Resi Evil 5 isn't racist, says BBFC

By Ellie Gibson Published 2 March, 2009

Reckons there's "no issue" with cut-scene.

The British Board of Film Classification has dismissed suggestions that a particular scene in Resident Evil 5 is racist.

It's the bit where you see "a white blonde woman being dragged off, screaming, by black men", as our preview put it. Then, "When you attempt to rescue her, she's been turned and must be killed."

Kikizo also thought the scene was dodgy, and contacted the BBFC to see if they agree.

Board executive Sue Clark responded, "In the version [of the scene] submitted to the BBFC there is only one man pulling the blonde woman in from the balcony, and I can't say the skimpiness of her dress impressed itself on me. The single man is not black either.

"As the whole game is set in Africa it is hardly surprising that some of the characters are black, just like the fact that some of the characters in an earlier version were Spanish as the game was set in Spain," Clark continued.

"We do take racism very seriously, but in this case there is no issue around racism."

Odd that both Eurogamer and Kikizo reported it was black men doing the dragging, but presumably we were given an earlier version of the code than the one submitted to the BBFC.

[Editor's note, 9.51am: Having played through the code myself, I can confirm that the man doing the initial dragging is not black. When you enter the room, however, you face off against the monster version of the blonde girl and several black men. We'll very likely be exploring the specifics of this further in a blog post soon.]

"Just for information, were the distributors to be supplying a version of the game which we had not classified it would be illegal under the terms of the VRA [Video Recordings Act]," Clark added.

Even there was an issue, "the BBFC would not automatically cut a work for racism", said Clark.

"We would normally give a work a higher rating to take it away from younger consumers who might not understand the issues surrounding racist remarks or attitudes. In this case the game is already rated 18 by us, so we would be unlikely to intervene further."

We can all make our own minds up on 13th March, when Resident Evil 5 is released for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (88) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bad09 #1 3 years ago

    It isn't racist......but it is rubbish.

    / decides to pass and wait for reboot "make it snappy Capcom!"

  • Doctor_What #2 3 years ago

    The next question would be - is it racist to think that anything abusive between a black character and a white character is automatically racist? People can be idiots and fight each other, whatever their skin colour, without any need for racism to be involved. Especially when one of them craves human flesh (as happens all the time in Croydon).

  • DFawkes #3 3 years ago

    I'm glad the BBFC are being logical about this. I diudn't even think about the rating, but as an 18 I think anyone who can legally purchase it can debate the issue in a mature manor. In theory, anyway.

    I'm partially with bad09, I might pass and wait for the Resi 6 they were so quick to shout "It'll be different!" about.

  • bad09 #4 3 years ago

    @ DFawkes

    Yeah exactly, that statement damned it for me it was either "We thought you'd like but you don't from the demo so we'll try again next time..." or "man I just made a stinker you will not like this game guys, back to the drawing board"

    Either way to me it was a damning thing to say just before your game comes out.

    / still since I saw 5 I was always planning a 2nd hand buy so may still pick it up (4 is still on my shelf and I did buy that light gun one on PS1 after all)

  • aldo_14 #5 3 years ago

    The next question would be - is it racist to think that anything abusive between a black character and a white character is automatically racist? People can be idiots and fight each other, whatever their skin colour, without any need for racism to be involved.

    Depend on context, doesn't it? The implication in the previews is that there was no obvious reason for that particular woman being white other than playing into the old 'black savages stealing our women' style' stereotype. And in many cases if you're presented with a group of one, uniform ethnicity apparently randomly attacking another different ethnicity, the first thought of motive is racism.

    Appears that Capcom edited that scene, anyway. And I'm always wary of confusing racism with simple naivety on the developers part.

  • Sunyavadin #6 3 years ago

    I'm amazed how much common sense the BBFC have shown in recent years.

    Also -

    And in many cases if you're presented with a group of one, uniform ethnicity apparently randomly attacking another different ethnicity, the first thought of motive is racism.

