Episode 8: Video Games Are Bad, Actually

The Red Pen

Content warnings: Anti-black racism, antisemitism, mentions of the Holocaust, mentions of slavery, domestic violence, references to sexual assault, murder, death, violence, mentions of stereotyped drug abuse, mentions of android body horror, fatphobia, transphobia, and generally just a lot of co-opting of real-life struggles in an allegory about androids gaining freedom and rights.

Amanda had the bright idea of exploring problematic media and talking about the ways in which you can like problematic things, but she might have erred upon choosing—and digging deep into researching—the video game Detroit: Become Human as her example. Amanda acknowledges the cool parts of the game (and its fandom) but struggles to get past its egregious racism, antisemitism, bad allegory, and troublesome depictions of trauma. A broader conversations is had throughout the episode, with questions like: How do you engage with problematic media? Where have Austin and Amanda personally drawn the line and disengaged, and why? And can kinky android fanfic redeem a game?

Works Cited:

Detroit: Become Human (Video game)
Roseanne (TV show)
Attack on Titan (anime/manga)
How I Met Your Mother (TV show)
The Daily Show (TV show)
The Colbert Report (TV show)
Dragon Age: Inquisition (Video game)
The Harry Potter series
Mulan (Film)
Evan Narcisse: The Casual Inhumanity of How Detroit: Become Human Uses Black Culture
Martin Robinson: David Cage on Detroit and its depiction of domestic violence
Tanner Rubert: Detroit: Become Human, Domestic Violence, and Cowardice in Writing
Connor Rennick: How Detroit: Become Human Misunderstands Race Relations
Yussef Cole: 'Detroit' Siphons and Squanders a History of Marginalized Struggle
Ian Graber-Stiehl: The Profound Quandary of Blackness in the Video Game ‘Detroit: Become Human’
Heather Alexandra: David Cage Games Keep Treating Women Like Shit
Gita Jackson: The Super-Fans Of Detroit: Become Human Hate Most Of The Game
Sharonda Harris-Marshall: It’s Ok To Like Problematic Media

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The Red Pen is produced by Amanda Jean.