The Big Picture: Combat Evolved?

[sagacious]

I always saw halo not as mono-culture vs multi-culture, but more as the enlightened Atheistic minority triumphing over the crusading majority.
I'm a christian mind, but that seems to be the attitude/message the halo games convey. After all, The Humans (read: atheists) only start to triumph after they win over the elites to their cause. (The elites find out that their religion is bullshit meant to control them)

So no, I don't think halo is racist or subtly master-race supporting. I think is very unsubtly the story of atheistic reason winning versus unenlightened religious zeal. (hell, the lower ranking elites are called ZEALOTS, the leaders are called PROPHETS, and they are going up against the Spartans who are SCIENTIFICALLY engineered to kick ass)

not too hard to figure out.

 

[RatRace123]

More Moviebob ranting, well I like Escape to the Movies and I like Game Overthinker, I'm guessing I'll like this.
Now that I look in depth at the "good guys" and "bad guys" in Halo, yeah that is a bit weird, it's probably unintentional on Bungie's part, but it, it just sorta looks bad.

Though the main appeal of the game is "pow pow, zap zap, frag!" so he may be overthinking this issue.

 

[latenightapplepie]

I would have liked if Movie Bob could have provided some more examples of this phenomenon of "pure race" vs "racial mixing" in fiction. Because by just mentioning Halo, it looks like he's just trying to bash Halo.

Moreover, he clearly demonstrates he hasn't played Halo 2 and Halo 3 in which the humans team up with some of the aliens, "working together towards a common goal".

Yeahhhh, this really wasn't a great start.

 

[Random Argument Man]

So it will be a show about speculations? It's either giving the big "picture" or putting more meaning into something that wasn't intented.

But hey, I could be wrong. I'll wait until more episode comes out.

 

[George Page]

That was a great macro overlook! Seeing your big picture context made me realize how much about Halo I've missed. For example, the blue eyes in the commercial used to be cool, but after you pointed out what it could really mean I laughed so hard that I had to go change my shorts!

Great job, Bob! You're added to my bi-weekly Escapist Magazine to do list.

 

[Pist0l 07]

Yeah, perhaps your digging into Halo to much, the story never really gets that deep. I sorta felt like this is like someone saying, "You wont let me on the bus because your racist! [Person 2] No sir, its because you have no clothes on."

Basiclly, we get it, you don't like Halo, why not analyze something else rather then hammer in an old point.

 

[Irken Invader]

I am a Halo fan, I like shooty shooty bang bang games. Its what I'm geared towards(I'm in the U.S. Army). But I don't mind the criticism. As for the mixed race is bad, I've read the books, I know that some spartans are black, mexican, asian. One of the spartans drill instructors was a mexican. I know what your trying to say but I never even noticed that aspect of the story. I only saw it as "aliens are shooting at us, shoot back." I think the mixed race is bad thing your picking up on is just an unintentional thing. Like the unintentional racism that Resident Evil 5 had by having Africa as the setting.

That being said I like the idea of this show. Movie Bob is a smart person who can intelligently put an argument together. I'm looking forward to more of these videos.

 

[ReaperzXIII]

I always saw halo not as mono-culture vs multi-culture, but more as the enlightened Atheistic minority triumphing over the crusading majority.
I'm a christian mind, but that seems to be the attitude/message the halo games convey. After all, The Humans (read: atheists) only start to triumph after they win over the elites to their cause. (The elites find out that their religion is bullshit meant to control them)

So no, I don't think halo is racist or subtly master-race supporting. I think is very unsubtly the story of atheistic reason winning versus unenlightened religious zeal. (hell, the lower ranking elites are called ZEALOTS, the leaders are called PROPHETS, and they are going up against the Spartans who are SCIENTIFICALLY engineered to kick ass)

not too hard to figure out.

I thought it was just a very serious outcry against extremism in general, trying to force your thoughts on an entire race is wrong and killing them in order to do that is just even worse, the Covenant are basically alien Taliban or alien Crusaders. Also it shows how corrupt those groups are, the Prophets knew the truth but still decided to twist it in order to fuel the motivation to help them achieve their goals.