    I regard immediate assumptions like that as BEING racist.
    Anything involving immediate assumptions based on race, the observer is the one bringing race into it, before they even look into the reasons for it. Even the nazis murdering millions of Jews, you CANNOT say it was racially motivated until you look at the surrounding circumstances of incitement to racial hatred. Gassing millions of Jews could be motivated by anything at all when taken with no context whatsoever. Assumption of racism BEFORE examining the circumstances, THAT is racist.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 09:18

  • bioreit #7 3 years ago

    I'm with Doctor_What - surely automatically assuming racism exists when conflict is shown between two people of different racial groups is in fact a form of racism.

    Good on the BBFC for pointing out that the game is set in Africa and therefore is likely to contain a rather higher proportion of black people than white. Anyone who doesn't understand that point needs to re-examine their values.

  • kissthestick #8 3 years ago

    i thought dragging a blond woman of any race wouldve been seen as a problems anyways?

  • 4thVariety #9 3 years ago

    Before you shot the first guy in the first Resident Evil game, there was a cutscene establishing him as a Zombie. We were well off into fantasyland long before we pulled the trigger for the first time. All hostiles were dehumanized before the fighting started.

    Resident Evil 4 started a concerning tradition. The first Spanish villagers seemed perfectly ok. They do not appear as Zombies at first, they appear as hostile human beings. Some kind of Euro-Rednecks who will happily kill every stranger. That left a bad taste no matter how you turn it. The first 15 minutes, those Spanish guys (and the cops too!) convey a very xenophobic picture of rural Spain.

    If Resident Evil 5 does the same, I can see why the racism squad is on high alert. Even if it is not really racists, we get to see some ugly side of humanity that is not particularly entertaining. It is a stretch to say that by depicting one hostile town, the developers are conveying a racist message about all of Afrika. That is utter nonsense. But it would be more elegant to instantly address the hostility of people as the result of something draining them of their humanity. If we instantly perceived the picture of the hostile black town as a place where something has gone wrong, then there is little problem. When we fool ourselves into thinking xenophobic townships are the norm, then it will be an issue.

  • MaxiSleep #10 3 years ago

    If you want to portray a scary violent region Africa (unfortunately) is the one of the best places to do it. This is nothing to do with race and everything to do with colonialism and cold war arms subsidies propping up monster dictators.

  • Gearskin #11 3 years ago

    Would have been more racist if there were no black people in Africa.

  • polar #12 3 years ago

    This is such a non-issue imo.

  • CapnCloudchaser #13 3 years ago

    What about that other cut scene that Eurogamer mentioned? The one that they couldn't disclose?

  • penhalion #14 3 years ago

    Ok you know the scene the BBFC have talked about is NOT the scene everyone is calling racist right?

    So either the scene was changed or they are somehow looking at one of the later scenes with this woman (when Chris goes to rescue her from an upstairs room).


  • the_inchworm #15 3 years ago

    There's your verdict. Longing to hear m0th4r call the BBFC a bunch of racists now.

  • polar #16 3 years ago

    I really don't know how Capcom could set a resident evil game in Africa and not have violent black people in it. Like it or not there are violent people in Africa right now (as there are on every continent). So does it mean that basically no one can set a game in Africa now for fear of offending overly sensitive people?

  • SEVQA #17 3 years ago

    Who cares this resi sucks ass! The controlles are some of the worst I've ever experienced.

    Utter shit!!! should be banned!

  • robg #18 3 years ago

    ...but as an 18 I think anyone who can legally purchase it can debate the issue in a mature manor. In theory, anyway.

