Irrational Games' latest entry in the BioShock series is set in 1912 during an era of American Exceptionalism, but in setting its new game in this historical era, the developer has to address other issues of the time including racism.
In a recent interview with CVG, the creative director and co-founder of Irrational Games, Ken Levine discusses how the developer dealt with the topic of racism without making it a focal point in the game.
"Look, to tell a story set in that age and not have racism be an element in it would be disingenuous," Levine told CVG. "It was a part of that age. Go back and look at the letters of Teddy Roosevelt - who was a very progressive figure of his age - they refer to African Americans and Jewish people in the most... well, no politicians would be caught dead writing about those ethnic groups like that these days! But these are open letters!"
Levine says that many historical figures were simply people of their time and to pretend differently would be horribly disingenuous.
"Abraham Lincoln, who gave his life, effectively, and staked his political career on the abolition of slavery, referred to African Americans as big children. He said he believed in the supremacy of the white race - he was a white supremacist! But he was a person of his time," Levine told CVG. "To pretend the time was different than what it was would be horribly disingenuous. It also means you can't examine it and ask questions about it - like, what is lost in a society like that?"
Levine gave the following example from the game: "There's a scene in the game where Booker and Elizabeth walk in on a janitor - who is an African American - talking to himself, and he sounds very polished and educated, but the moment he sees the player, he switches to this submissive tone and language, because that's the society he lives in and it's just easier for him to get by that way."
He added, "It's a challenge - there are parts of the game that are very unpleasant to watch, but you wouldn't be true to the time if you didn't deal with that."
You can read the full interview at CVG here. BioShock: infinite will release on March 26, 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. You can learn more about the game here and watch the game's official trailer below...
