This week, Ubisoft released its newest mobile game, Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad, which faced immediate backlash over the game’s controversial trailer. The trailer depicts the shadowy organization UMBRA, who are manipulating those angry over “wars, corruption and poverty,” heavily implied to be Black protesters and anti-fascist activists. The trailer drew specific criticism for the depiction of the Black Power fist as a symbol of UMBRA, to the point that Ubisoft decided to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:remove the symbol to save face. Understanding the problems with the imagery of Elite Squad requires an understanding of ♉the intersection of antisemitism and anti-Blackness.
First, one thing everyone should understand is that any depiction of shadowy secret societies should be examined critically, especially if they are depicted as puppetmasters and manipulators. Even conspiracy theories that have gained meme ꦡpopularity such as Lizard People, Illuminati, or New World Order have a basis in antisemitism. The Reptilian 🧸conspiracy theory was created by David Icke, and the Illuminati and New World Order have . Antisemitic propaganda portrays Jews as controlling or manipulating world events, so the portrayal of an organization that manipulates political events should already be viewed suspiciously.
However, it is also important to look at a more specific piece of historical propaganda – the idea that any actions of Black people are due to Jewish influence. It goes at least as far back as Hitler. In Germany, a small but noticeable po𒉰pulation of black people lived in the Rhineland. In Mein Kampf, Hitler said that they were brought over as part of a Jewish conspiracy to “bastardiz[e] the white race.” Of course, the real reason black people lived in Germany was Germany’s colonial legacy. These people were moꦑstly the children of German settlers and colonized Africans, but the white supremacist narrative was set.
This narrative was alive in America as well. Henry Ford, one of Hitler’s inspirations, had (among his many crusades against Jewish people) a seething hatred of jazz music. Ford meant to manipulate Black people. W𒈔hile it might seem ridiculous, his assertion reveals two stereotypes that need to be taken seriously to advance any white supremacist narrative – Jewish people are diabolical genius puppetmasters and Black people are easily manipulated and controlled.
This narrative continues even to this day. A common conspiracy theory surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement involves🌱 accusations that protesters are being manipulated or paid by billionaire George Soros. , but the myths persist. It i♏s worth noting that these accusations are never leveled at gentile billionaires, including those richer than Soros, to the extent that they are at the Hungarian-American Jewish Soros.
It’s not hard to make the connections. The Black Power fist explicitly ties the protesters in Elite Squad to BLM,🐠 and even after its removal, the imagery of hooded protesters confronting police is certainly suggestive. The idea that these protesters are being manipulated by a shadowy group that wants to install a new order is an old narrative. At best, Ubisoft is🌄 inadvertently creating an antisemitic canard for the digital age; at worst, the developer is pandering to fascists. Either way, the issues with Elite Squad go deeper than just one symbol. The problem is the basic worldview the game puts forth.
The framing narrative of Elite Squad matters very little to the content of the game, and mostly serves to create an enemy for a mobile game that resembles many of the generic terrorists in any Tom Clancy game. However, this is, ওin a way, the🙈 point. Art is affected by and affects the culture it is part of. It primes its consumers to see certain people as friends and certain people as enemies – or worse, faceless terrorists to mow down in the name of patriotism.