Shooters Need To Get Better At Depicting Arabs

Whether it's the news, television or the movies, Arabs have become synonymously linked with the word "terrorist." And thanks to video games, we've become the target—literally...

[SeanScythe]

You're kidding right? How much more do they want us to show their insane culture for what it is? I'm sorry but they strap bombs to their Kids and send them into areas with their own people and blow them up. They do that to themselves, they raise their kids believing to die killing the Infidels is the greatest glory and they will be given 72 virgins.

They say they are of peace and love but only if you are part of their religion.

[Gazondaily]

Your post says more about you than it ever will about the Muslims you so are so quick to discriminate against. I'm sorry but you are in need of education, and desperately so. Your ignorance is astounding and disgraceful.

There are over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world. You are going to tarnish a whole group for the actions of a handful?

What complete nonsense you spout regarding kids brought up to kill non believers and Islam being a religion of hate. No doubt you've never read the Qur'an or even attempted to do so.

People like you are the precisely what's wrong with this world. Easily manipulated, intolerant and uneducated. You in fact, share more with the likes of t Al Qaeda and other fundamentalist than ordinary Muslims.

[classic200]

I got no problem with any race but when I hear a black african american talk about ancient egyptians were black because of a few pictures in egypt I get PISSS.

Ancient egyptian are light europeans from greece and that is fact, they were white and clean and beautiful. The White race control ancient egypt.

Why do so much people even white people letting the africans take our civilization.

Rome is white
Greece is white
Persia is white
ancient egypt is white!!!!!!

[Gazondaily]

@classic200

*insert Captain Picard facepalm meme here*

Seriously, what are you on about?

[kneon]

Hate to burst your delusional bubble but Rome was a multicultural city and empire. The Romans were basically the Borg of ancient history, they conquered countries and assimilated them into the empire. People from all over the Roman empire of all colors and religions went to Rome.

[SeanScythe]

@ kneon You know that's what destroyed Rome right? They didn't assimilate everyone spoke different languages and had different cultures and they were not united. Because of that the country fell apart.

[-Mezzo-]

You sir are a 'Skid Mark' on the underpants of Humanity.

[SeanScythe]

Yes please tell me how the peace loving muslims from Iran and Afghanistan, Syria, the ones taking over Europe and all the rest are so great. When they chant Death to the infidels, when they celebrate attacks of women and children. I don't see Organizations like CAIR condemning their actions. You have in egypt where they elected a member of the muslim brotherhood as their president. Until you know what these people are about and what their goal is, don't tell me I'm a skidmark. Unlike you I didn't grow up believing everything that was shoveled into my head and did my own research.

[LOGICWINS]

Saying all Arabs are terrorists is like saying all priests are sexually attracted to young boys. You can't judge an entire group/culture based on the actions of the few.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

***"You can't judge an entire group/culture based on the actions of the few."***

I wish you and certain others would have that type of mentality when commenting on here.

[LOGICWINS]

Off-topic.

[morganfell]

And priests that know other priests are deviant with children are as guilty. Just as people in a society that know extremist elements are planning attacks and do nothing are also guilty. Jihadist and extreme acts aren't planned in a vaccuum.

Arabs need to get better at depicting Arabs before we worry about how games portray them.

[pr0t0typeknuckles]

judging an entire group of people based on the actions of a few,you need to wake up and realise that those few arabs that do that dont speak for the entire race you dummy, cause if stereotypes were true then all white men would be pedophiles and rapist, but people with common sense would know that those are just a handful of sick minded indivisuals that dont speak for the rest.

[MxRBrobaFett]

Mr. SeanScythe, What you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I've ever heard. At no point in your rambling incoherent response, were you close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul

[SeanScythe]

Prove me wrong.

[T2]

Alright, a simple wrong would have sufficed but .... I choose business ethics!

[Simon_Brezhnev]

Then what do you think about americans. Who whiped out a whole race and took the land for themselves. If thats not terrorism i don't know what is.

