Agents talking to Agents


Recommended Posts

He has a point, in that it's Dr Xu's own admission, rather than just jokes made by other agents (his summary of his own fighting career at university is that he fought a single boxing match and lost - suggests he gave up after one try). A missed opportunity, I think. (The punchline being that he speaks in binary didn't escape me.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This might go unnoticed. But I hope they really improve Xu to be more of a respectable person in the team. I understand that, yeah, a funny interesting group dynamic keeps things quirky and team like. It's kind of like the worldbuilding Marvel did with the Avengers - you can really see how Tony Stark loves giving Captain America **** in the first movie.

 

However, as an asian american male, I am getting sick of the stereotypical asian EFFEMINATE nerd that seems to be a robot that just ... "does ****". The snippet he had with Decker about boxing...like...why? It's like he's being stuck with the same physically weak only able to do math type of bullshit. I stopped watching Hollywood movies and started watching KDramas simply because I cannot continue consuming all the anti-asian male propaganda of the "perpetual foreigner", math geek, asexual socially awkward numbnut that is always the butt of jokes like Ken Jeong. And yes yes I have heard everyone's counters like "you guys don't have it that bad...look at african americans" or "I have an asian friend that doesn't care" or "it's just a joke relax" (<-- this is the worst because it tries dismissing the issue and tries putting me in a position where I come off as a killjoy..a Donald Trump certified tactic), but UGH it really triggers me to see people so absent mindedly slipping in stuff like this in every facet of american media. It DOES have an effect, Klei, it DOES take part in the socially engineering aspect of society to make asian men the "eunuchs" of the west. Disclaimer: That all being said, I am a 6 foot tall asian male that has a regular social life. However, the reason why I say this is because the first thing that comes to people's mind is "you're just a bitter angry asian dude that can't get any, etc etc" and it's sad that I have to juxtapose this disclaimer in there. It speaks volumes on how the reality really is because of this.

 

I'm not trying to be all social justice-y, but God help me if there is at some point some asian character I can RESPECT in western media that expands beyond his credentials. Sure, Xu is a professor, we all know he's ******* smart, but I only wish he's more than that and not a social jester that's always the butt of condescending remarks and jokes.

 

As an Asian-American male myself, I completely understand and agree with your thoughts. However, I personally don't think the banter about boxing between Xu and Decker is all that stereotypical. That and/or I'm not fully understanding your specific problem with Klei's portrayal of Xu. Here are my thoughts, and hopefully some of them might directly address your concerns.

 

-Xu having stated that he tried boxing is pretty cool, I think - doesn't that show that he's a fighter? Also, as others have stated, the banter is ultimately a set-up for Xu's pun about binary.

-Regarding Xu's occupation - yes, you could absolutely read the fact that he's a professor as stereotypical. But I personally don't find it explicitly stereotypical/offensive.

-I don't think Xu is really ever the butt of a joke. He's portrayed as tough, intelligent, and a force to be reckoned with (judging from his Bio and Central's VO).

-I LOVE that Klei had an Asian character in there at all, and specifically an Asian character who is really powerful/useful.

-In addition, I love the people of color in the game in general; it comes across as diverse without feeling pandering. I particularly appreciate the presence of a female person of color in the game (Prism).

 

All in all, I love the diversity on display in Invisible's agents, and hope that the team only gets more diverse with the upcoming PEIA DLC (which, if the teaser images are anything to go by, will be the case).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took the boxing comment not that Xu couldn't fight, but that he didn't enjoy the style of fighting in boxing.

Whether her preferred some other form of fighting, or preferred more of a dirty-handed approach to taking out a foe...? I don't know :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As yet another Asian-american male, I don't have a single problem w/ the way they've portrayed Dr. Xu.

 

Simply because a character is designed to be a certain way doesn't mean that every Asian male is or has to be that way IRL.

 

In the same vein, I don't need a female analog of every single male superhero (girl Thor, seriously?) to understand that there are strong, heroic women in the world or to show them respect.  I don't need to have every single obscure facet of humanity represented in every single game that I play, book that I read, or show that I watch.

 

I don't feel that Klei went out of their way to create a "nerdy asian stereotype".  I feel that they created a quirky math professor and he just happens to be Asian.

 

PS)  Instead of singling out Xu here, why not look at the broader picture and realize that there are NO agents in the game that are more than an archetype that showed up in a movie or a book somewhere, and as such they are all fairly static characters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find the idea of bringing up your race when you're making an argument is a silly thing. I mean, I'm also Asian-American, but bringing that up just is so silly. Really, offense is always taken, never given. I have no doubts that you must have taken offense to Dr. Xu's character because of what you see, but in the end, that's your opinion. What offends you might not offend someone else, and now I'm getting off topic.

 

Back to agents, do you think we'll be seeing banter dialogue with Central and Monst3r? Or due to the nature of their characters, they'll simply have one-liners? And actually, just because I just wanted to add something else, what about one-liners that agents can say when they're the last agent to leave a mission? Maybe just some silly little line that adds to the flavor of the agent?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd really love to see some interactions between Sharp and Doctor Xu, are there any in the works?

 

There actually are already banter lines between Xu and Sharp in game already. Its just banter can be a lot rarer than the one-liners. Just keep the two of those together through missions and you'll see their banter!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Please be aware that the content of this thread may be outdated and no longer applicable.