    Either that or they're too far gone already and it won't make much difference :)

  • worstgamerever #19 3 years ago

    @Sunyavadin

    You obviously aren't Jewish, and I've got to say your statements weren't particularly smart; quite the contrary, statements like yours have the propensity to incite a lot of anger in the affected race; I daresay if you had family members -- with an s -- in those chambers, you wouldn't run your mouth like you just did. Your argument is hollow, and ad hominem, firstly because because you pre-suppose that the gas chambers could have been built for some other reason (they weren't, those chambers were built as the Nazis tool for ethnic cleansing, specifically for genocide against the Jews and the minority Romanies as apparently Hilter didn't take kindly to their Indian roots. But the Nazis also threw in homosexuals, physically disabled and retarded people, and bizarrely, the smartest people -- mostly scientists -- that refused to use their talent for the "fuhrer";) and secondly because you seem to vaguely imply that the gas chambers -- if motivated by some other reason besides racism -- might be acceptable. What?

    Anyway the less we say about the Nazis the better, but to dismiss one of the worst cases of racial genocide as -- under whatever circumstances -- not being racist, is, well.. I'll reserve any further comments. I've only said this much because your comments really hurt.

    About this topic, Resident Evil 5 is a great game; whether or not it's racist is up to the gamers to decide. Personally? I don't think it is racist, but that doesn't mean I'll get it on Launch day. SF IV will do plenty till I can find Resident Evil 5 in the bargain bin.

    Still on topic, people can have whatever misconceptions they want about ethnic minorities, but everyone is an individual to be judged for who they are, not by the color of their skin; the White House is now proof of that. So, my point is this: Those guys dragging the lady off, are meant to be monsters, same as all the monsters in the rest of the [Resident Evil] franchise. The fact that they are black doesn't mean they should be spared an uppercut, or sniper's bullet, by whomever the protagonist is :-D

    I think the BBFC are smart enough to see through whatever thinly-veiled racial undertone shrouds Capcom's latest game, and besides this issue of race, as it relates to Resident Evil 5, is getting increasingly tedious...
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 10:07

  • aliki #20 3 years ago

    Dear Eurogamer and every other gaming blogging website,

    This is not an issue.

    Thanks,

    Gamers with common sense

  • Gecks #21 3 years ago

    so, would that make eurogamer's mr whitehead's "there's a cut-scene of a white blonde woman being dragged off, screaming, by black men" page-view generating tabloidery, then?
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 10:26

  • AaronTurner #22 3 years ago

    God what a non issue.

    Maybe all black characters in games should be given infinite health so no one can be a racist in the future.

  • retr0gamer #23 3 years ago

    '[Editor's note, 9.51am: Having played through the code myself, I can confirm that the man doing the initial dragging is not black. When you enter the room, however, you face off against the monster version of the blonde girl and several black men. We'll very likely be exploring the specifics of this further in a blog post soon.] '

    Why bother? You are just stirring the shit and trying to generate controversy.

    I can also recall a lot of black zombies in the previous games but now that the gmae is set in Africa it's racist? I hate the PC brigade.

  • waggy79 #24 3 years ago

    Im f**king disgusted that eurogamer even asked the BBFC! The more people that highlight these non-issues, the more it gets put in the public eye. Well done...*clap*....*clap*....

  • Eighthours #25 3 years ago

    You do seem to be rather pushing this agenda, EG. Just saying, like.

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #26 3 years ago

    @ Kissthestick "i thought dragging a blond woman of any race wouldve been seen as a problems anyways?"

    Agreed, especially if it was a blond Inuit Woman in Africa, that would be plain weird..

  • JohnnyWashnGo #27 3 years ago

    Yeah, seems like entire world less Eurogame and Dan Whitehead see nothing racist whatsoever in this game. It would appear that some people are either too sensitive to this kind of depiction of violence or are too keen to be seen as sensitive to people in minority groups, even though they themselves are not part of those groups.

    The last year with Eurogamer has seen it change for the worse in my opinion. It has tried to become more like Edge in treating videogames as some kind of high art and has become more tabloid in its sensationalist attitude to things, Resi 5 and the PS3 vs Xbox360 articles in particular.

