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I am disappointed that even in the year 2077 , Indians seem to be represented mostly as taxi drivers

Toriko

Toriko

Member
Dec 29, 2017
7,683
Like many of you I am super excited about Cyberpunk 2077 and generally loved the trailer that was shown during E3. There was however one tiny bit of footage in the trailer that I was disappointed by


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Now this may be better explained in the game with more context but even if it is, I am disappointed that of all the images they could have gone with to represent an Indian in a game during a major conference they decided to go with a stereotypical taxi driver.

Indian representation in games media is pretty piss poor as it is.. We rarely see Indian characters playing central roles in games and even when they do they are reduced to a stereotype - either a taxi driver or a hacker... It is disappointing CD Projekt Red would fall into the same trap.

Like why cant we have an Indian man or woman who is a diplomat,, banker, artist etc... why does it always have to be a taxi driver.

Uncharted LL was one of the only few games that actually had an Indian as the main protagonists and handled it well ( even though It was disappointing that it was ultimately a white woman voicing Chloe ) and I was hoping it would kickstart a trend that would get more Indian characters into the mainstream but I guess we will forever be relegated to taxi drivers or spiritual gurus ala BGE2

gallery-1528753840-beyond-good-and-evil-2-trailer-uma.jpg


Not a big deal I am assuming for most people but just irritates me a bit as an Indian....

I would love it if we had more varied representation.
 
RoboPlato

RoboPlato

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,805
What Remains of Edith Finch has some very nice Indian representation if you're looking for more games that do it well
 
DocSeuss

DocSeuss

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,784
I'm not sure "represented mostly" is an accurate way to describe... exactly one character in the trailer. It does suck that it's the only image they showed tho. iirc netrunner has a shitload of stuff set in a cool futuristic India.
 
ASleepingMonkey

ASleepingMonkey

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
4,496
Iowa
I don't live in an area where taxis are seen very often so I don't know if the stereotype is "accurate". Do lots of Indian people drive taxis?

If so, maybe they're just showing that in 70 years, we have not grown past our racial stigmas. This is just giving them the benefit of the doubt of course. I have no idea if that's what they're going for
 
Nav

Nav

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,904
BGE2's macguffin is called Moksha. It's city is heavily inspired by, and accuarate to, contemporary South Asia.

Not sure what more you want there. I agree with your main point though. Would be good to get more and better.
 
Cabbagehead

Cabbagehead

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,019
Like i said in the other thread, it's not a regular cab.

BUT....it does suck that it's an Indian in a cab, as a stereotype. Seemingly.
 
Lego Killer Moth

Lego Killer Moth

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,292
In the E3 impressions episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast, Andy said there was a really stereotypical Mexican character in the behind closed doors footage too. Unfortunate that even at this point, we're still falling back on tired old stereotypes in media.
 
remntSTAR

remntSTAR

Member
Oct 29, 2017
180
USA
ASleepingMonkey said:
I don't live in an area where taxis are seen very often so I don't know if the stereotype is "accurate". Do lots of Indian people drive taxis?

If so, maybe they're just showing that in 70 years, we have not grown past our racial stigmas. This is just giving them the benefit of the doubt of course. I have no idea if that's what they're going for
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An "accurate" stereotype still doesn't make it okay to stereotype an entire race of people. Lots of races drive taxis in general.
 
Falconbox

Falconbox

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,600
Buffalo, NY
ASleepingMonkey said:
I don't live in an area where taxis are seen very often so I don't know if the stereotype is "accurate". Do lots of Indian people drive taxis?
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Anecdotally, at least here in Buffalo when I used to go to and from the airport or downtown barhopping, yes. It did fit the stereotype more often than not (by no means was it ALL the time though).

It was bolstered too by younger Indian/middle eastern college students looking for a part time job in the early 00s, since the University at Buffalo has a huge contingent of international students.

No idea what it's like now though, since I mainly use Uber for anything instead.
 
Azzanadra

Azzanadra

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Oct 25, 2017
3,804
Canada
Honestly man, as a south Asian, I was just happy we were represented at all haha. These days I feel we are the forgotten minority, so I'l take my small victories.

