Come on, the angry black man trope exists and it is a value criticism of the original.
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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)
- Thread starter Chief Malik
- Start date
Come on, the angry black man trope exists and it is a value criticism of the original.
When the personality trope tends to be applied to the same race, maybe there's a pattern that's flying over your head. Calling the OP racist for voicing his concerns is ignorant and unfair on your part.
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Of course he could have which is why I'm laughing at some of the replies. Actual black civil rights and environmental activist in real life don't run around acting like that yet him playing into obviously racist tropes is "justified". Lmaaaaaaaooooo
Maybe he's just an angry man. That happens to be black? He's built off of Mr T who, is a beloved character created by a black man. Edit: I admired those qualities about Mr T! It's cool to be angry about things that matter!
Black men can be passionate about things without it being racist right?
Also I noticed the op just said actual black civil rights activists don't act that way. Can we look back at the black panthers that protected their neighborhoods with literal firearms while daring the police to step out of line? They stood on street corners ready to recite their rights as American citizens into the faces of pigs that would challenge them on their skin color alone.
Angry black man is a trope, I get that. But angry activist black men? Fuck yes. Very cool.
Black men can be passionate about things without it being racist right?
Also I noticed the op just said actual black civil rights activists don't act that way. Can we look back at the black panthers that protected their neighborhoods with literal firearms while daring the police to step out of line? They stood on street corners ready to recite their rights as American citizens into the faces of pigs that would challenge them on their skin color alone.
Angry black man is a trope, I get that. But angry activist black men? Fuck yes. Very cool.
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Yikes.
If you don't know the trope, read about it before being ignorant and calling the OP out for being racist.
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There are blaxploitation movies that lots of people say it's legit good, even actual black people. Doesn't mean the characters aren't racist tho.
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He was directed like this because of the original game. If he was a built from the ground up for a modern FF I don't think it would have been like this. However FFXIII's Sazh was basically a Barrett clone, so perhaps my point wears thin.
That's a fantastic point. Wouldn't have expected anything less from the deeply thoughtful Austin Walker.
I would recommend engaging with the people who aren't being ridiculous.
Sazh is a black man with a big Afro who has a bird that lives in his hair...
And out of everyone, he is the one to feature the absolute least in the two sequels.
Well, I mean, chicken and egg. Did they come up with the character first or the concept first?
I think the jist is he hates everyone equally as they have their unwitting part of giving Shinra power, impoverished a huge chunk of Midgar's populace and slowly killing the planet. An activist if you will. Maybe even an extremist.
What a coincidence that the one major black character also happens to be loud and angry.
🤔
User banned (1 month): dismissing concerns around representation, trolling
Just asking: So a character like Barret, same traits, can't be potrayed as black because he is racist? So as soon as devs decide to create a char. like Barret, they have to refrain from making him black, right?
Does it really matter what came first? Writing isn't a "ok we decided this and now we can't change it" thing. they can look at the whole of what they made and realize the issue and change where necessary.
I think it'd be smart for Japanese companies like SE to have more minority voices when it comes to character design. It'd help a lot, because as Austin Walker talks about, the design is all over the place and not consistent with specific things that a lot of companies get wrong about black people.
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I was about to reply to this but this is obviously bait. You almost got me.
It's a combination of things. But really it's the bad Mr.T + sunday sermon + RDJ in tropic thunder like delivery that really pushes it over the edge.
Barret fucking screams angry black man trope, it's not subtle at all and his Tropic Thunder voice is the worst part. It was better in the original when he didn't have a voice to sound like a parody.
He's also still has a good character arc and probably the best motivations of any character in the game, he's very likable, but he's painful to listen to.
He's also still has a good character arc and probably the best motivations of any character in the game, he's very likable, but he's painful to listen to.
Jesus Christ ERA. Are some of these replies serious? What the fuck?! This place is so racist sometimes I'm not surprised anymore. Lame as XIII was Sazh was a damn good black character. Barret has always bothered me because of the way he's potrayed. In the original VII even the way he talked was offensive sometimes. This one still has some of the problems that he had.
This is the gaming side after all, why am I not surprised to see certain people tell other people they should get over it or pretend they dont know what the stereotype is?
