SPF's Failure to address "Magical Negro" stereotype Stunts Gaming as an Artistic Medium

Apparently having respect for my opinions, I was contacted by Billy Cohen about events in the gaming industry of late. Events of which I don't settle well with me. What follows is the entire PM from Billy.

William Z. Cohen

• Hello there Tony,
  
  I wanted to share with you an email that came from the Editior in Chief concerning a very big mistake he had made. Here is the apology that he sent out to all those who get the newsletter from DRIVETHRURPG:
  
  To All of Our Valued Friends and Customers,
  
  I made a big mistake today. I allowed a Newsletter to go out to many thousands of folks without thoroughly reading through each of the feature pieces that I shared. In particular, it was the "Archetype of the Week," which contained a racially insensitive passage.
  
  I failed in my duty as the Editor-in-Chief of the Newsletter. Though no one that works for DriveThruRPG or RPGNow wrote that piece, it was my responsibility to review anything that went into the mailing. I got careless.
  
  Please understand that DriveThruRPG and RPGNow represent a very socially conscientious company with a highly ethical approach to business. This was a terrible mistake and in no way should the offensive material be construed as representing our views or philosophies.
  
  Please accept this as my personal, sincere apology to you all, as well as my pledge to be more dilligent in the future about vetting all material that is mailed out by us.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Sean Patrick Fannon
  Communications & Marketing Manager, DriveThruRPG and RPGNow
  
  
  
  So, now that you read his letter, you are probably wondering why he sent this and what offensive material he was talking about. Here is the article in nature that was accidentally sent:
  
  
  Archetype of the Week - the Noble Savage
  It's been a while since we last visited the stack of Archetypes from the great folks at Hex Games, so let's throw one at you this week -
  
  The noble savage is a character from a primitive culture who is uncorrupted by the prejudices and quirks of "civilized" society. As a result, the noble savage is seen as embodying a high level of spiritual enlightenment despite his barbaric nature. His simple, straightforward way of looking at the world allows him to point out the irrationality of many of modern society's most treasured rituals and beliefs.
  
  A variation on the noble savage theme is the "Magical Negro" archetype, which includes characters like Uncle Remus, Bagger Vance, and numerous Morgan Freeman characters. Although the Magical Negro is generally less overtly primitive than the noble savage, the core concept of a character who is wise despite his otherness is very similar.
  
  A Word of Warning
  
  Aliens and made-up fantasy barbarian tribes are one thing, but this archetype can easily become an offensive stereotype when real-world cultures come into play. In fact, some people find the archetype itself offensive. Therefore, if you’re going to use this archetype for a member of a real ethnic group, please approach the character and the culture with some maturity and tact.
  
  Likely Stories
  
  The noble savage most commonly appears in historical and fantasy stories, westerns, and science fiction stories featuring alien races.
  
  The Name Game
  
  The noble savage's name will reflect his culture. In most cases, this means that the character's name is either a completely nonsensical, alien-sounding collection of syllables or a translation of the meaning of the character's real name. These translations often describe the character in some way, often by evoking animals or natural phenomena.
  
  The Numbers
  
  Because noble savage typically live much harder lives than other characters, they tend to have above-average Body Numbers. Brain and Nerve can fall anywhere in the usual range, but language barriers, cultural differences, and the character's unfamiliarity with mainstream society often cause the character to experience difficulties interacting with other people and can make him seem simple or dull. The easiest way to handle these societal differences it to require the character to take an appropriate Weakness or assign penalties to rolls involving modern society.
  
  Suggested Jobs: Aborigine, Amazon, Archer, Barbarian, Berserker, Brave, Bushman, Cannibal, Chauffeur, Chief, Gaul, Gladiator, Guide, Harpooner, Hun, Hunter, Indian, Manservant, Medicine Man, Mountain Man, Nomad, Pict, Pilot, Pirate, Porter, Raider, Sailor, Sasquatch, Savage, Scout, Shaman, Sherpa, Sidekick, Slave, Sorcerer, Talking Gorilla, Tribesman, Vandal, Viking, Warrior, Wildman, Witch Doctor, Wookie
  
  Suggested Gimmicks: At One With Nature, Battle Frenzy, Born In The Saddle, Danger Sense, Fearless, Forest Ninja, Hard To Kill, Horse Whisperer, Keen Senses, Lightning Reflexes, Lord of the Apes, Mighty Thews, Powerful Kung Fu, Survivor, Tough As Leather, Unerring Direction Sense
  
  Suggested Weaknesses: Alcoholic, Battle Scars, Big and Dumb, Code of Honor, Savage, Social Stigma, Sticks Out Like A Sore Thumb, Stranger In A Strange Land, Superstitious, Underestimated, Uneducated
  
  Suggested Skills: Ambush, Animal Lore, Archery, Axe, Climbing, Contacts, Dancing, Dodge, Drinking, Fishing, Foraging, Healing, Herbalism, Horseback Riding, Hunting, Intimidation, Martial Arts, Mythology, Sailing, Spear, Stealth, Swordsmanship, Tracking, Wilderness Survival, Wrestling
  
  WWPHITM? Andre The Giant, Halle Berry, Moon Bloodgood, Don Cheadle, Wilt Chamberlain, Rae Dawn Chong, Iron Eyes Cody, Sybil Danning, Rosario Dawson, Johnny Depp, Michael Dorn, Graham Greene, Rutger Hauer, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Grace Jones, Vinnie Jones, Val Kilmer, Keira Knightley, Sonny Landham, Lucy Lawless, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Mako, Russell Means, Mr. T, Miles O'Keeffe, Lou Diamond Phillips, Tonya Roberts, Mickey Roarke, Arnold Schwartzeneggar, Jay Silverheels, Stellan Skarsgard, Ringo Starr, Wes Studi, Gina Torres, Danny Trejo, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Johnny Weissmuller
  
  Tag Line: "He is very fortunate to have such a woman looking after his weapon."--The Groosalugg, Angel
  
  Tools of the Trade: The noble savage's most important possession will probably his weapon, though medicine men and other magic users will also carry an assortment of holy or mystical items.
  