    Well done BBFC. I would have thought they would be the first to scream for cuts if the game was beign naughty.

  • linksdad #28 3 years ago

    If you see a white person committing a crime and then remember it as a black person, it is YOU that is the racist!.

    Google it! There is a genuine psychological study on exactly that perception.

  • Carpathian #29 3 years ago

    So, it took just 15mins for Sunyavadin to fall foul of Godwin's Law ?

    Even in this place that's a startlingly poor show.

  • Mykybaby #30 3 years ago

    @worstgamerever

    It seems to me that Sunyavadin's post is about not jumping to conclusions, rather than defending the holocaust.

    "you CANNOT say it was racially motivated until you look at the surrounding circumstances of incitement to racial hatred"

    Seems to me Sunyavadin is suggesting that it wouldn't be appropriate to assume that re5 is racist because you have heard there is a white woman being dragged off by one/many black men, until you have some background insight to suggest that this is the case. Using the holocaust as an example is perhaps ill-judged and somewhat insenstive but I don't see any defense of the holocaust in those comments nor claims that it may not have been racially motivated. Ironically it sounds like you may have jumped to a conclusion.

  • Pirotic #31 3 years ago

    Why do I get the impression EG want Resident Evil to be racist so they can make a few articles about it. First you make stories saying that it probably is a bit racist, then you make more stories saying that it turns out it isn't. You'd of been better off just not reporting the whole issue and thus not making it into one to begin with imo

  • andywilkie35 #32 3 years ago

    I think the nail was hit on the head when she pointed out that in Resi 4, you shoot Spanish people because its set in Spain. In Resi 5 you shoot African people because its set in Africa.

    I don't think Capcom should have had to write in a sideplot where white people are shipped into Africa to have some virus tested on them just so overly sensitive people don't cry after playing it. The BBFC have seen common sense.

  • monkeylite #33 3 years ago

    I am a lefty liberal pinko scum and even I do not see an issue with this. Eurogamer, please sort yourself out. You sound like the Daily Mail.

  • septimus #34 3 years ago

    Aww, EG failed to kick up a shit storm. EG = Daily Mail of game sites.

    It's fucking Africa, there are bound to be more black people there. Why can nobody get over this? We might offend someone who really needs to get over themselves. Oh no!

  • robrymond #35 3 years ago

    It's more Kiziko who are making a meal out of a molehill. If I remember rightly they are run or managed by someone of a black/asian background and they seem to be ripping this to pieces for no apparent reason. Pathetic.

  • FTM #36 3 years ago

    lordy..I assume they must have missed the black fella in the friday the 13th remake getting chopped up..in the woodpile!!

    that surely is a more racist slant


    people are too easily outraged or read far too much into stuff...its a game..you shoot people..surely that in itself would be considered wrong

  • Lukus #37 3 years ago

    "As the whole game is set in Africa it is hardly surprising that some of the characters are black, just like the fact that some of the characters in an earlier version were Spanish as the game was set in Spain"


    Is this really that hard for some people to grasp?

  • bluem4gic #38 3 years ago

    This website is officially a pile of shit

    Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but this article is a non-story

    Stop wasting time reporting on stories or issues that are not issues and report on content that people actually want to hear about

    So what if a white woman is being dragged by black men originally, WTF is the problem with that and where does race come into it?

    At the end of the day its the solitude of the act and not the race of the people that determine if it will offend people or not

    That's up for us gamers to decide

    Eurogamer. it's 2009 get a grip!

    Complete and utter BS

    In future I think I will stick to Kotaku for my gaming news

    They seem to be alot more grown up about reporting issues compared to you guys
    Edited by 3 at 02/03/09 @ 11:42

  • riz23 #39 3 years ago

    This sort of level-headed approach is exactly why we should allow the BBFC to oversee all gaming rating classifications here in the UK. It's...It's..It's so goddamned sensible!

