1 free read left. Create a free account for unlimited reading + AI research.
Create free account
Minority - Race and Relationships in The Walking Dead - Extra Credits
Key insights
6 takeaways- 01The game utilizes the horror genre's inherent sense of disempowerment to foster a genuine emotional and parental bond between the player and the child character.
- 02Developers can create more resonant, human-centered experiences by treating characters as individuals with distinct histories and rational decision-making processes rather than relying on traditional gaming archetypes.
- 03The Walking Dead successfully subverts the 'incompetent burden' trope by positioning the child character, Clementine, as a capable contributor to the player's survival.
- 04Racial identity is integrated as a holistic element of the setting rather than a reductive trope, particularly through the protagonist's African-American identity in the American South.
- 05The narrative demonstrates that complex social contexts and diverse character backgrounds can be woven into a story without sacrificing pacing or narrative integrity.
- 06Middle Eastern characters are portrayed through natural personality traits and specific interests, such as an intellectual curiosity about American history, avoiding reliance on tired stereotypes.
Ask AI about this video
Transcript
Welcome to the last episode on The Walking Dead, at least for season 1. No promises once season 2 comes out. There are some things games tend not to do well. We often try to talk about them on this show and try to analyze why this is, but often we're stymied by a lack of material to reference on how to do some of these things well. Fortunately, The Walking Dead did a lot of things very well, including a few things we haven't had a good example to point to previously. So, we're going to talk about some of those things now. First off, children and parental feelings. It's amazing how few games present children in any even semi-reasonable way. Not realistic, mind you, just reasonable. This is because most big-budget games are about empowerment, and there's very little empowering about either being a child or having to look after the welfare of a child. This isn't to say it's not very rewarding, it just doesn't make you feel like a badass, is all, which is why a horror game is the perfect place to explore these ideas. As we've said before, well-made horror games aren't about empowerment, but rather about disempowerment in a safe
space. All right, so let's break down how children usually appear in games so we can talk about why this doesn't work and contrast it with the example The Walking Dead sets out for us. In most games, children either A, appear whiny and incompetent, needing you to rescue them and handhold them through the simplest of tasks, generally being the worst sort of escort quest, or B, they're nonentities, serving as random NPCs whose child nature is only apparent because they're smaller than the rest of the characters and maybe they talk in a more juvenile way, or C, they function exactly like adults, they just look like children in order to allow younger players to have something they can associate better with. None of these have the emotive impact that children do in real life. In fact, these all tend to have the opposite effect, not invoking pathos, but rather invoking ire, if they invoke any emotion at all. And that's the heart of the problem. In general, the use of children in media not aimed at children is to evoke the paternal feelings in all of us, whether or not we're actually parents. Motherhood and fatherhood are certainly under-explored concepts in games, and as The Walking Dead showed us, that powerful emotional bond that a parental relationship creates can help forge an incredibly compelling experience, which makes it a little ironic that Lee may be the best
father in games, even though Clementine isn't technically his daughter. But this emotional connection that we as players feel with Clementine depends on viewing child characters differently. It relies on this thinking of children not as burdens to be dragged around, but rather seeing them more as adults who happen to have a lot less experience. And to me, this is much more akin to real life. It's not that children aren't quick to learn. In fact, they learn and adapt much quicker than most of us. And it's not that they don't have a rational decision making process. They just have tens of thousands of fewer hours of living to draw on. Sure, there are other biological and chemical factors, but if you're distilling a character for the purposes of a game, that's a pretty good way to look at it. And that's why The Walking Dead succeeds. You see, in cases where children are simply a burden, they evoke nothing but frustration. "Ugh, I've got to deal with this kid again." It's impossible to create a parental feeling when that's the only sentiment that character invokes. You don't care about that character. You're not emotionally involved with that character because you never get to see the positive aspects that children can bring about. This is why it's important that the game begins with Clementine helping you, rather than the other way around. This is why it's important that she serves as our conscience, our connection
to humanity, and our source of levity in an otherwise very dark world. Parenting can be tough, but parents don't see children simply as a burden. If all you're ever doing is keeping a child out of harm's way while they do everything they can to walk straight into harm's path, you'll never create the bond that you need to get us to truly care. The Walking Dead shows us this clearly. While we're here, there's something else I wanted to shoehorn in. It's something that needs mentioning about The Walking Dead, but not something that would take a whole episode as we've kind of already done an episode on this topic. The Walking Dead may be the best use of race I've ever seen in the game. The main character is African-American, but this isn't his defining characteristic. It plays as an undercurrent to the conversations that happen in the game, and there's a subtle tension that lies just beneath the surface of every new encounter, evoked simply by its setting in the American South. So, it's not that his race is irrelevant to the narrative, it just matters as much as it might in real life. It doesn't have to be called out. It doesn't have to be what his character is all about. It just has to exist holistically within the rest of the world. Also, The Walking Dead manages to present us with a Middle Eastern couple that buck stereotypes without being there to buck stereotypes. Of all the characters in the game, Omid is perhaps the most interested in American history. After the end of the
world, he still finds joy in seeing the memorials of our Civil War past. Who these characters are, what their background is, adds to our interpretation of their interests and their actions during the game. But so far as the narrative's concerned, they're just another middle class couple who was traveling the US when the apocalypse occurred. Yeah. Okay, so on that note, we will leave The Walking Dead behind for now. While there's a few other topics we could by using The Walking Dead as a lens, most notably the illusion of choice, we have spent long enough here and there's a myriad of other games to get back to. And I'm sure at least a few of them will give us a window into some of those topics anyway. I hope you've enjoyed our look at the place of adventure games in the 21st century, the weight a single life can bring, and how to use child characters as more than just props. We'll see you next week.
Summary
The Walking Dead serves as a benchmark for character development in video games, specifically regarding the portrayal of children and the nuanced integration of race. While many big-budget titles struggle to depict children as anything other than incompetent burdens or mere props, this game succeeds by framing the child character, Clementine, as a capable individual who acts as a moral compass and a source of humanity. By establishing a dynamic where the child contributes to the player’s survival rather than solely requiring rescue, the game fosters a genuine parental bond, effectively utilizing the horror genre’s inherent sense of disempowerment to create emotional stakes.
Beyond its handling of parental themes, the game is noted for its sophisticated approach to race. Rather than defining characters solely by their racial identity, the narrative treats race as a holistic element of the setting, particularly through its depiction of the American South. The protagonist’s African-American identity exists as a subtle undercurrent that informs social interactions without becoming a reductive trope. Similarly, the game features Middle Eastern characters whose backgrounds are integrated naturally into their personalities and interests, such as a deep curiosity about American history, rather than relying on tired stereotypes.
Ultimately, the game demonstrates that complex social contexts and emotional relationships can be woven into a narrative without sacrificing the pacing or integrity of the story. By treating characters as individuals with distinct histories and rational decision-making processes—regardless of their age or background—the game provides a compelling model for how developers can move beyond traditional gaming archetypes to create more resonant, human-centered experiences.
Comments