This past week, we discussed how different groups of people are portrayed in video games and its effects. The Shaw and Friesem article highlighted how LGBTQ people tend to be represented as jokes and villains in games. We, also, took a look at Dream Daddy and The Guild as good and bad examples of representation in gaming culture, respectively.

The primary topic that stood out to me is how precise the execution of representation must be. Just because a group is represented, doesn’t mean it is always good. One of our in-class examples was Leisure Suit Larry, where the player can unintentionally sleep with a trans woman, resulting in negative outcomes. Although one may argue that transgender people are represented in the game, they are belittled as nothing more than a bad end in the game. Sure, it is just a fictional game which was meant to appeal towards straight men but gives a poor impression. It positively reinforces heterosexuality and punishes the player for going against what is considered normal. This may create a negative image in the minds of ignorant and susceptible people. This reminded me of a recent video I watched called, “What Teaching English in Japan was REALLY Like” by Abroad in Japan. Mid-way through the video, he mentions when he first met his Japanese girlfriend’s mother, she was incredibly scared of him because she had never seen a white person before. I think its possible that she had a potentially negative image of what white people are like due to media. I expect games to have a similar effect where a few inexperienced and ignorant people inadvertently create biases on these groups of people being misrepresented.

Another important aspect of representation is portraying people through stereotypes. There comes a grey area where a group of people may be represented as stereotypical but it may actually accurately represent some. The example used in class is that lesbian women are commonly portrayed as the tough, butch type and gay men are flamboyant and effeminate. Though a stereotype, we can’t completely dispel these portrayals since there are lesbian women and gay men who may identify as such. If we denounce it as homophobic and bigoted to represent queer people as stereotypes, then it may alienate the people who they accurately represent. The issue is when is it okay to represent people as stereotypical? Where do we draw the boundaries of too much or too little? For example, is it acceptable to have an African American who enjoys fried chicken and watermelon in a game? Personally, I would say that would be a rather offensive portrayal; however, if we use the previous argument in this case, there may be a person out there that identifies with such a character. Overall, it can be rather difficult to properly represent a person especially when attempting to represent stereotyped personalities. I believe that all forms of media suffer from representation issues, not just in video games.

Citations:

Abroad in Japan’s video: youtube.com/watch?v=5VDnj8IEWNc