  • Razorus #40 3 years ago

    To be honest, there's a lot of negativity towards Eurogamer here and I don't understand why. They're just reporting on something that people find interesting. If you don't like this site, why are you on it? I strongly doubt they're purposefully trying to stir up trouble; the game did that on its own.

  • thesombrerokid #41 3 years ago

    this stinks of deliberate lies for hits and then revelation of lies for even more hits eurogamer is becoming very cynical these days

  • corposant #42 3 years ago

    In the land of video game fantasy the entire human race has been threatened with extermination on countless ocassions and here we are getting upset about a handful of people from one specific ethnic group. Quite frankly I 'd like to see the efforts of EG directed at homocidal alien races who care not a jot it seems for human equality or rights.

  • thesombrerokid #43 3 years ago

    @monkeylite
    technically a liberal would condone freedom of speech, it's the conservatives that'd get offended by this

  • Gecks #44 3 years ago

    @Razorus
    the problem is that eurogamer appear to have initially fabricated a cut-scene to support their own agenda.

  • Sunyavadin #45 3 years ago

    @worstreaderever

    You clearly ignored my entire post.

    My point was that with the concentration camps - you could NOT judge simply on the fact that it happened, it was racist. You make that judgement ONCE YOU KNOW the full circumstances. Then, clearly IT WAS.

    The same point stands here. You look at the situation with two people of different races involved, and assume something based on only that fact - YOU ARE BEING RACIST.

    *Edit* - also - nobody called godwin yet. Slackers.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 12:09

  • outy #46 3 years ago

    This is perhaps the stupidest article i've read since Ellie decided to inundate Eurogamer with last years "Where's Maddie?" non-issue.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 12:02

  • bluem4gic #47 3 years ago

    @Razorus

    No they are not reporting on something people find interesting. If all us where upset about this sort of thing. There would be alot of people boycotting games that are not politcally correct.

    This is article written to generate hits and no more so.

    Maybe they should read about what the definition of racism is below.

    rac⋅ism   [rey-siz-uhm] Show IPA
    –noun
    1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
    2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
    3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

    None of this noise was generated when Resident Evil 4 was released, so why now?

    For the record, I am Black British and I am not offended!


    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 12:58

  • Sunyavadin #48 3 years ago

    I wonder, if it was an ad for, say Empire:Total War, with a gang of dirty black men in rags beating a white man in fine brocade to death savagely.... Would it be criticised for negative black stereotyping?

    Or praised for applauding the few slave rebellions of the time?

  • ChadSexington #49 3 years ago

    Eurogamer is wrong.

  • Sunyavadin #50 3 years ago

    Eurogamer is wrong

    Someone is WRONG?

    On the INTERNET?

  • konniehuqfan #51 3 years ago

    this whole re5 business has made me ashamed of eurogamer.

  • polar #52 3 years ago

    @ Razorus "To be honest, there's a lot of negativity towards Eurogamer here and I don't understand why. They're just reporting on something that people find interesting. If you don't like this site, why are you on it? I strongly doubt they're purposefully trying to stir up trouble; the game did that on its own. "

    I like reading this site, but that doesn't mean to say I can't recognise its faults and failures. It's not reasonable to expect people to agree 100% with everything they read in a publication. I read the Dan Whitehead artcile about RE5 and while I thought it was an interesting read, I thought it it lacked a certain sense of perspective. I only realised that when I subseuently wacthed the RE5 trailers and played the demo. In light of what I saw while playing, it's clear to me that in that article Eurogamer had totally misjudged the game by labelling it as being racist, when in fact it isn't. It would have been decidedly racist to set the game in Africa and have no black enemies in it imo.

