Taking a Stance

I tend to "pop" into culturally relevant things a tad too late for my liking, and for the most point it's a matter of choice and not ignorance. When people take up arms either for or against something, other people are inclined to make assumptions about that person's position even before they make assumptions about that person, especially if the person is a minority. Automatically the stance taken is one assumed typical of that type of person: a gamer will defend his games, a black will defend their race and a gay will defend their sexual lifestyle and practices.

It's because of these stereotypes I exclude myself from general opinion; I'd rather not have the double task of defending both my statement and the stereotypes that led me to make it. Every so often, however, I come across an issue or two that really catches my eye and (try as I might... and I do try) I feel utterly compelled to give an opinion on it; usually because my reasoning for the particular opinion isn't a mainstream one and I enjoy the uncomfortable look on people's faces as I break the mold they so carefully surround themselves with.

This week I was lucky enough to find two issues that have my blood boiling, and each coincidentally deals separately with one minority trait I have, as well as one aspect of my lifestyle I hold dear.
While searching for ways to better procrastinate and not work on my website, I happened upon gametrailers.com and I took a look a one particular video, the one directly below you.

I'm wondering what the initial feelings anyone reading this may have, because I must admit that coming across this, it was the second time I had seen the video, and I didn't have the reactions toward it either time that this guy had. N'Gai Croal of Newsweek was particularly disturbed by the imagery presented in the video, as it shows a buff white man (Chris Redfield, for those in the know) killing hoards of shady looking (and in some cases, violent) people who sometimes turn into zombies. He states that, given the history of Africans, Somalians and Blacks this game is very racist.

Now, I always get very tense whenever someone decides to do anything with African Americans or people of color in general. Earlier this week the New York Times received a wave of backlash from a political cartoon that many claimed was overtly racist at most, utterly tasteless at best. I'm trying to abstain from an actual opinion on this one, so I'll let the cartoon speak for itself, but I find the whole mess pretty disconcerting for two reasons I'll touch upon later. It seems to me that people of color and their portrayal in any form of media is always lorded by some sort of elephant in the room that makes any appearance at all seem strained and forced; blacks just can't act black because someone is going to throw a hissy fit over it, so producers make blacks (and other people of color) little more than accessories that do nothing but acknowledge the existence of races other than "white". People like Al Sharpton have contributed the most to this, and I have to wonder if, as much as people from his generation tout that younger people from my generation know nothing of the struggles of our ancestors, do they truly understand that anymore themselves?
Rarely are blacks ever seen united anymore unless they're protesting something, which creates an aura of fear for anyone who wants to use black people in their media because in the back of their mind they're having this conversation in their head:

"I'd like to have this character be African American, but what if people think I'm stereotyping and protest? Better take out his speaking parts so no one gets offended."

BAM! Another useless and utterly generic character of color is created in media, and I'm once again left without a black character I can relate to. With all of that said, it's no surprise to me that someone would take offense to blacks being portrayed as shifty-eyed ne'r do wellers who turn into zombies, and it should also come as no surprise that I took absolutely no offense to the people being black, if for no other reason than the fact that blacks have been cannon fodder in movies, comics and games for years. At least they have a decently appropriate reason now.

I also just don't take the stance that everything that has blacks portrayed as anything other than cop-hating-rappers is bad. With the litany of zombie videogames out there, it's about time that someone proves that blacks can be zombies too. Digging further, I also like that someone went all out and decided that killing blacks in a videogame doesn't make them necessarily racist; the main character just happens to be in an area with black zombies. And seriously, the game is about trying to survive as hoards of people come at you with every blunt object they can find; I'm not about to take offense if I have to shoot or run over them to get to the ending cinematic.
Rev. Al Sharpton will tell you that it's that type of thinking that proves I'm in the dark about black struggles, but I'm pretty sure that my type of thinking is what's needed to get blacks out of the chasm that makes them feel entitled to bring that up every few minutes. If blacks don't stop thinking that everything in the world is some sort of racist comment, then how is the rest of the world ever going to stop being afraid of doing anything other than stereotyping?

