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The Journey To...North America, Part Two
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<blockquote data-quote="TheCosmicKid" data-source="post: 7739363" data-attributes="member: 6683613"><p>If I was going to play a Mesoamerican game I would still use the Aztec state as the villains. Conquest and tribute-taking are just bad guy things to do. Remember that there were plenty of non-Aztec people, and/or Aztec people who were not instruments of the state, to serve as viewpoint characters.</p><p></p><p></p><p>While I appreciate that, I also shy away from any suggestion that a story about cultural first contact is "off limits", because <em>those are really interesting stories</em>. The key is making the "other" culture diverse and human rather than just a pack of cookie-cutter stereotype "aliens".</p><p></p><p>One of the best examples of this in my view is, of all things, the DreamWorks cartoon <em>The Road to El Dorado</em>. Yes, it's a story about two white guys traveling to Mesoamerica and posing as gods for fun and profit, which is not the most promising plot synopsis for the culturally sensitive. What makes it stand out, though, is the characterization of the three main Mesoamerican characters. The king, the high priest, and the thief each have their own interests and goals and political/religious opinions. They're all smart enough to figure out the Spaniards' deception pretty quickly, but they all play along because it advances each of their agendas (up until it doesn't). They are, in short, not noble savages but <em>people</em>. And their relationships with the outsiders underscore their personhood rather than erase it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TheCosmicKid, post: 7739363, member: 6683613"] If I was going to play a Mesoamerican game I would still use the Aztec state as the villains. Conquest and tribute-taking are just bad guy things to do. Remember that there were plenty of non-Aztec people, and/or Aztec people who were not instruments of the state, to serve as viewpoint characters. While I appreciate that, I also shy away from any suggestion that a story about cultural first contact is "off limits", because [I]those are really interesting stories[/I]. The key is making the "other" culture diverse and human rather than just a pack of cookie-cutter stereotype "aliens". One of the best examples of this in my view is, of all things, the DreamWorks cartoon [I]The Road to El Dorado[/I]. Yes, it's a story about two white guys traveling to Mesoamerica and posing as gods for fun and profit, which is not the most promising plot synopsis for the culturally sensitive. What makes it stand out, though, is the characterization of the three main Mesoamerican characters. The king, the high priest, and the thief each have their own interests and goals and political/religious opinions. They're all smart enough to figure out the Spaniards' deception pretty quickly, but they all play along because it advances each of their agendas (up until it doesn't). They are, in short, not noble savages but [I]people[/I]. And their relationships with the outsiders underscore their personhood rather than erase it. [/QUOTE]
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