Final Fantasy VII Remake: Some fans are mad because Barret "looks white"

[DiipuSurotu]

Debate about his voice aside, there is some surprising amount of complaints from some "fans" of Final Fantasy VII who are of the opinion that Barret looks too white for a black guy in the Remake:

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Did they fucking whitewash Barret? #FFVIIRemake

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Wait a second. I just rewatched this several times in a row and why TF does Barret look white? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Is it my phone screen? What is going on here?

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Also, what is up with Barret's hair? That shit looks relaxed and ain't no way Barret would use a relaxer or press. And I'm not even gonna get into his voice. That shit sounded like a white man try'na do a 'Yo, yo, yo!' black man's voice.

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My self being a black man only concern with the trailer was why did they made Barret less black than he is. I want Barret to be a gruff black guy. Thats how I remember him.

Other quotes from Twitter:

Why is Barret white?! Highly upset

Am i crazy or did they make Barret white? #ff7 #StateOfPlay

Im pretty upset about white guy pretending to be a black guy Barret... Square you can do better...

So, you're really telling me Barret wasn't BLACK this whole time!!!?

In like ALL the final fantasy games you had a black dude as a character and when you bring that back you do this

wait why is barret white, lmao I always thought he was black lul

Is it just me... or does Barret look..... not black? His flattop looks like its just straight hair... among other things...Am I going crazy?

I would say from a visual perspective Barret doesn't even look that black, but my guess is that Japan is still struggling to portray black people in such a way that isn't, you know, basically Mister Popo.

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Also on Reddit:

The trailer was incredible. Absolutely hype-inducing. My only issue is that they seemed to have lightened Barret's skin tone to an extreme degree. He literally looks like a white biker dude. He's supposed to be a rugged, darkskin black man with a "take no shitf from nobody" attitude. It's hard to be 100% sure with the glare from the explosions reflecting off his skin but...his skin tone is definitely looking off. If this is true, then I'm absolutely speechless. Black skin isn't liked even in video games smh. I hope I'm wrong but it doesn't look like it.

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I've even seen complaint about this on ResetERA itself. What do you think? Should Square Enix have made Barret's skin darker and his hair more curly in the Remake?

 

[TheMadTitan]

As a black person, he looks like a black person to me. Not like he isn't under some crazy, unnatural light conditions in the trailer.

 

[Dest]

That looks like a lighting thing if you ask me.

 

[nsilvias]

Not all black people look the exact same. Making him have stereotypical features would be just as bad.
Alot of black people are really light...

 

[kennyamr]

lol

 

[mocolostrocolos]

What the actual fuck?

 

[The Praiseworthy]

To me nothing is wrong with Barret... also nothing wrong with Aerith and there are fans calling her ugly.

Some fans will just complain about everything even when they are not true.

 

[Deleted member 9971]

As a black person, he looks like a black person to me. Not like he isn't under some crazy, unnatural light conditions in the trailer.

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Pretty much this.

 

[Deleted member 4093]

I tell you one thing he has no texture in his hair or got a perm

 

[CthulhuSars]

We are hitting maximum someone is always pissed off level.

 

[Deleted member 19066]

Dudes got five different light sources in the pic. Maybe his hair looks off if you study it close enough.

I tell you one thing he has no texture in his hair or got a perm

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[Deleted member 6730]

FFVII Fans: Barret looks too similar to Mr. T wtf.

Also FFVII Fans: Barret looks white.

 

[Dice]

The trailer has every colour of laser and neon light firing off.

 

[TheInfinityGauntlet]

You're not a fan if you think he looks white? Crazy

Compare this

to the newest trailer and he looks a lot lighter to the point where I'd make a case but I think the worst part is the beard

 

[Molemitts]

lmao he looks like bono in the first picture

 

[Thatguy]

Could we have a single thread with the purpose of discussing all the differences between the original and the remake?

 

[Deleted member 5604]

I posted this in the other thread. Folks need to learn about how light works. I took a screencap from a clip in the new trailer that was close to the lighting of the 2015 trailer and the skin color looks the same.

