Cultural appropriation in role play

[annwfyn]

This is something I've been thinking a lot about lately, and have decided to throw open to a wider group.

Obviously, I'm sure all readers of this LJ are roughly aware of what cultural appropriation is. What is crrently running through my mind is a curiosity/concern about how it intersects with role playing as a hobby, and to what extent we as role players are:

a) guilty of it
b) responsible for whether or not it occurs in our role playing games
c) people who actually think it's a bad thing.

You see, I'm really aware that role playing basically means 'pretending to be something you aren't'. And that's a good thing, by and large. But often it seems to involve 'pretending to be something you don't know anything about', and that pretty much tends to lead to 'getting it wrong'. Of course, at times this probably doesn't matter. While I don't have a clue what it would really be like to be an ethnic minority, hated and feared for the green colour of my skin, and carrying with me a history of burning villages, killing adventurers, and hiding out in underground dungeons, I doubt that there are many real life orcs who are going to be offended by my blatant use of prejudicial racial stereotypes. However, in a large number of games I play (primarily the White Wolf games set), I'm not playing a fantasy race, or a member of a culture that only exists inside someone's mind. I'm often playing something I'm not, which is also something that someone else is.

I remember with acute clarity the American Cam event I went to where I encountered a girl playing a Fianna kinfolk in an IRA t shirt. I remember with greater clarity her insistence that the IRA were an organisation who never hurt civillians, and were just trying to get the British Army to stop occupying her country. I was sure that the 21 people killed in the Birmingham pub bombing would have been rather surprised to hear that. I hope that the views expressed by the player were purely IC, but I had a horrible feeling throughout that the player wasn't much more knowledgeable about the history of the troubles in Ireland, and I did walk away from that encounter feeling rather offended. I wasn't annoyed at the fact that she was playing a member of the IRA, but I was really rather unimpressed by the fact that she seemed to know so very very little about a very real struggle which had killed a lot of people, including at least three family members of one of my school friends.

On a lesser scale, I'm fairly sure that most Brits will remember the occasional dodgy accent or just wonky portrayal of an Irish or Scots character in the old Cam chronicle.

The Brits, in general, have always tended to mutter darkly about such things. But should we? Do we have the right to be annoyed by people from another country playing characters from our country when they really don't know much about what it actually means to be Scottish, or Irish, or English these days? And if we do have the right, do we really need to look at what we're doing ourselves?

I'm currently involved with an independent old WoD larp. I'm also living with bringeroflight, who is my insight into the Camarilla live action role play society these days, and I see a lot of PCs in both games who are characters of a culture which is different to that of the player.

I see a lot of Japanese and Chinese characters, played by white kids who have never been further east than Essex. I see a lot of Russian characters played by people (and I've been one of these people) who could probably pick out Moscow and St Petersburg on a map, but wouldn't have a clue where Khabarovsk if there were left stranded in the town centre. Let's not even talk about World of Darkness: Gypsy (I'm told that White Wolf's follow up titles - World of Darkness: Jew, in which the characters had special abilities to make money, and Nigger: the natural rhythm were cancelled due to budget cuts).

What I guess I'm wondering, is whether those characters are OK?

Is it OK for us to splash around in someone else's culture/history/race, without necessarily knowing much about it, or having any rights to it, simply because it's just a game?

Should we be more responsible in our role playing, and maybe only play something we can research properly, and it's the attitude that matters?

Or is it just insulting for a bunch of white kids to run around pretending to be Japanese vampires with magic powers, and should we actually just stick to what we know and what we actually have rights to?

I'm really undecided on this - on every single angle.

Opinions?

What do you guys think?

Comments

[anonymous-james.livejournal.com]

Very tricky to answer. I'd like to have a stab at it, but I'm at work, so maybe if I remember I'll come back to it, but for now I'll agree that it isn't an easy answer.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Do come and have a poke later. Am very interested in what people have to say.

