The American Public Needs to Grow Up

by Aaron Traas 

Religion... Racism... Sexuality... Violence... Death...

These are all topics of controversy. More importantly, these are all parts of life. Why do we not treat them as such? Why do we complain when they are shown in a different way than we view them? Why are we so closed minded?

I have been a fan of the Final Fantasy series since its release in the US in 1990. Given, it was devoid of all these controversial topics, but many of its predecessors were not. In Final Fantasy IV (FFII in US), who did not gasp when Tellah died to avenge his daughter. Even with the censorship, one could see the obvious sexual tension between Cecil and Rosa, as well as Kain's jealousy. In Final Fantasy V, Faris cross-dresses, pretending she is a man, to gain the respect of her crew. Butz and Galuf discover this by walking in on her while she's changing. In Final Fantasy VI (FFIII US), Edgar was, as Locke put it, 'a lecherous young king', Cyan was propositioned by a 'licentious howler', and half of the Earth's population was killed by Kefka. In Final Fantasy VII, the rich mega-corporation Shinra brutally murdered thousands of people to kill six rebels, Cloud entered a brothel to get the key item 'Sexy Lingerie', it was hinted at that Tifa and Cloud had sex if you got enough love points with Tifa, and Barret talked like Mr. T. Final Fantasy Tactics and the upcoming Xenogears have heavy religious overtones.

These elements were all integral to the story of their respective games. These actions, habits, and faults give personality to the characters, and make them more real. What would Final Fantasy IV have been like if Cecil was this perfect little knight, and did whatever the King said without question? What if Tellah was a rational man who took his daughter's death in stride rather than seeking Meteo? What if Faris never cross-dressed, and never was accepted by the pirates? What if Edgar never flirted with that barmaid, who gave him the information about the thieves? What if Tifa was a proper young lady and never made love to her childhood sweetheart even though she believed she would die the next morning facing Sephiroth? What if Barret was a calm, cool, individual who never had the audacity to form Avalanche and blow up the Mako reactor.

The simple fact is we Americans have to get off our high horses thinking Square and other video game companies should leave out all stereotypes, religious references, sexual content, and death. Should video games contain all perfect, honest, clear-thinking, philosophical, asexual characters with no personality depth? Better yet, would eliminating all sex, violence, stereotypes, and religion, from TV, movies, video games, and all other media in the US make our children behave better and be less likely to commit crime?

The answer to this is a clear NO.

Why do I say this? Look at Japan, and Anime (Japanese Animation). Anime often contains graphic violence, sexual content, nudity, religion, prejudice, etc. In fact, Anime is more like American films than cartoons in many way. One very popular TV series in Japan, Fushigi Yuugi, is a story about a 15 year old girl who is drawn into a different dimension through an ancient Chinese novel. She becomes priestess of the 'Animal God', Suzaku, of the nation she appears in. She travels throughout China to find her seven mystical guardians so that she can call upon Suzaku's power and protect the nation from being destroyed by another nation in the west. She eventually falls in love with one of her guardians, Tamahome, and is forced to keep her hands off him because Suzaku demands a pure mind and body. Many of the characters from the opposing nation try to rape or kill Miaka so she is not able to call Suzaku, and others violently and maliciously kill her guardians. This story is clearly not for children, right?

Wrong. Fushigi Yuugi is aimed at 8 to 16 year old Japanese girls.

Do Japanese children grow up to be bloodthirsty perverts? No. Japanese crime is actually significantly lower than US crime. In the US in 1995, there were 5,278 crimes per 100,000 people. (source: FBI, Uniform Crime Report, 1995. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr95prs.htm)

In Japan in 1995, there were 1485 crimes per 100,000 people. In addition to this, Japan's population density is 337 persons per square km, compared to USA's population density os only 28 persons per square km. Crime is usually higher where population density is higher, but this appears not to be the case. (Source: Japan Information Network, http://www.jinjapan.org/stat/)

As for Mark Yohalem's statement in his editorial "Mature Content in cRPGs":

"Religion is where you get into the most touchy aspect of American culture. I was mildly offended by the presence of crosses and the like in Hexen. I am Jewish."

I have one comment: grow up. Why should one person be offended by another's religion? If you are offended by crosses and symbols of Christianity, do you avoid novels and movies like Brahm Stoker's "Dracula"? Or maybe, since I'm Roman Catholic, should I get offended by watching "Fiddler on the Roof" or reading the Old Testament of the Bible? Religion, like sexuality and death, is just another part of life, and another facet of an individual's personality.

As for the whole Barret/Racism controversy, I have a few comments regarding this topic. First why is it a racist portrayal for Barret to act stereotypically 'black' and speak 'ebonics', while it is perfectly fine for actors such as Will Smith and martin Lawrence to portray such characters so in their respective television shows and movies? Second, it is a Japanese game, and in Japan, there is very little cultural and racial diversity.

In general, I think we, as Americans, have to get off our high horses and think about these little instances that offend us. We are all from different places, cultures, and walks of life. Why should we take offense from those who are different? If we were all the same, life would be truly boring. Perhaps racism will only end when we realize that there is no real difference between us, other than aesthetics. Genetically, we are all of the same race: the human race.