    The problem I have now with the EG preview is that it lacked a bit of common sense. Dan Whitehead was overly critical of the game and overly sensitive towards its portrayal of African people imo. There was a definite immaturity and narrowmindedness to his arguments I thought. IIRC he was basically saying that to portray Africans as a violent people was to reinforce hundreds of years of wrong stereotypes and was inherently racist. However, it seems to me that Africa by and large, is a violent continent (in comparison to the Europe of today). From what I've read, seen and heard on tv, in the newspapers and from people I've met, there are certain sections of African society that view violence differently to how we might view it here. I guess what I'm saying is that the article suggested that Afrcia wasn't an excessively violent place anymore and that no videogame has a right to portray it as such.

    It's because I like reading EG that I feel the need to complain about things I disagree with here. I hope that in future its content will be stronger as a result of its readers highlighting its weaknesses. Therefore, I'd be glad if EG just dropped this story. They've made a mountain out of a molehill with this and it's a discredit to the site that they're constantly labelling it as "news", when most reasonable people would agree it's not newsworthy at all.


    Edited for spelling.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 13:08

  • Gearskin #53 3 years ago

    Dan Whitehead is a black man with a chip on his shoulder?

  • thesombrerokid #54 3 years ago

    the negativity is about thier last article which swore blindly that there was something in resident evil 5 that was REALLY unquestionably racist and they weren't allowed to talk about it and this article is about backtracking

  • kwesleyb #55 3 years ago

    To me the people who originally raised this as an issue are the racist ones.

    It doesn't matter if 5 "black" men pull a "white" girl somewhere, nor if it was 5 "white" guys pulling a "black" girl somewhere.

    They are all human and skin colour means nothing.
    --------------
    The people that notice these things are obviously looking at skin colour and not the human/character itself.

  • Sunyavadin #56 3 years ago

    how many of you bought TL&D for GTA just for the penis.



    How many?

  • DanWhitehead #57 3 years ago

    so, would that make eurogamer's mr whitehead's "there's a cut-scene of a white blonde woman being dragged off, screaming, by black men" page-view generating tabloidery, then?

    The first time you see the woman, she is dragged away by a single man. He's not dark-skinned, but he's certainly not caucasian either. Later on, the same woman is pulled screaming through the upstairs doorway of a building. The men in that building are black, and since it's then that she is "turned", the implication is that they are the ones who have changed her. The completely inexplicable use of a very white, very blond woman in this scenario is what makes it so unusual. That's not to say that it would be "OK" if she were black, but there's clearly been a deliberate choice to use a white woman in ethnic hands to illustrate the peril of the game.

    The BBFC, according to its guidelines, has no remit to classify material based solely on racial imagery.

  • Gearskin #58 3 years ago

    It's funny.

    A group of black men kidnap a white woman, and it's racism.

    If a group of white men kidnap a black woman... it's still racism, only the boot is never on the other foot.

    Political correctness. Pft.

  • Zomoniac #59 3 years ago

    Why don't Capcom say it's topical and said black Africans are the murdering scum of Mugabe's army, and it's your job to kill them all. Then everyone applauds them for having a game where you just kill black people. Everyone wins.

  • monkeylite #60 3 years ago

    This is the sort of article and response (by Dan) I would expect to read in The Daily Mail or The Sun.

  • Paulie_P #61 3 years ago

    I thought the world had moved on from this since the South Park Episode "Chef goes nanners" but obviously I was wrong.

  • ViralNinja #62 3 years ago

    Can we all please focus on the fact that you can't move and shoot?

  • actionfitz #63 3 years ago

    "As the whole game is set in Africa it is hardly surprising that some of the characters are black, just like the fact that some of the characters in an earlier version were Spanish as the game was set in Spain," Clark continued.

    "We do take racism very seriously, but in this case there is no issue around racism."

    +1 to the BBFC.
    seriously... people need to wise the fuck up. Should they remove all black zombies from the game? its set in Africa ffs.
    bet all the dicks complaining about this are white...
    Life isnt Politically correct. Should Call of Duty 4 be banned because their are middle eastern guys do questionable things on screen?
    some people need to get over themselves.
    The BBFC etc have a pretty good track record of flagging this sort of stuff imo.

