Racism’s Sidekick
July 21, 2006
I love video games. I can’t imagine life before an XBox and I’ve been thrilled to see the flood of new games being offered by T-Mobile for my Sidekick. I admit it. T-Mobile has successfully gained control of my wallet. I don’t blink at forking over $5.99 for a video game, and I won’t hesitate to download several at a time.
Admittedly, the video games currently offered for the Sidekick are mediocre at best. On occasion, however, I’ll find a gem, and that’s what keeps me hooked.
One such gem I recently came across is “Wonderboy”. This video game was created by a company called Fujin in California that makes games exclusively for the Sidekick. What I especially like about the game is if you are “killed”, you can continue playing where you left off. No need to start over again from the beginning. This is what kept my interest and kept me playing.
As I was playing Wonderboy last night, it struck me how racist the game is. The hero of the game, Wonderboy, is searching for his lost girlfriend, Tanya. Wonderboy, is portrayed the way typical heros are portrayed — white guy with blonde hair and blue eyes. During the course of the game, in order to advance, Wonderboy must kill some of the “natives” he encounters, with the ultimate goal of killing the “brutish king” and rescuing his girl.
According to the game description, “With an ax in hand, nothing will stop you (Wonderboy) from saving her: not even a few bats, spiders, and other gruesome creatures.”
The “gruesome creatures” are of course, the indigenous-looking characters. The natives.
Now, before you defend the game as harmless fun, really think about this for a moment…
Why do the heros always have be white?
And why do people of color always have to be the bad guys?
Hardly anyone blinks at this. It’s the norm. But let’s say the roles were reversed. Wonderboy was a Latino or Black character with beautiful chocolate skin, brown eyes and black hair while the bad guys were portrayed as white surfers with blonde hair and blue eyes who needed to be killed in order to advance in the game.
Would you notice the difference?
Of course you would.
Games like Wonderboy seem harmless. But if you stop and think about the subtle messages these games send, they are not.
Entry Filed under: Race/Racism Issues. .
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1.
MAS | July 21, 2006 at 11:21 am
The game should have race options so I can choose to be black, white, or hispanic, etc. to play against.
Really all games are hearing characters, is that audism?
LOL
2.
Gomez | July 22, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Shit, dude. You really gave me something to think about. I never really thought about how racist video games are. I’ve been trying to think if any of the games I’ve played had latino heros. Can’t think of any.
3.
Susie in NC | July 25, 2006 at 7:36 am
Yet another thought-provoking blog entry, Chris!
Look forward to your next one!
xoxo,
Susie
4.
Rainbow | July 26, 2006 at 7:03 am
This was a really good blog entry. I especially like your play on words with “Racism’s Sidekick”. Clever! Not sure if you already know this, but there are a lot of video games are that blatantly racism. Many video games are now being made by the KKK. I’m not kidding! One of them is called “Ethnic Cleansing”.
5.
C. A. Fanara | August 19, 2006 at 11:22 am
For Chris Leon:
Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for someone like you to come out and speak out for your people! Smile. I love your blog, and your blog is very important. I am a Deaf white female, but grew up in Los Angeles. I have been reading your whole blog, and I want to let you know that Queer Xicano is completely correct when he says our L.A.’s Deaf community has problems. I am going to refer your blog to my L.A. Deaf friends, so that they can understand how you guys feel.
I am studying for my Master’s in Communication Studies at CSUN. Before that, while as an undergrad, I took courses in Chicano Studies and Pan-African Studies which really opened my eyes – such as how history books always reflect the “white” history from Europe – why not the history of Aztecs, which is just as old? It’s like your Racism’s Sidekick commentary.
I look forward to more thought-provoking commentaries by you!
Most truly yours, C.A. Fanara
6.
Kevin | August 28, 2006 at 7:10 am
What about “Super Mario”? He is being percieved as a bumbling Italian dolt.
7.
AnferTuto | July 29, 2007 at 7:32 am
Well said!!!!
8.
boozie | August 12, 2007 at 6:40 pm
i was woundering if i should buy this wounderboy game.
9.
sal tambasco | December 19, 2007 at 7:49 am
In the original version of this game which was a console classic for the SegaMasterSystem, there are actually bad guys called “coal kids” that look like crazed, retarded eggplant colored “natives”. Yeah, very stereotyped content.