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[Kotaku] Fans are Concerned about Barret's Voice in Final Fantasy 7 remake. A "hyper-masculine cartoon" and a "Mr. T facsimile"
- Thread starter lowhighkang_LHK
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It's too early to judge but I do really really hope Barret gets treated in a way that's more respectful and organic and that Square don't lean on the stereotype elements of the localization just because it's what a lot of fans expect.
He's one of the most emotionally affecting characters in the game and you can still convey his gruff and brash and secretly tender personality without resorting to the same crude representation and he'd be much better for it.
The stuff with Dyne, Marlene and Coral are some of the most impactful moments I've had with the medium, and it'd be really great if they could prioritize the things that makes him human instead of the things that make him a caricature.
He's one of the most emotionally affecting characters in the game and you can still convey his gruff and brash and secretly tender personality without resorting to the same crude representation and he'd be much better for it.
The stuff with Dyne, Marlene and Coral are some of the most impactful moments I've had with the medium, and it'd be really great if they could prioritize the things that makes him human instead of the things that make him a caricature.
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Dropping Billingslea was a huge mistake in my opinion. The new actor sounds jarringly forced and very much like he's doing an impression of some kind. It's not great and it immediately rubbed me the wrong way.
That's what I'm confused about. I doubt him being portrayed as Mr. T was great for the game. I'm black and I like everything about him so far.
It's one of the problems this remake has. The biggest problem, however, is that it's not faithful to the original game when it comes to gameplay. Aside from that it just looks bad, when compared to the original (that's an important distinction).
Oh shit I didn't know you was black lol. But I agree with what you said. Seems like someone trying to stir a pot that doesn't need to be stirred.
If fans are already pissed about stiff like this, they will be furious when the final product comes out.
I mean, the voices of your main characters... that's a pretty big deal. People aren't pixel peeping here.
Are you black? Serious question.
On topic, here's my reply to the article in question; made it a few days ago when the article first went up. Makes more sense to repost than to rewrite.
Damn, they worried for me? I love the voice, love Mr T and love Lincoln Osiris.
If he sounded any other way I'd be disappointed.
If he sounded any other way I'd be disappointed.
As a kid of the 80's I freaking looooooved Mr. T. He was one of my idols growing up and I loved his persona, his mannerisms, the way he spoke. So naturally, I love Barrett and what little voice acting we've heard sounds a lot like the voice I had in my head when I first played the game and certainly not over the top. Calling this portrayal cartoonish or over the top sounds like an insult to Mr. T.
I might be missing something here, but the writer of this piece isn't white, it's by Gita Jackson, a black woman...
As someone who never really played through FF7, the lines I heard from him in the most recent trailer sounded like the black stereotype I always assumed his character would sound like. I mean, it's a Japanese game from the late 90s, so unfortunately I'm not that surprised by it.
Personally, I don't feel offended by it so much as I feel the voice acting sounds like a stereotype of a stereotype (the tweet comparing it to RDJ in Tropic Thunder is pretty accurate, but maybe Cole Train from Gears of War is an even more apt comparison). It's the synthesis of the cliché "hyper-masculine black man" voice to me, I guess. Maybe as more voice over work comes out, my assumptions will be proven false. I hope they are.
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Well, my apologies to Squaresoft, then.
Personally, I don't feel offended by it so much as I feel the voice acting sounds like a stereotype of a stereotype (the tweet comparing it to RDJ in Tropic Thunder is pretty accurate, but maybe Cole Train from Gears of War is an even more apt comparison). It's the synthesis of the cliché "hyper-masculine black man" voice to me, I guess. Maybe as more voice over work comes out, my assumptions will be proven false. I hope they are.
edit:
Well, my apologies to Squaresoft, then.
Careful there, buddy.
I'm a black FF fan myself, but it isn't right for you to discriminate other races. Everyone has a right to have a say about this subject.
The first thing I thought of upon hearing Barrett's (new?) voice was how stereotypical it sounded. But Barrett was always supposed to be an obvious copy of Mr T and blaxploitation. So.... At what point does accuracy outway modern values? The answer likely lies in how much effort Square put in the character and understanding the concerns of others
Makes me wonder what Mr. T's opinion is regarding that he is a racist stereotype and a minstrel actor.
I feel like the person would also just hand wave different opinions of other black people.
I feel like the person would also just hand wave different opinions of other black people.
Was definitely getting "Letitia" vibes from those few lines. That kind of exaggerated dialect is fucking annoying, and would turn me off the game completely. I hope I'm wrong though.
for the people who don't remember:
for the people who don't remember:
y'know when I see this I'm like "fuck this sounds so racist"
then I realize
wait
I'm not from detroit
I don't know any black people from detroit
am I the racist? (well yeah but not in this context)
so once and for all, can someone from detroit please confirm that this is a caricature
Really can't comment much on it since the game isn't out yet, but hopefully it turns out to be fine (or even great). Also only played the original game when it was released, so I was rather young then and probably missed things I could now maybe catch. That said I also love Mr. T, so I might not associate any resemblance as a negative. But also the writing in the game definitely isn't great overall in hindsight, so fucking up a black character isn't really surprising either.
