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I know it seems silly to take issues in a video game like AC seriously, especially when they’re related to social issues, but it’s because I this series very close to my heart as I grew up playing it.
It’s no surprise that animal crossing has functioned as a therapeutic activity for some many people struggling through mental illness, isolation, abuse, etc. and many of those same folks view the game as a safe haven due to it’s wholesome and lighthearted nature.
Growing up, I wasn’t really allowed to play outside because of my environment, but what I lost in that experience I gained in video games, especially Animal crossing (city folk & wild world). It was a way I was able to explore nature, socialize, decorate my virtual home, & more!
Most importantly, the game was safe. It was a place I could be who I wanted and just do my silly little tasks, and with New Horizons launching, and the AC community growing ten-fold, I was grateful to get a little piece of the good parts of my childhood back,
Especially considering I’m a college student that has experienced issues involving depression and anxiety for the past few years. This game was escapism. It was a way for people to escape the horrors of reality.
This is why issues of racism, for example, in a seemingly “safe” and “wholesome” community such as the AC fandom is especially troubling and destroys any sense of comfort and security for BiPOC who use video games as an outlet of escapism from their everyday lives.
That’s why it doesn’t matter if it’s a “just video game”. Because it’s never “just a book”, it’s never “just a meme”, it’s never “just a movie”. Because if we applied that logic to D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, and undermined the impact entertainment has on minds, then what?
Systemic oppression exists in these things, and we need to see it or else oppression will continue to exist and you will continue to be ignorant to the true state of the world. P.S. for those BiPOC that defend overtly racist behaviors then you’re a pick me.
