For those who missed it, there was a horrible article about the RE5 controversy written by Earl Ofari Hutchinson in the Huffington Post recently. It’s rife with the kind of simplistic, knee-jerk, politically correct reasoning that really makes more sensible liberals look bad. The article’s entire argument seems to be that Japanese companies have marketed racist things in the past and said that they weren’t racist, and now Capcom is saying that RE5 isn’t racist, therefore RE5 must be racist (reading it, I was reminded of the juror who insists that the defendant is guilty because he shows no remorse). Ironically, I would say that the article offered a rather racist portrayal of Japanese businesses.
For a more sensible, reasoned response, I recommend Ben Fritz’s article on the same topic for Variety. He brings up a point that I think is central to the confusion that arises in these kinds of controversies, which is that the question of whether Resident Evil is “racist” is actually comprised of at least 2 questions: Read the rest of this entry » »
Just when you think David Walsh and the National Institute for Media and the Family (NIMF) are starting to get it, they prove otherwise. They were starting to come around and support the ESRB and call for parents to educate themselves about the rating system, but their recent press release regarding the Wii release of Madworld finds their heads firmly up their asses once again: Read the rest of this entry » »
If this recent episode of Canadian “news” show The Fifth Estate is to be believed, this is what M-rated game boxes need to look like in order for parents to know that they shouldn’t buy them for their kid. Apparently, the problem with ESRB ratings is that they don’t come in the form of complete sentences. Never mind the fact that these same parents presumably don’t have a problem with the ratings on DVD boxes, which come in tiny fonts on the back of the package, usually with no descriptors. But the most egregious fault of this episode is probably its convenient ommision of one the most important facts in the case of Brandon Crisp’s death.