Anything to defend a game that you like.
This is the gaming side after all, why am I not surprised to see certain people tell other people they should get over it or pretend they dont know what the stereotype is?
Anything to defend a game that you like.
I won't comment on the racist stuff as I don't know enough about it so not for me to say anything on it.
What I will say is that I really liked his character and whilst he did so the angry shout thing a lot he did have a lot of subtle moments as well. He was probably my favourite character by the end of the game
What I will say is that I really liked his character and whilst he did so the angry shout thing a lot he did have a lot of subtle moments as well. He was probably my favourite character by the end of the game
He might be angry but he does fucking care about the planet and he does have a lot of good personality traits. So that one trait, him being very angry, does make it racist? I don't buy it. He's not angry for no fucking reason or just for the sake of it or for the sake of hitting some tropes.
What I remember
Shinra are using Avalanche to make the bombs. Shinra Tower is much different too and they removed the scene where the team is captured and Sephiroth kills everyone and there's a a trail of blood everywhere. Red XIII isn't in the same cage as Aeris either. There's also some scenes like like meeting Aeris for the first time which is a quiet scener where she stands out compared to the chaos, and in the new one the whispers crash the scene. Some of these changes are ok and some not so much.
Why? I'm just asking. I'm not black and i don't know how a black man feels seeing a Char like Barret.
I'm just asking what has to change for a Char. like Barret to be accepted as a black without feeling racist. Or better, is it possible to potray an angry loud man while being black in media?
I'm in no way diminishing OPs concern.
But he's not only a big angry person. He's shown to be a great, caring father that fights for great ideals.
And he's clearly to more socially political character in the game, which is great.
And he's clearly to more socially political character in the game, which is great.
Not gonna lie, I was very conflicted on this while playing the game. On the one hand, I find he speaks most of the uncomfortable truths about a lot of things and he's a lovable character, but on the other hand, they hung way too much on the initial portrayal of angry black dude and the added fidelity makes it even worse at times. The over the top voice acting doesn't help this very uncomfortable feeling.
It's a mixed bag for me, and I certainly wouldn't fault anyone for having that legitimate concern.
It's a mixed bag for me, and I certainly wouldn't fault anyone for having that legitimate concern.
It's not his fault, he did a fantastic job with what he has been given, with given being the part where the problem comes. Again, Barret isn't supposed to talk like Mr.T, this is a liberty the english localization took in the original AND in Remake.
People that think Sazh is a good character should look at scenes with him in Japanese. He is horrible. SE has a long way to go.
What? They turned away from the whole Mr. T thing in this game and they did a great job of doing so. Barret has always been angry, but at least they made him more human. More of a realistic character. If you've gone through the entire game, you should know by now that he's a character with many emotions and while a man with a gun for an arm can be fucking terrifying, he has a soft side too. All the stuff with him and Marlene is great. I'm not seeing "racist caricature" at all. The localization team and the writers did a fantastic job with him and he even felt like the main character of the story a bunch of times.
Bro I DARE you to watch this video with your eyes closed and tell me you don't hear Barret.
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I felt like I was the only one bothered by this.
Yes, he ends up being likeable and whatnot, but could they have just NOT made the ONE black main character super loud and angry?
If he looked like, say Sephiroth, would he still have that same personality?
Also the fact that he's kinda "childlike" in his black or white morality...I LOVED this game but Barrett was a big yikes from me.
Yes, he ends up being likeable and whatnot, but could they have just NOT made the ONE black main character super loud and angry?
If he looked like, say Sephiroth, would he still have that same personality?
Also the fact that he's kinda "childlike" in his black or white morality...I LOVED this game but Barrett was a big yikes from me.
I've never seen Sazh in Japanese so you might be right. I just know I liked how... normal he was.
Lmao as if Remake Barret isn't just as vulgar. It probably doesn't stick out as much now because everyone in Remake is vulgar.
Didn't think he was good at all. The Mr T voice acting didn't help at all. Also hated that he kept deferring to Cloud on missions and getting shushed by even Aerith even though he's supposed to be Avalanche's leader. Even when he tried to get his daughter who was kidnapped he gets shushed by some stranger. This is the progressive change everyone was talking about?