[davedevil.livejournal.com]

Of course its ok. Its ok for a man to write a female character in a book. Or for a white man to rap. In the main its also meant or most of the peopel I have met who want to play Russians or Klingons that they go out and research it and learn more about it. RP is fiction,

I don't think or dress like a hispanic gangster once I stop playing Buffy, or assume my Chinese gunman is anythign more than a David Caradine with revolvers. Though because of David Caradine and his not even slightly oriental looking face and the comedy dubbing of Monkey I was introduced to a world I will never be any more than a casual tourist in. Hell I don't know what a Roman living through the dark ages would of felt.

But because of RP and the wonderfull full spectrum of ideas and concepts you will see in a game I probably know a lot more than I would otherwise.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

OK...but what would you say to a, say, Chinese person who felt offended by your playing some member of the triads - and felt you basically didn't have a clue what it meant to be Chinese, and were basically incorporating some really dodgy stereotypes into your rp.

Do they have a right to be offended if you get in wrong in an rp game?

[davedevil.livejournal.com]

Chinese person who felt offended by your playing some member of the triads

You've seen anime right?

Offended no, its a work of fiction it may be bad fiction sure but its still a work of fiction. Its not like the suffering of those who lived under Nazi oppression is rudely violated by the obvious basis of Stormtroopers upon Nazi's is it?

If the person who has portrayed it is doing it wrong or has made mistakes let them know and educate them do not becoem offended because they actually find your culture fascinating enough that they want to represent it!

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

You've seen anime right?

Good point. Well made :p

OK. Next question. You and are both white kids. Do we have the right to tell someone from another country/culture what it's OK to be offended by? If someone of Native American descent were to say 'actually, I don't think it's OK for you to be playing a Dreamspeaker, and taking something that is actually sacred to my culture, and using it to play games with' - are we actually allowed to say 'oh, just get over it'.

Does our right to have fun/play around with other cultures or ideas trump someone else's right to keep certain things sacred/have them treated carefully and respectfully?

As I've said elsewhere, there is an element of me debating/playing devil's advocate here. I've seen these arguments seriously applied to fiction, and I am trying to see what they look like held up against role playing. I'm also playing around with these issues in my head, and trying to figure out where I stand.

[davedevil.livejournal.com]

I'm seen Austin Powers, I've endured Titanic, I've been told to believe that the yanks got the enigma machine. I've also watched South Park the Movie and Team America and believe they hit the nail right on the head each time.

If I print a cartoon of mohammed and I offended someone then damend right I should say sorry and be respectfull of their culture. At the same time they should not decide that a fatwa on me is the best way to make up for the slight.

I also think the choice of words you use are alittle off. I am British, I am a member of British culture it is not MY culture I am part of it. If I were to use Harry Potter in my slash fic though that is JK Rowlings character, she owns it and she could get upset when I engage in harry and Snape lovin'.

You do not own a culture you are part of it, it existed way before and will exist way after you. If humanity has any damend chance of survival understandign why peopel act like they do and realising how much the little things matter is the only way we can do it. I find it bizare that anyone can be so proud of their culture that they believe it can not be shared! Nor can I beleive that any one person can know their culture so well they can tell another person what they can do about it.

If you do believe so go scrape that dragon of the top of your car English chick that's my cultures symbol!

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

If you do believe so go scrape that dragon of the top of your car English chick that's my cultures symbol!

*looks very mournful*

Poor poor Pridwen.

I fear that dragon is long gone from the roof, due to the car being lost in a depressing accident.

*looks more mournful*

[melsner.livejournal.com]

I've also watched South Park the Movie and Team America and believe they hit the nail right on the head each time.


Sadly, they did.

[bringeroflight.livejournal.com]

(I'm told that White Wolf's follow up titles - World of Darkness: Jew, in which the characters had special abilities to make money, and Nigger: the natural rhythm were cancelled due to budget cuts)

These early drafts were later incorporated into "Pimp: The Backhanding"

[davedevil.livejournal.com]

They did actually do it well and sesnsativly with the Wraith book on the concentration camps though...