But a lot of blacks have problems with acknowledging that, just as they have trouble admitting that other classes and races of people have been unjustly persecuted in the past; as though civil rights don't also apply to Jews, Mexicans or Gays. Which is why I'm sure my grandmother will tell me our pastor is in support of Kentucky's senate bill 68, the other topic I feel i need to discuss.

Senate bill 68 was proposed by our very own Sen. Gary Tapp (R), who decided that in the midst of a financial crisis we should focus our efforts upon eliminating the gay threat to children in need of homes. Even taken from a purely practical standpoint I would be against it, as this bill would prevent me from being able to adopt my siblings and their children in the most unfortunate of circumstances purely because I'm living with my boyfriend. That's right... even straight people should fear this one. But that's not really the main reason I took up arms against it.

I would really be interested in seeing data that substantiates the need to create an exclusionary act on adoptions based solely on marital status. As I've yet to see any sort of response from the state senator who proposed it, I'm assuming that there is none. Rarely do I see laws or bills that upset me, but this bill angers me outright. As a gay man who intends to adopt at 27 or 28, this hits me close to home because the only thing I can do to get around this (if the bill passes) is to move to another state, which I very well might do once the dust settles on this one. And while it sucks that this bill will probably pass, it's even worse that this bill will probably pass thanks to (in some small way) the efforts of "concerned" blacks who still stubbornly refuse to admit that gay rights and civil rights equal the same thing: equal rights for all.

This is coming from a gay black man who's parents are probably in support of this bill, just as they voted to ban gay marriage in this wonderful state, so I guess I'm a bit jaded anyway. I'm perplexed as to why gays and blacks mix like water and oil, especially when you throw a black gay into the mix. I won't often mix politics with my blogging, but if you feel compelled to do something about this, you can go here and voice your protest to the people who matter. I know I will be.

Edit: A news report about the bill can be seen on WLKY's website if you'd like to see the points both sides are making about this.

...

So enough of my soapbox antics. I'm going to get back to procrastinating in a way that allows me to not do any work. Plus, I have a LOT of gaming to catch up on. Gonna be a busy weekend.

Later

Busy Work

I have been swamped with work as of late, and also a conference I went to over the weekend, but updates should be more forthcoming.

I haven't just been sitting on my butt, though. I designed a website for my boyfriend for Valentines Day, and it's currently up, albeit in its beta form. The site is about Elepires, the inside joke I talked about earlier, and I'll have a link to it listed on the "links" section of this site.

I have a game review, an anime review and a movie review coming later this week, so stay tuned!

Later!

Interesting Combinations

Not really a fan of dogs or dancing (as my boyfriend will tell you), but put the two together and you get something that's mildly entertaining, at least when you've only had 3 hours of sleep. Stranger than fiction? Not really, as the wonders of dog dancing can be seen here (courtesy of You Tube) :



And speaking of, have you ever heard of Elepires? They're a sub race of elephant, (or vampire), but I assure you they're real. I have been trying to inform Jon (my boyfriend) of their dangerous, malicious intent for weeks, but for some reason he just won't believe me. A photographer managed to get a snapshot, but was immediately (and, I'm sure, tragically) trampled/bloodsucked to death. The fruits of his labor are as follows:


Lastly, in case no one noticed, I'm the writer for my friend's webcomic. Whenever he needs help I usually pitch in with the drawing too, as I did here and here.

Later

Because I'm a 'Star Wars' Fan

The day has already started off right. I can has napz after workz, promiz.

Later

World of Whorecraft

If the title itself doesn't give it away, I really dislike this game. But let's step back a bit.

MMORPG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, and MMO's from here on out) are an enigma to me, at least as far as gaming goes. Usually people play a game for one of a few reasons: Awesome graphics, neat story, killer gameplay or good multiplayer. Ask anyone who has fallen under World of Warcraft's spell, and they'll tell you that WoW has all four. I would have to disagree, however, and this is coming from someone who has spent years playing games of this type. My disapproval of WoW isn't just limited to this one game, then, it's a massive unapproving nod to the entire MMO genre.