  • Feanor #64 3 years ago

    "Having played through the code myself, I can confirm that the man doing the initial dragging is not black"

    LOL at the EG preview.

  • Golgo #65 3 years ago

    Dear god...common sense prevails...!

  • Gecks #66 3 years ago

    @DanWhitehead
    you said, and i quote "there's a cut-scene of a white blonde woman being dragged off, screaming, by black men". this was the cornerstone of your argument. now you say it is one man, and whilst he is non-caucasian, he's not "dark skinned"?

    you can argue that the imagery is still a problem, that's fine, but that's not what you initially described. it's a misrepresentation seemingly to better-support an accusation of racism.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 14:30

  • Eighthours #67 3 years ago

    The BBFC, according to its guidelines, has no remit to classify material based solely on racial imagery.

    But they did feel able to comment on this particular case by saying: "We do take racism very seriously, but in this case there is no issue around racism."

    So they disagree with your reading of the scene in question.

  • ASHBERY76 #68 3 years ago

    Black men beating up their women? never happens.

  • RexRunti #69 3 years ago

    To be fair to Dan, the issue isn't of the evil black zombies, but the arian woman in the middle of Africa (out of interest any particular country in Africa or is the game set across the entire continent?) who happens to be made a victim as (allegedly) Capcom don't think black people make sympathetic victims.

    That said due to this multicultral world in which we live it is not unusual do find people of different ethnic minorities anywhere in the world. So having a white woman in Africa is not unusual, and considering the zombie dragging her away and (one of) the protaginist(s) is also not black then it is not as if there isn't any precident within the game.

    Of course if all or a significant proportion of the victims you're meant to identify with are caucasion or otherwise non-black then maybe the chants of racism could stick, but I have heard no evidence of this. And considering the likley accussers are so caught in their preconceptions that they were assuming the offending zombie was black I would have to take any evidence with a pinch of salt.

  • ASHBERY76 #70 3 years ago

    There is a strong commie element to Eurogamer.The constant repotting on this issue,the end war review wording, as lots of other stuff point in that direction,which is far left.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 15:26

  • monkeylite #71 3 years ago

    RexRunti, there are white people in Africa. Look it up.

  • patchbox360 #72 3 years ago

    the controls in the resi5 demo were racist against my brain



  • OrangesJoel #73 3 years ago

    As the article said, it could have been earlier code - since changed - that the EG preview dealt with.

    Or, bearing in mind that it's an in-engine cutscene featuring bogstandard enemy models, the race of the assailant in question could well be randomised, as are all the other enemies in the game.

    Just saying.

  • RexRunti #74 3 years ago

    @monkeylite

    Read my post again, paying particular attention to the second paragraph, where I make exactly that point.

  • mattrix33 #75 3 years ago

    Good old Eurogamer...

    It keeps going downhill by the day,i wonder why i still look in on the site.

    I knew it was anti PS3,but i didn`t know it was anti white male also

  • thesombrerokid #76 3 years ago

    the symbolism of the white blonde woman could easily and more likely be their to represent the lower class overcoming the upper class and represent an immediate clear sign of revolution as even today sadly white people in Africa are virtually exclusively well off , this then wouldn't be racist imagery but in fact imagery designed to bring attention to modern racism and exploitation of the African continent.

  • coomber #77 3 years ago

    Good to see Eurogamer's original article shown up for the bullshit it was.

  • coolbritannia #78 3 years ago

    "a white blonde woman being dragged off, screaming, by black men" - wrong wrong wrong.

    You can justify it with later scenes all you like Dan, but that was a single man dragging her off, who wasn't in fact black. Your own perceptions of race are showing through and it's not a good read to be honest. You just remembered a baying gang of blacks wanting white flesh when in fact it never happened. I hope you're never witness to a crime, any blacks in the area are done for if you're testifying son.

