Close Encounters with Dick & Boner: Episode 2: Illegal Aliens

Dick: It just hit me that there's a racist undertone to these games we've been playing.


Boner: We've been through this already...Capcom told us Resident Evil 5 wasn't racist even though it was and they won't do it again, the end.


Dick: No, this is a bit more subtle. Ever notice how a familiar premise going all the way back to the old days has been an evil alien invasion? There's aliens, they're foreign and thus they're evil and must be destroyed in the most gruesome way possible. We greet the unknown with a shotgun to the face like it's a natural, appropriate reaction. Meanwhile, it seeps into our subconscious that aliens are inherently evil. That then seeps into our perception of our own world with people who are alien to us just trying to scrounge up a living. What do we do to these aliens? We great them with shotgun democracy and hostility despite their patience and determination to just live their lives. They pose no threat to us whatsoever. It's like a vicious cycle where these games are teaching us to hate immigrants!


Boner: That's not why we kill aliens in video games. It's because they're already shooting at us. It's a matter of survival. Also, every time we have a game where humans kill each other the media and censors are all over it and won't let us play it. 'Too much violence! Too much gore! This is deplorable!' What if we made the victims into grotesque alien invaders instead of humans? 'Oh...then it's okay!' Video game rule: if it isn't human you can do anything you want to it. I can live with an unhealthy obsession with aliens and robots.


Dick: I'd settle for the world agreeing that zombies aren't human so at least everyone can play Left 4 Dead the way it was meant to be played, together as one planet united. It's one more step toward world peace.


Boner: and it'll prepare the East for the real thing...