 

[Darth Pope]

And so The Game Overthinker gets buried deeper yet under the ever growing pile of Moviebob's obligations.

 

[Mikael Sanfors]

A Benetton ad.

FROM SPACE!

Awesome, Bob.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Stupid me for not noticing the whole, multi-culture thing in Halo. It seems kinda standard though in shooters to have different types of demons, splicers and/or aliens per game that it does pretty much slip under the radar that the 'good guys' are all pretty much the same type of people.

Great show Bob! I now have a reason to come here on Tuesdays (other than forum lurking and, extra punctuation)

 

[Ridgemo]

I'm quite literally facepalming at some peoples respones on this thread. Are you seriously thinking that it looks bad that Bungie gave us different aliens to shoot, and because some guy looked far to into it to find something that quite frankly isn't there, Bungie are now a bunch of hate-preaching facists?

So what if they made Halo, except for every single enemy in the game was an Elite, or every single enemy in the game was a grunt. You'd cry foul that it was the most boring game in existence because there is no variation in the aliens.

Seriously, Halo is a game to shoot Aliens in the face. It's not Bungie trying to subliminaly(sp?) mindfuck us all into being facists. Didn't realise that humanity uniting to fight aliens would be a bad thing.

 

[CosmicCommander]

Has it crossed bobs mind that maybe their isn't some big ugly subtext and maybe the reason for all the different creeds and colours of the enemies is to give you more variation in the things you shoot at?

Yeah... I was thinking that.

All of the 'racism' you saw in the Halo franchise was you being slightly paranoid.

Sorry Bob, I love you, but I gotta say no to this one.

 

[qbanknight]

Interesting new show

I'm fully well aware of your "libertarian" leanings (I say that since reading your blog puts you at odds with mainly overtly conservative politicians and pundits and resenting the failures of liberals in general); but I wasn't aware how much that affects your nitpicking on the Halo universe.

Now I'm not at all a Halo fan, I think the stories are absolute shit and the characters are forgettable with a multiplayer that I get insta-killed by racist, homophobic, and annoying 12-year-olds. But I didn't really see a "Starship Troopers" pro-military, anti-individual sentiment throughout the games. After all, in the games you act completely alone since you are apparently the "badass" Master Chief; but that might be more because the AI is completely retarded rather than a design choice.

Still I think you're looking too much into something that has ZERO cultural value in terms of human understanding. It does not help the human race, but in terms of video game development it just makes publishers and designers lazy by saying "Let's make a game like Halo!"

 

[Supper Sam]

Hearing about this on MovieBob's blog was my wet dream come true.

 

[josemlopes]

In Halo 3 the humans and the Covenants help eachother out, you didnt saw a crazy lesson there, did you?

Also the variety of alien types isnt a valid argument, its a game and it is supposed to have variety. If it was a movie it was arguable.

You only see what you want to see.

The bald guy was getting blue fluids injected to his vains, it does make a bit of sence that is eyes get blue. And he is bald because he is the generic army rookie, not a nazi.

You usually over think stuff, but when it comes to Halo you are worst then FOX NEWS

 

[Darks63]

Awesome a show on the empty tuesday and its bob

 

[pilf]

very interesting and quite thought provoking. I'm looking forward to more of this.

 

[JPArbiter]

Normally I would criticize Bob for not reading into the Halo lore more, but the sad fact is he hit the nail on the head when he said that MOST halo players seem not to give to shits and a fuck about the campaign, and expanded universe.

The funniest thing is that the Covenants campaign of genocide against humanity is centered around the fact that a bunch of middle managers on a archeological dig found that it was the human race, a group largely ignored and avoided by the covenant, that was designated as the chosen heirs to a "Gods" legacy and not the crazy Camel people or the Pseudo-Predators. Read the book Contact Harvest for more.

I do appreciate the point being made however. Slave army or no the covenant do fascinate me more then humanities role in the Halo Universe, though that may be based on the unfamiliar vs familiar. Hell I want there to be an entire game centered around the Arbiter, preferably from well before or well after the current Halo Timeline.