My only point was that I didn't know that she was not black. If Blizzard came out and said Lucio or Sombra were black characters, I wouldn't even bat an eye. I'm not even arguing that colorism or that shit doesn't exist.
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Fans Are Disappointed That Overwatch Still Doesn't Have A Black Woman Hero
- Thread starter Vela
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My only point was that I didn't know that she was not black. If Blizzard came out and said Lucio or Sombra were black characters, I wouldn't even bat an eye. I'm not even arguing that colorism or that shit doesn't exist.
Does the game make any effort to deliberate explain her roots?
Is her mother or father presented as Black and the other Mexican? I'd love to be wrong in this case.
If not, I am a bit skeptical.
There's tons of people who consider Reaper Black.
This is what im talking about, why does the Overwatch fandom seems to be dead set on erasing the existance of Afro-Latinos and the inherent african heritage of Mexicans?
I mean, it's okay to just say you want ESPECIFICALLY an African American character.
What? Why is Reaper disallowed from the explanation? He's of Hispanic heritage, is actually voiced by a black man, and is a similar complexion to her (he does not speak Spanish). The fact that people might be ignorant to what he looked like pre-explosion is irrelevant to discernible observations.
I'll be sure to let them know maybe they can come here and say something :)
Funny thing is Lucio was commonly mistaken as just black before Doomfist came out or they added his Portuguese lines that where there when the game first came out.
If you did not freshen up on your OW lore you'd miss that he was in fact Brazilian, I can totally buy him being an Afro-Latino though.
That sounds like a decision you arbitrarily made up by yourself. Which is fine, and I agree with the sentiment in the OP not just in this game and in games in general. I can go on a whole rant that the two Girls of African ( an afro-hispanic ) decent in Street fighter , are two shitty stereotypes of what the japanese developers wanted those people to be. So i'm not trying to deny representation here, i'm black so that directly helps me and any possibly children I may have. That said all i'm saying it isn't too far fetched to believe someone believed that, considering different types of afro-hispanic people exist, and the one I'm related to also... thought she was afro-hispanic. But that last part is anecdotal at best, nor do you even know if this person i'm referring to exists, so i'm gonna use it as a " Mic drop" . I just don't think its crazy for someone to think that
User Banned (1 Week): Dismissing concerns about diversity, junior member
Getting real sick of people taking offence at everything.
The fuck is wrong with people these days?
There's no Sherpa characters in Overwatch?!? Get the pitchforks out. There's more male characters than female characters in this game they're obviously sexist?!? Sad bastards.
The fuck is wrong with people these days?
There's no Sherpa characters in Overwatch?!? Get the pitchforks out. There's more male characters than female characters in this game they're obviously sexist?!? Sad bastards.
This is honest part of my issue with people making complaints like no black female heroes. It's like they want a black female hero to check a box and say it's in the game more than an excellent well developed character. It's not like Overwatch has a lack of diversity. So why do people get upset the diverse option they want is not represented in a way they want?
It feels more like they want it done their way more than they care about actual good diverse characters. It's strange how "inclusionists" always break down representation to physical characteristics. Honestly I've rarely seen black people represented in a way that true to what I know black people to be culturally. But sure there are tons of black characters that could be white and nothing would have to change.
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Lol Lucio IS Black. He's Afro-Latino. Sombra isn't, afaik she's just straight Mexican.
Either way I feel we've gone on this too much. I was just baffled that multiple people have confused Sombra as black, when I always saw her clearly as a Mexican.
Ana is Egyptian, Sombra is Mexican, Orisa is a robot with an African accent, Doomfist is actually African, Moira is Irish, Brigitte is Swedish, Hammond is... well, a hamster, and Ashe is American.
So, no. Pharah's dad was supposed to be Canadian, wasn't he?
Sounds like this topic offends your sensibilities. If you need a safe space, I hear NeoGAF needs users.
Eh, not convinced. I'm being cynical here but it just seems like people are trying to deflect criticisms of representation by claiming she is a minority as well.
Maybe if you're an incel.
Using female as a noun is something most women find creepy and have even expressed annoyance to, here on this site.
Always find funny to be reminded that Lucio doesn't have an accent and didn't use to have portuguese lines in the english language version of OW.
This game doesn't really go into a lot of characters backgrounds? Like not everyone's parentage is important to story so a lot of it isn't exactly addressed. Infact Sombra, seems to be opposite of that. Street Kid. So her parents activly do not matter. As opposed to the shimada brothers, or phara , or uh... what's her face ... torbs daughter.
And i'm not saying you shouldn't be skeptical, i'm just saying Its not the craziest thing to read the character that way. And some people have, and others have not.
What is wrong with you? This is just critique, and a request to Blizzard, nothing more.
I don't necessarily desire an African-American character. If I did, I wouldn't like Lucio. I also don't think this is an Overwatch-specific issue; we've had this discussion before on these forums about Afro-Latino representation in media, about which characters do and don't fit. I will also admit I know fuck all about African heritage and culture in a Mexican and Latin context. So right now, if you were to ask me what Reaper and Sombra were, I'd call Reaper Hispanic-American and Sombra Mexican.
Yeah, when I first had a look at him I thought he was African-American because there was nothing about him pre-Capoeira skin that identified him as specifically Brazilian, which made me feel some type of way because I knew he wasn't voiced by a black guy the moment I heard him. But Jonny Cruz is a treasure and thus can do whatever the hell he wants to do in life and it will be okay.