Then they did the stargazers and ackashic brotherhood...

hmm flaw in argument here

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

'Shoah: the holocaust' was beautiful.

Then they went ahead and eplained in the Year of the Lotus books how China, Japan, Korea, India, Sri Lanka, and Tibet were all the same culture.

It was rather horrible...

[uksilverfang.livejournal.com]

As a random sidenote, I've heard a lot of good things about the Shoah book. I'd rather like to see a copy for myself one of these days.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Mine got lost somewhere, which is a shame coz it was beautiful.

It's well worth a look if you can ever find it.

[uksilverfang.livejournal.com]

I shall have to see if I can track a copy down. I shall admit when I first heard about it, I did wince somewhat. But I've heard a lot of good things since. The fact they use the term Shoah is encouraging.

[bringeroflight.livejournal.com]

Shadows of the UK is remarkably good, actually.

[omentide.livejournal.com]

For a given value of good, perhaps...

[uksilverfang.livejournal.com]

I think the important question here is, how many times does each city appear on the map?

[melsner.livejournal.com]

Is it a better tourist guide for Americans than "Isle of the Mighty?"

[wildrogue.livejournal.com]

In a thoroughly cynical way, they were sensitive about the holocause because there is a large and powerful Jewish population living in America.

This is a whole other rant I have. One day I shall attempt to write it up.

[uksilverfang.livejournal.com]

Sadly I don't think it will ever get written.

Now that you've let it out that you're going to write it, the Jewish Illuminati will probably takes steps to ensure it never reaches the public.

[(Anonymous)]

It's escapism, it's fantasy, it's creativity. I'm happy to admit that I don't know much about a culture I don't know much about, and I'm happy to apologise if I offend someone, but if someone want to say that because I'm not Russian I shouldn't try to portray a Russian character, they can just fuck off.

I'll try and do a good job of it, and probably do some research, but that's because I like playing good, well-grounded characters, not because I feel it is somehow indecent to play a stereotype.

(I've had people have funny reactions to my playing female characters in games, and my response there is much the same.)

Your reaction to the pro-IRA character was, from what you said, more due to your suspicions about the player's knowledge of the Troubles than the character. I'm sure I could play a character with an identical world-view (and I don't have a deep knowledge of the Troubles either) and you'd not be offended by that.

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

Your reaction to the pro-IRA character was, from what you said, more due to your suspicions about the player's knowledge of the Troubles than the character. I'm sure I could play a character with an identical world-view (and I don't have a deep knowledge of the Troubles either) and you'd not be offended by that.

As you'd not be offended OOC if people regarded your character IC as deeply stupid. I doubt if Sally's PC had heaped scorn on said American's PC's views IC that he or she would have been as sanguine about it.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

*curious*

You forgot to log in or sign - who is this?

not because I feel it is somehow indecent to play a stereotype

But if you didn't bother with the research, and just went for the stereotype - isn't that in some ways reinforcing cultural stereotypes which can actually have a pretty icky real life effect on real people? As one example, I'm told that the 'madame butterfly/memoirs of a geisha' stereotype of Japanese women as exoticised, sexual and ultimately submissive creatures is something that real life japanese women have to fight with every day - it is held up against them in jobs, in their day to day dealings with other people. Is it not kinda bad if you decide you want to play that stereotype, when that's having a negative real life effect and is perpetrating a kind of racism?

There's a level of me playing devil's advocate here, but I have heard criticisms of Memoirs of a Geisha - the film - which are based very much on those kind of arguments and as far as I can tell they equally apply to role playing.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I should have said 'real life women of Japanese descent', as I think the issue is something which I've actually seen raised by American women of Japanese descent, and I'm sure it's pretty different in Japan.

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

Not always. There's a veritable cottage industry here of guys who buy into that and the women who support that. It's all rather odd, and I find Roppongi fairly freaky for that reason.

I work on the principle that in fantasy Larp, if I play a very stereotypical dwarven character, no-one's going to get hurt by that. But, in general, in closer to real life gaming, real world with a twist, I've done quite a lot of research for characters. I did a lot of reading up on medieval Dutch society for Angelique in the Cam games, for example.

