Months ago, I had a single thought which I spoke of half-jokingly. And I really hoped it wouldn't be true this time around.
Oh my sweet summer child, it was all of them
Now I'm positive I wasn't the only Black person who had this thought in the back of their mind before they started the game. Or hell, even years ago when the game was revealed. As the treatment of Black characters within the series was already worthy of side eye based on the first game alone. And I was really hoping that things would be different this time around. Much to my disappointment, that would not be the case at all.
Looking back on it, I should have expected as much considering what the team composition is like at the studio.
Which showcases an extremely common problem in all forms of media, where minorities hardly make up the composition of a creative team. And an even smaller percentage are allowed into lead roles where they can have an actual impact on how various projects are created. This lack of minority voices in media is just one of the many side effects that white supremacy has on myself and many others daily. In the case of this game, the lack of Black creatives ends up creating situations throughout TLOU2 which are ultimately harmful, racist, and anti-black.
Now while I don't necessarily have issues with a Black person dying within this universe. My qualms come from every single named Black person in the series dying. And since this is technically the third game in the series, it has formed a fairly consistent pattern. Which is a big fucking problem.
I knew that Nora was doomed as soon as she was on the "bad guys" side, but Issac was a mix of surprise and disappointment. I was like "oh shit, Issac is Black?" quickly followed by "oh no…Issac is Black". Fast forward to near the end of Abby's side and I'm thinking "oh shit, we may have someone actually live through one of these things". Nope, dude shows up again and my first thought is that he's about to die in this scene. Surprise surprise, he's shot several times by someone who should be dead. What's sad is that this train of thought really shouldn't be getting validated in 2020. In a way, it harkens back to bullshit like the "Black guy dies first" trope which plagued movies for decades.
Now back to how these deaths are for character development. In the case of Nora, her death represents Ellie "crossing the line" in terms of her revenge. And from there she spirals even further in her quest for revenge. In the case of Issac, it represents Abby breaking free from the Wolfs. Which is supposed to be a parallel to Lev severing his final tie to the religion with the death of his mom.
In the first game, Henry and Sam's deaths were a reminder to Ellie about her own morality and further strengthens her resolve to find the fireflies. For Marlene, her death was to show just how far Joel would go to protect Ellie. Which is a stark contrast to how he was prior to meeting her. In the case of Riley, her death was the start of Ellie's survivor's guilt.
Black people being used as catalysts for the character development of the white characters is just infuriating. As it feels like these people are less characters and more things to be thrown away when their purpose is fulfilled. Since at no point with any of the Black characters did I feel like they actually had something substitutional to contribute to the plot. Rather they were steppingstones for other (white) characters within the series to progress THEIR stories. Which is a terrible thing for your Black characters to go through, since none of their stories feel like their own. For example, there was really no reason to get rid Sam/Henry when Jackson was literally in the next fucking scene. It just felt like trauma for trauma's sake. Their story didn't have to end at that point, they could have lived in Jackson doing their own thing. Yet, Black characters are not allowed to have character arcs in this series. Instead, there is only enough backstory given to make you feel sad/bad when they die. It's this kind of dehumanization that is rampant throughout the series is one of the main reasons I feel anti-blackness permeates throughout naughty dog.
Now this scene is especially egregious. If you told me anyone except a white woman wrote this, I would be absolutely shocked. As the way this scene is framed is drenched in white women fears of Black men, dating back to before the jim crow era (with it really coming to a head with "The Birth of a Nation"). An extremely tall (pegging him at like 6'9" because Abby is at least 5'9"), muscular, and seemingly unstoppable Black man? I've seen this song and dance plenty of times and it's always infuriating. It's made even worse because he's lit in such way that he's shadow-like, never really seeing his features until you start brutally goring him. In fact, out of all the deaths in the game, this is easily the most brutal and it's just some unnamed Black guy. Whose framed in a monstrous way because you continuously maim the dude and yet he just keeps getting back up like nothing happened. And unlike other death scenes in the game, you are in complete control of what you're doing to this person.
[LATimes]
Personally, I couldn't believe what I was seeing while I played through this scene. The whole time I was thinking "holy fuck, the optics here are dreadful" and it just kept getting worse as it played out. Since I'm witnessing what's essentially the The Brute caricature play out in a modern day AAA game, and that is truly disgusting.
[Jim Crow Museum]
(this stereotype was also used by man who is equally terrible with anything race related Heavy Rain)
Stereotypes like this were used liberally during the 1900s to dehumanize Black men so they could more easily be controlled or disposed of. And those stereotypes are still (clearly) present to this day. So, seeing media perpetuate those stereotypes which only harm Black people is maddening. Since these are the kind of stereotypes people internalize and then judge others upon. Resulting in things like excessive uses of force by cops (and others), discrimination, fear, etc. The author of that scene (and other people on the team) has some anti-blackness embedded within their thought processes they need to acknowledge, deconstruct, and work through.
Now to switch gears for a second
…
DON"T THINK I FORGOT ABOUT YOU UNCHARTED
We'll get to this in a second. Uncharted as a series has always had terrible optics. A white man (and his white pals) goes around the world stealing from cultures and blasting brown people? And there's not a single Black protag until the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] game in the series. And even then, you cast a white woman to voice her? It's that last bit which is the important part, since it shows another way ND has been anti-black. As it demonstrates a lack of caring that a Black woman is voiced by a white woman. No really, Neil did not give a shit and it wasn't even on his mind for months.
[Gamecrate]
He had plenty of time to recast her once they decided she would be Black; let's be honest though, was she really gonna end up a different race being from South Africa? Yet this dissonance was not important enough in his mind for him to correct it (someone even warned him about it too). And it's that lack of caring which shows you a lot about someone. One would think that properly handling your FIRST major Black character within your megahit blockbuster franchise would be a priority, but not for Neil it seems. Instead of boosting a talented Black or South African VA (which did audition for the role), we are once again subjected to the trifecta of whiteness that plagues numerous AAA games on the VA side.
Not like Laura's response was much better than Neil's though. It can be summed up as "it's either this or nothing negroes!". She didn't even consider that she should be (at least vocally) recast at that point. Which is just another case of apathy during development.
https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2016/02/09/laura-bailey-responds-uncharted-4-casting-controversy/][PlaystationLifestyle][/url]
These repeated catastrophic handlings of anything relating to race within their games and outside of them, have led me to labeling Naughty Dog as anti-black. Which makes me extremely weary of any other title they'll put out in the future. They have a hell of a long road ahead of themselves for redemption. In conclusion though, (and I cannot stress this enough) do better.