Here's an interview with the actor about the specific role and voice acting overall.
https://gameranx.com/features/id/19666/article/an-interview-with-amanda-strawn/
Here's an interview with the actor about the specific role and voice acting overall.
https://gameranx.com/features/id/19666/article/an-interview-with-amanda-strawn/
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I didn't really mind it in the original, and enjoyed Barret quite a bit, but reading how Barret was changed for English script is a little disappointing. It kind of needlessly reduces the character to a reference, and seems to strip his paternal angle a bit. It's the Barret I know now though, and I'm hesitant to let it go. Maybe the remake can marry the two depictions and find a happy medium.
Do we know who the new voice actor is?
Do we know who the new voice actor is?
That's my bad. Read the article thinking it was written by the same Paul Tomayo who OP quoted in his post.
It's a caricature. I live here and we don't talk like that.
Barret always sounded like a Mr. T analog in my head anyways, so I'm completely okay with what we've got.
First off, what's wrong with Mr T? Loved that dude growing up. Barret was one of my favorite gaming characters from that era because he had that vibe. I never heard about Mr T portraying the stereotype for an entire race until now. Mr T portrayed Mr T.
It sucks that he's not doing the voice. Don't know why they went with someone else
This seems a little baiting to me... tbh all I really care about is how his story of adopting Marlene as his daughter is handled. His gruff masculine outer shell is his defense mechanism and contrasts perfectly with where his heart is when push comes to shove.
I feel like kotaku writes these articles knowing ppl will start these threads and argue for pages and pages acting as proxy martyrs for a cause to siphon clicks.
I feel like kotaku writes these articles knowing ppl will start these threads and argue for pages and pages acting as proxy martyrs for a cause to siphon clicks.
Playstation's FF7 creators talk about barett original translation here
https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7
ctrl+f Final Fantasy 7 stirs up controversy
https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7
ctrl+f Final Fantasy 7 stirs up controversy
I mean his original design was half a ton of gold bling around his neck short of being Mr. T. He obviously wasn't voiced by his dialogue also left that impression.
Every time I read an "As a person of color, I don't mind" angle about this stereotypical translation of the only "person of color" in the game, I cringe.
The amount of apologists for an "Uncle Remus" portrayal of Barrett in this forum is disheartening. In this day and age, I'm surprised more people don't take issue with contemporary white ideas of African-Americans and their culture (aka Jim Crow ideology) being placed within a videogame played by millions.
The amount of apologists for an "Uncle Remus" portrayal of Barrett in this forum is disheartening. In this day and age, I'm surprised more people don't take issue with contemporary white ideas of African-Americans and their culture (aka Jim Crow ideology) being placed within a videogame played by millions.
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The gruff, over the top, jive talking, muscular black dude character stereotype is so played out. It's beyond a caricature at this point. It's especially suspect given that this isn't how the character actually was originally written, this is just localisation for western audiences.
FF7 is more than 20 years old so that seems like a legacy holdover.
... I mean, I didn't make it that far in FFXIII but Sazh didn't seem significantly better actually. I mean, it's part of what makes him likable in a sea of stylish Final Fantasy action poses that he's stumbling and bumbling his way through. Could be read as relatable or comic relief. I dunno, didn't get too far.
... I mean, I didn't make it that far in FFXIII but Sazh didn't seem significantly better actually. I mean, it's part of what makes him likable in a sea of stylish Final Fantasy action poses that he's stumbling and bumbling his way through. Could be read as relatable or comic relief. I dunno, didn't get too far.
I don't understand the "hyper masculine" complaint. Trying to act super gruff and stuff like that is part of his character. I'd hope they everyone who played FF7 would know he has more character than he tries to show at first. I can't imagine many people who know anything about FF7 complaining about this. Maybe this part is just Kotaku being Kotaku.
But yeah he does sound stereotypical like how I expected him to sound back 20 years ago. Which definitely doesn't transition well into today. But I don't even think think this is a "Japanese guy failing to make a black guy" issue, this one is on the localization team. He's not like that in the Japanese trailer.
But yeah he does sound stereotypical like how I expected him to sound back 20 years ago. Which definitely doesn't transition well into today. But I don't even think think this is a "Japanese guy failing to make a black guy" issue, this one is on the localization team. He's not like that in the Japanese trailer.
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My phone autocorrected what I said. I said I thought his portrayal of Mr T was great. Mr T was always funny to me.
I dunno, it's almost as if the character has gone through significant physical and emotional trauma that would lead to him putting up walls and exuding a tough exterior as a form of coping so he can still get shit done. But what do I know, I'm just a simple factory worker.
He's a gruff black dude, his text in the original should make you see what sort of voice he would have. I always imagined it as more of a deeper Cole-train myself.
Oh even with the typo I understood what you meant! I'm just glad to see other people in here who remember Mr. T fondly :)