Race theory and Videogames

Throughout our Tuesday lecture on representation of race and nationality in Videogames, I found myself relating much of the content back to theory I'd learnt in other FTVMS papers. The concept of the 'White eye', originating in the work of social theorist Stuart Hall, is used to describe how dominant media outlets of the western world have a tendency to be 'framed' by white perspectives. While elaborating on this concept, which is undoubtedly one that requires some wrestling with, I'm interested in exploring if, and how it can be used in regard to representations of race in videogames.

As a starting point, the white eye is according to Hall, "always outside the frame - but seeing and positioning everything within it" (1981). By this Hall means that media texts, can involve the representation of groups of people, events and actualities in ways that are subjective, a very important point when considering any form of mediation. However Hall takes this a step further in claiming that dominant media outlets tend to produce texts conveying the subjectivity of a particular group - that of white people. While the above quote seems to be referring specifically to the mise en scene of a media text, the 'white eye' is argued to be an influence present in

- the narrative framing of texts; who's story or perspective is being told
- the moral framing of textual details; who is deemed to be 'good' and 'bad', (and defined by who's values system?)
- and of course in the literal framing within a text.

The white eye can therefore extend to non-visual and motionless texts in different ways from that of Film, TV etc. However concerning videogames, what lies within the frame of the (virtual) camera is of much interest.

I say that this concept is a contentious one possibly requiring some internal wrestling because, for white people at least, it requires the recognition that this racial group, in NZ and many other countries, experience a largely unmentioned consumer/reader benefit in that dominant media outlets of national scale are run with the assumption of largely white auidences. This dominance of perspective is hegemonic and therefore largely unquestioned. This lends some explanation as to the existance and purpose of culturally alternative outlets such as Maori Television here in NZ, which has the job of providing visual media from a pan-Maori perspective.

The place of the white eye is naturalised and heavily defended as being objective in the production and delivery of texts, however sometimes cases arise in which it's influence is undeniable, such as this recent and infamous example,

http://o-dub.com/images/looter.jpg

Here the discursive construction of black deviance during Hurricane Katrina's aftermath constitutes the practice of 'Othering', mentioned briefly in Kevin's lecture. In both instances the subjects have stolen food in order to survive, yet the framing of the parralleled texts judges the subjects in completely contrasting ways, empathising with the white couple while criminalising the black man. It should however be noted that this is an extreme and obvious example in which the presence of the white eye is easily indentifiable.

So I'm left wondering to what extent this concept can be applied to the field videogame studies. Instantly a flaw comes to mind; with the framing or directed POV of many videogames largely being dictated by the player, can it really be said that the production and consumption of games are influenced by a biased white perpsective? Given the amount of agency extended to the player in being able to construct his/her own points of view within a game, claiming that the white eye acts upon the literal framing of 'in-game play' just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The virtual camera is often at the will of the player. However it could be agrued that a specifically white perspective can be involved in the production of cut/story scenes, the indentity of protagonists/antagonists, and in the use of racially specific narrative conventions such as the 'white saviour' trope or the exoticized Other. While most of these examples are closely linked to the presence of the white eye in other visual media, videogames are unique in the sense that mise en scene is entirely constructed rather than 'captured'. There is far more room for the representation of racial groups by, and according to the subjective experiences of racial outsiders due to the amount of visual design taking place in videogame production. However this isn't to say that a biased white perspective is garunteed to occur in the production of videogames, a range of factors such as the intentions and unconscious biases of videogame producers, directors, writers, designers and voice-actors will all have an effect on the forms of representation that result.

As a final note, the concept of the white eye does not infer intentional and outright racism on behalf of white people. Its theorising and application should not be seen as placing blame on white people collectively. Instead it is mostly effectively used to describe how the experiences, attitudes and values of this racial group are naturalised in the production and consumption of media. At the same time it is a concept that proves useful in showing how other races (and ethnicities) often lack the chances to self-represent, to deploy their own group specific experiences, attitudes and values particularly in the realm of mainstream media where reader/viewer exposure is great.

Comments very much welcome!

reference:
Hall, S. "The White of Their Eyes", in Gender Race & Class in Media. P. 81
http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=VkuM0JdHwhYC&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81&dq=the+white+of+their+eyes+Hall,+Stuart&source=bl&ots=uoKS5IJ6DM&sig=HuNmu4Qw2SiDAjcm2FIl5dSPsds&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FR3_UJLjBNDPiwL_yIDQDA&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#