[Jobesy]

Simon, you didn't have to stoop to his level. Besides, the US wasn't founded until 1776, by then the Spaniards and other EUROPEAN Colonials had already enslaved, slaughtered and diseased much of the native population.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Well, you can't hold anything against the Americans of today for what happened back then. Your comparison is a bit off. You may want to compare current events with other current events next time.

[Flavor]

Yeah, you don't have to go back that far - American invasions of Panama, Haiti, Grenada, Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Timor... All in last twenty years.

And that's not including the nations we bombed or destabilized, like Syria, Serbia and Sudan.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

I love all the generic PC reactions to your post.

[LightofDarkness]

The BNP train of thought, everyone: if you're not a hardline bigot/racist, you're just some spineless PC liberal. Classic hate group stuff.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

For the record guys... I do not support BNP. I am actually against BNP and racism in general. :-)

I just don't like genric PC rants. You seen one, you seen em all. (Same goes for any sort of generic rants).

[Qrphe]

Although you're assuming too much and are just flowing with your prejudice, I do find Islam (like all religions) somewhat hindering for one's well-being.

[StraightPath]

you sir are pathetic not only gamers are seen as nerds, losers , violent we dont need you to add another as gamers being discriminatory. Racist and discriminating piece of garbage you are and a gaming website should not be where discrimination is spread. you should be banned and the poor moderators should do a better job.

and the post above described you as the skidmark of humanity i think that is fitting for your poor life.

[kneon]

How is this different to all the mass shootings in America, that seems to qualify as an insane culture.

And clearly you don't know the first thing about Islam, and no I'm not Muslim.

[HammadTheBeast]

Wow lol. Dude you need an education.

[RamsesNum1]

I agree with Septic 100%.

[Gazondaily]

It's just not shooters, video games, movies and the media as a whole need to do the same. The words Arab and Islam have now become synonymous with 'terror' in the West because of the actions of a few.

There is a potential here for video games to really depict Arabs and/or Muslims in a different and more accurate light. We are so used to the propaganda of the 'USA is dominate' that we've become almost numb to it as the article alludes to. There are two sides to the story and the Chinese, Russians and Arabs should be treated more than just cannon fodder.

I remember playing the game Freedom Fighters where Russia takes over the USA. Imagine a game where the opposite is true. Why can't the USA be the antagonist for once?

[cyguration]

This is one reason I really like Sleeping Dogs...

We finally get to see an Asian dude as the good guy and not because he's "Amurrahcan".

Racism in mainstream video games runs deep, and I'm not talking about some standard stereotypical "token black guy" or whatever, I'm talking about the way just about everyone is portrayed from the middle east to the way any non-American or non-European is depicted.

In fact, I can't remember the last time we had got to play as a non-white-washed Arabian character in a game that didn't play up American stereotypes.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

I kind of liked GTA4 for similar reasons. At first I was put off by Niko's nationality, but it really worked in the games favour as far as the story is concerned.

[rezzah]

He still grew up in america.

I think the issue is: little or no main human characters who have no relation to the american culture.

Rarely (possibly never) is the US ever portrayed as the blatant enemy.

Edit:

Nope, my comment was aimed towards cyguration. Im referring to Sleeping Dogs.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

@rezzah

Niko didn't grow up in America. (if your comment was aimed at me)

[Gamerita]

who controls the western media (games.movies,news,tv) ? know the answer to this question & you will know why arabs/muslims are been targeted. ;)

[Abdou23]

Jews.

[ExPresident]

You both fit right in with the person who made the very first post. Generalizing an entire race for the actions of some. Good work.

[kratos123]

I think what Abdou wanted to say was zionists.
A lot of jews are very nice people and have nothing against moslims, they even defended moslims sometimes and called them their brothers. But zionists don't get me started on those guys

[Flavor]

Perception management. He who controls what you see and hear controls what you think.

