Diversity and Representation in Media

Will Smith Fights Will Smith in Ang Lee's Clone Thriller Gemini Man, a Movie We Can't Wait to See More Of.

Regarding the politics of Death Battle - it's not so much a coincidence as it is opportunism. They like to do a DB for a popular character when that character has a big release coming out because it helps with search engine optimization. For instance, right around the time Black Panther came out, they did Black Panther v. Batman. For Aquaman's release, they did Aquaman v. Namor.

Captains Marvel v. Marvel has been a popular request for years and it just so happens that not one but both Captains Marvel have a movie coming out within like a month of each other. So they jumped on it.

I don't think they meant any actual malice by it. Their politics tend to be on the right side of history, so to speak; they get pissed off about fridgings, talk shit about Flat Earthers, etc.

It's just really unfortunate that this battle's coming out in the middle of the controversy and even more unfortunate that, based on the available research into the characters' histories and feats, Carol's probably going to lose.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Apr 6th 2019 at 9:16:23 AM

I've been taking part of some of those accessibility discussions in regards to from games, and it's been kind of exhausting since it's often a of people talking past each other and relying on strawman arguments.

As a fan of From Soft, when I first heard of this like a year or two before Sekiro released, my initial reaction was "Ok, but why would you want an easy mode for a game where the whole point is the struggle against overwhelming odds to gain catharsis? I'm not gonna cry about if From decides to add one since I won't use it, but to me it just feels like you might be happier playing another game altogether, since 99% of the rest of the market has difficulty options".

However that was all before I was made aware of the struggles of people with disabilities and to me that changes the conversation. I legitimately believe any able-bodied person can beat any Dark Souls game as long as they are persistent enough, it's just a matter of whether they would find it fun or not. However if you have a disability that prevents you from meaningfully interacting with the game as intended, then that's not exactly great. For that reason I would now support these options, although I don't think an "easy mode" is the best solution necessarily.

I’ve seen video of disabled people excelling at games and Microsoft went and made a controller for people with limitations on how they could operate. Those are good ideas and should be encouraged.

In the case of Sekiro, give the people the tools to play, then Git Gud.

I remember back in the 90s Nintendo made a hands-free controller for the NES. Do they still do that for their newer systems?

I feel sad for the Shazam fans that just want to enjoy him.

And naming the version made to help disabled players a "Easy Mode" would be just insulting.

Edited by KazuyaProta on Apr 6th 2019 at 1:47:40 PM

Maybe it's because I don't play a ton of video games, and am also not very good at them, but I just don't get the fixation on hard mode. Like, if I pick up a video game, it's something I'm doing in my leisure time for fun - I'll play at whatever difficultly I please. Video games aren't really an activity I'm particularly interested in being 'challenged' in - and I don't feel like there's anything wrong with that, just as there's nothing wrong wanting to play a game that's challenging.

I can't speak to this specific game because I know almost nothing about it, but it feels like there's a level of snobbery associated with "well, if you're not playing it on a higher difficulty, then there's no point in playing at all." Like, let people experience their entertainment how they want to, why is it anybody else's business?

> And naming the version made to help disabled players a "Easy Mode" would be just insulting.

It's also the clearest choice,fancy names don't aid to identifying the mode you want

Relative to this specific example, the preoccupation is that the game simply wouldn't be that enjoyable if it wasn't designed around providing a challenging experience. Most of From's games don't exactly have a very in-depth cinematic story or anything, so it's not like you'd be playing it for that. The idea of overcoming a challenge and getting a feeling of catharsis after overcoming failure is one of the key design philosophies behind their games. So if someone just wants to breeze through it, it might give them a poor idea of what it is people enjoy about the game, and it would mean that what the game is trying to communicate is fundamentally at odds with what that person wants, and why one of the responses is usually "I don't think this game is for you".

But I think it's different if you have something like a disability that prevents you from meaningfully engaging with the game the way the devs want. So in that sense accessibility options just allows those players to have a challenge more in line with what they're actually capable of, and people who want to play on the intended difficulty are still free to do so.

Edited by Draghinazzo on Apr 6th 2019 at 3:09:11 PM

Look, it's a simple question - do you want to play in triple-decker sandwich mode, or deep dish pizza mode?

Ah, I sort of understand that. I'm definitely more of a story person.

Edited by Pseudopartition on Apr 6th 2019 at 2:10:48 PM

I imagine it would be extremely difficult to create a game that takes into account every disability human beings can suffer from. Blindness, deafness, color-blindness, nerve damage in the hands, having no hands, epilepsy...

