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talinthas · 7 years

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Diversity in gaming, but with a happy ending

With all the talk of diversity and representation in games I need to share an awesome story, because there are more than enough negative stories to go around.

So the former punter of the Minnesota Vikings is a gent named Chris Kluwe. We became acquainted at PAX this year over a shared love of magic, and have spoken about a game he was creating, which involved deities from different pantheons fighting. Now, that set off some alarms for me, because it has historically not gone well, you might say, as it always ends up being a bunch of dead or highly marginalized pantheons and Hinduism, because something about having many gods and lots of colorful representations makes folks think they have the right to use the tradition like a public domain comic book or something.

(This is a pretty long post, more below the cut)

Kluwe came to me because he WAS including Hinduism (sigh) and wanted me to vet the art and make sure it wasn't offensive or whatever. I agreed, because hey, maybe I could at least stop anything egregious. He sent over a rather lovely picture of Vishnu and some stats, and I sighed again and offered some notes about hand placements and whatever. But I appended to my reply a question- did he just want me to look at the art, or did he also want my honest opinion about what he was doing?

And i'll be honest, it took a long time for me to be able to actually write even that query, because as a person in a minority community, you become accustomed to having your culture and traditions becoming someone else's toy, and you learn to sigh, and suck it up.I pinged a lot of people i trust to ask their opinions on how to breach this topic, and i eventually did. Kluwe, to his credit, immediately replied yes he wanted to hear everything i had to say.

this is what i wrote--"But here's my personal bigger issue- the other deities you're using are from effectively dead pantheons. Barring reconstructionist groups, there aren't a ton of people worshipping the Greek or Druidic or Norse pantheons right now. Hinduism, on the other hand, has something like 600 million followers. And Vishnu is an immensely popular god, worshipped in some form or another by about a third of those people. I'm not sure what message it sends that you're lumping in an actively practiced faith with these other faiths from dead civilizations. This is basically the Smite problem all over again, where that game took a bunch of dead pantheons, and then one very much living one, and turned it into a MOBA. And when living practitioners complained, the devs replied with that lame old chestnut of "well my hindu friends totally like it" etc etc.

The thing is, it's kinda dehumanizing to see your faith turned into a toy. Its not about disrespecting the faith, cause whatever who cares, as much as telling the believers that their tradition is not worth a ton more than the iconography it provides, and not equal to any western traditions, which are subconsciously afforded respect. Consider- how many games do you see using Abrahamic traditions? Even atheist game designers tend to shy away from using stuff from Christianity/Islam/Judaism/Baha'i/whatever. It's a subconscious bias that stems from old school colonialism- the brits are monotheists, so anything less is barbaric, etc.

Now, i'm not accusing you of anything, and i think your game looks hella cool and i can't wait to play it! I just think that you should perhaps reconsider using Vishnu as one of your characters. If I may offer a replacement, draw on the older Vedic pantheon instead. The Vedic culture is what gave rise to Hinduism and Buddhism, and features a vast pantheon of Gods that are still spoken of in the Hindu tradition, but aren't worshipped or revered the way Vishnu is. Indra, for instance. King of the old gods, drunken reveler, wields a lightning bolt, rides an elephant and all that. He's an old Indo-European god that is from the same source faith that gave us Zeus/Jupiter/Thor. Pretty cool dude. Alternatively, if you want the more Law focused side of Vishnu, there's Varuna, the original chief deity of the Vedic pantheon (before being replaced by indra, who was then replaced by Vishnu and Shiva). God of the oceans and the Law, focused on oaths and the truth and the like, and worshipped everywhere from India all the way to the Mediterranian. He's attested in Hittite literature even. Name comes from the old Indo European "Oueranos", which is the same as Uranus in greek! Also, the cult of Mithra-Varuna became the mystery cult of Mithras that the Romans followed, giving rise to a lot of the iconography borrowed by early Christianity. The reason we shake hands, for instance, is because that was how worshippers of Varuna swore oaths with each other.

