Stereotypes
Looking
all around us people can be stereotypical. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
That can be a difficult question to answer considering who is talking or is
being talked too. A person can be stereotyping without even knowing because
that is just what they know or someone can do it to be sarcastic. Browne
defined stereotypes as “the generalities of life cut down to a fine point
concerning a particular subject and directed usually toward a special goal.”
(2005) One thing with stereotyping is it can shield the truth which can be a
good or bad thing. With videogames, stereotyping can happen within the plot or
story of the game. One game that I will discuss is Mike Tyson’s Punch Out by
Nintendo. The game shows different ethnic fighters and portrays a specific fighter
in their own way. For example, the Japanese fighter that had a white bandana
around his head or the French fighter that had no muscles and considered very
weak.
Rituals
I
think of rituals that are actions that take place before a certain event;
dictionary.com defines it as “an established or prescribed procedure for a
religious or other rite.” (2012) Instead of focusing on a specific video game
for a certain ritual, I will discuss how I used to go over to my friends house
when I was younger and play video games. When I was 14, Nintendo 64 was the
latest video game system and I had the same games as my friend had. Whenever I
went to my friend’s house, we would play a multiplayer game. It wasn’t so much that
we did not know what we were going to do when I go there, it was how fast I
could get into his house and we start playing Mario Kart 64 or 007 Goldeneye
against each other. This basically became a ritual, the games would change but
it was the same concept.
References
Browne,
R. B. (2005). Profiles of popular culture: A reader. Madison: Popular
Press.
ritual.
(n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved August 31, 2012, from
Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ritual
