"The Asian sterotyping thing...

may not have worked for Abercrombie & Fitch but I'll bet Ghetto-stereotypes will work for us!!" - Bonehead Marketer

The game's inventor, David Chang, 28, who immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan when he was 8, said: "They just have to remember this is just a game. This is a satirical look at stereotypes in America."

The game "is completely disgusting," said Franklin Stevenson, 40, a computer animator who heard about the demonstration on the radio and supported the protesters. "It speaks to the level of racism that still exists."

"It's like selling pictures of a lynching and people buying it like hot cakes," said Stevenson, shaking his head.

The controversy appears to be fueling the game's sales.

"For every bad e-mail ... I probably get like 20 orders," said Chang, who runs the operation out of his home in St. Marys, Pa.

Change said Urban Outfitters is the only retailer to carry the game in the Chicago area and sales clerks at their two stores in Chicago and one in Evanston said they have sold out of the game.

Calls for comment from Urban Outfitters corporate headquarters in Philadelphia were not returned Monday.

Chang, who said the game's inspiration came to him in fall 2001 while watching an episode of "MTV Cribs," a show that profiles the residences of famous rockers and rap stars.

Chang dismissed the criticism. Every race is denigrated in his game, he said.

"There's Asians, Irish, Italians, Jewish, any you can think of is on there. It's not just focused on the African-Americans," he said.

Chang said as an Asian-American he has had his own experiences dealing with negative stereotypes. To underline his point he said he has included in the game an exaggerated stereotype that assaults his own heritage.

Nice!

Anyway, Worse Than Queer has a (IMHO) much better argument for why the game and products like it purportedly intended as kitsch which utilize cariactures etc. should be more closely considered before we demand an instant recall -- not that she's saying we shouldn't dismiss them, just that we should consider it a bit first...

I'm not suggesting that it's all just "play" as if people weren't deeply, psychically invested in these images/contests for meaning in different ways, or that we abandon representation as a site of political struggle because, hi, that's all I do, but that we get smarter about it, examine the circuits of power (who's "appropriating" from who? for what purpose? what exactly is being "borrowed"? etc.) and the ways in which resulting cultural productions are framed, exchanged, and potentially re-appropriated and/or deformed.

entire article is here...

Honestly, myself, I'm divided. My first thought was "Ha! I want it!" followed closely by the thought that I'd have no place to keep it since the last thing I'd ever want is for my kid to find it (or something like it) and think it has anything to do with reality, which in a twisted way it does... kind of... i guess... Anybody? thoughts??

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New to the side links Worse than Queer insightful, rambling and more than a little pissed off. We like.