MMO's are designed to immerse a player into a world of some fantastical setting, then play out like a regular game where player's are offered the "freedom" to do and become anyone they want (Within the limits of the game world of course- you can't expect to become a Jedi Knight in Final Fantasy 11). This initially seems like an OK setup, until you meet someone like me.
Not really a "people person (that reminds me of a wonderful joke...I'll tell you later)", I prefer to hoof it on my own, which goes against one of the main selling points of the game: team questing. And not just small factions of people, either; some quests require no less than fifty people in a group, and I can't even think of fifty people I like in the real world. But that's OK, because finding or creating a group is fairly easy, but then I have to do things like share loot or split experience points and listen to my teammates speak in irritable l33t sp34k for the next however-long-it-takes-to-finish-the-damn-quest.

But lets assume I'm a multiplayer hippie like most of college gamer youth (and because I want to make a valid argument against the multiplayer) and that these large quests with 35 or so of the same generic-looking characters are my thing. Obviously I've traveled long and hard to get to wherever I am and I want whatever item might be stashed in the gullet of whatever creature I'm about to slay. Almost immediately my place in this "battle" is decided: either I'm hacking and slashing the creature or I'm healing the guys who are. I'd like to think that any "fun" aspect of a multiplayer experience has everyone doing something that is at least slightly different, but maybe that's a gameplay issue. The healers will try their best to keep themselves and everyone else alive while I go make a cheese sandwich and return to my character who is most likely dead anyway. You see, these "battles" are usually just flashy boss battles in which the boss is given almost god-like power and even a small army of people are powerless to stop it. Yet in every case the enemy, with it's vast and broad abilities chooses to remain in the same spot attack in the same way.
By believing in myself (and sitting long enough to give a damn) we can all fell the horrid beast, but it's that type of battle that ruins the immersion for me. I'm probably just too damn practical to play games like this: Without any real reason to attack the creature I feel like I'm little more than a thief, and without the intelligence to attack based on the makeup of his enemies, the god-beast becomes nothing more than a giant time consumption. So I chose to avoid these types of encounters because I just feel ostracized when I'm in them, and isn't that the feeling you play videogames to escape from? Well maybe that's a bit too complicated.

The controls of the game are complicated for all the wrong reasons, and simple for all the wrong reasons as well. By utilizing any number of keyboard buttons you execute an action, but it's the shear number of possible "moves" you can pull off that I find confusing to navigate in an intense battle. I can't tell you how many times I've died because I've pressed the attack button when I wanted (and needed) to press "heal". At the same time, I always feel dislodged from a game where I select an enemy and wait two seconds before my character attacks, repeatedly. I know how to swing an object and I'd like to think my character could somehow figure out how to slash a creature until it's dead, so the realism is lost on me. This is different from regular RPG's, because combat isn't the number one reason you play those games- that's for the story. But in MMO's you have to fight and therefore should at least be able to feel like you're fighting... not just watching someone else do it.

The story and graphics are two aspects of MMO's that take a hit due to the shear volume of things that have to be available in a game of it's size for the population to do. You can't have a focused story when you have 10,000 people on a server who have to experience it, and at the same time you can't have Halo 3 graphics in a game that has to be that large. This means that, no matter how pretty the game, MMO's always take a graphical "backstep" in comparison to other games in the same generation.

ALL OF THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, this is Gurren. He's the Dwarf Priest I decided to play as. I decided to begin my venture back into this world since we had a week out of school due to the snow. He's a level 10 (of a maximum of 80) character and he fights with spells, a mace, and a wonderful little drinking mug. I'm fairly certain all Priests in the real world use that set of weaponry anyway, so I'm sticking close to reality.
I'm staying in the area he started the game in, at least until I learn all discernible spells from my "master" and decide to move on, which could take quite a bit of time. The next time I post I'll actually tell you about some adventures I've had, such as his inhuman bear-attracting ability, which cost me my life quite a few times in the past.

For those of you wondering why I'm playing a game I already seem to be biased against, I'll just repeat what I said earlier: My boyfriend made me do it.

Later