Castlevania and Appropriation
This morning while checking on various things I got a notice on an upcoming game I am really looking forward to. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a continuation of the amazing castlevania/ zelda games that the creator is known for. The update was entirely about music, and filled my office with beauty.
As I listened to the music, I heard references to Brahms, Bach, and other great composers. It would be difficult to not reference Bach when you include an organ. The thing is, the game itself references German culture a lot. How it would reference something like my native culture seems kind of odd. Also, there have been talks about things like this all around me. As I listened, I had the weirdest thought about how this may be appropriation.
Castlevania is one of my all time favorite game series. I am actually kind of worried right now because my copy of Symphony of the Night is missing, and I don’t know why. I even like the Castlevania for the Nintendo 64, despite the horrible camera controls.
But when we get down to it, Castlevania is referencing Germanic and Eastern European culture a lot. The castle exteriors in videos show references to Romanian and German castles. Then they make sure to reference things from the mythology of those cultures as well. The crow demon in Symphony of the Night is based on a crow demon within Germanic lore.
The opening of some of the games are in German, and are pretty gothic in reference. Gothic being not only the architecture style, but also the feel of many of the characters. So, it’s German, and has major influences from Eastern Europe. This really isn’t a surprise to anyone who has played the games.
What is interesting is how a Japanese company is referencing Germanic mythology. There are three ways the cultures have met. The first is the Anglification of Japan. Then we have horror movies like Hammer Films productions of Dracula. Finally there is Dungeons and Dragons, which takes myths and makes them dice.
Near the end of the Shogunate in Japan, the need for warriors was coming to an end. Most of the samurai barely even knew how to take their swords out, let alone fight with one. Instead, the sword meant their place in aristocracy. With no real purpose in life, peace does that to warriors, and dwindling needs to do much the Samurai spent a great deal of time gambling and spending money.
By the time Commodore Perry showed up, even the Shogun was in debt from all the gambling. Japan opened up, and began searching for cultures to use to improve themselves. When they did their research England was found to be the top country to mimic. This wasn’t true, but the Japanese believed it. They sent scholars to japan to mimic the culture as best they could.
At the same time, Victorian england was going through spiritualistic revival. There were groups that enjoyed using the occult as reference to their own art, skill, and spiritual beliefs. Within those references, and ideas were German cultural values.
The reason for this is German culture tends to stand as the in between point for Western European ideas, and Eastern European cultures. The French had Culture and the Germans had Kultur. Instead of writing about great operas, German culture writers looked at how stories were told, and how common things worked within the culture. Get ready for this one, the biggest names for these studiers were the Grimm Brothers, who used storytelling as a way to see ideas and thoughts move around an area.
The story of Dracula as a horrible man was told to Germans by Germans. When the story arrived to England, it was read and told to an audience familiar to German culture. The stories would then be given to Japanese scholars who had no idea where the origin was from.
Go forward a bit in time, and we have horror movies based on those old victorian occult groups. Dracula came back as a major film character, whose actor -Christopher Lee- was seen throughout Japan. In fact, it is said the Japanese editions of those films were far bloodier, and more gruesome than the American made films. I can’t find the book, but there are several quotes on the matter.
Japan and horror were linked to these English films. In turn, the idea of old Germanic castles and ancient ghosts came into Japanese culture as they were coming back into power in the world. They would mix what they found into their own thing. The shinigami of older times began to be a character holding a scythe like the Angel of Death in European myth.
As videogames began to be made, Japanese game makers referenced others usage. Castlevania II seemed to steal cover art ideas from a Dungeons and Dragons game. As the first game was made, they would reference horror movies, and ideas as it pertained to the culture of the time. Later games would become more victorian in depiction, and reference more of the Eastern European myths.
Why is this important to me though? In a way, it brings up an odd discussion going around about the idea of appropriation. The basic idea is that one culture takes something from another culture without permission, and uses it to their own means. For example the view of Maui, an ancient ancestor god of Polynesian belief will be appearing in the Disney movie Moana. Another example is Santa Claus in American culture. But it then hits a weird point when we realize what we wouldn’t have without it.
Culture in my views is often like jazz. One culture sees what another is doing, and uses it for something else. Like a trumpeter changing the beat of the drums, and then the drums adding something for a quick tril by the trumpet. They play off each other, and not always recognizing where the beat came from.
The most recent accusation of wrongdoing I have heard about has been that of Maui in the Disney movie Moana. He is too large, and not the muscular figure some Polynesians view him as. From the article linked we read:
“That stereotype is that all men and women of Polynesian descent are naturally overweight or obese. Polynesians in media are often portrayed as large, lazy and unhealthy. Like most stereotypes, this one is reductive, offensive, and an inaccurate portrayal of the majority of Polynesian people.”
There have also been comments that there are cultural marks on him that have not been given permission. This created an even bigger controversy when the Maui costume was released.
“One user, who identified as Polynesian tweeted, “Our Brown Skin/Ink’s NOT a costume.”
A commenter on the same article wrote.
“* Disney princesses have unrealistic body standards*
* having an "obese" character is stereotypical*
Can't win”
It’s a strongly debated matter, and I have heard and read plenty about it. My facebook feed had several articles and comments on the matter, most of which against Maui’s depiction. Of course, I hang out with Polynesian scholars so this was expected. To the Polynesian or Pacific Islander in general, this is an opening up of their culture to others. It’s scary, because it means having to face or deal with how others might view with them.
Disney is known for their missteps. For example, the story of Aladdin was considered stereotypical of arabic culture.
