I’m not a gamer per se. But I know when something makes me really uncomfortable. For reasons that are unclear, the hero of Resident Evil – Chris Redfield – is sent to Africa to kill zombies. Not France, Brazil, Beijing. Somewhere in Africa.

So what you have is a white guy surrounded by and killing lots of black people who are trying to eat his brains presumably because, in his words “I’ve got a job to do.”

Soooooo…..

What’s really going on here? Not to get Jungian, but is this about AIDS? Guilt over the hungry, ill and impoverished people of Darfur? Is this about helplessness in the face of overwhelming need and injustice? Discomfort at seeing angry villagers with sunglasses (or perhaps you might prefer, restless natives) shouting into megaphones, wild-eyed and waving farm implements? (watch the promo trailer above to see what I mean)

Or is it fear of a brown planet? Fear of encroaching hoards of pestilent, depraved, lustful (for brains, at least) black people? The point of games is to relax and have fun. Is shooting and killing a bunch of Africans fun and relaxing? Is that racist?

I don’t know what it is, but I’m not the only one who’s scratching my head. More over at MyUrbanReport.

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