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Is Minecraft Steve the single most frequently whitewashed character in gaming? (Update: Smash Bros. Steve is black!)
- Thread starter Gundam
- Start date
I wasn't commenting on the whitewashing of Steve, which does exist..but the auxiliary conversation on people claiming Steve to be POC, but it's not a big deal to me either way. Steve was most likely meant to be racially ambiguous anyway.
I mean, if you go back in time, early Notch actually said pretty progressive things, like how Steve had no gender iirc(?)
Its just immediately after he started getting money that he said fuck it and went whole fuckhog
Maybe that is what you, and several posters are doing. But let's be real, by only chiming in saying you don't think he's a PoC and not even mentioning the whitewashing you are obscuring the real reason this whole situation sucks. Maybe it's because none of you are PoC and don't see it or care. Maybe it's because you don't understand why this is important and so you didn't think to comment on the actual meat of the discussion. or maybe you're bigots who are trying to subtly steer the conversation a certain way. i don't know. I don't even comment on Era very much. I'm a lurker. But come on guys, this is some BS. The poll is actually making me very upset.
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The fact is that Steve's getting whitewashed, and no one cares to notice or talk about it. The outcome of the poll is what I expected and highlights what I wanted to. I hope this thread acts as a signal boost for this issue and more people become aware of the idea and spread it.
I'm black so i do care about black representation in video games. Just not in Minecraft personally. I changed my skin from default the very second I could.
But I think the poll results are the result of people misunderstanding what whitewashing even is. A lot of folks just assume it means they're changing the race of a character from black to white.
Interesting considering his Twitter is straight out of 2014 era gamergate
Wow o.o
I don't think the Steve thing is malicious, nor do I think he was every meant to be portrayed as black or to be any POC representation. Doesn't mean he hasn't gotten whitewashed though.
Yeah I definitely agree on the whitewashing, and I'm glad you followed up. Whitewashing isn't just changing a PoC to a white person, it is lightening the skin due to some weird standard of beauty. It's messed up and, in this example, blatant. I can see now that we do have the same thoughts on the subject, I just wish I had known that from your earlier post. I'm sorry if I came in a little hard. This is just really bothering me right now.
This is something I actually noticed a while ago looking at Lego
It's sad that such a huge potential POC gaming icon so frequently gets whitewashed or his skin color hand waved away (by calling it a tan or whatever)
It's sad that such a huge potential POC gaming icon so frequently gets whitewashed or his skin color hand waved away (by calling it a tan or whatever)
If the Steve avatar with the darker skin tone is the default in Minecraft then I don't see how anyone can deny he has been whitewashed.
He doesn't appear like that in almost any other form of merchandising or even in the 'story mode' game.
He doesn't appear like that in almost any other form of merchandising or even in the 'story mode' game.
Still hurts.
The fact you need to go into the customization just to make her less white washed sucks hard. Hopefully if VF6 gets made that they fix this.
No harm no foul. I realize my original post wasn't the best or most thought out for this topic anyway.
Oh definitely. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a piece of Minecraft merch (toys, shirts, etc) where it had anything but a Caucasian Steve or Alex
That's why I was always shocked that the characters from MC Story Mode never got any merch. You had all walks of life represented IIRC. Hell, even the main character Jesse/Jessie could have different variants based on race and gender.
That's why I was always shocked that the characters from MC Story Mode never got any merch. You had all walks of life represented IIRC. Hell, even the main character Jesse/Jessie could have different variants based on race and gender.
Would Notch the piece of shit actually put a black character in his games?
Food for thought. Probably just a really tan white dude
Food for thought. Probably just a really tan white dude
I honestly thought he was white. My son has a few lego sets and he's definitely got a pink rather than tan face in those.
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Again, there was a time early on in Minecraft's development where it seemed that Notch was pretty progressive. But you're ignoring the factual point. He's white-washed in all of his merch.
As much that's why I wish they would have kept Vanessa with her original skin tone, the Minecraft thing feels even worse in some ways since what's the point in changing Steve from what he was if what people are saying is true users generally just uploaded skin anyway. Why even bother changing his tone, it doesn't matter right, so leave him brown.
I feel that too many posts are overlooking or ignoring what whitewashing actually is.
It's not only about changing the race of a character, but changing their skin tone to something lighter to appeal to a shitty (and racist) beauty standard.
Stop with these "he's just tanned" and "he doesn't have a race" comments. Damn.
It's not only about changing the race of a character, but changing their skin tone to something lighter to appeal to a shitty (and racist) beauty standard.
Stop with these "he's just tanned" and "he doesn't have a race" comments. Damn.
Lol, what I'm trying to do is say that I have never seen him as a poc, I've always seen him as white...is it that hard to understand?
Sure, but what about the whitewashing of the character? You know, the actual meat of this topic? And remember, whitewashing here means deliberately lightening his skin, which is clearly shown. Not mentioning this at all in such a sensitive topic is offputting.
I'll buy that Lego changed Steve's color to make him more appealing to white suburbanites i'll not defend them, but that feels like a totally different ballgame than the Vanessa in Virtua Fighter thing.
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Well I guess you can't argue with the fact he's been made whiter, but can you whitewash a white person?
What a ridiculous notion that never happens with 95% Of users...
Trust me, I've seen hundreds of hours worth of that show. The character's skin tone is noticeably much darker than the others. Except in merch.
Originally he was Gameboy green
Interestingly, Kirby was originally white...
Definitely. Plus, it's not like he's for sure a tanned/dirty white guy. That's just what you always thought. I'm not sure how given the images in this topic, but you a lot of people feel the same way. I wonder if this is the default white effect in practice.
But yes, lightening someone's skin is pretty much whitewashing. It's basically saying that lighter skin is more marketable, or desirable, or beautiful, and thus, darker skin is not. And it sucks. But something is clearly going here given the evidence provided. And that Vanessa image is just infuriating.
Also, yes, that Catboy pic is clearly someone with darker skin. It doesn't matter if he's white or not. He has browner skin, and I'm sure Gravy Boat does as well. Intentionally lightening that skin up is fucked up.
Stop coming into this topic to argue the semantics of whether a fictional character is actually a PoC. Address the actual problem with lightening of skin directly, because anything else is just distracting, unhelpful noise.
I don't know if it was done purposefully or not, but Steve has always to me been in an area where he's a shade that could be read as multiple ethnicities. He could be light skinned black, or hispanic, or tanned white and his lack of detail and facial features make it hard to determine where he falls in at. That being said they are definitely making him whiter in all their products and should stop.
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Yes, it was popular especially among the upper class. White powdered faces go back centuries since it was seen as low class to be tan because that meant you were a laborer.
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This was me too. I came into this thread confused and I left impressed.
One party member was changed to a black kid. The rest were changed to white.
Literally every party member in Persona 1 had their Japanese ethnicity clumsily taken out of them in the localization.
Was Notch quite liberal progressive before he became a billionaire, did money change him?
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Outside of the whole being rich thing, I seem to recall he had a rough period right around when Minecraft 1.0 officially launched. I think a family member died, and he became divorced. A cynical techbro with a large twitter presence usually ends up poorly.
Whitewashing happens to any race. 'Fairness' creams are frequently sold in South/east Asian countries as a skin lightener.
Colorism is a pretty common occurrence and isn't always related to race, though racism reinforces it.
Not to mention he legitimately doesn't have friends and after the buyout it made him insanely depressed and all he had was social media. Which really fucked him up for the worst.
