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submitted 11 months ago by Helix@feddit.de to c/gaming@lemmy.ml

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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[-] InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works 29 points 11 months ago

I get what you're saying, but I doubt a racist lacking the empathy towards fellow humans will somehow develop empathy towards robots.

[-] Helix@feddit.de 3 points 11 months ago

The point is: you play as the robots. They don't play as an immigrant IRL.

[-] verdigris@lemmy.ml 23 points 11 months ago

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.

[-] maniel@beehaw.org 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yeah, like with The Boys series conservatives thought of Homelander as a protagonist, the good guy, a role model

[-] Helix@feddit.de 1 points 11 months ago

Good point, but the protagonists in Detroit are the marginalized.

[-] maniel@beehaw.org 3 points 11 months ago

yeah, but my point was conservative people might not identify with marginalized side here

[-] Helix@feddit.de 2 points 11 months ago

Which drastically better media?

[-] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 2 points 11 months ago

Mutants in marvel comics have always been an allegory for racism.

[-] verdigris@lemmy.ml 2 points 11 months ago

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).

[-] Helix@feddit.de 2 points 11 months ago

Why/how are these movies better than Detroit, which is an interactive experience?

[-] verdigris@lemmy.ml 5 points 11 months ago

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

[-] Helix@feddit.de 4 points 11 months ago

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.

[-] verdigris@lemmy.ml 1 points 11 months ago

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.

[-] Naz@sh.itjust.works 9 points 11 months ago

I gained sympathy for artificial intelligence and robots from Detroit: Become Human, I think I missed the social message it was portraying in lieu of the science fiction one.

I see an enormous amount of fear and hate being levied out towards artificial intelligence currently around the world, fears it'll take away jobs and opportunities from real humans, or launch the nukes or something.

I think it's important to not be racist rowards other humans and organics, but also to be kind to non-humans, machines, and animals. Have compassion towards all sentient beings.

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 17 points 11 months ago

Chatgpt isn't sentient. It's just a coherent text generator.

[-] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 months ago

This. Trying to humanize ChatGPT (and "AI" in the state they are now) is silly

[-] Helix@feddit.de 2 points 11 months ago

I think I missed the social message it was portraying in lieu of the science fiction one.

That's alarming, since the social message gets hammered in time and time again to the point of it being overexplained.

Your comment made me reconsider if the experience would be something to make a racist think about his own racism, if people who assumedly are not racists don't even see the message.

[-] crashfrog@lemm.ee 6 points 11 months ago

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.

[-] BurningRiver@beehaw.org 4 points 11 months ago

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.

this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2023
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