As one of many reasons for xenophobia and racism is the dehumanisation of people who are different, Detroit might help racists step in the shoes of marginalised groups and see how most of them are just victims of racist societies, kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The initial scene with Marcus is pretty powerful to show senseless violence against non-humans. Detroit continues to show how one can become human or become emotionally intelligent instead. Sadly most racists are human…
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I get what you’re saying, but I doubt a racist lacking the empathy towards fellow humans will somehow develop empathy towards robots.
The point is: you play as the robots. They don’t play as an immigrant IRL.
I don’t think particularly ham-fisted and unsubtle allegory about racism is going to do anything to convince racists that decades of drastically better media on the same subject hasn’t done.
Yeah, like with The Boys series conservatives thought of Homelander as a protagonist, the good guy, a role model
Good point, but the protagonists in Detroit are the marginalized.
yeah, but my point was conservative people might not identify with marginalized side here
Which drastically better media?
Mutants in marvel comics have always been an allegory for racism.
12 Years a Slave and Django Unchained are the two movies that immediately come to mind – obviously these are specifically focused on American slavery instead of racism generally, but they’re both excellent, and one’s entertaining while the other is devastating (though obviously both are both).
Why/how are these movies better than Detroit, which is an interactive experience?
Because Detroit: Become Human is written by David Cage who writes on about a 8th grade writing level and has all the subtlety of The Rock declaring his next finisher.
Do you honestly think this game is on par with those movies? I think that’s borderline insulting tbh
No, I just wanted to hear your reasoning why this would be better to teach racists.
Usually racists don’t care about a writing level above 8th grade. Most of them never finished high school.
Sure, which is why I would start with Django. Or any of the countless children’s media that has anti-racism and inclusion as a central theme.
I think if you want to understand racism, you can’t understand it as the failure to have certain pieces of knowledge. Racists generally aren’t unaware that people experience suffering when they’re held down or held back from their appropriate station in life.
What racists generally believe, if you’re trying to be maximally charitable to the views of racists (ugh), is that human suffering also comes from pushing people into societal roles that are above their station. The individual so pushed suffers, and society suffers for having “the wrong people” in important roles. For instance, that’s the view that held that slavery for Black Americans was good for them.
I think a racist in that strain would play the Detroit game and not be convinced, since the game likely doesn’t address that position at all.
Haven’t played Detroit, but I’m intrigued.
Mafia 3 is another game that leaves no doubt about what the color of your character’s skin is.
