4. The plight of these people in ______ is clearly a metaphor for racism.
Woah there, buddy, that’s a huge claim. Surprisingly, I’ve also heard this one a lot, but you gotta remember something—simply the segregation or ownership of a person or peoples in any game does not automatically imply that there is an allusion to racism and slavery in the mix. Why? Well, maybe because what slavery represents is not so much the lack of freedom and rights from others, but more rather the entitlement of the white imperialist, the psychological destruction of a culture, and the constant repression of the very things that make us human. Just because the Heartless of Kingdom Hearts aren’t treated like “people” or Captain Olimar “enslaves” Pikmin, that does not mean there is some grand statement about one of the biggest blemishes on human history hidden in the subtext of the game.
If you are looking for something with some interesting commentary on race in the modern world, might I suggest both the novel and film adaption of To Kill a Mockingbird? Just sayin’.