Yes, that's true. I don't think anyone is under the impression that it would be possible to accommodate EVERYONE. But having an imperfect solution that still broadly accounts for a lot of people is still of value.

It'd be falling into the Perfect Solution Fallacy to not try and implement accessibility in video games just because it doesn't accommodate everyone immediately. Just like how 'we can't cater to every minority so let's not put people of any racial/gender/sexual/religious/etc. minority in our work' is silly.

This actually reminds me of an article I was reading a few months back about an Elder Scrolls Oblivion mod that Terry Pratchett helped work on:

Edited by Pseudopartition on Apr 6th 2019 at 2:22:40 PM

I just think that simply adding an "Easy Mode" won't be nearly sufficient for these purposes. Even taking into account that there are L Ps done by people who are blind of such games.

Which isn't to say there should not be an Easy Mode for these games. I just don't think "because it's good for disabled people" is the best argument for it.

Edited by M84 on Apr 7th 2019 at 3:22:05 AM

The fixation on “real games” being hard comes from fans idolizing the 80s. But the reason why 80s games were hard was purely commercial: to get players to put in as much coins as possible in order to progress. Once the market shifted to many folks owning their own games and consoles, games became easier to encourage players to buy more of them. Therefore, the true spirit of 80s commercialism is making video games as widely accessible as possible.

Edited by Tuckerscreator on Apr 6th 2019 at 12:45:14 PM

A little video about the elephant in The Promised Neverland's room:

For those who don't know the series, it's about a group of orphan children who live under the care of a "Mom" named Izabella. But one day, the protagonists discover that they live in a meat farm, that they are the meat, and that Izabella is their shepherd working for monstruous demons. When Izabella realizes some of the kids learned the truth, she hires an assistant to help keep them in check − and that's Sister Krone. While Izabella is depicted as a quiet and coldly terrifying threat, Krone is the more… direct kind of threat, although not without tricks up her sleeves (as only exceptionally smart children can get to her or Izabella's position). When Krone tries and fails to become The Starscream, she is offed, but not before leaving precious hints and tools for the children to escape. Oh, and in the anime adaptation they gave her a doll to talk to.

That's the general picture. And while some readers and watchers were fine with it, the character left a… bitter taste in the mouth of others, who see her as steeped in old racist imagery. Now as the video points out she's not the only black characters in the series, there are plenty others both good and villainous (if you count Andrew as black…?), but she's been by far the most prominent and memorable despite only appearing in the early volumes.

I kinda wondered what the perception was here. There wasn't much debate in the series' thread as people probably don't want to focus too much on it.

Along with the whole question of "is it racist if it's unintentional?"

Edited by Lyendith on Apr 6th 2019 at 11:43:30 AM

I haven't watched the series but I have seen a lot of responses asking what on earth is going on with her design. D:

I think the main problem with Krone is less her overall character arc and more her design/facial expressions, which definitely does raise a few eyebrows.

Edited by Draghinazzo on Apr 6th 2019 at 6:53:58 AM

Yep.

I remember similar complains about Gym Leader Lenora from Pokémon Black and White, due to looking like a Mammy archetype.

Edited by KazuyaProta on Apr 6th 2019 at 5:56:22 AM

Regarding Sekiro and accessibility, I recently saw a tweet that suggested optional "assist" features, as found in the game Celeste. Specifically, it read as follows:

I've also seen it pointed out that not all people are equally skilled; for some people the struggle that Sekiro provides might be significantly greater than for others.

Original tweet:
https://twitter.com/MattThorson/status/1113534763564826624

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Apr 6th 2019 at 3:45:30 PM

Yeah, I've seen multiple people saying something vaguely similar to Celeste's system might be more helpful than a straightforward "easy mode".

The adjustable part in the further tweet is the most important part of what he said, in my opinion.

We take things like adjusting sound and brightness (I wouldn't be able to play many games if I couldn't adjust brightness) for granted, but not so much as you said so well 'the challenge provided' being the same for everyone.

@Lyendith

Japan really has a difficult time when it comes to doing overexaggerated expressions for those of African descent.

So, Cloak and Dagger season 2 started this week, and it had some really great moments. Including (no hard spoilers, but just in case): A discussion about how to deal with abuse victims, how difficult it is to get an handle on the drug dealing/gang problem, and a really great scene in which a character points out to Dagger that the media just doesn't care if young woman disappear, unless they are white and blond

It also keeps exploring Voodoo, though I really don't know enough about it to tell how accurate it is...