opinions // 20

Insulting satire

» When parody crosses over into racism

Ed Appleby
itustrator
Miillustrator
@theotherpress.ca

| umour is a funny thing. In
order to get a laugh out of

people we have to push them
into an uncomfortable place,
showing things that cause the
brain to misfire and release that
tension with a guffaw. Parody is
a great way to do this, by both
creating funny situations and
emphasizing aspects of our own
life and world that are flawed and
ridiculous. However, parody has
always flown close to insensitive
humour about race, gender,

and nationality. It’s an easy way
to feel superior by laughing at
the characteristics of others. So
where is that line?

Adam Sandler crossed that
line while filming The Ridiculous
Six. Six Native American actors
and a cultural adviser walked
off the set, making claims that
the movie insulted their women
and elders. And looking at
the evidence, I cannot argue
with that. The scene involving
Native women named Beaver
Breath, Smoking Fox, and Never
Wears Bra talking about using
a dead squirrel for toilet paper
is insulting to woman, First

 

: Nations, and anyone who actually :
: has an idea of what comedy is.

: The excuse that no one expects
: highbrow comedy from Adam

: Sandler doesn’t stand; this isn’t
: Happy Gilmore getting his butt
: kicked by Bob Barker.

Netflix executives who are

: producing the film have defended :
: it, claiming “it is a broad satire :
: of western movies and the

: stereotypes they popularized,

: featuring a diverse cast that is

: not only part of—but in on—the
: joke.”

This statement is especially

insulting to me as it tries to

: justify the film by placing

: it on the same level as Mel

: Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974).

: Recognized as one of the top 10

: funniest movies of all time by

: the American Film Institute,

: Blazing Saddles parodied the

: western movie and race relations
: by showing some of the most

: outright racist scenes I’ve ever

: seen. The thing is, even though

: the movie showed extreme

: racism, it was not racist. Bart

: (Cleavon Little) was shown to be
: a complex and intelligent man,

: and it’s the racism he experiences :
: as he wins over the peoples’

: hearts and minds that gives us
: that uncomfortable laugh.

Before I get accused of

> comparing African-American

 

: apples to First Nations oranges,

: there is a scene in Blazing Saddles
: where three Native Americans

: approach a young Bart. The two

: warriors are aboriginal and the

: chief is Mel Brooks made up to

: appear aboriginal. This is a subtle

: nod to the fact that Hollywood

: westerns made use of non-Native
: actors in Native rolls (*cough*

: Johnny Depp *cough*), made all
: the more obvious when Brooks

: started to speak in, not Apache,

: but Yiddish.

theotherpress.ca

 

There is a place for stupid,

lowbrow, and racist comedy. And
: we all have our guilty pleasures.

: But do not try to pass off lazy

: joke writing as satire or the true

: satirists will make fun of you.

 

Innovating formula

» How the games industry franchised creativity

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

emember when Assassin’s
Creed (AC) first released in
2007? Eight years is a dog’s age
for the video game industry,
simply because sequelization
and franchising move at such a
blinding speed nowadays. Nearly
20 sequels later—no, I’m not
kidding—on various platforms,
the series is still Ubisoft’s hottest
property. How did this happen?
It should be known that
AC’s director, Quebecois game
designer Patrice Desilets, never
intended to produce more than
one AC title. Ubisoft refused
to publish the game if Desilets
didn’t agree to a franchise deal,
resulting in the game’s slick
historical narrative being marred
by the third-generation Dan
Brown Illuminati conspiracy
shlock as a framing device to
allow for sequels ad infinitum.
Desilets left Ubisoft in
2010 after AC: Brotherhood was
completed, signing on with
THQ in 20u to work on another
project. This new IP never
saw the light of day because
Ubisoft then purchased THQ

: in an auction. As Desilets

: continued working on his

: project (tentatively known as

: 1666), he was unceremoniously
: shit-canned by Ubisoft for

: unspecified reasons. Ubisoft has
: retained the rights to 1666.

This pattern has recurred

: throughout gaming’s history.

: EA Games forced expansions

: to Ultima Online, and then

: withheld the rights to the

: IP from its creator Richard

: Garriott after the game failed

: commercially. Bethesda

: Softworks disputed contract

: terms with Human Head

: Studios, terminating their work
: on Prey 2 and withholding the

: rights. The game was never

: produced. It’s ina big developer's :
: interests to acquire as many

: third-party IPs as possible, not

: necessarily to develop them, but
: to make sure no one else does.

: And if the idea doesn’t jive with
: that studio’s shtick, it'll sit ona

: shelf and rot.

It’s no coincidence that most

: of Ubisoft’s other franchises

: (Far Cry and Watch Dogs) are
: basically AC with guns. It’s for
: this same reason that Infinity
: Ward and Treyarch made Call

: of Duty at a similarly furious

: pace. Once you find a successful
: formula, there is no reason not

: to promulgate it until it ceases

: to be profitable. This is why

: we're seeing Uncharted 4:A

: Thief’s End being revived for the
: next console generation after

: years of silence. The setpiece-

: platformer-shooter formula has
: regained media attention (Tomb
: Raider reboot, anyone?), and is
therefore profitable again.

Before you regale me with

: tales of the rags-to-rags rebirth
: of indie gaming, consider that

: the most successful indie titles
: are Metroid/Castlevania-style

: platformers, Minecraft-esque

: survival/crafting simulators,

or ambiguous point-and-click

: art-house weirdness like Dear

: Esther or Gone Home. Indie

: games are just as formulaic as

: any big franchise, and the niche
: market is profitable enough for

: their means as long as they keep
: that audience feeding upon these :
; subgenres. :

We are living in the next

: great video game crash. The

: only difference is that it’s a

: crash of oversaturation rather
: than scarcity, so there is no

 

: motivation for anyone to take a

: baby step outside the box. Better
: to wrap the box around anything
: new and interesting so it can

: be made into the next formula.

: Just look at Hidetaka Miyazaki’s
: Souls series.

If glitchy stealth-action

games are replaced in the future
: by tough-as-nails dungeon-

: crawling clones of Dark Souls

: and Bloodborne, then certainly
: the formula will have changed,

Photo via twinfinite.net

: but the problem persists. Merely

: demonizing the current formula

: and substituting a new one

: perpetuates the cycle in the

: longterm while immediately

: looking like a reform. It’s the

dictionary definition of slow war.

: Maybe there’s no solution within

: reach, but overlooking Call of

: Duty: Black Ops 3 and Assassin’s

: Creed Victory at your birthday

: video game splurge might bea
good start.