RACISM IN VIDEOGAMES
James

I came across this the other day. Street Fighter II is by far the most racist and stereotypical game in the world. Bar none. The game is literaly just jam-packed with subtle racisms, as we'll see in this article.

The first racist issue with the game is the way in which the two American fighters are modelled. Note: this excludes Ken because he (as the street fighter lore tells) was born and raised in Japan with Ryu. The two American characters we're left with, are Guile and Balrog, and they couldn't be any more archetypical if they tried (and they probably did).

GUILE is your typical white boy American war hero. He fights in a camouflage vest and matching chic brown cargo pants. He has that standard burly look which all Americans want, and he wears sunglasses because he's from the US of A and is therefore inherently cool. As the story on the CD insert describes, he's a good guy, and he's seeking revenge for the death of his friend Charlie.


BALROG is the American that the economic boom of the 1930s forgot. He probably stood in the breadlines and drank soup from Al Capones bars as a youngster. His clothes are tattered, his teeth are chipped and to be sure to illustrate just how intellectually inferior and similar to neanderthals Afro-American people are, he tears off his shirt and bashes his hands together after a winning a fight. I'm suprised that when he loses he doesn't wip out his 'gat and 'bust a cap west coast style.

Anyway, the next massively racist aspect of street fighter is its backgrounds. For those of you who don't know, the aim of the game is to win the tournament, be proclaimed champion and have booty rain from the heavens like water. But before you can do that you've got to beat all of the other characters first, and due to I guess their lack of funds or the fact that the world revolves around which ever character you select, you have to go to every one of your opponents' "homes". Anyway, whether these homes are supposed to depict where that character trains/lives is not fully explained, but what it is clear to assume is that these backgrounds are Capcom's way of degrading every possible race but Americans.

To the left is Blanka's stage, and I bet you didn't know that the only things in Brazil are straw huts and massive snakes (who by the way coil idly around trees to watch people fight), something tells me that Street Fighter art department need to watch a little less Anaconda and a little more National Geographic.

This background disgusts me, the people live in shitty ramshackle housing, wearing raggedy ass clothes and hot damn you must be one poor and desperate mofo if you build your house next to a snake who's body is larger in diameter than that guy's head.

This stage is the 'poorest' country's and don't Capcom Americana what you to know that! I'm sure in the original uncensored versions of Street Fighter, before a fight, Blanka would sit with the rest of the villagers and take a dump by the side of where they were fighting because Brazilians are just that dirty.

This next stage that you can see is Chun Li's. Now there are two possibilities with this one, either this is France and thats the tour de France which would not be AS racist, or she's Chinese and bicycles are the only mode of transport that can a) be afforded by poor Chinese people and b) even if they could afford them, there are simply not enough cars to support China's sweltering population of 840 billion. And btw if you actually thought this was France, please close this browser now and get off my site - what the hell kind of French person is called Chun Li.

On an utterly unrelated matter, I think Guile is doing his Jimi Hendrix air guitar impression.

Capcom is lucky I wasn't able to find a picture of their background from the original street fighter 2, because on that one not only do we have these massive hordes of rogue cyclists, but we had people watching the fight with chickens in cages, because all Chinese make Kungpow Chicken for a living! And apparently they all wear the same clothes too. Hmm. As you can see also, there are no such things as normal accommodation in China, only curvy pagoda type buildings, because come on, everyone knows thats all you get in the far east!

Check out Dhalsim's stage. And for those people who thought the above one was French but stayed on my site, this one is in fact India. You know, where every square foot of land is coverd by elephant god shrines.

I love the realism of those floor stones.

I am however, stumped as to why the producers allowed the Indian background to have gold. Seems awfully out of character.

Anyway, there you have some of the worst stages, and don't forget I didn't even include Zangief's Russian stage (the game was created before the collapse of the Soviet Union and during the final years of Cold War). Anyway, getting off the topic of those places that America loves to hate, let's get to the American backgrounds!

Ok the first one is Guile's (here). If you'll remember, he's the all-American hero. His stage has a Fighter Jet in the background. Way to compare Chinese bicycles with planes! He also has a number of his military lackeys watching PLUS A CHICK. There is absolutely no way there would be an even remotely attractive woman in any of the other characters' backgrounds, but there sure as hell will be one in Guile's. I bet if you turn the sound up REAL loud on this stage, you can even hear her say "Mmm I love American cock!" or "Do you want some of me? Then get an American citizenship!". This scene reinforces the accusation that the art people at Capcom watched too many movies, can anyone say TOPGUN?.

Balrog's scene (here) is a casino. Even though he's an Afro-American, the Americans still realise the need for solidarity, and so give the part time boxer, part time ghetto thug Balrog a flash Las Vegas background where Puff Daddy would feel at home and Chardonney probably flows from the fountains. Everytime I play this stage, I'm expecting Dr Dre and 50 Cent to come in rapping about getting mad pussy and cruising around the ghetto in their dope rides.

The final stage we'll look at is Birdie's. Now, I am English. Birdie is English. And the capcom artists it seems, felt it most appropriate that the British fight in a mens room. Your Cold War allies, your world war back-up, your partners in Iraq, are made to fight in a fucking toilet. What the hell is this? Its not enough that he is ugly as HELL, but in a game where sworn American enemies fight on the streets and in factories, the most stereotypical aspect of English lifestyle is that we are kings of the urinals. Stuff that.