For Miranda, the brash lass from Madison, I looked at Atlases and got tapes of the accent. Mind you, my accent skills are minimal, but at least I tried.

I think (well depending on the character) I'd have treated the Fianna kinfolk as a clueless bigot. So you were probably more patient than me.

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

Oh, and yes, I think you should do research, otherwise you end up being the roleplaying equivalent of Isle of the Mighty (stabbitystabbitydeathkill).

Why they didn't get a single British person to proofread that heaven only knows.

Ahem.

[castorlion.livejournal.com]

Why they didn't get a single British person to proofread that heaven only knows.

It was co-written by James Wallis, late of Hogshead Publishing fame, and a Brit.
I can only presume some heavy editing went on after the fact, because from the other stuff he's written he doesn't strike me as being ignorant..

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

Do what you can get away with. I'd play a Scots character with a bad faux-Sean Connery accent in Australia but not in Britain. I'd play gambit in an x-men larp in the UK or Australia, but probably nmot in New Orleans where my direct from the x-men cartoon accent would probably result in a shooting. in the US I'd play an english or Australian character because they ae trouble telling the accents apart and I can probably pull of english characteristics (if not the accent) by now.

I generally avoid quite alien cultures, such as the asian ones, as I don't quite get the mindset. I will play them if neccessary, but would not do so if members of said culture were present and objected. I've also only ever played one black character, and he was raised in a very white area of middle america, because I'm aware there are very subtle cultural differences that it's easy to get wwrong.

Most of all I am open to help. If i were in Australia and was playing an Englishman, I would accept constructive criticism from the English e.g. English vampires do not take their blood with tea.

Basically it's what I think I can get away with without being embarrassing or causing offense.

As an aside, I also tend to avoiud playing non-humans in sci-fi or fantasy games. It bugs me when I see immortal elves acting just like spoiled 15 year olds and poorly disguised earth cultures masqueradinmg as aliens. Also, humans are cooler.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Your accent is SO anglicised these days, actually. I went to Melbourne thinking that Australians spoke like Ben and was somewhat surprised to realise how much stronger their accents are.

You speak a lot like Nic Crowthorne, who's an English guy who's lived in Australia for four years. It's like your accents have met in the middle.

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

My accent hasn't actually changed much, most Australian used to think I was English anyway.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Hrm...I will admit to being somewhat guilty of this with my Dark Ages character, being a Russian Jew, for the Russian side of things at least.

Judaism I do know a bit more about - for example, I keep having to growl at lexx_uk when he claims she's overtly dressed as a jew...er, no, definitely not - Judaism is one of the few cultures/religions where while there are guidelines on 'appropriate' wear for women, it's actually the men who wear clothing which labels them as being members of that group. Modest clothing and covered hair were just a universal indicator of 'not overtly a woman of loose morals' in medieval culture...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Oh, I've totally been guilty of this as well, so I'm not 'preaching without sin'. My personal feeling is that the more research one puts into one's role, and the more respect, the lesser the potential 'sin'. I also think that historical characters are WAY less dubious, just because the odds are that there won't be that many medieval Jews about.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

True, but there are plenty of Russians and Jews (and indeed Russian Jews) who could be - although the fact it's a historical setting does allow for a bit more fudging.

[uksilverfang.livejournal.com]

As far as the Jews go, the culture really hasn't changed as much as you might have expected. This is most obvious amongst the Chassidm and the Orthodox, of course. But it's still something worth remembering, though I do agree that once you start playing with a historical setting you do have a lot more freedom to do things without worrying about offense.

[becky-spence.livejournal.com]

*shrugs* basically why I did my research with Kay and tried to get things right.

Though I utterly suck at the language :( My skills seem to lie in dead languages not living ones :(

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

If you're playing a stereotype from your own head, in what sense are you playing something you're not?

I tend to take the view that if you just play a stereotype, you're not roleplaying. You're not trying to be something you're not, you're just playing a slightly different facet of what you are. You've barely even changed perspective.