    No one here agrees with you, it appears Ellie might not agree with you, and the BBFC certainly don't agree with you, so how about you scrap the editorial unless it's an apology and drop the issue?

  • TrevSkyline #79 3 years ago

    Wonder what the "PC brigade" would say if it was a white man dragging off a black lady?

    All this race talk is what is causing the trouble - there is no longer major problems between different races (unless in street gangs) but these "PC" idiots like to stir the s**t.

  • bad09 #80 3 years ago

    "And only retards would call Resident Evil 5 rubbish, too."

    I guess that's aimed at me saying it's rubbish this morning! :)

    I'm sure RE5 will be a very accomplished shooter (although I do have to agree with those control "whiners", as you are going for action shoot 'em up again Capcom you should let the guy move!). For me though, in terms of a RE game, it's all kinds of smelly rubbish with big lumps of co-op dog poo in there.

    That doesn't make me a retard, it just means...er...I think RE5 is...rubbish.....

    But then I never really understand the HUGE over the top praise 4 gets TBH. It's not very good on hindsight (tired to replay it a while back) and it's actually quite a boring game to play.

    / hides from the RE4 fans

    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 21:30

  • kissthestick #81 3 years ago

    eurogamer has no black editors, racissssst! ;)

  • rarebit #82 3 years ago

    patchbox 360, controls racist against your brain. absolutely. lol.

    not buying this , based on the demo really.

    BBFC tend to preety good on this sort of stuff.


    i'd like a return to a mansion and all that nonsense but then i am getting nostalgic/jaded/too old.


  • monkeylite #83 3 years ago

    Most lefty gamers I know agree that RE5 isn't racist and that Dan is completely in the wrong.

  • bad09 #84 3 years ago

    @ CountFapula

    Very true but, as all opinion (which the comments are for), I only call it as I see it when I play a game and I really have nothing positive to say about 5 from the demo (you never know I may change my mind with the full game - doubt it though it's co-op all the way I believe). The most positive thing I could say right now is RE4 fans will like it maybe- but even many of them have been turned off by the silly co-op.

    (it's gonna be really interesting what the reviews will make of it that's for sure)

  • bonker #85 3 years ago

    "This is nothing to do with race and everything to do with colonialism and cold war arms subsidies propping up monster dictators."

    FFS, gimme a break will you. That continent had a loooong head-start before any of the others and, Egypt aside, it's contributed approximately sweet fuck-all to the world.

    HIV aside that is ...

  • bonker #86 3 years ago

    "That's not to say that it would be "OK" if she were black, but there's clearly been a deliberate choice to use a white woman in ethnic hands to illustrate the peril of the game. "

    Well a blonde white woman flouncing around most black areas of the world would raise eyebrows of "peril" in most street-wise people I would imagine, whether that was Handsworth or Brixton or DC or Baltimore or deepest, darkest Congo ...

    If you think there's no truth in that then I can only gasp at your naivety ...

  • VMerken #87 3 years ago

    Nine more days and we'll know if Capcom handled the material well, or not.

    Luckily, Chris "has worked with a woman before", so I'm optimistic ^_^.

  • layleeloo #88 3 years ago

    What utter utter b0llocks yet again. Im sick to death with race issues in games. First it was Gears now this.

    As it says - its set in god damn africa - so they will be black.

    But what really grates me - in ever situation not just games, is if the killers were white and the victim was black would there be any complaints from people about it being racist against whites? We already have the MOBO awards, music of BLACK origin - do we have the MOWO awards - music of WHITE origin. DO we bollocks becasue we would be called racist. Its shit like this which makes people racist - its so god damn one sided!! White people are never arsed how they are portrayed in games and films so why should black people, or in this case the BBFC incase it offends black people. Get a flippin life.
    Edited by 1 at 04/03/09 @ 11:21