#also kim's name is still an everpresent reminder that the devs are Not Asian

[puffles]

Been thinking about deliberate choices in media and the Witch in the Alps finding the cat. Like yes, Harry isn't just a generic white guy which is how he stands out from the other white guys (and especially white cops) in Disco Elysium but also, he is deliberately casted as a white guy for a reason. It is one of the many societal privileges given to him on top of the other privileges that is afforded.

If he was a racial minority, there likely less generosity being given to him even if he was a great detective (and Kim is an evidence of this), and the reaction to his mental breakdown would have definitely been worse.

The thing I am unsure about is if HDB being white has made people not think that this choice is intentional as whiteness is seen as the default so making a white man character is just to be expected. While I also am not 100% certain that it is planned, the various ethnicities being featured in the game does at least give weight that yes, we want to commentate on racism in a way or another. (Of course as evident by the post, I think it is deliberate the same way that HDB being a cop is deliberate and the setting being deliberate)

Insert divider for a different topic I could just put this in a rb but lol

Anyway, I only had this train of thought because there was a post about how someone didn't like the main character of I Saw the TV Glow for "being too passive" and it felt that they didn't really get that one of the reasons why she is so passive is because she has repressed herself so much, she has become a shell of herself. In fact, her passivity is a "self-inflicted" horror, stopping her from leaving suburbia (hehe just like Utena leaves school) and transitioning.