I very rarely play characters from cultures different to my own, because I don't believe in playing things improperly. If I'm going to be different, then I'm damn well going to be different.

For sea_of_flame's Beast Courts game that never really got off the ground, I was going to be playing a character with an Eastern (specifically Chinese) PoV. Before I even started creating the character, I got hold of a book of Chinese history to give me some idea of the culture she came from, even a generation removed. Without doing that I couldn't even have come up with her Beast Courts name (believe me, after you've read what various Chinese factions called themselves, 'Yellow Concubine of the Expedient Yarrow' just trips off the tongue).

So in answer to your questions:

a) guilty of it
Some roleplayers are, I don't think I am
b) responsible for whether or not it occurs in our role playing games
Only if we have the power to change it. I am not responsible for what another player does, though (in Zeitgeist) I can avoid giving XP to a concept I don't like. I am responsible for what I play, and when I ST I am responsible for the concepts I let into my game.
c) people who actually think it's a bad thing.
It's not a bad thing to strive for the cultural difference and not get it right. It is a bad thing to not make even the most basic of attempts to get it right.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Ah, now, my Beast Courts game is possibly a good example of this topic actually - I didn't feel that I had enough understanding of the various Eastern cultures out there (especially given how WW tend to mangle them in source material anyway) to run an authetic game.

My solution was to deliberately set the game in a fictionalised London 'Chinatown' (larger and more of a culturally diverse far-eastern melting pot than the actual district is in real life) - so that the setting itself was westernised, with characters quite possibly being second of third generation immigrants who had never having set foot in the 'native' land of their parents, might not even speak the language well - but had still inherited the supernatural aspects of the East - so bastardised versions of the culture were not only excusable, but in fact made perfect sense.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

That was one of the reasons I felt comfortable playing a different-cultured character.

Not that I ever actually did, but the thought was there :)

[alasdair.livejournal.com]

Depends on the game and it's realism level. Playing WoD I'm firmly of the view that doing proper research is important - I would not play, (to use an example from further up) play a Triad without making sure I had a reasonable grounding in Triad (and regionally-appropriate chinese) culture, because WoD's setting is meant to be real-world-give-a-twist.

But playing Feng Shui, on the other hand, I'd play a Triad and not worry to much, because it's the game of HK action cinema, and so all I need is what I've got from films.

Something like the Fianna you describe, well, yes, someone might have been doing an excellent job of playing an Irish-American NORAID arsehole. That's a perfectly valid character type, and one I have no trouble with. It's only if they think they're playing someone with a realistic grasp on things like that, that I develop a problem. And they're within their rights to play them, because, yeah, it *is* just a game. But that said, I am just as within my rights to think less of them for it, and react poorly to them as a person and generally take steps to avoid being around them.

[omentide.livejournal.com]

I think, if it's done with research and respect, it's fine. It could, potentially, lead to a deeper understanding of other cultures.

From my point of view it helps me to not 'play myself with gooby powers' because I have to consciously think my way into a different mindset. And I enjoy the research.

Would it be conceivable for someone to get offended (not to laugh or think I was odd but actually get offended) because I have a tendency to play characters of different genders?

But people RP for different reasons. Some purely for comedy, or so it seems to me.

[wildrogue.livejournal.com]

Here's tuppence worth.

In my opinion it isn't wrong to attempt to portray a race or culture you are not, or even that you know little about. It is wrong to do no research whatsoever before attempting to do so.

As Dave said, RP is fictional. They are fictional characters in a fictional setting and as such should not cause too much offense. I do still think that you should put at least some effort into understanding the culture you are trying to portray for the dual reasons of not causing too much offense and coming across as vaguely realistic.

No matter what we do some people will be offended. If I, as a soft poncy southerner, attempted to play a bluff yorkshire woman I would almost certainly get it wrong in some aspects. I have no idea what cultural norms are like up north and would have to rely on popular media as a guide. There are almost certainly people living in Halifax right now who would be shocked and appalled that I dared to do such a thing. There are others who would laugh at the poncy southerner, point out my mistake and take it in good part. This will be the same the world over.

