With issues that go on today in the world such as racism, different sorts of media has touched on this subject. Rather it be a movie or television show, surprisingly enough it is even being modeled in video games. A video game that is heavily influenced by racism is Bioshock Infinite.
Bioshock Infinite released in 2013, made by former studio Irrational Games. They created this world to be modeled around the culture of the early 1900’s, which also includes racism. Instead of having the game making their players figure out this sense of racism, it is actually thrown at the player’s face. In a world today where racism and racialism have construed a sort of controversy, it’s amazing that a video game heavily depends on it.The culture of Bioshock revolves around religion and race, where people who are accepted into this world have some sort of purpose. The world you are in is called Columbia, which is based off the real city of Columbia in South Carolina. The developers included traits of Columbia like racism to create one of the strongest conflicts in Bioshock Infinite.
You play as Booker Dewitt, who is tasked to rescue a woman, which you are sent to Columbia (which is a city in the sky) to find her. On the way, you think that this world is cheery and happy, that everyone gets along with one another, but that is not the case. A section in the game includes a Caucasian male and a African American female tied together, this represented the shaming of interracial relationships that had happened during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Interestingly enough, the comment that the announcer of this “show” is “I hope you don’t take your coffee black now-a-days”. Soon after, you are prompted to decide if you want to hit the announcer or hit the couple with a baseball. Let’s just say you get a nice reward if you decide to throw it at the announcer.
Throughout the game you will find propaganda that highlights racism towards different cultures such as Asian and Native American. Here are some screen shots that I took during my actual play time with the game.
Warning: Photos will be offensive.
This shows a glimpse of what racism was like during the early 1900's and although it is fictional, it represents how what people go through still every day. When a game is showing how wrong it is to be racist, it’s probably time for the world stop as well.
