Kermit O — Writer • Dreamer • Abolitionist

Video Games Can Never Be Art: The Myopia of Roger Ebert

Video GamesChrono Trigger, Games as Art, Lunar, Roger Ebert

I have argued in the past that video games are the ultimate form of expression, and what is art if not expression? Indeed video games are a convergence of art from just about every medium – audio, visual, literary – and their social impact is ever-increasing. Ebert makes his statement by observing video footage of ... Read More

Once You See it: Uncharted and the Burden of Awareness

Gender & Sexuality, Media Analysis, Race & Racism, Video GamesColonial Adventures, Uncharted, White Gaze

Once upon a time, I was able to just play video games and enjoy them. I didn’t see race, I didn’t see cultural issues, or gender issues, or anything. Games, after all, were my escape from such heady things. But now I can’t help but notice them. There is hardly a movie or a game ... Read More

Black, White, and Jade: Race in Video Games

Media Analysis, Race & Racism, Video GamesBeyond Good & Evil, black video game characters, Jade

As technology improves, and as the content of games expands in terms of breadth and depth, opportunities only increase for representing diversity. In the future, it will not be enough for a character to have darker skin, thicker lips, or a different eye shape. We will have to see different cultures and experiences represented as ... Read More

Pearl-Clutching, Stereotypes, and Ethnic Representation in Video Games

Media Analysis, Race & Racism, Video GamesFinal Fantasy VII, Games as Art, Stereotypes

Those of us who are not white, but hope to identify with the characters we play in games the same as anyone, find the industry to be deficient. At best we have had to settle for ethnically ambiguous characters, often in non-Earth settings, which while fulfilling an aesthetic need still leave players wanting for a ... Read More

Jihad, Violence, and Misrepresentation of Islam in Global Conflict

Philosophy & Religion, Society & CultureIslam, Jihad, Propaganda

Even in accepting the apologists’ arguments, that Islam was essentially a peaceful religion, and it was only through a myopic and agenda-driven misinterpretation of the holy texts that the “Islamist” perspective emerged, there was still a problem. It seemed to me that all around the world, where there were “insurgencies” or other forms of violent ... Read More

Women, Islam, and the Paternalism of White Feminists

Gender & Sexuality, Philosophy & Religion, Society & CultureFeminism, Hijab, Islam

Gender inequality, even where it takes on a distinctly “Islamic” character, is not specific to Islam as a religion, or Muslim society. Rather, it is a consequence of patriarchy – a phenomenon that knows no religious or cultural boundaries. How patriarchy manifests in any given society, the ways that people – particularly women – respond ... Read More