Thursday Next

Have you played the Nioh? It is very Souls-y. Was hoping it would be more Bloodborne-y so I'm not enjoying it as much.

I'm comfortable that probability wise, life elsewhere is pretty much inevitable. I can wait for us to find it or it to find us. I'm also an alien intelligence optimist. I think humans are explorers at heart, I see no reason why a superior intelligence wouldn't be similarly curious about the universe. I would love 100% concrete, utterly undeniable, everyone accepting it, no more arguments disproof of any sort of afterlife whatsoever. If we could get rid of afterlife based religions altogether I think people would be a lot more careful with the one that they have. On the flipside, if there was total proof of an afterlife, it would have to be really detailed proof so we all finally agree on which god is the god, which set of rules we are supposed to follow etc. Either way, I would just want absolute consensus on the issue so we can get on to more important things like not screwing up the planet, and going to space and finding new places to live and new people to disagree with things over.

And then once we have eliminated the machines we will all die because no one knows how to drive us to the hospital which no longer has any doctors in it anyway.

Sharing their light pollution. I don't think people in NK can read by it.

"She lied about that one like the lying tory that she is."

Nope. Never heard of this weirdness in my life. Had a look at the white house easter egg roll video, and it is a bunch of kids, flicking eggs along the ground with spoons. I've never even heard the term easter egg roll before today.

Was wondering what the hell an "easter egg roll" is. Turns out it is an "egg and spoon race" for people who lack even the most rudimentary coordination.

Yeah, I think we all get the business reason behind whitewashing. It's still shitty, but we get it. Are you saying that westerners will struggle to spot the difference between two Japanese actresses? Cos if so, I don't think that pandering to lazy racist tropes is a great reason for casting decisions. As to the scene with her mother, if we accept that two Japanese girls can look different, then the scene would play out the same. It would only not work if the viewer struggles to comprehend that Japanese people do not all look alike. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that the casting director, the producer or anyone connected with the film (or anyone who enjoyed the film) is racist in a "I hate foreigners and want them to be gassed." sort of way. This is a more subtle, subconscious, "white is default and other races are an afterthought" sort of racism. Like the racism that makes people wonder where the black guy in a Lamborghini got their money (and probably rattle off drugs, rap, basketball in their heads as top candidates) while a white guy in a supercar is more normal. Like I said, I totally missed the racist implication that a "perfect shell" just happens to be a white shell, but having had it spelled out to me, it's difficult not to see it and think that if I wasn't white, it's yet another subtle way of telling me I will never be good enough.

Seriously? Because... And I mean, this feels pretty obvious... Japanese women don't all look the same. So you obscure her identity. Her being white conveys no tactical or other advantage in the film. So why was she made white? Other than to cast a Hollywood name at the expense of an actress of Japanese descent.

Precisely as Ethan says. I don't think there was an explicit "the best robot is a white person robot because round eyes etc. are objectively superior" message. At the same time when you take a Japanese person and say "we are going to perfect you." and as part of that perfection process she becomes white because that's just what the android making machine made by the Japanese, in Japan, for Japanese consumers happens to be set to on the day that they churned out the Major it displays an unconscious, unintentionally racist message that white is superior that could, and should have been avoided. They could for example have crow-barred in a reason that Matoko now looks like the Major, like the Major was in section 9 already, and actually died, so they covered up the death and copied her body to avoid questions as to where this random Japanese girl sprung from. In short, they made a conscious decision to choose a white actress to play Major, they should at least have had a conscious decision behind the in fiction Major being white.

Oh sure, part of the reason is that Scarlett is way more famous in Asia than the most famous Asian actress is in the US, so it has more "global appeal" for want of a better term. This interview is quite interesting on how the race swap doesn't work. I honestly missed the unconscious racism of "We made the best robotic bodies possible and guess what, turns out white guys and girls are best. Sorry Japanese brain, you have a new home now."

On the one hand, playing in the post game world can be a nice touch, on the other though, having stuff post game can lead to missable things. I think on balance, I prefer the game to reset to before the pnr and be able to hoover up everything in one playthrough, rather than having to reload an old save to get the bits I might have missed.

Yeah, on white washing, I don't see why they couldn't have chosen two very different looking Japanese actresses (if you want to make sure that westerners can tell the difference and that it isn't lowkey "You all look alike" stuff). I liked the general presentation of GitS, nails that cyberpunky, blade runner vibe. Because I don't follow the manga and only watched the anime movie ages ago it didn't feel like a betrayal of the source. What I didn't like was that they used a sledgehammer to get their points across. "This is your shell. Your mind is a ghost. We are now going to put your ghost in a shell so there will be a ghost in the shell." Repeat about six times throughout the movie just in case people are wondering why there aren't any haunted crustaceans running about... I mean, surely people have heard, even in passing of "ghost in the machine" and the concept of our organic bodies being shells for our consciousness? Do we really need such blunt tools to explain this more?

Yeah so, on the politics front. I don't generally agree with people calling for a legal ban on anything. Unless it is inciting hate or unlawful, have at it. However, I do agree that people should be allowed to ask e.g.: Hideo to change his stance on gender politics issues like Quiet's attire; or to take issue with DoA Beach Volleyball being objectifying as hell. I also think that if the publishers or developers then listen to that criticism and choose not to release a game or to edit a game, then that is fine too, similarly a retailer may choose not to stock it, also fine. They are making a choice to listen to a criticism and change their behaviour. As Ethan says, they could choose to stay the course or double down instead of changing, and I am fine with that as well, even if it is a direction I disagree with. The point is that the discussion should happen, people should listen, and then they should choose to change (or not) their development, selling or buying habits in accordance with their own morality. As to communities. I think the issue comes when people misunderstand or misuse terms like censorship and freedom of expression. Femfreq for example, is not attempting to limit free speech, or to ban stuff. She is instead, using her freedom of expression in an effort to make others look at games in a different way, and (I guess she hopes) change how they freely express themselves as a result of being persuaded by her. People who are anti Femfreq and other political critique are essentially saying that the industry must never change, new ideas are not welcome and that any effort to introduce them is a form of oppression. Regarding Nazism, I see your point, that there can be a victory in ridiculing them, but I think that presupposes that everyone is in on the joke, when generally speaking, there are a fair few people who are clearly not troubled by a duality of meaning and will take the terms at face value. I suppose my issue with it is that it is used not within a closed group context so that its intent is and will remain clear, but that the phrase is so often tossed out, without context so that it is not clear that the intent is to ridicule those who think themselves superior by birth (or platform choice). Then again, I suppose this is a danger with all satire when stripped of its context. Poe's law, and so on.

That's exactly my issue with it though. The idea that casual Nazism (or indeed sexism or racism etc.) can be just a bit of fun. The people who use it tongue in cheek are helping to erode the stigma of Nazism. It's not just a games thing, I'm similarly uncomfortable with terms like grammar-Nazi too (I'm not perfect in this regard and I'm sure that a search through my internet history will reveal an inappropriate use of the term myself, we all make mistakes). I also fundamentally disagree that politics can (let alone should) be separated from entertainment. Any artistic work is going to be laced with the politics of its creators.

Ugh... I really fucking hate that term. As if game culture wasn't toxic enough without throwing in lowkey Nazism.

I like the bit around the 40's where Germany moves to occupy France...

Yeah, why not sell it on Gumtree, eBay or trade in at GameStop?

Assuming you mean bending and not teleporting, because that would be one hell of an undisclosed feature.

Don't think so. Or I woulda tagged it as such. It's lore stuff, not story stuff. Tag away if you want though...