The debate still swirls around Josie Rizal, the first Filipino character in the arcade game Tekken – is she an offensive manifestation of cultural appropriation, or a symbol of national pride?
Tekken, developed by Bandai Namco Games of Japan, features characters who engage each other one-on-one in an unarmed combat tournament. Characters are drawn from many cultures that set the fighting style for a particular character.
“Josie Rizal,” named after the country’s national hero, appears in Tekken 7, wide-released on March 18 this year for arcade, with versions to follow in August for hand-held and console games.
Josie is dressed in the colors of the Philippine flag. Her top is embroidered with a motif of sampaguita, the national flower. She cries after a win: “I can’t believe I won!”
Some sectors have objected to the portrayal as culturally inappropriate, that it was disrespectful to name her after Jose Rizal, and Bandai was tasked for not doing enough research. There are requests for her name to be changed.
Bandai game producer Katsuhiro Harada has said they will not make changes and they will instead consider deleting the character.
“Josie is very special for [the Philippine] gamer community,” Harada has been quoted as saying. “If Josie can’t get supported in the Philippines, we can give her up anytime.”
But Josie Rizal is not the first Filipino-based character in a video game.
There’s Talim in Namco’s Soulcaliber series, who made her first appearance in the game’s third installment, Soulcaliber II (2002). She is included in the subsequent versions Soulcaliber III, Soulcaliber IV, and Soulcaliber: Broken Destiny.
According to a Wikia entry, the backstory for Talim (Filipino for ‘sharpness’) casts her as the daughter of the village’s shaman, raised as “the last babaylan (priestess)” of her community, the Village of the Wind Deity located in the “Visayan Islands (present-day Philippines).”
Talim is a “close-range character” who uses “wind dancing attacks” based on the Filipino martial art eskrima, the same martial art used for Josie Rizal.
Talim’s basic costume is pantaloons and a cropped top; over the years, it has undergone changes, with one version being a bra top and sheer pants, the latter “oddly transparent – supposedly inspired from the Philippines national costume of Abacca [sic] silk, it’s the same [sic] with the national dress of the Philippines – “Barong Tagalog”, made of woven abacca or banana silk.”
Her personality is “strikingly meek, innocent, kind, moderate, and nice in contrast to the rest of the Soul Series cast, often attempting to dissuade opponents from fighting, and constantly showing mercy to her defeated enemies. Her comments often reveal self-doubt and worry. She often does not blame others for their actions,” is quick to forgive, and “overall is considered a kind-hearted character.”
From one perspective, Talim seems weak and ineffective, and her clothes are just as skimpy as Josie Rizal’s – but there are no complaints about her being an offensive or inaccurate portrayal of Filipino women.
Why should Josie Rizal be treated differently? Her characterization does not sound much different from that of Talim’s. Also according to Wikia, Josie’s personality is “bright, cheerful, and quite energetic, but she has become more prone [sic] to crying because of something that happened in the past.” Her backstory has not been released yet.
Were there complaints about Josie only because Tekken is much more popular and popped up on the mainstream radar?
Most gamers are young, and those I’ve polled (aged 17 to 24) do not see the reason for the outcry against Josie Rizal.
“Filipino Tekkenistas are proud that there is now a Filipino character after all these years,” says a 17-year-old female who has played the game’s various versions since she was eight. “It’s also great that she’s a woman. It would be too bad if Mr. Harada pulls her from the game.”
“Tekken characters come from many different cultures,” says a 23-year-old female. “To make them easily recognizable and differentiated, they are stereotyped. If Filipinos will complain about Josie Rizal, all the more should other nationalities react, whose Tekken characters are even less positively portrayed. But they’re not complaining!”
The 24-year-old, a male, said, “What’s important for me about Josie Rizal are her move sets – will she be a strong enough character that I can use to win? I’m interested only in her fighting moves, not in her clothes or gestures – those don’t matter during play.”
In the end, they all agreed: “It’s just a game.”
Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Blog: http://jennyo.net