When I (Robin Ek, TGG) hear news about my favorite game getting a patch, new items or in this case, a new skin. I get really happy, as it adds more gameplay value to the game in question (well, at least for the most of the time). So I could imagine that the “Overwatch” community must have felt a lot of happiness as well when they heard that D.VA is getting a police officer skin in the near future. You see, the D.Va (and Oni Genji) skin is launching with the Heroes of the Storm’s 2.0 update on the 1st of May (you have to play “Heroes of the Storm” in-order to get your hands on the D.VA and Oni Genji skin, and that option is sadly not available for console players). Well, that’s great news right? Sure, but I couldn’t help to notice Mic.com’s post on the matter (it’s called “New Overwatch officer D.VA skin sparks a furious debate over police brutality”, the post has now been renamed “Overwatch Police Officer D.Va skin inspires heated fan debate over cop brutality”).
Why? Because it states the following:
“Starting May 1, Overwatch players can earn a special “Officer D.Va” skin for the tank hero D.Va that turns her into a cute-looking police officer — sirens and all. But some fans aren’t on board. For them, it’s a crude, insensitive reminder of the brutality Americans face at the hands of police every day.”
But then, some fans, like Tumblr user elliexer, pointed out that turning D.Va into a police officer is potentially fraught territory. After all, law enforcement has been the subject of a massive nationwide movement — Black Lives Matter — that seeks to end racial discrimination at the hands of police and roll back the increasing militarization of police forces.
Therefore, for some, turning the typically carefree and sprightly D.Va into what’s become a symbol of brutality and racism doesn’t make much sense. To voice their discomfort with the new D.Va skin, elliexer created a pretty striking illustration depicting D.Va in a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.” – Tim Mulkerin, Mic.com
Say what? Wow, just wow…You know, from my point of view, it appears as if MIC is trying to make a lot of fuss over nothing (drama and whatnot). Because most of the “Overwatch” players couldn’t care less about BLM or any other political agendas that outsiders try to inject into their game (they just want to enjoy “Overwatch” and nothing else). Furthermore, the D.VA BLM picture was done by some rather angry Tumblr user called elliexer (as seen in the photo down below). Even so, MIC pretty much went all in with their BLM and police brutality narrative (that’s how they spun it). Simply put, Mic made it sound like the officer D.VA skin had sparked heated conversations about police brutality in the “Overwatch” community, which is false. However, at least MIC added the following to their post (this part I agree with):
“However, some fans — like Tumblr user runaway-jade and tenaflyviper — argued that D.Va isn’t American, and thus should be allowed to exist outside the confines of the controversy surrounding police in America. In other words: Since D.Va is from South Korea, her police officer skin shouldn’t be considered as any sort of statement on American law enforcement”
In a way, all of this made me think about the “Tracer is gay! Take that gamers!” incident from last year. Because just like in the matter with Tracer and her sexuality, most of the “Overwatch” players have no problem whatsoever with D.VA’s officer skin. It’s also worth pointing out that there doesn’t live a lot of black folks in South Korea (I’ve been told that they make up for less than 1% of the South Korean population) of, and D.VA is based on a South Korean girl. So BLM means zero to nothing to the people of South Korea. Even so, that’s the agenda that Mic.com went with….
On a personal level. I just find D.VA’s officer skin to be cute (I like it), and that’s all there is to the matter for me. I also can’t help to wonder if Tumblr and BLM hate other cop game characters as well? Because as you probably already know, there are quite a few cop game characters out there (Jill Valentine, Oni, Max Payne, Sonya Blade Lei Wulong with many others). So I guess that they will go after them also?
Nevertheless, I bet that most of these folks (SJWs, BLM supporters and so on) don’t even play or care all that much about games at all. In other words, all they want to do is to use Gaming as a propaganda platform for their agendas. I mean, how messed up isn’t it that some Tumblr snowflake/BLM supporter blackwashed D.VA and turned her into a BLM poster girl just because she got triggered by the officer skin for D.VA? I also noticed that it appears as if Elliexer (the creator of the blackwashed D.VA/BLM drawing) have been lying on Twitter in-order to push her own political agendas:
So what can I say really? Because there seems to be no end to the SJW madness. That’s also why I truly miss the days when you could just pick up a game and enjoy it without having political agendas (and whatnot) shoved down your throat (in my case, that would be the late 80s to early-mid 90s). So I honestly don’t even want to think about what the world would have looked like if today’s SJW cancer had existed in the 80s. I mean, I’m quite sure that a lot of things wouldn’t even exist if that had been the case (books, movies, games and whatnot)…
Even though that never happened though, things still look rather messed up in the games industry. As video game censorship and SJW nonsense is very much alive and kicking even in the current year (in this case, that would be 2017-04-29). So, yeah, we will most likely see more articles like Mic.com’s D.VA post and SJW creations like Elliexer’s D.VA BLM drawing in the future. Especially since it seems like most of the SJW folks have no employment. Thus, they have all the time in the world to whine, cry and rant like the little babies they are 24/7 (do you remember when Tumblr went nuts over Mei being too thin in “Overwatch”?.
I know that things are looking rather grim at the moment, but still believe that the SJW cancer will be removed from the world of games though. Why? Because more and more Gamers are getting fed up with censorship, political correctness and having political agendas injected into their games (people just want to have fun and escape the harsh reality of the real world for a moment). As for the case with officer D.VA Vs the SJW/BLM/Tumblr camp. Screw em, and let them whine all they want. Because as long as game developers and publishers don’t cave into their rants and demands, then they have no say about anything (why should game developers and publishers even care about people who don’t buy and support their games in the first place?).
I do have some positive news to share about the matter though. You see, gamers are making fun out of the SJWs who got triggered by the officer D.VA skin (as seen in many of the pictures that I’ve added to this OP), and it doesn’t seem like Blizzard will remove the officer D.VA skin either. In other words, not only didn’t the SJWs get laughed at, but they will most likely not be able to have the officer D.VA skin removed from “Overwatch” either.
In addition, players and fans who like to dress up in uniform or aspire to work in law enforcement should be happy to see such a skin appear. For your information. If you’re a fan of such police officer skins, then you may consider getting a custom police challenge coin.
These coins are a great way to show your appreciation for the character and her skin, and they make a great collectible item. They come in a variety of designs and colors, and you can customize one that fits your style. Customize now at GS-JJ.com!
And with that said, what’s your take on this matter? Lett us know your thoughts in the comment section down below!
***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.
Credit:
Plippy McGee
Cammy
Source:
VG247
Jeff Kaplan
tumblr
Mic.com
The Overwatch thread on Reddit
Plippy McGee
Best Mom Eva
Robin “V-Act” Ek
Editor in chief
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround
More by Robin Ek:
Tags: Blizzard, BLM, D-VA, Gamers, Gaming, Overwatch, SJWs, Tumblr