At the end of the day, it's your game, and I'm not trying to stand in the way of someone cool doing something cool. I'd just humbly suggest that maybe there are other options which would suit your needs better than Vishnu, and certainly save you a lot of headache later on.

I hope this helps, and if there's any other way I can be of assistance, please let me know. "

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And Chris, to his immense credit, basically said thank you, that's exactly what I wanted to hear.

I checked the KS again today, and i was blown away that not only had he changed the god, art and everything, but made an update explaining why.

This is so rare that I don't think i've ever actually seen it happen, and I pay a lot of attention to cultural use in gaming. Just mind blowing. Hopefully the tides are finally turning, and game designers will realize that their potential audience is the entire world. Here's the game if you wanna check it out. I'm still just kinda stunned.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/567823005/twilight-of-the-gods-age-of-revelation

#diversity #hinduism #happyending

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artiegallina · 6 years

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Cultural Appropriation

Halloween is a strange time in America, especially if you take a few steps back and examine it close. People of all ages don masks and dress up. The act of dressing up in costumes is traditional, Americans have been doing it for decades. The costumes we wear range from pop culture and icons to sexy costumes and "funny and gag" outfits. We do this to unwind and to have a good time. It's generally not malicious, even the requisite frights are done in the spirit of the season. I want it to be clear that everything is done in a festive spirit. I mention all of this because every year we hear more and more about "cultural appropriation" and how Halloween is the most blatant example.

Cultural appropriation is a sociological concept. It deals with people from one culture taking and reusing items or iconography from another culture. In practical terms this means someone can commit cultural appropriation by wearing an outfit that stereotypes and steals from another person's culture. Think of all the "Mexican Bandito" or "Sexy Native" outfits you see at any given Halloween party. Those are examples of harmful cultural appropriation, most often called cultural misappropriation. There are often positive examples of cultural appropriation though. Things like Tex-Mex and the actual holidays of Halloween and modern day Christmas; people took the original celebrations, the festival of Samhain and the winter solstice in this case, and made them what they are today. It's a double-edged sword is what I'm getting at.

Most of the times when cultural appropriation is discussed it focuses on the negative. There is usually good reason for this. Those sexy or funny stereotypical costumes people wear are actually racist and harmful to a marginalized group of people. This is why I want to start out by focusing on some of the more positive examples of cultural appropriation. Much of what is considered to be “American Culture” is the result of various forms of appropriation. People from all over the world have come to America and they have brought with them their various cultures. Tex-Mex, one of the greatest culinary innovations of our time, is the result of cultural appropriation. Texans near the border loved Mexican food, real authentic Mexican food, and they repurposed it using their own local ingredients and flavors. American holidays are another good example. Holidays like St. Patrick’s Day have morphed and taken on a life of its own because of cultural appropriation. St. Patrick’s Day has transformed from its roots as a Christian holiday to the secular celebration we all know and love. It is as much about Irish iconography and drinking than any particular person.

St. Patrick's Day is actually a great segue into talking about all the baggage and negative aspects of cultural appropriation. The Irish community can easily, and truthfully, say that the holiday is about how the Irish love to drink and that an Americanized leprechaun is the mascot of an entire country. There is nothing realistically “Irish” about the way Americans celebrated. That is the dangerous part of cultural appropriation. The possibility that only the caricature and stereotypes are what survives and are broadcasted. The culture that is being borrowed from could easily be minimized or marginalized by the larger or more dominant culture. Critics of cultural appropriation are concerned that the more dominant culture cherry picks things that they like about another culture. The taker then removes the context from whatever it is they have taken, and does not pay tribute to the original culture.

The fashion world is a big perpetrator of this. Every year, on runways all across the world, there will inevitably be a model who is using a sexualized version of a traditional outfit. Recently there was an uproar over the use of the Indian bindi. Previous years saw controversies about the use of Native American headdresses as props. Musical artists like Justin Timberlake and Miley Cyrus have also been accused of cultural appropriation. They are accused of adopting aspects of black culture for their own monetary gain. They do nothing to help out and elevate black culture or the problems that plague it. Another layer to this is the fact that the majority of the time the people committing cultural appropriation are white. People like Cyrus and Timberlake take on aspects of black culture, reap the rewards, but then they don’t have to take on the baggage. They get all the benefits but none of the drawbacks such as the racism.

