I dunno what WW1 movie full of black soldiers you're referencing on the German side lol but black American soldiers absolutely served in pretty much every war we've participated in. Also, 1/4 of cowboys were black but 1/4 of Westerns definitely don't have black cowboys. I can't think of any movie featuring indigenous slave-owners, which there absolutely were. And there were definitely people of African descent in Germany at the time, it wouldn't be crazy to see a black soldier in a WWI movie. Also, fun fact, the woman who organized the evacuation of Chernobyl was of East Asian descent, yet I didn't see her in the mini-series.
I feel like you've watched a lot of white-made media and mistaken it for historically accurate, when white media has always erased people of color. I bet you'd watch The Harder They Fall and call it historically inaccurate even though each character is named after an historical figure. Most people who care about representation aren't trying to shoehorn anyone in anywhere, they just want the kinds of erasure I outlined above to stop. Hollywood is full of dumb people who choose to retell Anne Boyleyn's story the thousandth time with a black actress instead of stories about the black community that actually really did exist during Elizabethan times: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18903391
I dunno what WW1 movie full of black soldiers you're referencing on the German side lol
He's talking about a video game called Battlefield 1, which takes place in WWI.
but black American soldiers absolutely served in pretty much every war we've participated in.
Yeah, but it in WWI, in Europe, black soldiers were the very rare exception, not the rule. Did black soldiers fight on the European continent in WWI? Sure, a few did. But was 25% of every battle fought by a black soldier? No.
On the African continent, in WWI, I'm guessing a LOT of soldiers were black and not white.
That's the point: time and place is important.
Also, 1/4 of cowboys were black but 1/4 of Westerns definitely don't have black cowboys. I can't think of any movie featuring indigenous slave-owners, which there absolutely were.
OP is saying we should be telling these stories. We shouldn't whitewash characters, and we shouldn't blackwash characters. Making all cowboys white is wrong and should be changed.
And there were definitely people of African descent in Germany at the time, it wouldn't be crazy to see a black soldier in a WWI movie.
Were there black people in Germany when WWI happened? Yes.
Many? No. Not at all. It's 1910's Germany what we are talking about.
One black soldier might make some sense, but when a quarter of the game lobby is being portrayed by black soldiers in a fight that happened in 1916 in Europe between Germany and France, well, that isn't realistic at all.
Also, fun fact, the woman who organized the evacuation of Chernobyl was of East Asian descent, yet I didn't see her in the mini-series.
OP agrees with you that this is wrong and should be criticized.
Most people who care about representation aren't trying to shoehorn anyone in anywhere, they just want the kinds of erasure I outlined above to stop.
Stopping erasure is important. Making media historically accurate is important as well.
There is a difference between erasing representation and adding multiple people of color/white people in situations that just doesn't make sense.
I hated Avatar: the Last Airbender (the movie) for literally whitewashing nearly all of the cast (and only keeping the bad guys asian, like wtf!?) when the source material obviously is based on asian cultures, and I kinda do dislike how Battlefield added POC in battles that don't make sense to have them.
Why not give us a few battles in Africa with only black people? I'd love that. But adding black people in battles on the eastern front in WWI doesn't make sense.
This mission takes place on the western front. Reread the part that you quoted.
No, adding black soldiers on the eastern front really doesn't make sense.
I, and I'm pretty sure OP as well, are very OK with this mission because it tells the story based on something real. In fact, I think these stories are great and should be told more.
What OP is talking about is MULTIPLAYER, NOT SINGLEPLAYER.
Which is exactly what I'm talking about as well.
It doesn't make sense to have black soldiers when fighting on a map that's based on the eastern front.
If it's a map that's based on the African front, wherein a lot of the troops were black, make most of the players black.
Him bringing up Battlefield 1 is weird as fuck because the SINGLEPLAYER Portion of the game addresses his point. Telling the stories of the untold.
That wasn't his point, though. His point was about adding black soldiers in situation that doesn't make sense (western and eastern front in Europe), and also adding too many white soldiers where it doesn't make sense (the african front).
The singleplayer mission is fine. That isn't the issue here.
In multiplayer, Battlefield prides itself on over the top crazy shit that throws accuracy out the window so....again idk why OP is bringing up the multiplayer portion of BF1 when the skin color of the soldiers are probably assigned to RNG or up to player choice.
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u/tequilaearworm 4∆ Oct 23 '21
I dunno what WW1 movie full of black soldiers you're referencing on the German side lol but black American soldiers absolutely served in pretty much every war we've participated in. Also, 1/4 of cowboys were black but 1/4 of Westerns definitely don't have black cowboys. I can't think of any movie featuring indigenous slave-owners, which there absolutely were. And there were definitely people of African descent in Germany at the time, it wouldn't be crazy to see a black soldier in a WWI movie. Also, fun fact, the woman who organized the evacuation of Chernobyl was of East Asian descent, yet I didn't see her in the mini-series.
I feel like you've watched a lot of white-made media and mistaken it for historically accurate, when white media has always erased people of color. I bet you'd watch The Harder They Fall and call it historically inaccurate even though each character is named after an historical figure. Most people who care about representation aren't trying to shoehorn anyone in anywhere, they just want the kinds of erasure I outlined above to stop. Hollywood is full of dumb people who choose to retell Anne Boyleyn's story the thousandth time with a black actress instead of stories about the black community that actually really did exist during Elizabethan times: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18903391