I'm still kind of mindblown here that Sombra isn't considered black. I've been reading her as a black hispanic since release.
As opposed to Reaper who I considered just Hispanic
As opposed to Reaper who I considered just Hispanic
Oh no, i didn't mean you specifically, but it's a sentiment i have seen a lot in the OW community when discussing representation, like i mentioned before, i have seen people even say Doom Fist doesn't count, and i don't think it's even a bad thing to want an African American in the game, just think sometimes people are weirdly disingenuous about it.
I'm not trying to deny the existence of the varying shades of Afro-Latinos out there. As a black man with a smoove caramel complexion I get confused as Afro-Latino more times than I can count.
My point is that OW isn't subtle with it's characters. Each character wears who they are on their sleeves. Most of the cast are just archetypes lifted wholesale from other medias. The French femme fatale, the huge and imposing beast with a heart of gold, the plucky speedster, the American hero-soldier, etc.
So if a character has a Mexican accent in OW, they're probably Mexican.
Well, Doomfist isn't American for starters so I don't think that's what they are asking for. This is the same shit as when people were asking for a black character and we'd get comments like, ISN'T LUCIO ENOUGH? WELL WHAT IS REAPER THEN? Doesn't really help tbh...
Also, black women are the most mistreated and disrespected double minority here in the states (cannot speak worldwide but racism and colorism exists on all corners of the planet)... They get the worst of everything. So it's not a huge shock that people want that represented in a game like OW. Not lightly either, I want a character that leaves no room for ambiguity, especially with how big a deal colorism is.
I don't want a character people "think" is black. I want a female character that is undeniably/clearly black in the same way Brigette is undeniably white, Mei is undeniably Asian, and Orisa is undeniable 4-legged robot with an African accent. I would've said Symmetra is undeniably Indian, but somehow people still mistake her as Black.
Doomfist is definitely black, but I've seen Africans make the argument that they personally don't like to consider themselves black versus a person of their originating country because being "black" has a negative connotation to it, like you're a mutt or a degenerate, stranded on an island due to the slave trade. You don't know where you come from and have no history, so to speak. There could be an interesting issue to explore there, but yeah. Doomfist is black yo
Then why would you enter the topic at hand. I'm not a fan of Puzzle games, I don't enter puzzle game threads. Shall go on a puzzle game thread and say how I hate puzzle games no cause that would make me an idiot so perhaps you know don't come to this thread lol
Until today I considered Symettra black, I guess I was wrong? I'm sure after this back lash the next woman hero will be black. Probably from the UK, Blizzard is pretty good at diversity so far I don't see that changing. But then again I guess while they are at they can place a black woman in WoW as well, there hasn't been one in 20 years in that game I don't think. (notable character wise)
I do agree Blizzard could use some solidification of some of their more vague characters, and i definitely down with a black woman being added to the cast.
It just sometimes pevees me when people start talking about what kind of people counts as what race outside the context of the game.
I'll never understand how people don't get that Symmetra is indian tho.
I'm gonna be honest and say I see no overwhelming difference between these two in terms of ethnicity. Like, Sombra looks like she was created as Reaper's rebellious daughter.
The DeadMaus homage + the hockey stuff seems to imply he was originally concepted as Canadian and later shifted to Brazil in an effort to increase the geographic representation of the starting roster.
I thought she was more Egyptian themed, again was definitely wrong there.
Ok, I still think it's silly that we have to read between the lines to see blackness.
Btw, I am glad Sombra is in the game. But don't tell me she is a black woman and that I am not reading in between the lines enough to see it. If she is, Lucio does the Afro-Latino thing a lot better.
She is Mexican. On surface level, it's pretty easy to identify what most these characters' backgrounds are to be frank.
In order
1) That's sort of the sad state of affairs in reprisentation in general
2) How is he doing it better?
Hmm in the context of a video game what would make a person undeniably black? Skin tone and hairstyle? Cause it's more to being black than the way you look. I doubt anyone in overwatch can a undeniably anything outside of physical stereotypes. Or maybe I don't understand what you think it means to be black?
Her complexion is darker, she has full lips, and her nose is softer and more rounded.
How is that possible? She looks Indian and has an Indian accent. There's literally nothing to point to her being black.
"They made a hamster and a second cowboy before they made a black woman. It just feels like we're not a priority, and while I can't tell them what to do, I feel like they're under-serving a part of their fanbase that clearly wants to throw money at them." This is not the way to make this argument...
I actually would wonder if people are thinking this due to the shared hairstyle w/ SF's Laura, whose parents are canonically Asian and Afro-Latina.
A few months from now: "Gamers angry that Overwatch's new hero is a black woman"
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JFC not a single page of this thread went by without someone catching a ban. The fuck is wrong with gaming side? Are some of y'all just born to be trashy as fuck?
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JFC not a single page of this thread went by without someone catching a ban. The fuck is wrong with gaming side? Are some of y'all just born to be trashy as fuck?
Ana and Phara both have well recognized Egyptian symbols on their faces. Not sure how you could get more explicitly black without making them wear headdresses.
Because Egypt is an Arabic country, and being Arabic doesn't necessarily denote being black. There are, of course, black Egyptians, but it is most likely that Ana and subsequently her daughter are just native Arabic Egyptian.
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