Also that guy looks cool so I'm not even mad :p
 
OP
OP
Toriko

Toriko

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Dec 29, 2017
7,683
Nav said:
BGE2's macguffin is called Moksha. It's city is heavily inspired by, and accuarate to, contemporary South Asia.

Not sure what more you want there. I agree with your main point though. Would be good to get more and better.
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I am just asking for more wider representation for Indians. We can be so many things beyond just drivers and gurus.

Maybe I am just overthinking it... but the first reaction I had when I saw the Cyberpunk footage was groaning and thinking to myself of all images why did they go with that one again...


Heisenberg726 said:
Are y'all kidding me? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's ONE character in one trailer of the game! And it's not even a regular cab! This isn't representative of the presentation of Indians in the entire game.
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Not sure what you mean by not regular cab but even if it is not representative of Indians in the entire game dont you think they could have gone with some other image in the trailer when promoting the game for the first time in a massive show ?As an Indian surely I cant have been the only one who felt this looked like the Indian chatty taxi driver stereotype?
 
Buttonwalls

Buttonwalls

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Oct 28, 2017
356
Fitting the stereotype so people don't suspect that he is part of organized crime.
 
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Choco Momonga

Choco Momonga

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May 24, 2018
353
I agree. I wanted to add that the UI on his taxi ID screen has Japanese writing on it, I dig the melting pot aesthetic of cyberpunk in general, but the problem for me is whether it's Blade Runner or Cyberpunk 2077, creators like to borrow the style and people from other cultures while never letting them be in the spotlight or even be adjacent to the spotlight.

I hope that Indian driver gets a cool sidequest. There's a TON of Japanese writing in that trailer from store signage to the taxi UI I mentioned, and I hope there's a lot of Japanese/Asian characters as well. I hope there's a healthy amount of representation in general.
 
OP
OP
Toriko

Toriko

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Dec 29, 2017
7,683
Jackson said:
In the E3 impressions episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast, Andy said there was a really stereotypical Mexican character in the behind closed doors footage too. Unfortunate that even at this point, we're still falling back on tired old stereotypes in media.
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That is disappointing.

Molecule said:
I'm sure there will be cab drivers of all races...
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That is not the point I am trying to make. It is about a statement that creators should be pushing when advertising their content that involves Indians - Indians can be more than just taxi drivers.
 
Cabbagehead

Cabbagehead

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,019
Toriko said:
I am just asking for more wider representation for Indians. We can be so many things beyond just drivers and gurus.

Maybe I am just overthinking it... but the first reaction I had when I saw the Cyberpunk footage was groaning and thinking to myself of all images why did they go with that one again...




Not sure what you mean by not regular cab but even if it is not representative of Indians in the entire game dont you think they could have gone with some other image in the trailer when promoting the game for the first time in a massive show ?As an Indian surely I cant have been the only one who felt this looked like the Indian chatty taxi driver stereotype?
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It's a combat cab.
 
remntSTAR

remntSTAR

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Oct 29, 2017
180
USA
Between this and the Mexican guy who ends every sentence in Spanish, I'm not surprised that an Eastern European developer is coming out the gate swinging with bad stereotypes about what cultures they've likely failed to study extensively.
 

Imperfected

Member
Nov 9, 2017
11,737
Honestly the only way this won't be completely stupid is if this is a horse-drawn carriage-like touristy service where you pay a "real cabbie" to wear "period clothing" and take you on a city tour.
 

Deleted member 40102

User requested account closure
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Feb 19, 2018
3,420
You shouldnt be mad when some athnisties dont exist at all in games or movies (arabs) and even if they do they are presented poorly (terrorists) in call of duty. Of course there are few expectations like overwatch.
 
GMM

GMM

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Oct 27, 2017
5,481
It's way too early to judge the whole cab situation in that CyberPunk trailer, we have no idea who the man is and why he's actually driving the cab, it might not be a stereotype for all we know.

Certain cultures and people lacking representation is an issue and I don't necessarily think it's one western developers will be the ones to fix, it's a cultural one.