So what can you do? You want to be able to enjoy other cultures, but you don’t want to come across as racist or insensitive. Susan Scafidi, a Fordham University law professor, talks about the 3 S’s "Consider the 3 S's: source, significance (or sacredness), and similarity. Has the source community either tacitly or directly invited you to share this particular bit of its culture, and does the community as a whole have a history of harmful exploitation? What's the cultural significance of the item — is it just an everyday object or image, or is it a religious artifact that requires greater respect? And how similar is the appropriated element to the original — a literal knockoff, or just a nod to a color scheme or silhouette?" This isn’t foolproof of course, you’ll still have to be smart about things. That sexy bandit costume is not going to be a good idea. You should not be afraid of learning about and participating in other cultures. The beauty of America is that we all come from different backgrounds, but we are all living side by side. All you need to keep in mind is to be respectful. Some people will cry and complain about things being too politically correct. It’s good to remember that those who are complaining are usually the ones who are doing the stealing.

#cultural appropriation #cultural appreciation #halloween

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years

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How The Met Gala's Fashion And Catholicism Theme Could Be Risky

http://fashion-trendin.com/how-the-met-galas-fashion-and-catholicism-theme-could-be-risky-2/

How The Met Gala's Fashion And Catholicism Theme Could Be Risky

Last week, The Metropolitan Museum of Art confirmed the theme for 2018′s blockbuster Costume Institute exhibit (and preceding Met Gala): “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” which will open to the public on May 10.

The announcement came just a couple of months after it was first rumored the exhibit would look at the relationship between fashion and religion. Right off the bat, outlets noted the theme could become the museum’s most controversial and provocative yet, Catholicism’s dogged history of sexual abuse aside.

It’s worth noting the Vatican is on board with the exhibit, which will feature religious items — papal robes, accessories and the like — alongside 20th-century fashions from major design houses. The modern clothing will be displayed alongside ancient art in the museum’s Medieval and Byzantine galleries “to provide an interpretative context for fashion’s engagement with Catholicism.”

There’s a risk of offense that comes when separating religious symbols from their context and treating a meaningful symbol as an accessory, as we’ll likely see in the modern fashions that appear in both the exhibit and on the Gala’s red carpet. (It wouldn’t be the first time the Met has been accused of courting appropriation. The outfits seen at the museum’s 2015 Gala for its “China: Through the Looking Glass” exhibit sparked plenty of conversation about the topic.) Seeing religious art and symbols on tight-fitting clothing, presented in a more sexualized way, might ruffle feathers as well.

David Gibson, director of the Center for Religion and Culture at Fordham University, offered an interesting take on potential controversy from the church’s point of view.

Gibson explained to HuffPost that the exhibit and gala “might be seen as glorifying a kind of Catholicism that the church has been trying to move away from for at least 50 years,” citing a kind of decadence that has been out of fashion with the church’s current leader, Pope Francis.

Met president Daniel H. Weiss didn’t sound concerned about the potential controversy when speaking to The New York Times last week.

“We have confidence that the exhibition will inspire understanding, creativity and, along the way, constructive dialogue, which is precisely a museum’s role in our civil society,” he said.

Andrew Bolton, head curator of the Costume Institute, told the Times that the exhibit will avoid focusing on theology and will instead look at “a shared hypothesis about what we call the Catholic imagination and the way it has engaged artists and designers and shaped their approach to creativity.”

Regardless of how the exhibit, which will feature designs by both Catholic and non-Catholic designers, presents its thesis, the theme is open to interpretation by the stars and models who’ll step foot on the red carpet on the first Monday of May.

Religious References In Fashion Are Nothing New

For years, fashion designers, specifically Western fashion designers, have been inspired by and have adopted religious symbols for use in their collections.