I think what I'm trying to say is, we can't please everyone and as long as we aren't deliberately trying to cause offense we shouldn't let such worries get in the way of our enjoyment of a fairly harmless hobby.

On a similar note, I apply the same rules to historical characters. I accept that in this case I am appallingly picky and a bit of a stuck up know it all. I try to curb these urges but sometimes you just have to point out that gun-kata is not an appropriate ability for a thirteenth century English monk.

[elethiomel.livejournal.com]

Question: when you criticise another for 'getting it wrong' aren't you, yourself, guilty of cultural stereotyping? If I choose to play a New Yorker and am criticised because 'New Yorkers aren't like that' aren't I entitled to ask "Really? Have you met all of them?"

Perhaps a more concrete example (and I realise it's could be reductioing ad absurdum but...) Let's say someone is playing a football fan from South London, a Millwall supporter, no less. He chooses to play him as educated, articulate and tolerant of other cultures. If we criticise him for getting it wrong (because everyone knows Millwall fans are racist thugs) aren't we just enforcing that sterotype and ignoring the very real possibility that educated, articulate and tolerant Millwall fans exist?

If I choose to play a Japanese Hindu is that wrong just because only a few thousand (around .002% of the population) Japanese are Hindu and 96% of the population profess to Shintoism?

Secondly, how can we criticise anyone's cultural appropriation when they are playing supernatural creatures? Yes, your character may be a Russian Jew, but s/he's a Russian Jewish vampire - how can we say what effect vampirism might have on anyone from any culture. Just because you don't get things right for (some, even most) living Russian Jews, doesn't mean it's wrong for the undead ones.

Finally, it's only a [ED] game.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

1) You've got a point. I guess what I'm saying isn't that we shouldn't play characters which differ from the norm in their cultural group, but more that playing characters which may or may not differ from the norm, but we don't know because we don't care, is a bit iffy.

The place I was starting with in regards to stereotype as well was more that playing too much to stereotypes which members of that group find offensive surely should still be offensive whether it's a game or not. If something is considered racist and obnoxious in real life (ie - the blatant appropriation of native american religions, which are still living religions and very important to many of their adherants, by various new age groups who then bastardise them horrible), then is it excusable just because it's a game?

If something is considered moderately inappropriate in film, literature, or music, should we then be cautious before incorporating it within our game world?

And yes...the supernatural is being added, but White Wolf do state that their WoD is meant to be 'the real world, with a twist', and if that is the case shouldn't we be careful what we are saying about our perceptions of how the real world is?

Of course, it can go too far. I don't think it's reasonable to say 'you can only play white anglo-saxon protestants', but I personally would say that it's worth at least vaguely trying to get it a bit right if you're going to bring real world cultures and peoples into your game world, and try and avoid doing anything that's too offensive towards actual, real, living people.

[xambrius.livejournal.com]

The portrayal of Asian (particularly Indian) cultures by Camarilla members routinely appalls me by its inaccuracies (some of which are merely absurd while others are sacriligious if not tantamount to blasphemy). One of the best cases-in-point are the many allegedly devout Hindu vampires I've encountered, many of whom are supposed to be devotees of Kālī-Mā. In Hindu folklore, vampires are demons, and Kālī-Mā destroys demons on sight. Kālī Bhakta is one of the most misinterpreted and misrepresented of Hindu religious traditions, and such characters are an example of just how gross that misinterpretation and misrepresentation can get.

For comparison, imagine how a relatively devout Christian would feel if I were to play a character who regularly raped, killed and then consumed the flesh of infants, toddlers and pre-adolescents — yet professed devotion to Christ, participated in missionary work and maintained membership in and support of a church community? Yes, such people might exist even in the real world (let alone the fictional World of Darkness™), but even the average non-religious Westerner would recognize them as radical aberrations from the Christian norm. The same is not true with regard to the great wisdom traditions of the East, and many people actually believe that the aberrations portrayed by gamers actually are the norms.

