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So square can make drastic changes to FF7 in the remake but couldn't be bothered to not make Barrett an ignorant racist caricature? (Read Threadmarks)

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Chief Malik

Chief Malik

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,735
Land of the free, Home of the slave
The amount of rage this man generates inside me whenever he is on screen is insane. I haven't seen anything this hilariously racist in a AAA game since.... I don't even know when. Who the hell has angry black man and scary black man tropes in their games in 2020? Seriously. SE a global billion dollar conglomerate with all sorts of people working for them so I'm not going to buy the Japan excuse at all.
 
FiXalaS

FiXalaS

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,569
Kuwait.
But I loved Barret a lot in FF7R..

He can be as angry as anyone else, and he wasn't scary at all imo, just pretty humorous and funny in most scenes.
 
Zephy

Zephy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,164
His english VA has very strong Robert Dowbey Jr in Tropic Thunder vibes except here it's not a joke or a social commentary.

But playing the full game (not finished yet) the character himself is decent if very cartoonish in his passionate behavior.

The blood of the planet speech during the opening level cracks me up due to how bad and on the nose it is. You kinda kill the metaphor when you explain it right away before the player even has the chance to think about it themself.
 
OP
OP
Chief Malik

Chief Malik

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,735
Land of the free, Home of the slave
ThiagoJG said:
Uhh, racist?
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tvtropes.org

Scary Black Man - TV Tropes

In many series, there will be a character who is much larger and more intimidating than most everyone else, very strong, often quite quiet, and very often this character will be black. Sometimes they can be the Token Minority, sometimes they're …
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tvtropes.org

Angry Black Man Stereotype - TV Tropes

This trope is under discussion in the Trope Repair Shop. This trope refers to a stereotype that portrays black men (and black people more broadly) as perpetually and often irrationally angry due to perceived racial discrimination. Popularized in …
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Issen

Issen

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,816
I just thought he was really, really passionate about his eco-terrorism. He even gives passionate speeches about it. Loved the character in general.

There are also deeper aspects to his character, like his interactions with Marlene or
The optional Barret scene if your affinity is highest with him
 
Kain

Kain

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
7,599
I didn't find him scary or angry, mostly over the top and a bit on the stupid side. When he's not comic relief he's cheerful or passionate, specially when it comes to Marlene.

In the first chapter he comes as a stereotype but I think it's mostly his distrust for Cloud. Then be changes for the better. Imo, of course.
 
Fright Zone

Fright Zone

Member
Dec 17, 2017
4,037
London
I do find his voice uncomfortably caracaturish, but I see it as them staying true to a character they created in the 90s when cultural stereotyping was more widely accepted.
 
Jorden1506

Jorden1506

Member
May 29, 2018
214
Netherlands
So because he is the leader and the most extreme from Avalanche he is a racist character? Look at how he is during the game. "I'm counting on you soldier boy"
How he is with his daughter. It is a character suplosed to look tough on the outside but is a sweet caring person.
 
plow

plow

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,641
I also thought he was potrayed really really good. Like every other Char in the game.
 
OP
OP
Chief Malik

Chief Malik

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,735
Land of the free, Home of the slave
Jorden1506 said:
So because he is the leader and the most extreme from Avalanche he is a racist character?
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Don't be Goofy,
QUOTE="Abdul Malik Ka'bah, post: 32056578, member: 2182"]
tvtropes.org

Scary Black Man - TV Tropes

In many series, there will be a character who is much larger and more intimidating than most everyone else, very strong, often quite quiet, and very often this character will be black. Sometimes they can be the Token Minority, sometimes they're …
tvtropes.org tvtropes.org

tvtropes.org

Angry Black Man Stereotype - TV Tropes

This trope is under discussion in the Trope Repair Shop. This trope refers to a stereotype that portrays black men (and black people more broadly) as perpetually and often irrationally angry due to perceived racial discrimination. Popularized in …
tvtropes.org tvtropes.org
[/QUOTE]
 
Serene

Serene

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
52,522
It's not really for me to say whether his portrayal is racist or not, but I do think his characterization dramatically improves in the back half of the game. By the end I really liked where he ended up character-wise.
 
Wispmetas

Wispmetas

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,546
User Banned (2 Weeks): Dismissing concerns around representation
Lol whatever man. He was great, it's like you saw how he was to Cloud on the first mission and decided to ignore the rest of the game.
 