 

[ChristianH94]

I'm more disappointed that Barrett isn't gonna find an English equivalent to saying &$*%#^!+%# or whatever exact symbols he did in game

 

[Weebos]

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Some fans are mad

 

[BrickArts295]

Lmao, SE should just cancel this while they still can. They just can't get a win XD

 

[Glass Arrows]

I'm not trying to downplay concerns from black people but I always very much under the impression that it was the lighting, if anything.

 

[Dust]

 

[Arthoneceron]

And I'm here still thinking on why Barret is using sunglasses in the night.

 

[chandoog]

Final Fantasy VII fans were a mistake.

 

[Deleted member 49132]

lol

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Yep

 

[ClarkusDarkus]

So glad i played this in 1997, This remake is going to get brutalised every chance by every corner.

 

[IzzyRX]

I'll wait for another trailer before calling him white.

 

[Mezati99]

> Literally half a dozen people

"fAnS aRe MaD cAuSe BaRrEt LoOkS wHiTe"

 

[boontobias]

Hair looking a little uncurly

 

[Whales]

its like people dont know how lighting works in a game

 

[Luckett_X]

Era needs to enact the This Isn't GameFAQ's protocols that GAF also required in its infancy and soon.

 

[Era of not Yakuza]

Debate about his voice aside, there is some surprising amount of complaints from some "fans" of Final Fantasy VII who are of the opinion that Barret looks too white for a black guy in the Remake:

Did they fucking whitewash Barret? #FFVIIRemake

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He looks like Dj D'agostino to me hehe

 

["D."]

My complaint is his voice (as well as Cloud and Sephiroth's) seems to have changed

 

[DiipuSurotu]

And I'm here still thinking on why Barret is using sunglasses in the night.

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those are ballistic eyewear

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_eyewear

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[Jencks]

He is standing next to what is likely an explosion or a raging fire. He looks exactly as he did in the 2015 PSX trailer under "normal" lightning conditions.

 

[Musubi]

I'm not black so I can't really comment with authority on this but uh...qualifying black characters because they aren't black enough seems really off to me. Dude is obviously black. Maybe on the lighter side but Black is black.

 

[sredgrin]

Do we really need to highlight a small handful of tweets with like 5 likes and act like it's an actual conversation?

That being said, his hair looks off for sure.

 

[Deleted member 6730]

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Isn't Literally Who a gamergate dogwhistle?

 

[Ænima]

Looks like a black guy to me. Seems more to me that some "fans" just like to have something to complain about. The white guys also dont look like a regular white ppl, its an anime art style mixed with realism.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

SMH, yeah lets just make him as stereotypical black guy as possible, I'm sure everyone will be much happier with that.

 

[Fart Master]

Not black enough for white people?

 

[Raza]

And I'm here still thinking on why Barret is using sunglasses in the night.

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So he can so he can watch you weave, then breathe your story lines. Also to keep track of the visions in his eyes.

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Sorry, had to

 

[fontguy]

This is just that dress bullshit again but video games.

 

[MechaX]

Yeah, I'm willing to bet it's just lighting at this point (even Cloud looks kinda fucked in some scenes).

Now, if SE ends up pulling Virtua Fighter Vanessa type of whitewashing, then yeah, SE would deserve to get fucked for that

 

[Jake2byFour]

Barret looks white??? I think ppl need they eyes checked.

 

[Truly Gargantuan]

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Some fans are mad

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Yup. Can't wait for whatever info we're getting next month. The Tifa reveal is going to cause some real mad to happen, no matter how they decide to do it.

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Yup.

 

[Sou Da]

Did you really make a thread off a handful of people on twitter with like 5 likes each?

This is YouTube tier.

 

[WellbornWarrior]

Is it me or are Final Fantasy 7 fans a bit weird lately?

 

[funky]

Personally I cant wait for comers of the internet to be made they made FF7 remake too PC by making it about environmentalism.

 

[Mgs2master2]

As a black person, he looks like a black person to me. Not like he isn't under some crazy, unnatural light conditions in the trailer.

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As a not black person, but Egyptian, I also agree with your statement. Lighting, how does it work in videogames, movies, and real life?