I do not agree with this, but it is a popular attitude from those who are focused on America as Imperialistic.

I would have also enjoyed a story more based on Africans culture. The colour/race issue there does differ a lot from country to country , but there is a lot of interesting history, cultural issues and myths to draw on.

An African lead would be nice (but unlikely) but it would have been very cool to have the characters visit some famous African city’s (looking like they do today, rather than 50 years ago) and have some famous and recognizable African monsters rather than back to generic zombies.

Some topics however are way to touchy to draw on. Even if you follow the south African ideal that talking about what happened helps, I still could see many people being disturbed by large numbers of dead, if they are survivors of genocide .

He’s not simply suggesting “decentering American experience”, he’s saying that it’s wrong to address the concerns that in any way involve America. Not only is that a horribly divisive dichotomy that reeks of “the only valid analysis is my analysis”, but it’s also in direct violation of the dismissal clause of the discussion rules. Not to mention that his combative tone violates the rule that clearly states “disagree, but be polite”.

You’re right that there’s more to his statement than Happyfeet’s/Degero’s comment, and if they hadn’t posted before him I probably would have taken the time to write a real post about US-centricism, fully equipped with quotes and links to discussions that address the other problems with the two trailers. But, given that he did come in riding the coattails of some obnoxious troll comments, I stand by my decision to lump him in with them. He is more than welcome to prove me wrong, and even to engage on a discussion in this matter providing he doesn’t continue to violate the discussion rules. But, I suspect he — like Happyfeet/Degero — was nothing but a drive-by and only wanted to “show me up” rather than start an actual productive discussion on the matter.

As for those who want that conversation, there is a bit of one going on in the On RE5 and claims of “American-centricism” post that I made.

The world does NOT revolve around the US, and no, Capcom should not ’spend like 5 seconds looking into the history of black/white relations in the US, where their protagonist is from’. They should instead look into the history of Africa, instead, which is much richer in atrocities.

I think he’s got a really good point here. I don’t read “shut up you’re being short-sighted” so much as “this argument could be strengthened so much by decentering American experience” – similar to, I suppose, the ways in which (white, middle-class) feminist analysis is enriched by decentering whiteness and middle-classness. Not that it’s completely illogical to address the concerns you have regarding black/white racial issues in the US, but because it’s also meaningful to analyse the game from a history-of-Africa perspective too.

I’m not sure whether you’re qualified to do that – I’m certainly not – so (with your permission) I’d love to hear more from Alan about the point he’s brought up. It’s clear to me that there’s more to his statement than the kind of dismissive attitude you’ve noted in Happyfeet’s/Degero’s comments.

And yet, I can’t believe that it’s a coincidence that in the span of a week I would get three commenters hawking the same argument. Especially since it’s an argument that hasn’t cropped up in any previous discussions that I’ve seen.

I’m sick of catering to commenters who look very much like trolls, so this is my final word on the matter.

I absolutely adore RE4, it’s just an amazing game, but I just can’t feel anything but uncomfortable watching those trailers.

I’m glad though that people actually spoke out against it.
I honestly would’ve just ignored it’s problems (and resorted to the same stupid arguments that the vast majority of gamers use) and bought it otherwise.

Ahh well… there’s always RE6?

Is the trailer’s imagery is problematic. Undoubtedly. But it’s incredibly short-sighted, not to say missing the point, to look at that trailer and bring up AMERICAN race issues. It has nothing to do with the US, and by mentioning it you just make your argument weaker. The problem is deeper: the problem is taking Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia and making it a playground, of taking the hollow-eyed imagery of refugees and making them targets to blow away.

They’re doing what all mainstream media does when it comes to Africa: they turn the suffering of these people into a spectacle, they remove the horror of the situation by having us stare at them like animals in a zoo, especially since Africa is so far away.

The world does NOT revolve around the US, and no, Capcom should not ’spend like 5 seconds looking into the history of black/white relations in the US, where their protagonist is from’. They should instead look into the history of Africa, instead, which is much richer in atrocities.