Dead Island

Logan Buum This powerpoint examines a case of black representation/imitation in video game media by focusing on the character Sam B from the video game series Dead Island. It features a short summary of the characters background and lore while focusing on the cultural influence and aspects of the character, particularly in concerns of his music, gangsta rap, voodoo, and southern hip hop. Notably the creation of the character and his music had very little if any influence from any Black person, contextualizing the character as more negative than it otherwise would be. Ignoring the nature of the characters creation, Sam B exemplifies stereotypes, especially those related to gangsta rap and the popular culture related to it. In addition to the stereotypical representation of gangsta rap, the voodoo aspects of the character are also a pop culture interpretation, depicting it as dark magic to better fit the zombie infested theme of the game while removing it from its actual meanings. I use Adeerya Johnson's dirty south feminism article to tie the powerpoint back to the class and further contextualize the stereotypical nature of the character that simultaneously reflects the gender hierarchy that is present in rap as well as the hyper masculinity that can be used to characterize aspects of gangsta rap. While it is only an imitation crossing the line into appropriation, aspects of Black culture and media still arises, especially with call and response and the reflection of gender roles in music. To bridge this topic to modern day audiences, the redesign of his character may be considered an acknowledgement of the potentially offensive nature of Sam B's old design. This also links back to the question of whether or not certain aspects of comedy or entertainment are acceptable today, or if modern audiences have outgrown them, but this is not a topic I cover in my project.