The Unsent

The Unsent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,424
I don't know what they can do without replacing him with a different character, he's angry because of what happened to his home town and is on a crusade against Shinra. He's been toned down from the original where he was a like very sweary Mr T, but I respect your perspective.
 
Chamon

Chamon

Member
Feb 26, 2019
1,221
User banned (3 weeks): hostility, dismissing concerns about racial stereotypes
What's wrong with you?
 
CortexVortex

CortexVortex

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
4,074
He has the best arc of every character in the game. Loved him a lot.
At the beginning he is just acting to pump everyone up and he really shines in the quiter moments.
 
Chaserjoey

Chaserjoey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,612
Issen said:
I just thought he was really, really passionate about his eco-terrorism. He even gives passionate speeches about it. Loved the character in general.

There are also deeper aspects to his character, like his interactions with Marlene or
The optional Barret scene if your affinity is highest with him
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Passionate and pissed off with people turning a blind eye to the planet dying is how I read him as well. Heck, I'd be just as furious as he was at the start if I were in his shoes.
 
Rommaz

Rommaz

Member
Nov 27, 2017
6,264
Kitwe, Zambia.
I found him to come off as passionate, not angry just for the sake of it and scary....

Idk man, I'm black and loved him a lot here, he didnt really come off as racist. Of course, if you did, you do you
 
strife85

strife85

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,475
FF7R made some of the characters so much more likeable imo. Barret/Aerith/Jessie/Rufus etc.
 
Kamiyouni

Kamiyouni

Member
Oct 30, 2017
808
User banned (2 weeks): Ignoring staff post, dismissive drive-by about concerns of stereotypes.
If all you see is a scary black man...I got some news for ya.
 
Truly Gargantuan

Truly Gargantuan

Still doesn't have a tag :'(
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,034
Zephyriel said:
His english VA has very strong Robert Dowbey Jr in Tropic Thunder vibes except here it's not a joke or a social commentary.
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Yo I couldn't not hear that character almost every time Barret spoke.
I'm not gonna fault someone for finding that grating with Barrett's voice.
But he's also one of the best characters in VIIR with some of the most timely lines in this game.
So yeah while Barrett is a bad Mr.T impersonator he's also a revolutionary activist who's down to get shit done, so I'm willing to overlook the bad because the good is SO GOOD.




And his scenes with Marlene. ♥️
 
Apollo

Apollo

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
8,090
Him having a great arc and being a good character in many regards doesn't preclude him from also being a racist stereotype.
 
Issen

Issen

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,816
Chaserjoey said:
Passionate and pissed off with people turning a blind eye to the planet dying is how I read him as well. Heck, I'd be just as furious as he was at the start if I were in his shoes.
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Plenty of people pissed the hell off for the exact same reason in the real world, too. And it's a damn good reason.
 
RDreamer

RDreamer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,102
I really like his character but the voice never grew on me 100%. It does sound like a caricature or impression rather than his actual voice.
 
The Emperor

The Emperor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,790
I see what you mean and the fact that he's gentle with Marlene only adds to the trope

It is an unfortunate relic of 1990's storytelling.

Sash is a way better done character
 
Ada

Ada

Member
Nov 28, 2017
3,731
He has the best character development in the whole game. Some of his interactions with Cloud were great.
 
grand

grand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,899
Just like with Tifa's character design, it's an example of Square trying to have their cake and eat it too. They wanted to update the characters but also not stray from people's nostalgia. And judging by this thread so far, people are not willing to let nostalgia go to have a critical view of a character's portrayal.
 
Simplegamer

Simplegamer

Member
Oct 26, 2017
342
Being black I've noticed a trend in the entertainment department with people having some sort of fetish with Muscular, Black, goofy and angry Black characters.

Examples would be Terry Crews, Barret (FFVII), Mr. T as the OP stated and Cole train from Gears of war.

So yeah I agree with OP. Barret is a horrible black character.
 
Kyonashi

Kyonashi

Member
Oct 24, 2017
862
UK
Have any games outlets commissioned any writing on the subject? This definitely feels like a topic I'd like to read a long-form piece on from the perspective of a black games writer, especially comparing '97 Barrett to '20 Barrett.
 
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