Post-colonialism in the Modern World

There's a saying "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  It basically means that beauty comes in different forms, that there is no single definition of beautiful.  Unfortunately this idiom had lost most of its charm, since most "beholders" are influenced by a colonised society.

Post-colonialism can be defined as the lingering effects of colonialism; colonialism being the modernization of countries seen as savage by self-proclaimed civilized people.  Ideas such as Europeans and Caucasians being completely pure and the ideal definition of beauty are few of the many fallacious effects from Colonialism.  The long term effect of colonization, or post-colonialism, can be seen just about anywhere in today's media; from fashion models, silently implying that Caucasian people are the definition of beautiful, to the daily news report of yet another African American shoplifting from the vulnerable Asian cashier. Post-colonialism is truly abundant in today’s media and society.  I've spent most of my spring break pondering about what example I would use to define post-colonialism when in fact, my example was literally if front of my face and in the tips of my fingers.

Resident Evil 5 is a fictional video game set in the heart of Africa in the year 2008. For those who are unfamiliar with this game, here's a brief explanation.  Resident Evil is a video game franchise under the shooter/zombie genre.  Out of all the instalments in the series, Resident Evil 5 probably is the most controversial for the player controls a Caucasian protagonist who fights against hordes of African zombies.  I won't lie by saying that this is a completely racist game that wrongfully portrays Africans and corrupts the many people who have played this game; in fact, I myself have completed the game's campaign numerous times without any thoughts of post-colonisation crossing my mind.  But upon a closer look, I found that the game contains many examples of Post-colonialism.

Screenshot of protagonist Chris Redfeild against hostile African zombies.

Now I personally do not think that the game is racist.  People can be racist but games can't, they're inanimate and therefore cannot judge anyone.  But the game does portray effective examples of post-colonialism.

One example would be how the African zombies only had crude weapons such as sickles, knives and machetes while the player had an arsenal of weapons ranging from standard pistols to a fully operational minigun.  In the book "Things Fall Apart," which was published in 1958, the protagonist Okonkwo made it quite clear that he and his tribe had guns themselves, yet in this game set in the year 2008, the villagers act as if their most advanced weapon was a crossbow.  This is an effective example how Africans are portrayed as uncivilized with their crude weapons while Caucasians have a large variety of advanced tools to their disposal.

Example 1: Caucasian protagonist has advanced weapons while African zombie has to use a crude chainsaw.

Another example is the physical build of the characters.  In the game, the protagonist is someone who has obviously spent a lot of time in the gym.  Funny enough, this was the first game that the player controls someone who looks like he took steroids.  Also, Chris didn't look that bulky in the previous games, he was quite average physically before going to Africa.  All the African zombies however have a skinny physique as if they haven't eaten in days.  While I’m sure this is true for some people in Africa, I'm also sure that not all Africans are famished people with no physical build.  Some parts of Africa are civilized and would have people with decent physical bulk.  Post-colonialism is present here for the Africans are portrayed as skinny weak people while Caucasians are portrayed as muscular and strong.

Example 2: As you can see protagonist Chris Redfield has a great physical build compared to the Africans who have no build at all.

The final example of post-colonialism in this game is the setting itself.  The area of the village is completely disgusting and unfit for anyone to live in.  It is this setting that makes players believe that Africa really is a horrible place.  The post-colonialism present in this game portrays Africa as a filthy, disgusting and vile place that no one would like to visit.  In fact I have not heard of or seen any game that portrays Africa as a place where one would go to for a vacation.  This is yet another effect of post-colonialism; most people would like to go to Paris, New York, Venice and many other European and North American destinations and places like Africa and South America are portrayed as ugly and dangerous places to go to.

Example 3: The game's setting doesn't exactly show Africa's tourist attractions.  In fact it gives you hundreds of reasons as to why one should not go to Africa.

Resident Evil 5 is not the only game that gives examples of post-colonialism; in fact, most of the games I've seen or played have discreet traces of post-colonialism.  I'm not implying that games are misleading and racist, but I've noticed that many traces of colonialism still linger in our present society, even in places we least expect it to be like video games.

For example, in the recent Pokémon games released last month, ironically named Black and White, we see the first ever black character in the main Pokémon game franchise.  Now I’m wondering why it took seven series of games and 649 Pokémon for Nintendo to add an African American character.  And in a game coincidentally named Pokémon Black no less.

Post-colonialism is the aftermath of colonialism.  The traces of colonialism are discreet but if we are observant, we can see traces of colonialism in media, games, news and in our way of life in general.  Acknowledging post-colonialism is one thing, but eradicating it is another.  Colonialism has left a very deep mark in society that I am convinced that completely erasing the effects that post-colonialism brings to our lives is an impossible task.  But that's only my opinion, only time will tell if the scars left my colonialism will ever heal.