So
I wrote the following piece for class about two weeks ago. I’m opting to post
it now because I think the basic concepts in it are important. You’re likely to
hear me talk about symbolic annihilation in future musings and it’s a concept I
feel applies a lot to not only the game in question but to a lot of nerd
culture.
So sit back and enjoy.
The
Witch Doctor or Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.
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| Male Witch Doctor |
For those who haven’t left the World
of Warcraft in awhile (and I mean a long while), Diablo 3 is the third game in
a franchise that Blizzard Entertainment had allowed to go dormant for far too
long. I would blame Warcraft, but that would be a digression I’m sure I
shouldn’t take. Instead I want to talk about the Witch Doctor from Diablo 3.
The Witch Doctor is one of five
playable classes in this game. His power set is similar to the Necromancer from
Diablo 2, in that he raises things from the dead, summons helpers and has a
magic hue of sickly green. Though Blizzard claims he’s not the Necromancer. The
main difference between the two appears to be that the Necromancer was white,
meanwhile the Witch Doctor is black. And herein lies the problem.
The problem isn’t so much that the
character is black. It’s that the portrayal of the only black character in the
game is that of a savage primitive. The voice acting for the character has that
old school authentic African touch. He wears big voodoo mask that look more
like Zulu warrior mask. Oh and don’t forget the bone jewelry, the icing on the
cake.
To explain why this is all wrong I
would like to first introduce a sociological theory called symbolic annihilation.
This occurs when a minority group is marginalized or trivialized in a media
portrayal. This occurs when negative stereotypes are reinforced. Or when the
only thing we see of a minority group is not positive. Good examples of this is
when lesbians are shown only as butch. Or gay men only shown as flaming. Jewish
accountant, Asian drycleaners and even only athletic black men are also all
examples of symbolic annihilation as it regulates those minority groups to
these very specific and often times negative roles. When you’re only exposure
to a sub group is through video games, movies and tv shows these portrayals
become very problematic as it forms your only idea of what that group or
minority is like.
 |
| Female Witch Doctor |
Now Diablo 3 is an otherwise fun
game. And I don’t think that when Blizzard set out to create the Witch Doctor
they were plotting and planning and intending to portray black people in such a
negative way. I’m pretty sure that when the idea of the Witch Doctor came up it
was thought to be a fun addition to the game. So I by no means mean to imply
that Blizzard is being malicious in it’s portrayal here. But that’s the
insidious part of symbolic annihilation. The in group is, in some cases,
unknowingly marginalizing a minority group. The in group (in this case white
males) are deciding for their audience how a minority group is going to be
portrayed and be told what is “cool” for them. That’s a powerful thing. And
it’s something that as gamers we all need to watch out for. Because in the end
if we remain silent then we allow these images to continue and these idea’s to
spread.
Links.
If
you’re interested in what the Witch Doctor looks like and what the class
entails here’s Blizzards page on the class.
For
a really good read on symbolic annihilation check out this article.
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