There was Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall 2013 ready-to-wear collection, which featured gilded dresses printed with the mosaics of Sicily’s Cathedral of Monreale ― a nod to the designers’ Catholic upbringings. Katy Perry, who was raised by Christian parents, wore a dress from this collection to the 2013 Met Gala and landed on Vogue’s Best Dressed list.

Other designers, such as Guillaume Henry of Carven and Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri, who worked together at Valentino, have sent religious-inspired garments down the runways to positive reviews. So, while it’s possible to wear religious symbols or iconography without necessarily offending, there’s always a line to cross.

The biggest issue in terms of wearing religious symbols, as Gibson noted, occurs when individuals fetishize or appropriate symbols from religions to which they don’t belong. Take Jeremy Scott’s Spring 2013 ready-to-wear collection inspired by the Arab Spring uprising, when he sent models down the runway in sheer or sequined burqas and outfits that were the opposite of modest. Celebrities, too, are guilty of this same religious appropriation in the name of fashion ― Lady Gaga once opened Philip Treacy’s runway show wearing a sheer, bright pink veil resembling a burqa while Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and yes, even Madonna, have worn bindis on multiple occasions.

Catholicism isn’t immune to the occasional borrowing of its images for pop culture, either ― remember when Kanye West appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone wearing a literal crown of thorns? The New York Times recently referenced the image as an example of the magazine’s “power to shock,” while a Village Voice columnist questioned its taste. There was also the time Nicki Minaj attended the 2013 Grammys dressed in billowing red cloak, accompanied by a man dressed as a pope.

How Does Sexuality Factor In?

The relationship between clothing and Catholicism is anchored by a strong gender divide.

“Ecclesiastical fashion, or any kind of religious garb for men […] signals authority and power, whereas traditional garb for women often signals submission and obedience and modesty,” Gibson told HuffPost.

Gibson also noted that, in various traditions, especially for women, clothing becomes a tool for “covering up one’s sexuality.”

The Costume Institute’s exhibit will be anything but modest in size ― it’s set to be the biggest one yet ― and it will likely feature a large collection of womenswear by designers like Dolce & Gabbana and Versace, two houses that highlight female sexuality. It wouldn’t be surprising to see any of the attendees donning corseted Dolce & Gabbana dresses or body-hugging Versace ensembles emblazoned with ornate crosses.

Then there’s the idea that religious tokens can be worn as a sign of resistance or subversion: think of Madonna wearing a rosary in her “Like A Prayer” music video, which also featured images of stigmata and burning crosses and was later condemned by the Vatican.

Madonna had also adopted the crucifix and rosary as accessories in her regular wardrobe (as seen in the photo above). In 1985, the singer told Spin, “Crucifixes are sexy because there’s a naked man on them. When I was a little girl, we had crucifixes all over the house, as a reminder that Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. Crucifixes are something left over from my childhood, like a security blanket.”

As Gibson told HuffPost, “For a woman, in many places, to wear a hijab says something powerful. For Madonna or Lady Gaga to use Catholic symbols of their youth is a powerful statement, not just of rejection but also of appropriation. It becomes something different and sort of reverses the dynamic of what clothing and symbols mean.”

Fashion Within The Catholic Church

A glamorous gala during which fashion and Hollywood’s most beautiful people arrive wearing expensive clothing and jewels seems in opposition to the modesty the church is currently trying to cultivate under Francis.

In the past, Gibson said, “the papacy and the church adopted a kind of monarchical pose in society” that was reflected in various practices, such as the pope being crowned with a three-tiered tiara. In the 1960s, however, Pope Paul VI famously abandoned the tiara, signaling a move in a less extravagant direction for the church.

“You see Pope Francis shunning many of the more elegant and typical vestments associated with the papacy and even shunning the grand Apostolic Palace to live in the simple House of Marta,” Gibson explained, pointing out that former Pope John Paul II followed similar guidelines. ”[Francis’] predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was much more traditional.”