  Where You'll Find Him: With his tribe. If for some reason the noble savage has been separated from his tribe, he can usually be found alone in the wilderness. If for some reason he finds himself in a city, he will typically stay close to whoever brought him there, at least initially.
  
  Social Circle: His tribe. If the character has lost his tribe, he will most likely spend his time with a small circle of companions who have gained his trust.
  
  Sample Character
  
  George of the Jungle
  
  Body: 15
  
  Brain: 8
  
  Nerve: 12
  
  Job: Ape Man (12)
  
  Gimmick: Animal Allies (13)
  
  Weakness: Watch Out For That Tree! (13)
  
  Skills: Vine Swinging +3; Feats of Strength +2; Climbing +1
  
  WWPHITM? Brendan Frasier
  
  Dumb Fact: Has an ape friend named Ape.
  
  Tag Line: "Sometime George smash into tree.'
  
  HP: 15
  
  YY: 3
  
  Inspirational Materials
  
  Books & Comics: Conan series by Robert E. Howard, DragonLance series by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hikckman (Goldmoon, Riverwind, the Kagonesti), The Epic of Gilgamesh (Enkidu), Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper, Moby Dick by Herman Melville (Queequeg), Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Turok
  
  Movies & TV: Angel (The Grooosalugg), Avatar (The Na'vi), Brotherhood of the Wolf (Mani), Dances With Wolves (the entire Lakota tribe), King Arthur (2004) (the Woads), The Lone Ranger (Tonto), Star Trek (Klingons), Star Wars (Chewbacca), Superfriends (Apache Chief)
  
  
  
  As you can see, this article may have offended many a person and he sent the apology to ensure that those who subscribe to the newsletter do not take it as a personal attack or as a joke because the view of the author of this article is NOT SHARED by those at DRIVETHRURPG.
  
  Have a nice evening...
  
  Will

• 
  

Rather than address the Hollywood tropes of 'the magical negro' or 'the noble savage', SPF redacts the offending article, apologizing for offending the masses. In the efforts to protect social and political face, SPF denied readers the ability to maturely discuss issues of race and stereotypes in games. While I feel for SPF's position of inadvertently taking on a large social issue, he shuts down the discussion before it even begins. I understand that SPF's job depends on saving face for the company, that SPF may have had no other choice than to apologize, and that the issue of race and stereotype in games may be too large an issue for SPF to tackle on his own. However, I disagree with his action of redaction, apology, and taking action as sunblock for the gaming community at large as a member of this community.

A few years back there was a similar issue regarding a different topic and a different industry. The game was called Six Days in Fallujah. The game was to be a tribute to soldiers who had died in the battle of Fallujah during the Iraq War. During the process of the design, developers sourced content from soldiers who had fought in the battle and from family and loved ones. The message was to be simple. "War is Hell." Development continued until News outlets and Fox News found out about the game. Atlus, the publisher, backpedaled, and rather than stand by their game and the content honoring the troops, they dropped the game from their line up and halted development. As a consequence, the troops who fought and died in that battle lose their immortalization within our medium.

More on Six Days can be seen Here.

Race and Stereotype may have been too big for SPF to address. Specifically the original article may have had the wrong tone in bringing up this issue. Furthermore, SPF may never have had the intention of addressing how we view race and stereotype in games when the original article was approved. Still, the industry is worse off for not having this conversation lead by someone so prominent within the industry.

My Point of bringing all this up, is that my sentiments concerning sex in games were recently removed from a gaming forum on facebook, and Billy, not satisfied with three threads being removed and myself being removed from the group, expects an apology in addition to my forced redaction.

Much like the late Christopher Hitchens said, the speech that voices opinions different than ours is the speech the most important to protect. Maybe SPF had something inspired to say about Race and Stereotyping, Maybe Six Days had something important to say about War, Maybe Apocalypse World, and yes, even I, had something interesting to say about Sex in Games, but now we'll never know. When we disagree on things, we argue, and when the conversation stops, we stop learning. Disagreement and Argument is not a good reason to shut down a thread, it is, however, an excellent reason to keep it going.

The Fact is, Every form of media had its detractors and its banner-holders. The same arguments are being flung around from the pro-social-stagnation position as were being tossed around when Roger Ebert was fighting to qualify Film as an artistic medium. Unless we use our pens and our dice and our keyboards to make the tough arguments, we will never be taken seriously. And yes, that may include getting into a confrontation about what belongs and what doesn't. If we refuse the confrontation, we submit to stagnation, and allow our medium to fall by the wayside and die.

That's my dukes.
-TK.