[Dirtnapstor]

It's ultimately a conspiracy driven by the old-school communists...started generations ago. Dissension and Division are the greatest of weapons ever used.

[akaakaaka]

todoslibres.com and you will undestand who is behind all this.. and why!

[Jek_Porkins]

Well I live in the United States which has freedom of speech and we should pretty much be allowed to express ourselves in whatever way we choose. That being said, Americans are portrayed in a negative light in almost every other country, so what's good for the goose is good for the gander in my opinion.

It's up to people as individuals not to buy into every single stereotype, I mean we stereotype our own people as much, if not more than Arabs.

[Reverent]

We're portrayed in a negative light in every other country because we are (for the most part) intolerant assholes... Hell, even our greatest allies hate us; that says a lot.

[Jek_Porkins]

So you know for a fact that the majority of Americans are that way? The way I see it more and more Americans are becoming more and more receptive to a lot of things, gay's in the military, gay marriage and even a black president.

Is America perfect? of course not, but I still wouldn't want to live anywhere else, I'm proud to live here and will never feel ashamed.

[Reverent]

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. It's just that, well, America HAS grown it's reputation with other nations as kind of the "douchebag" capitol of the world. America may be changing now, but the rest of the world still sees us they way we used to be. (Stereo-typically speaking)

[SilentNegotiator]

Americans are portrayed in a negative light even in America because of ignorant suggestions like yours.

[Dirtnapstor]

We flex the biggest muscle and therefore are the first to be called in to the rescue. And after someone gets spanked, others bitch and moan because we did the job they couldn't and it makes them look bad or inept.
Really though, the US needs to stop playing the role of 'world cop'. That is not the role of a soldier.

[rainslacker]

One thing I've found from living in several countries in the past 15 years for work is that most people are fundamentally the same, in that they are all unique individuals who value different things and believe different things for different reasons. There is no way to classify people into something categorically because even within a single society or culture, people are as varied as snowflakes.

About the only thing I can say most of the people I met have in common is that they want to live their lives and be happy, and they all seem to hate politicians and taxes.

[HammadTheBeast]

Just going to say, Hollywood has made many other countries think that all Americans are a-holes, but we all know that's not true.

[LightofDarkness]

Freedom of speech is not freedom of expression. More to that, freedom of speech has limitation in every country.

Freedom of speech guarantees that you are free to express your views politically, in that the government can't suppress your right to represent yourself or others politically. Your speech in this context must still not be libelous/slanderous, seditous or obscene, and you mustn't violate copyrights or expose classified information. You cannot incite violence/hatred either.

[DasTier]

Eurgh,

"As a member of *insert group of choice here* I feel blah blah blah blah."

Why does everyone have to always find something to bitch about! Don't like their depiction? Then don't play the game! Simple!

[Imalwaysright]

^^ This. Im sick and tired of this oversensitive society. We have to tiptoe around everything we say or do!

[Dirtnapstor]

Well spoken ujean69...a game is a game is a game. Themes and concepts are driven by hot topics and what is popular, whether it is positive or negative.

As for Arab depictions... clean up your own backyard before you gripe about the rest of the neighborhood! Seems to be an accurate trend: "not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim"

P.S. many posts reflect a multitude that don't really know world history or cultural influences.

[Gazondaily]

Again, you clearly show how little you know about muslims and the world.

All terrorists are Muslims? I'm sorry what about the Tamil Tigers? Or the Buddhists committing genocide in Burma?

Also, who have died more as result of terrorist acts? Muslims or non Muslims? Nothing operates in a vacuum and your simple minded 'logic' doesn't even come close to depicting the truth.

As for Arabs cleaning their own backyard- they aren't the ones controlling the media that make the likes of you making sweeping generalisations about them. How about you come out of your bubble ans actually interact with someone?

You are the one that doesn't understand world history and cultural unfluences.

[BitbyDeath]

Deal with it?
I live in Australia and would get a kick out of seeing Australia as being portrayed as the bad guy.
People just gotta grow up and accept entertainment for what it is.

