culture, while at the same time, trying to paint what cultures or persons they may not have very good knowledge about as being only bad guys.
You know though, if you were looking for a representation of good Arab characters, personally I thought Blizzard did an excellent job in Lut Golien in Diablo 2. The entire chapter of course loosely based on everything Middle Eastern, yet without relegating the NPC's in the area to outright stereotypes.
uhhh what? Now you just seem ridiculous. You dont see the difference between playing as the taliban or a nazi in multiplayer and playing them as real characters with names in single player?Pugiron said:LOL none of which changes what I said. You area moron. Reply all you want. I am just ignoring your retarded ass now, Sarah Palin.Fr33Kye said:Barely a protest and once again in medal of honor the single player isnt about the taliban from the eyes of the taliban if you dont see the difference then you're not smart enough.Pugiron said:Mafia 2 Was already protested for portraying an ethnic stereotype. The game features fictionalized people loosely based on real events, just like the Medal Of Honor Taliban. if you cannot see the correlation, you're not smart enough to be part of this discussion. The Nazi's killed more people than the Taliban and people have played the Germans in Medal of Honor multiplayer without a huge uproar. Get a clue.Fr33Kye said:Pugiron said:
I really doubt all the people posting read anymore than the title.
Yes, yes it does. Trust the Onion to satirically one-up all major news organisations.daftnoize said:
You sir hit the nail on the head. I would respect the religion a whole lot more if the moderates were more vocal and spoke out against the disgusting acts of these extremists. It's almost saddening to think that South park made a show about muhammed that blasted the other religions (Hindu Gods smoking dope, etc.) but when it comes to Muhammed there are death threats??? Something is wrong here.cerebus23 said:
O rly?
That's interesting and all, but once again, there is more to it than seems.
Western society is racist towards Islam.
Islam does stuff casually that are not very acceptable by western society. Like banning rock bands (islam kid on radio talks about the shit they had to go through), etc. Islam society certainly isn't without fault here.
Now, if we just nuked everybody and the kangaroos took over, everything would be fine. Methinks.
That's interesting and all, but once again, there is more to it than seems.
Western society is racist towards Islam.
Islam does stuff casually that are not very acceptable by western society. Like banning rock bands (islam kid on radio talks about the shit they had to go through), etc. Islam society certainly isn't without fault here.
Now, if we just nuked everybody and the kangaroos took over, everything would be fine. Methinks.