I felt it was appropriate to discuss the
all-important issue of race in video games. One of my favourite video game
series of all time is Pokémon which was available on the Gameboy. One
disturbing characteristic about this series is perhaps the issue of subtle
racism in this popular video game series. I don't want to ruin any childhoods
here but there is one particular character that is most disturbingly a clear
racial stereotype. I am of course talking about the character 'Jynx'. 'Jynx' is
clearly a degrading stereotype of African Americans and all black people in
general, the character has an incredibly dark complexion along with the all too
familiar puffy red lips that are associated with African Americans. It gets
even worse, 'Jynx' has magical hypnotic powers which is clearly another
stereotype of African Americans which is called the "Magic negro".Now
you've probably heard of this or seen the articles and news covers criticising
the depiction of this character but I thought it was important to note that
this depiction of Jynx was only changed to a purple complexion after an outcry
of protest. What does this say about the creators? While I can only speculate,
the creators of the Pokémon games in Japan were clearly looking at Western
expectations when drawing up characters both Pokémon and non-Pokémon within
this video game series. The main protagonist in the game and within the series ‘Ash
Ketchum’ is a white protagonist, while many of the other characters in the
series are also white. This could be due to the fact that Japanese creators
would primarily see the white audience in America as their core Western
demographic whilst ignoring any positive African American depictions. This is
the key point in that white people are presumed to be the only ones playing
video games in the Western world while their African American counterparts are
not. The stereotypical depiction of African Americans through Jynx is a good
indicator that not only is white people the main demographic, but also that the
Western world in large amounts still has negative views of minorities. This is
a shameful character in an otherwise good video game series but it’s still a
good indicator of the racism in the game industry.
errr yeah... about Jynx... while I'd admit that GameFreak ( creators of Pokemon) may have made a mess out of it BUT... I really do not think it was meant to be racist... especially considerding the fact that it was made first for Japanese audience and not westerners ( and Jynx was one of the FIRST pokemon created in the begining of pokemon history.) and Plus Ash being white... I personally thought all Pokemon casts were Asian... ( but then again it might be same case as Final Fantasy X our lectorer talked about today. ) What I mean is that unlike other games Pokemon orginated from Japan which has WAY different rules and perspective then Western audience so I think it is bit unfair to use it as an example of western views. for more info follow this web adress:http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species:_Jynx
ReplyDeleteJohn is right-- like in Final Fantasy X, the race of Pokemon characters depends on the region you live in. While we in New Zealand see Ash Ketchum as a white boy, in Japan he is called Satoshi and he is considered an Asian character, just like the rest of the Pokemon cast! Misty is Kasumi, Brock is Takeshi-- everything in Pokemon is subject to the culture you're seeing it from.
DeleteI failed to see how this character (pokemon) having the characteristics he did was offensive. Just cause he looks like a typical African American isn't enough on its own to warrant racism or negative behaviour toward that race. I must say I don't know the character myself, but unless he is the only one being portrayed in particularly negative ways then I don't think we cry racism. He is simply modeled on a certain race or person just as Ash is modeled on another race or person.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jeffco.ca/chrspecials/wp-content/gallery/pokemon-holiday-hi-jynx/pokemon-holiday-hi-jynx-15.jpg
ReplyDeleteThe character of Jynx is seen by some, whether the producers realised or not, as an occurrence of historically poor representation of black people, because it really does look similar to examples from all through the last century
from America
http://www.theblackactor.com/images/2007/12/21/mammy.jpg
the UK
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lobsgjXOOy1qi9l7u.jpg
Yes, you do have to look at this with consideration for historical context, but the Jynx character isn't THAT old.. so its offensive to some for sure.
I wouldn't call these expressions of the "typical African American" at the very least.
Interesting feedback guys. I certainly understand the point that Jynx on Pokemon is very much a Japanese made character and not a Western character. But the character in my opinion still signifies racist stereotypes in Jynx's appearance and mannerisms. The colour of the character actually changed after lots of protest in the United States.
ReplyDelete