Hiya - I really enjoyed your deep dive on False Godhood in wizard101. It really opened my eyes to parts of the story I didn't consider before! Do you have any thoughts on the worlds/stories that Pirate101 and Wizard101 share and their different depictions of well everything.
Ok, I really badly want to do a deep dive into Pirate101, but I haven't even completed Skull Island. But already, this game is starting out VERY STRONG!!!
For one with Wizard101, I want to continue that deep dive because I have an interest in religion, cults, and appropriation. Not to mention that it is unanimously agreed upon that the inclusion of some elements, particularly the Cabal/the Schism, are antisemitic. However I wanted to know why that was the case as I have friends who are involved with Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and who have genuine bibles from some major cults (Free Masons, Satanism, JW, etc.) and I've discovered that yes! The Cabal is antisemitic, but it's not disparaging Judah/Kabbalah irl, but a reflection of how cults like the Illuminati and the Free Masons appropriate esoterica from Kabbalah to control their members.
Tldr, the Cabal in Wizard101 is not a case of the authors being bigoted, but the characters being bigoted. It relates back to my False Gods post I'm really fucking excited to talk about it!!!!!
Admittedly, because I haven't completed Pirate101 in it's entirety, there's a lot about the game and it's depictions that I don't know about, but I can go off of what my friends have shown me, some things in the Wiki, and the depictions in Novus/Wallaru (since they directly relate back to Pirate101).
Though, the first thing I noticed about Pirate101 was just how "mask off" the characters are about their actions: the game doesn't even TRY to justify the roles in everyone's suffering the major powers play. It just shows you outright who people are and how the rest of the world deals with it!!! And it makes sense considering how the game opens with the Pirate doing a jail break from the Armada! It sets the tone perfectly, tells the player that this WILL be a game about usurping power.
The Wizard is a diplomat and doesn't really become a revolutionary until Arc 2.
The Pirate is a revolutionary and a shit starter right out of the fucking gate and continues this path throughout the rest of the story!
Yes, there are so many racist things about early Pirate such how Vodou is portrayed. They get some things right, but it mostly the pop culture depiction we have seen for years in western media. Not to mention that it's painfully obvious that Kingsilse has not a damn clue about the roles/rituals/esoterica/traditions in Vodou and it pisses me off to no end. Not to mention that the Pirate's first interaction with Indigenous peoples is to beat them into submission! Like motherfucker, we are the colonizers!!! We are pirates and stand against oppression and governments, but we also must recognized how we contribute to the suffering of the people here before us!
What else I noticed in both games is how many perspectives the game offers to the player. Sure, some are more satirized than others, but you can see the thought process that character from all sides of the political spectrum on multiple things!!! I love this aspect about the games because it is very hard to write a mature story about revolutionary ideas without first understanding why people would buy into a system that ultimately hurts people. Such as how in Sinners(2025) - Ryan Coogler makes the audience consider that maybe joining the vampires is a viable and perhaps beneficial option. We often forget that for some people, evil social systems/political systems/economic systems like white supremacy, facism, and capitalism appear revolutionary. The idea that humans chose to build society was a revolutionary idea during a time where your life was often decided for you.
I will never forget how, when I became a punk rock musician and started studying the art and history, my Dad told me "It's punk to get as much money as you can because you have the power to tell people to fuck off." I strongly disagree with this because telling the oppressors to fuck off when you are rich in community, when you have been stolen from, when you are kind and willing to accept and help people is more punk rock than any amount of power you can leverage with money (I'm not saying money isn't important, it helps bail out our protestors and helps to provide support and resources in this capitalistic society. The rich have a responsibility to help those less fortunate and responsibility does not mean control). However, I know why he said it: because under capitalism, having money allows you to make choices, having choices allows you freedom. As such the people who are most free are the people with the most money.
Both of these games are extremely valuable despite how problematic they are because they both challenge the player (if they read the fucking dialogue) to consider ideas they haven't considered. However, the game doesn't ask you to take on these beliefs, it asks you to understand them in context, it asks you to reflect. Should you choose to, stand strong in the belief that community, friendship, autonomy, and humanity are things that are worth fighting for even as the world does everything to undermine it for profit.
No revolutionary is going to perfect, no protest is perfect.
