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As a Black man, I find Barret's portrayal offensive AF

Mansa Mufasa

Mansa Mufasa

Member
Jun 17, 2019
1,349
Toronto
Honestly, for about 85% of my time with it, I loved FF7R outside of a few gripes, it's actually an amazing experience and kudos to SE for being able to deliver.

But MAN. They really don't think much of Black people, do they? I say this because of Barret's portrayal in the story. Not so much his script but the execution of it. It's 2020, it's bad enough Barret has a gun grafted to his arm. It's bad enough they've made him big and bulky. But does he really have to come across as a fucking Mister T variant?

Barret may actually be one of the more complex characters of FF7R as well as being one of the more insightful. He's a Warrior, a Father, a Revolutionary and idealist who is also pretty introspective.

This is all undermined when they go out of their way to make him sound like a fucking buffoon. I'm tired of Black men being the comedic relief in these experiences. I'm tired of them leaning into racial stereotypes. That's not reflective of me or the amount of other Black gamers I know who enjoy these types of games. We have more in line with Barret's morals and dedication to not being afraid to call out bullshit when he sees it.

But the voice? The mannerisms? Just fucking disrespectful man.
 
Savantcore

Savantcore

Member
Oct 28, 2017
880
Fair enough, I'm sorry that it made you feel that way. I'm just a white boy from Kent so can't really comment on it - it did seem caricatured, but I can't say that he was there as comedic relief for me. Just an on-the-nose emotional character.
 
platocplx

platocplx

2020 Member Elect
Member
Oct 30, 2017
36,072
they definitely missed an opportunity to fully remake his character, he did have some better depth but overall yeeeup pretty trash, i just kind of blanked it out.
 
Unkindled

Unkindled

Member
Nov 27, 2018
3,247
Comedic release? No he was very much the leader of Avalanche with lot of emotions within him to save the earth. He will get his shine later on if you know what happens in FF7 Original.
 
wtd2009

wtd2009

Member
Oct 27, 2017
981
Oregon
this bothered me a lot as well. It was hard to take him seriously with some of the delivery, and uncomfortable to listen to at times. It's something that I wish they'd left behind when they were deciding what to update and what to stay true to. It bums me out because his depth as a character is among the best in the franchise imo.

We can only hope they get the guts to change things up in the sequel.
 
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Pineapple Taco

Pineapple Taco

Member
Nov 16, 2017
1,735
I recently replayed the original version and couldn't get over how racist Barrett felt. That was just one of my gripes with FFVII.
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
31,975
Can't speak to anything much further in but the opening through to the elevator ride was poor in large part because of that. Found it a massive dent to have this hyper-animated caricature stick out like a sore thumb. Obviously bought into some amount of it being Final Fantasy but it was clear from the start how over the top it was even with that. Will return at some point but that character did not interest me in seeing more.
 
Niks

Niks

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,299
I agree at the very start of the game, they went over the top, but IMO I think he mellows out by the end.
Loved him with Marlene, Cloud and Red.

Cant wait to see him in part R part 2.
 
Quinton

Quinton

Specialist at TheGamer / Reviewer at RPG Site
Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,253
Midgar, With Love
Mansa Mufasa said:
Barret may actually be one of the more complex characters of FF7R as well as being one of the more insightful. He's a Warrior, a Father, a Revolutionary and idealist who is also pretty introspective.

This is all undermined when they go out of their way to make him sound like a fucking buffoon. I'm tired of Black men being the comedic relief in these experiences. I'm tired of them leaning into racial stereotypes. That's not reflective of me or the amount of other Black gamers I know who enjoy these types of games. We have more in line with Barret's morals and dedication to not being afraid to call out bullshit when he sees it.

But the voice? The mannerisms? Just fucking disrespectful man.
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Yeah. :/ He's everything good that you listed but it's all hit hard by the stereotyping. It's a damn shame.
 
Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,025
The work was already done
jet-black-cowboy-bebop2.jpg
 
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Mansa Mufasa

Mansa Mufasa

Member
Jun 17, 2019
1,349
Toronto
Unkindled said:
Comedic release? No he was very much the leader of Avalanche with lot of emotions within him to save the earth. He will get his shine later on if you know what happens in FF7 Original.
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You missed the point entirely. I've played the entire Anthology. Don't get me started on the fact they gave him a fucking braid up in Advent Children.
 
stn

stn

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,593
I never played the OG FF7, and only recently beat the Remake, but maybe they will improve on the character in part 2?
 
SixelAlexiS

SixelAlexiS

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,719
Italy
It's MUCH better with japanese VA, in general the english translation is terrible so it make it worse then it is in japanese (english translation adds a lot of cursing too that doesn't fit at all).

Other then that every character is corny in FF7R, you can't take it any serious.
 
skillzilla81

skillzilla81

Self-requested temporary ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,043
You aren't alone. It's a shame because he's so good in those moments when he's just a person. VA's delivery is great and heartfelt.
 

Deleted member 4353

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,559
I agree with you. I thought this the moment i played the game. We've had this topic before and it was a mess if i remember. I hate the voice performance, its just off and bothers me alot.
 
Chumunga64

Chumunga64

Member
Jun 22, 2018
14,233
His voice in the remake is so awkward. My friend who doesn't know anything about FF7 was really uncomfortable with Barret since he himself was black and compared him to RDJ in Tropic Thunder. He also said that the way he talked felt like church organs would blare after every sentence

Beau Billinglsea was sorely missed
 
Instant Vintage

Instant Vintage

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,983
As a Black man, I saw it coming during the previews and during the demo, definitely. I knew it was going to be some sort of weird ass direction being taken with his voice. Could've subverted it with him only talking like that to amp the group up, but alas...

I will readily admit that Barret's VA direction grew on me enough that I tolerated it towards the end, but MAN the first 20+ hours were rough.
 
headfallsoff

headfallsoff

Member
Mar 16, 2018
681
It's awful. Barret is easily the best character in that game, and instead of earnestly letting him be this incredible revolutionary figure they undercut it with ludicrous direction and framing of the character. If they treated him with the care he deserves he could be one of the best characters in games, straight up. But Square Enix just can't fuckin help themselves being racist. It's only a decade ago they put a bird in Sazh's afro.
 
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Mansa Mufasa

Mansa Mufasa

Member
Jun 17, 2019
1,349
Toronto
Instant Vintage said:
As a Black man, I saw it coming during the previews and during the demo, definitely. I knew it was going to be some sort of weird ass direction being taken with his voice. Could've subverted it with him only talking like that to amp the group up, but alas...

I will readily admit that Barret's VA direction grew on me enough that I tolerated it towards the end, but MAN the first 20+ hours were rough.
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Could you imagine if they made Barret sound like a Well spoken man? the juxtaposition between what he looks like and how he sounds?
 

Normal

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,296
His dialogue and the way he speaks is definitely cartoonish/corny, especially in the beginning of the game at that elevator scene.
 
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