The worst part of it in my experience is that it's not just a matter of ignorant misrepresentation. The majority of gamers simply don't do enough research to know better, and what little research they do usually relies on source material of dubious origin. However — and this is the part that makes me want to bash my head against the nearest stone wall — if you point out the inaccuracies of their portrayals, most gamers simply won't care. In fact, they'll probably react angrily and insist that their right to enjoy the game by playing fun characters utterly trumps any considerations of accurate or respectful portrayal of foreign cultures. In that respect, much of what we see constitutes willful misrepresentation.

I get grumpy just thinking about it.

--
Tim Harris
The Seeker
Time Lord

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

*clasps Tim knees and kneels before him in helpless gratitude*

Thank you so much! You just managed to articulate what was on my mind, and so much better than I was managing to do. You're fantastic.

[castorpollux23.livejournal.com]

I guess I have to say that it really depends on how the character is played. For instance, I'm playing a Polish character, but she is certainly not typical Polish nor had a typical Polish upbringing, nor do I admit that she is. That's why she has a pretend name. She's involved in crime, but not because she's Polish, because she had a bad set of circumstances in life. And I try to portray it well. hardwired has an islamic character he does well.

I guess it really depends on the situation and the portrayal, and the game. Does that make sense?

[typical-child.livejournal.com]

smiles-

In the past I have been a serious offender with the bad accent gig, something about my natural smish of a Oz/Brit accent makes me absolutely terrible at accents, so I try to steer clear of all of them... else I portray an embarrassing and evolving mishmash which inevitably rolls through the myriad of sounds which kinda sound Irish, Scottish, Russian and South African... its so very embarrassing...

However, instead of changing accent I change intonation, sentence structure etc, and then I call myself whatever I like.

I'm currently playing a Native American, I've researched, but I could never hope for an accent, or to be really true to what it means to really ROLEPLAY that ethnicity with true integrity... So I choose a story which flattens the impact of such a defined culture, and then I play the character and the individual...


on the note about the IRA costume... I remember at my first OZ conclave (hosted in Brisbane) back a few years now, a player from NZ came over. He had managed to acquire through means unknown to me a genuine Nazi uniform, complete with all trimmings. He wore it at the game (intelligent enough to change at the venue and not walk outside with it on) with a mask.

This caused a massive stir both in and out of character, and his comment was - as a character, he was playing a Nazi, who still felt pride in that regime, the outfit was justified, relevant and reasonable to the PC. It was calculated to irritate certain PC's and it worked marvellously. OOC I heard that he said that he wore it purely for IC reasons, he abhorred the violence and horror of the regime, but also he said his heritage was partly Jewish. There were players deeply offended that he wore it, but that too was to be expected...

Why he chose to wear it, who knows? It was an interesting piece of historic memorabilia; though it does remind of those times in the history that we all shy away from.


But I think what all of this means to me is that we play a game, and as a game of fiction, we have the choice to research, costume and become a character. If we don’t, it’s no major issue it just makes the PC more transparent, less real... but if the PC is fun to play; and fun to interact with and the story is fun, you know I think it doesn’t really matter...

However…. if we were paid actors in a large elaborate theatre peice, then my argument would be entirely different... 

Hope your world is fabulous...
*grins*
J

[melsner.livejournal.com]

WoD: Gypsy.

*shudder*

I created Bram / Alexi at a time when I didn't realize that WoD: Gypsy was a steaming pile of crap. Afterwards, I winced when I saw other people playing it badly.

Interestingly, I was also offended by people playing Corax incredibly badly.

In both instances, I think it's a matter of research and respect.

I currently have characters who are in the Army or involved with the Catholic Church. I try not to be idiotic or offensive about it. I have a lot of friends who were in the Army, and especially with current events, I don't want to be a jerk about it.

But if you never roleplay anything except what you're an expert in, it gets boring very quickly.

And some of you English people do wacky American accents. You just say "howdy" a lot.