August 10, 2011

"Native Representations in Video Games"

Native American Images in Video Games

By Latoya PetersonDirected and narrated by Irish, Anishinaabe, Metis writer Beth Aileen Lameman and edited by Beaver Lake Cree filmmaker Myron Lameman, the video looks at really common stereotypes being deployed in game narratives. Lameman points to the common framings of “cowboys vs. Indians,” guides, and “wise old Indians” and heavy doses of the white savior narrative and the “half-breed hero” trope.

Comment:  For more on Native video games, see "Racism, Stereotypes, and the Digitized Indian" and Videos on Video-Game Natives.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Speaking of tropes, Mortal Kombat 3's Nightwolf is the new image for TV Tropes' mention of how in fiction, Indians are magical, with the caption "Stereotypical face paint? Check. Feather in hair? Check. The ability to manifest a bow and arrow made of pure spirit energy? Check!"

(Hilariously enough, in the cartoon, he was the Smart Guy.)