[SeraphimBlade]

"accept entertainment for what it is?"
You mean casually racist?

[KaBaW]

I think he means.. as a game.

[BitbyDeath]

Racisim is just as bad as religion, some see racisim as they see God, others don't care and just live their lives.

You only got one life, enjoy it while it lasts.

[SeraphimBlade]

WOW, I regret looking at the comments now... I'll exercise MY freedom of speech and call a number of you ignorant racists.

And, yeah, I agree it's a problem with American media in general, not just games, but that just means we should be striving to be better.

[BanBrother]

Well, in general this article has shown peoole are against racism, which is great.

BUT.... how come when there was an article about homosexuals everyone was being a homophobe? Double standards much? They are both one in the same (NO, I'm not implying arabs are gay, and arab DOES NOT mean Muslim). Two groups of people being judged for something they can't change (arabs, gays etc), yet people try and use some PC bulls*** in this article but where were they in the articles dealing with homosexuals in games?

Again, I think that arabs should be portrayed better in games. Is Desmond from Assassin's Creed one? Either way, I'm tired of shooting the same character models in games, with the same dialogue. I feel sorry for the arabs who play games. Remember people, humans are all equal. If you think you are superior to anyone because they were born different, or in a different land, you are naive and need to grow up.

[My_Name_BTW_Is_Dante]

They all look the same

Dead.

[EdoubleD]

What? Really?

[hano]

I really hate COD and it's ilk because first they suck and are sooo generic.

It also helps that I'm an Arab and don't like military propaganda aimed at youngsters in other nations.

I like my games free of ideology and generally prefer them fictional because it is easier to absorb the story that way. Even if the story sucks at least it can be excused.

[EdoubleD]

Some narrow-minded folks around here. It doesn't take much to know that religion is usually divided into sects and into different schools of thought. It's like saying the Westboro Baptist Church followers are what all Christians follow. That's false, the same stands with Jihadists and Muslims.

[cyguration]

Just like to add.

*slow clap*

Congratulations Kotaku for doing an article on a topic that deserved discussion and some form of level-headed dissection.

[Incipio]

Games don't need to do anything that conforms to anything.

That's why they are games, and not real life.

What you choose to let influence you and your beliefs in real life is up to you. It is not the responsibility of authors, developers, screenwriters, musicians, artists...to create or paint a proper picture of reality. Games are an *escape* from reality.

Your understanding of reality should be arrived at through your own investigation into solidly-grounded facts, figures and properly-representative individuals and cultures.

Get out there, see the world, experience as much as you can. Some stereotypes carry thinly veiled truths regarding extremes but are not to be relied upon for judgment of the masses.

What you are able to justifiably speak of, without being labeled as ignorant, is determined by your level of experience, wisdom and knowledge.

[TheDivine]

Come on who gives a shit? All Americans aren't super soldier buffed Rambo's who singlehandedly lay waste to opposing forces. All Japanese aren't teen girls boys with odd hair and 6 foot long swords. All space marines DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT wear green. That ones just disturbing and offensive to us space marines who rock a variety of colors.

Point is its a game. Plus the majority of games people play are from the USA who is at war with Arab countries. Of course they're the enemies because they are to the country who made it. That's not all Arabs. It's the ones who shoot ak47's and strap bombs on children. Same as not all Germans are Nazi's but you only shoot Nazi's because we aren't at war with civilians. Should we have a nice clean cut Arab pop out after we waste a bunch of enemies and give a speech on peace whatever you think Arabs should be portrayed as? It's a game. It's our culture. It's not real.

Besides I'm sure North Koreans and Iranians play games where US are enemies and evil imperialists. Who cares unless you are and the stereotype fits thus offending you.

[Incipio]

You know what sucks...I said the same thing as you but in different words...and I get no agrees? Lol

Well said though

[Angrymorgan]

I'm a space marine and I LOVE me some green!!!