Benedict, Gibson pointed out, often wore a red velvet cape reminiscent of those worn by Renaissance popes, much different from the simple white robe seen on Francis. Benedict’s choice of vestment was controversial, as some Catholics believed the garment represented the Catholicism of the past and signaled a move backward.

There are, of course, more traditional Catholics who put a great deal of emphasis on vestments ― “the more elaborate, the better,” Gibson explained. The museum’s exhibit then, he noted, could also have the potential to tap into the controversy between traditionalists and those who practice Pope Francis’ more modest ideals.

The Bigger Picture

Aside from all that, as Amrou Al-Kadhi at The Independent pointed out, putting fashion’s use of Catholic iconography on display in a museum like The Met, and celebrated with the elaborate Gala, “might only enforce constructs which tell us that Western ideas are success by default ― even when it comes to faith.”

Bolton acknowledged the potential controversies that may come as a result of the exhibit, though he didn’t seem too bothered.

“There will always be viewers who want to reduce it to a political polemic,” he told The New York Times.

There are likely a number of reasons Bolton decided not to incorporate other religions into his show. As he explained in that same interview, he chose to focus on Catholicism after finding that most Western designers had used the religion in their work and so many of these designers were, themselves, raised Catholic. (Bolton himself is also Catholic.)

It is admittedly difficult to imagine the Costume Institute hosting a Gala for an religion-focused exhibit that wouldn’t spark outrage in some way; focusing on Catholicism might have felt like the least controversial route.

Either way, the Gala red carpet and the Costume Institute exhibit will get people talking.

As Gibson explained when discussing papal dress to HuffPost, it’s not just the clothes that hold the power to provoke. It’s about what they symbolize.

“With Benedict XVI, he was a fancy, liturgical dresser and for many that signaled a church that was going backwards, whereas you have Pope Francis, who shuns all that sort of thing, and that signals a church that’s going forward,” he said. “These are powerful things, and that’s where the controversy is.”

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takenews-blog1 · 6 years

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Far Cry 5’s story looks like a morally dubious mess

New Post has been published on https://takenews.net/far-cry-5s-story-looks-like-a-morally-dubious-mess/

Far Cry 5’s story looks like a morally dubious mess

Probably the most fascinating issues dealing with big-budget sport makers is how one can deal with real-world points with out seeming to take advantage of them. Indie builders haven’t any bother setting themselves towards the woes of the world, and having one thing useful to say. However this degree of political engagement has largely eluded the massive video games corporations.

Earlier this week, I visited Ubisoft. I used to be there to play a demo of Far Cry 5, and to interview one in every of its creators about this topic.

You’ll be able to watch me play right here. Lengthy story brief, it’s precisely what you’d count on from a Far Cry sport. Plenty of areas to discover, enemies to kill, other ways to kill them, facet missions, non-player characters and a central story. It’s set in lovely Montana. It’s massive, sophisticated and enjoyable. I had fun.

Throughout my go to, I additionally wished to speak to Ubisoft in regards to the sport’s story — the best way it borrows from a present political local weather with a purpose to current each a narrative and an action-adventure sport.

As is usually the case with the video games on this sequence, Far Cry 5’s primary villain is a deranged, highly effective, charismatic man who has come to energy in a distant a part of the world. He has many fanatical followers — a part of a cult referred to as Eden’s Gate — whom the participant is invited to kill.

The primary distinction between Far Cry 5 and its predecessors is that its location lacks the (to Western eyes) distant exoticism of earlier settings, just like the Himalayas or a Pacific island. The villain, Joseph Seed, is recognizably a part of our political tradition, albeit exaggerated.

He’s a guns-and-Bible demagogue who cites scripture usually, and speaks in apocalyptic phrases. As I write this, the information headlines are filled with Roy Moore’s refusal to concede his defeat within the latest U.S. Senate election in Alabama, warning that “immorality sweeps over the land.” Crucially, Moore exploits racism as he appeals to followers on the Christian proper.

All video games are political, to some extent. However Far Cry 5 is clearly inserting itself into the zeitgeist. (The notion that the sport has been in growth for a number of years and simply occurs to come back at a time of nativist populism shouldn’t be convincing. We’ve been dwelling with such issues for a very long time.)

