Havent heard of her. I am still digging Alicia.
Wonder what people think of Beyonce and all of her girl power nonsense. I mean, it is just marketing bs for her isn’t it…
I’m not sure that “interesting” things are even more likely to fail than mediocre things, just that they tend to succeed or fail more spectacularly. Mediocre things either quietly succeed, or quietly fade away. The interesting things are more likely to leave some kind of lasting impact, which itself can be used to fuel success in the future, even if the original thing is a “failure”.
People make a big deal about media that’s “culturally relevant”, as if it were difficult or particularly interesting to tie a work to current events. I think that tends to make a work disposable, more likely to be irrelevant in the future, but at the same time, it’s difficult if not impossible to make something “pure”, that doesn’t rely on context or history. Language and culture shift, and it’s easy to misinterpret a work without an understanding of the culture that produced it.
To be honest, I haven’t actually played any of the Metal Gear games myself, but I have friends and family that are big fans, and I’ve seen them play considerable portions of various games in the series. I also used to help run a video game trivia site, and did a fair amount of research on Metal Gear Solid at the time, amidst many other games. However, I’m not particularly familiar with MGS5, or the scene in question. A little research, however, reveals that the “White Mamba” character is one I am familiar with from previous games, and is a central player in a recurring theme about genetics and nature versus nurture.
However, I’ll again stress that the developer is Japanese, and that they have their own issues with racism that are very different from those in the western world. I’d even suggest that the “white on black” racism that’s predominant in the USA because of its particular history is uniquely different from similar racial conflicts elsewhere in the western world. It can be difficult to understand the Japanese view of racism through an American lens, as well as the reverse. The Japanese don’t consider themselves “white”, or necessarily having anything more in common with “whites” than “blacks”. What they get touchy about are Koreans, or Chinese, who people from the western world often consider to be indistinguishable. Or the various native tribes of Japan, who by their very existence cast doubt on the origin of the dominant race of Japan. Some evidence suggests they are not native, but instead migrated from the Korean peninsula about 300 BC, displacing or assimilating with the natives. Which is a matter of significant importance to the Japanese. The racial conflicts between “whites” and “blacks” elsewhere in the world? Not very important. Their representations of those conflicts are distorted through their own lens, and can look even more bizarre when examined through a western lens.
As I said, Kojima does have an unusual amount of interest for a Japanese creator in reaching and speaking to an international audience. How well he understands or can communicate on racial issues in other countries, I don’t know. However, the military-industrial complex, often referred to throughout the series as “the war economy” is a running theme, and child soldiers play right into that greater narrative about war transforming a culture, leading it to be ever more dependent on it, until you’re preparing children from birth for war, first in subtle ways like how the society is structured, but eventually into overtly training them to be soldiers.
Japan has its own history of imperialism/colonialism & in that sense, yes, the most direct analogy to the US’s history with Africa is Japan’s history with Korea or China. I believe Japan did colonize Korea and it made several, very nearly successful attempts to turn China into a puppet state in the 19th century.
But cultural relativism–trying to understand an alternate POV, think through its terms–might temper judgment or condemnation, but doesn’t change the truth.
I dunno. As an American I’m living in a glass house but it’s hard not to throw stones. But that was what made me quit the game. I was prepared for jiggle physics. I was not prepared for “of course the only kid with a name and a story is white.”
I took it. It didnt fit so I am wearing it as underpants
Odd… in Everquest, from where I assume the name was taken, Phinigel is a he.
1 Like
Never mind the shirt. Everybody, please look for her nipples!
She has nipples, however, she is wearing a bodysuit.
Well since we can’t play pvp
let’s talk about sex baby
let’s talk about you and me
Lets talk about the good things and the bad things that may be
Xbox PvP is down?
Yeah for some people
It’s down for me on PS4 as well. @Verdugo hasn’t been able to pvp at all for like 10 hours.
1 Like
I know it is not down for everyone cause i see my teamates still winning trophies
It’s been working fine for me since I got home a couple hours ago. Sorry guys.
Ive only been able to do 1 pvp since the update 24 hours ago. Error message cant be cleared and then I have to quit game to get back onto the kingdom map screen
With respect, can we move the server instability discussion to one of the many, many threads dedicated to it? This topic may have run its course, but it’s confusing to see troubleshooting and bug reporting in a thread meant to discuss in-game representations of sexuality.
2 Likes
But I thought downtime was a typical representation of sexuality,
1 Like
Bug reporting too.
Hi. Did you know that making snippy comments about how women aren’t into sex is itself massively problematic?
It’s wrong. And I imagine my theories as to why wouldn’t go over well with this audience, so how about a history lesson:
In the 19th century, women were believed to be more sexual than men. Women were believed to be ambulatory fleshpots radiating lust to helpless, rational men who just wanted to debate philosophy or whatever.
I could tell you how and why this theory changed, too, but the long and short of it is: No. Quit saying that. It’s nasty.
2 Likes
