Overwatch

Well, the bedouin skin looks cool as heck...

It probably also helps that the Japanese don't have a long and detailed history of oppressing the beduins.

It be different if it was say Hanzo getting a skin of Hou Yi.

That being said, I want a Robin Hood skin for him. Stupid feathered had, evenly cut hair, and tights. It would be glorious

Funny that in Junkenstein's Revenge he mentions that the japanese have their own version of Robin Hood

They do?

I didn't know that.

Was it Goemon?

I'm thinking Goemon here.

I know there's a Robin Hood anime, but I highly doubt Hanzo meant that one.

Yes, i'm pretty sure he said Goemon Ishikawa.

Gonzo Shikawa when?

Japan has a few famous thieves, though I'm not sure if any are Archers—which I think is what most people would be connecting to Hanzo, after all.

Interesting that the Endless mode is actually a sequel to the original.

Hanzo is pretty samurai-ish. Minus the archetypical horse, he has the mastery of archery down.

His walclimbing is more ninjutsu-ish. As well as his melee attack.

To be clear about cultural appropriation, the terms is technically neutral. It really just means a culture adopting some aspect of another and nothing more. Such as, say, the Romans adopting the gods and lore of the Greeks. That might be considered cultural appropriation. Or maybe a school having some kind of Japanese Tea Party that follows all of the cultural aspects of Japan in regards to tea as a tool for teaching.

Cultural Appropriation isn't bad inherently. Its quality depends entirely on context.

"In the midst of the battle, Junkenstein's most powerful ally appeared!"

"A comedic eruption of blood launched from her throat as the Witch was repeatedly shot during her introductory cutscene!"

I love how people are aiming where the bosses spawn and tagging them with ultimates or sleep darts once they're active...or seemingly mowing down the Witch while she strikes a pose.

I think you're conflating the academic definition of the term with the modern use of it for social criticism. They're two different contexts with essentially two distinct definitions.

Honestly, I think what a lot of people call "cultural appropriation" is either cultural diffusion or just fraud.

Socially, it was initially in reference to the American phenomenon of media - music, in particular - by ethnic sources being marginalized while white and/or mainstream performers make large amounts of money by adopting them.

More recently, it's since been used as part and parcel of criticisms of stereotyping and the like in Hollywood and other media, particularly in media sources freely telling the stories and using the image ethnic cultures for their own purposes while the actual people of those cultures themselves find far greater difficulty being able to get the same exposure.

It all, basically, comes out of a long simmering irritation of people having who they are be dictated by other people, irritation from having others profit off of them, and from having one's culture treated like a fad and subsequently trivialized. Like most things in the information era, the bandwagon nature of the internet means its sometimes bandied around willy nilly by people who don't really get what they're talking about, but it's definitely still a thing.

In any case, a series like Overwatch that puts so much heart and development into being genuinely multicultural and worldly probably isn't going to be getting a lot of criticisms of cultural appropriation - some, maybe, but not many that will gain steam - because it's presenting the cultures it uses in ways that avoid those pitfalls. Instead of feeling like it's using its Mexican or Nigerian or Japanese concepts just to be "exotic," Overwatch feels like a world where all these different cultures are fully represented and have a strong identity in The 'Verse, and that's the kind of thing people want to see more of.

On an unrelated note, the Nomad skin is my absolute favorite skin in the entire game, and having it just makes me sad that completely stink as Genji and can't get much use out of it.

edited 19th Oct '17 9:35:12 PM by KnownUnknown

The only accusation of cultural appropriation, or something similar to it, in regards to the game I've seen was people being annoyed at Pharah's Raindancer and Thunderbird skins, before realizing that her father is likely Native. After that it calmed down, and nobody has really brought it up since.

edited 19th Oct '17 10:16:31 PM by smokeycut

The fact that Pharah is half Canadian Aboriginal still paints smiles on my heart

It's about the only interesting thing about Pharah.

I think there's lots fun about Pharah

Can be a pain in the neck to swat out of the air though.

I'm talking about her character storywise. It's pretty lame if you ask me, especially compared to her mother.

In-game is another story

I mean she's got a lot of fun quirks I think, the whole Ascended Fangirl thing who's a lot more relaxed off duty compared to on where she's pretty serious is kind of fun.

Plus her guitar emote

edited 19th Oct '17 10:46:14 PM by lycropath

That's all in-game. Therefore, Non-canon.

Gotta love Michael Chu

You should realize by now that you can't convince a junkrat main to love Pharah. It's in our nature to hate her

edited 19th Oct '17 10:51:22 PM by fasoman1996