It’s been acknowledged earlier than, not least right here on Polygon, that Far Cry 5 appears like a sport that is able to capitalize on present occasions however isn’t prepared to interact within the points it portrays. That is one thing I’ve written about earlier than relating to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. In visiting Ubisoft, I wished to seek out out what the corporate’s execs needed to say about this difficulty.

I’ve spent a few years interviewing video games firm execs, and, to be frank, I didn’t count on to get a lot in the best way of readability. So it proved. Within the 10 minutes I used to be allotted with the sport’s director, Dan Hay, I used to be unable to get passable solutions to my questions.

What I heard was a set of ready statements, most of which have been reported earlier than. They’d beforehand been trotted out when the sport was final given a publicity push at E3. For those who search “Far Cry 5 interview,” you’ll see these identical tales, many times.

Once I requested if Far Cry 5 exploits political controversy with out grappling with underpinning points, I used to be advised that I have to play extra. This a good response, up to some extent.

The ultimate sport will definitely provide a story thread during which characters reveal their very own anger, and why they have been tempted (or not) to affix the cult on the heart of the sport. However primarily based on what I’ve seen and the conversations I’ve had with Ubisoft representatives, I don’t consider that Far Cry 5 will critically deal with the problems which can be core to the sport’s visible and cultural language.

Based on Ubisoft, the participant can choose the cult’s chief and his beliefs for themselves. On the face of it, this appears affordable. Loss of life cults don’t spring from vacuums. There are all the time social and political causes for them. However there’s an undeniably fascistic high quality to Eden’s Gate, one which Ubisoft was unwilling to deal with throughout my interview.

The media has spent a lot time previously 12 months inviting us to grasp fascists as bizarre folks, why they vote for hate-mongers, why they march, why they despise people who find themselves not like them. These articles are sometimes derided as making false equivalencies that pander to hate. Do we actually want a online game to assist us perceive the motivations of fascists?

Ubisoft argues that Eden’s Gate shouldn’t be a white supremacist group, and that the cult gathers adherents from all sectors of society. From taking part in the sport, I can let you know that the unhealthy guys will not be all white. And but, this seems like a helpful method to exploit hate politics with out dealing with difficult moral questions.

Listed here are two photographs of flags utilized by the members of Eden’s Gate. Bastardized crucifixes will not be fully the realm of Nazis, however in the event you confirmed me these photographs, with no context in anyway, I’d assume them to signify an American white supremacist group with quasi-religious leanings, most likely preaching the upcoming doom of the white race.

For those who seek for “white supremacist flags,” you will notice a lot of related kinds.

For those who then advised me that the group bearing this Iron Cross-like image relies in a distant a part of america, that it cleaves intently to anti-government rhetoric and spiritual argot, I’d be satisfied that this was a gaggle that embraces white supremacy.

I requested Hay why Ubisoft had co-opted the iconography of racism if it wished Eden’s Gate to be inclusive, and never a bunch of Nazis. Many spiritual cults use logos that don’t remind folks of Nazis. He mentioned that the cult is an amalgam of cults that add as much as one thing new and “not one thing you will discover in the true world.”

Once I requested how he reacted to political discussions in regards to the sport within the media, he mentioned that folks take pleasure in taking part in the sport as a result of it has a lot of issues to do.

So, with a number of months to go earlier than Far Cry 5 comes out, I’m involved that it’s utilizing extremist politics as a advertising instrument, fairly than as a possibility to deal with actual points. At a time when individuals are being marginalized, silenced, deported and killed on account of nativist politics, this looks like a morally doubtful train.

Individuals world wide are indignant and frightened by the rise of nativism, and acts of violence and homicide perpetrated by far-right terrorists. It appears a disgrace to me that Ubisoft is prepared and prepared to create a cult that appears rather a lot like a bunch of modern-day American Nazis, with out the inconvenience of dealing with this political phenomenon head-on.

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