The majority of mainstream games come from American and European development studios, made by people typically originating from those regions. As people we find inspiration in things around us and envision characters that we can somewhat relate to, it's easy to see why white males are often protagonists in the works that come out of those kinds of places.

If anything I hope we see some Indian based studios rise up over the next couple of years that are able to ship good games that represents a type of culture and people we don't often see in games. I do think many developers want to explore cultures like that, but most lack the courage to do so, since it could create an extremely bad perception of those developers and their approach to using cultures that are not their own.
 
thisismadness

thisismadness

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Oct 25, 2017
4,445
I'll wait see how things look in the final game but I hope bits of gameplay is all they've borrowed from Deus Ex...

 
Vishmarx

Vishmarx

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Oct 26, 2017
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Im more puzzled by how uber still cant get their auto drive stuff in order even 56 years later.
 
Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash

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Oct 29, 2017
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If we are to assume the OP is speaking about the impression this leaves as a whole in the public eye for what is, for most, some of the first footage we're seeing of the game: yes, having an Indian man drive a taxi certainly could be questionable, especially for how massive the game is and that it's in a cyberpunk video game.

It's also not inherently bad, either. We don't know if all the taxi drivers are indian, which would definitely be concerning, or if they're a mix of representation, or if the game only features Indians as taxi drivers, or store clerks, or other likewise problematic things. We have no way of knowing, and something that gives you a bad impression here could be instantly nullified with a well-written story with a good cast that has Indian characters fulfilling all sorts of roles, just like in our world, cab drivers included.

Again, though, people nitpicking or complaining about your post are getting caught up with what I wrote above instead of my first paragraph; it's not that you're offended by the cab driver being Indian, you're irritated at that being a focus and concerned about what other roles, if any, are taken by Indians. Seems fair enough to me.
 
crimzonflame

crimzonflame

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Oct 25, 2017
5,754
South Asia represents like 1/6 of the world's population but I can only think of 3 Indian characters in video games.
 
Vishmarx

Vishmarx

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
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DarkLordMalik said:
So he is a Punjabi/Pakistani/Indian?
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Punjab isnt a country afaik i know and a quick n dirty google gives me the consensus of 20k sikhs residing in pakistan. In comparison Canada has roughly 500k sikhs.
Oh and India has roughly 1000 sikhs for every 1 in pakistan.

EDIT: pardon my ignorance(or being bad at math really ) but its not 100 but 1000
 
misho8723

misho8723

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Jan 7, 2018
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And every Russian character in media is presented as a Mafia member and all Eastern Europe women are prostitutes.. there are ton of stupid stereotypes in media still in 2018
 
eyeball_kid

eyeball_kid

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Oct 25, 2017
10,227
It's definitely a valid concern. I hope Mike Pondsmith can point out issues like this while in development.

I did notice this fierce woman during the trailer, who looks of southern or southeast asian descent to me.
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OP
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Toriko

Toriko

Member
Dec 29, 2017
7,683
Wishbone Ash said:
If we are to assume the OP is speaking about the impression this leaves as a whole in the public eye for what is, for most, some of the first footage we're seeing of the game: yes, having an Indian man drive a taxi certainly could be questionable, especially for how massive the game is and that it's in a cyberpunk video game.

It's also not inherently bad, either. We don't know if all the taxi drivers are indian, which would definitely be concerning, or if they're a mix of representation, or if the game only features Indians as taxi drivers, or store clerks, or other likewise problematic things. We have no way of knowing, and something that gives you a bad impression here could be instantly nullified with a well-written story with a good cast that has Indian characters fulfilling all sorts of roles, just like in our world, cab drivers included.

Again, though, people nitpicking or complaining about your post are getting caught up with what I wrote above instead of my first paragraph; it's not that you're offended by the cab driver being Indian, you're irritated at that being a focus and concerned about what other roles, if any, are taken by Indians. Seems fair enough to me.
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This exactly. I dont have too many Indian characters in games media to play as or interact with. So with such little choice, my eyes light up with excitement when I see some any kind of Indian representation. Just disappointed that this is what they decided to go with in a trailer that is all.
 
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