While doing research on the subject, a boy scout troop in La Junta Colorado gave up doing traditional dances because the nearby tribes told them to stop. I lived there, and saw those dances while in grade school. My first introduction to the culture was from that same place.
That same view of tribal culture has changed the Boy Scout Merit Badge of Indian Lore. It was very different when I was growing up, and had many friends decide to quit scouts. Men in loincloths dancing around and claiming to be Native is sort of offensive.
The discussion actually gets a bit odd, because the same thing happens to Santa Claus. I’m certain you know who the jolly elf is. What you don’t know is the Germanic origin of him really doesn’t make him out to be anything like your description.
For example, my Santa fights off snow demons to keep me safe. If I am a naughty boy, he doesn’t protect me from them. Krampus and others get to take me, and use me at will. Speaking of which, there are a lot more than just Krampus.
The red you see on Santa is from an ad made by non Germans. Traditionally, he wears a leather suit made of the animals he captured in his hunt.
Keep in mind, you don’t have permission to do this. It isn’t offensive, but it is weird. Try explaining to someone you get presents after being protected from snow demons, and then getting a blank stare. Or maybe the fact that Christmas is basically all December long, and not just one day.
This brings up the real reason why appropriation is viewed in such a bad light. It isn’t the use of the item, or even of taking something and making something else. The fear is that of being turned into an exotic idea instead of a human people. Read the comments from any native scholar, and you see the worries that they will be portrayed as a stereotype they grew up with. It wasn’t the dance, it was the mystical exotic touch to the dance that offends.
The problem is appropriation is also an incredibly important part of history. It would take a very long time to explain why it is integral to any culture. Also, many people get offended by those who get offended. As some of these things come into a culture, they become their own thing.
English when written in its original form would not make any sense to you. I know this, because I know some Old English speakers. As the language was influenced by other cultures, the sentence structure and word use changed. In fact, sometimes when people tell me to speak English I respond, “Wat dos thy seigh?” BTW you just pronounced it wrong.
If it wasn’t for appropriation, we couldn’t have the language you are reading this in. That’s pretty important.
Many of the people who cry out about various appropriations have been called out by people from the cultures supposedly being mocked. For example, here is an entire article on College Humor looking at times like those. I don’t mind that Santa Claus is different, heck I think its really cool.
Then we have a reality where the appropriated item becomes a new thing all on its own. For example, Mana. In Pacific Island culture it is the presence of a person. When I would sit in anthropology class, I would be told to sit close, and let everyone feel my mana.
The word itself was appropriated, and turned into a power used to do magical things in videogames. Both Japanese and American videogames use the term, and the pronunciation has changed from it.
If you are thinking there could be another word, Magic has a similar history. Then perhaps the term faery? It has a shorter history, but using the original word would not refer to a person. The words and ideas changed, and took on new forms.
This finally brings us to the topic, is Castlevania appropriation? Should it be offensive? Has it turned into its own thing?
First off, no one gave the Japanese game makers permission to use Germanic ideas for their own use. It was through other people sort of making the culture look exotic to come up with ideas like Dracula, and a castle that was always changing on its own.
To give you an example, you likely think Romania looks like it does in all of those movies. If you imagined a modern city with a nice university, and multiple economic business bases, and the majority of the buildings being from the 1990’s, you are not imagining Ploiesti. It is near the castle Vlad Tepez ruled over. The city is nicer than some cities in the US I have been to.
The people in Romania are well aware of the exotic image they have, and use it with various tour groups. You want to slay a vampire? They have a tour for you.
As I said before, the music is very nice, which is a staple for Castlevania games. They reference various older musical styles while making their own. Yet, there is no reference or permission given to use them. The sound of the high pitched voice is an obvious reference to the many Children’s choirs found throughout the lower Germanic peoples.
They are using the culture and ideas, and thus it is appropriation. There are people who are not enjoying this treatment, because it causes problems with talking about culture with others. When people only know you as the gothic vampire besieged people, it does become an exoticised idea of life. The truth is, the majority of the people can go months without a single vampire attack.
So it then looks like parts of Eastern Europe are dealing with problems. They can be overcome, and create good things from this, but it would be hard. But what about Germans?
The Germans in the Hammer films tended to be the smart ones who figured out what to do. Heck, if its a horror film, you know the guy with the Germanic name will be the one who is trained and experienced to deal with monsters. The games depict us in that way as well. To be honest, its pretty nice. Of course that isn’t the stereotype we are trying to destroy.
Castlevania and its many forms has created new ideas, and several copiers. We say something is Castlevania esque, or reference Metroidvania as a term for videogames all the time. Like Mana, it has sort of become its own thing. I guess the greatest answer I can give is I still want to play it. Yes its kind of weird having so many German references in the game, but I recognize it isn’t my culture they are actually talking about.
When I heard the music, I began to realize that one of my favorite games was appropriating my own culture. I thought about the bad decisions made by taking something, and turning it exotic. On the other hand, I knew that cultures do this all the time, and it actually helps. In the end, I realized I still wanted to play the game.
While going through this in my head, I realized some things. The first was the weird sensation of seeing my own culture being used without my permission. The second wasn’t whether or not it offended me, but to find ways within the culture to let it spread.
For example, for the many Kung Fu fans in reservations, there is a form taught only to other natives. The reward for learning everything is a feather. When I was in the Navajo Rez, I knew someone who had earned his feather. The feather didn’t have a meaning to his tribe, nor did Kung Fu. It combined, and molded, and became something else. I think I view Castlevania that way.
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