What follows below are just a few thoughts that emerged out of the latest Video game controversy, the LittleBigPlanet soundtrack saga. I will explore this issue in more depth in my next blog. for now I will just touch on a few things.
I spent my day going through about 30 articles and about 550 comments around this whole issue. Here is a link for those who have no idea what i'm talking about, but if youre half assed to click the link i'l give a quick summary.
There is a PS3 game that was supposed to be released in America this week called LittleBigPlanet, but it was delayed last week as Sony recalled all copies because of a complaint by a Muslim Gamer (playing a test copy) that the game contained verses from the Quran. Now theres alot of bullshit on the net about the content, but this is whats there.
On the 'Swinging Safari' stage, there is a song by Mali-born singer Toumani Diabate called 'Tapha Niang' (released two years ago) and two of the phrases used are from the Quran - kollo nafsin tha'iqatol mawt" - 'Every soul shall have the taste of death, and kollo man alaiha fan"- 'All that is on earth will perish') If you want, you can listen to the song here - its quite cool. Taken in the context of the song, its about the mortality of man - A theme that runs through the Quran and isnt blasphemous in any sense whatsoever.
As you can imagine - there is a huge backlash around this as people were anticipating this game (this game is one of two reasons why I would buy a PS3, the other being MGS4) and alot of ignorant cunts are equating this to the Denmark saga and probably think Osama will be using this in his next Video - Death to Crash Bandicoot and all that. American Gamers are defending their Freedom of speech passionately (even though this is a British made game developed for a Japanese console for commercial gain)
So - what are my thoughts.
Firstly - I am not offended whatsoever by the song and I do believe that having a recall so late in the production cycle is counterproductive (not to sales mind you - any publicity is good publicity) Before anyone admonishes me for not being offended one must understand the context - Toumani Diabate is a devout Muslim (the guy has a salaah room next to his office) and his songs reflect his spirituality. He has popularised the Kora (a West African Harp - have a listen to this track - its amazing - Elyne Road) and the use of this cultural instrument is comparable to the early muslims use of the Daff, Qawali artists use of the Tabla, Dawud Warsnby Alis use of the Guitar or Sami Yusuf's use of the Piano - as you can see - different culutres, different instruments. A track which introduced me to this genre of music is 'Alibaba' from a CD called Sound of the Maghreb and you can hear a sample of the Azaan (Haya Alla salaah) playing in the track - This track could probably be tantamount to blasphemy for many of my readers but is it fair to apply our interpretation of what it means to be Muslim to a foreign culture? The extension of this is - is naath the only permissible means of expression? I want to explore this idea further (touching on Junaid Jamshed etc but let me get back to LittleBigPlanet. One more thing before I go on - Have a listen to Durban Based group Waahids first CD (Im friends with the guys so I dont think they'l mind this) Listen to the track rabbana - The original was verbatim from the Quran, and only after a Cape Town Moulana (I stand to be corrected but I remember this from the Souk two years ago -I'm sitting next t o Nazjam for Sami Yusuf tomorrow so i'l ask him) brought this up, they changed one word to make it 'halaal'. One more example before I go - If you have a Nokia N95 8 gig - Listen to the music that was installed on the phone (Africa Calling) Two of the tracks have bits from the Quran in them - do we boycott Nokia?
This however is not a review of music, and nor do I want my comments to be highjacked by the 'Music is haraam' brigade (I respect that position but this is not the post for those comments) I want to look at this issue from one guiding principle - Benefit.
Firstly, I need to point out that this isnt a clear cut issue - there are pros and cons to both sides. Granted, some Muslims would be offended by the song (although honestly - Listen to the track, while you imagine you are immersed in the game and tell me whether you can pick out the bits if you werent looking out for them) but this could possibly close the door to any Muslim artist hoping for coverage on the fastest growing media inthe world. Also, this game is largely driven by user created content and I predict thousands of anti muslim stages being created by gamers (just adding to the cycle of Islamophobia) that is so prevalent today. I came across a few comments where the guys are already discussing how they would do this - Would they have done this if the game wasnt pulled so late?
Copies of the games that are already on the market (sold by retailers who didnt keep to the original launch date) are being sold on Ebay for up to R2500, so we know that there is demand for it.
Are we as muslims becoming too sensitive? Last year Sony got into trouble from the Church of England because one of its games (Resistance: Fall of man) modelled a stage after the Manchester Cathedral, and the Church was upset that it recreated Scenes of violence in the Church. Sony apologised, but did not recall the game. I'm trying my best not to sound cynical but what if, what if it wasnt the Manchester Cathedral but a famous Musjid? Please dont misunderstand me now - We need to defend our faith when it is wronged and I also believe that Freedom of Expression isnt an absolute, but are we unwittingly being dragged into a quagmire of sorts where our reactions are not only anticipated, but are counterproductive to the tenets of Islam as well? In a more general sense, are we hypocrites for defending only Rasulullah ( صلى الله عليه وسلم) but not saying a word when any other prophets are insulted?
As Ibraheem Hoop (National director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations) has stated with regards to the recall "Many Americans already feel that Muslims want to censor everything".
We love to harp on about how one fifth of the Worlds population are Muslim but have you ever sat back and looked at the way we are depicted in media like Video games? Apart from a handful of titles (even that many is pushing it) Muslims are portrayed as a combination of the exotic and Huntingtons wet dream. Who do we blame for this? Surely video game makers are drawing from what they see (see being the collective sum of cognitive dissonance, actions of a few muslims, and media influences.) Finally we have a chance for positive engagement through gaming, even if it is in the form of 'World Music' which seems so kitsch these days, and it is removed. Here goes any chance of experiencing Islam in gaming as anything except the 'Other' which is to be feared.
A conspiracy theory could be that it was removed because Right Wing Christian Gamers wouldnt want games with Quranic Ayats in them, and while this is plausible I wouldnt really use this as an argument.
While I'm rambling about censorship in games, let me quickly touch on two examples where Ive agreed with the censorship and recall. Five years ago Microsoft recalled copies of a crappy fighting game called Kakuto Chojin because one of the fighters was a Muslim chap and his theme song had verses from the Quran in it. So why am I cool with LittleBigPlanet but not with this - Because of context. Diabate knows what he is singing about and it isnt offensive to muslims (and neither was there a huge outcry about the song until now - and dont tell me its some obscure song just because you havent heard it before - the guy won a frikkin Grammy and is considered to be one of the African greats of World Music), the Japanese programmers who developed the fighting game on the other hand probably just inserted it out of ignorance because they thought it was cool. Heres a link of the video if anyone is keen.
The second example is one that was picked up in production and removed after CAIR contacted Capcom. Its from the Wii Game Zak and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros Treasure and I am glad it was edited because there were some cannibals/barbarians circling a totem pole and as soon as a voice shouts Allahu Akbar they all prostrate towards the pole. no prizes for figuring out where they got the inspiration for this one. I'l embed the video on this blog so you can check it out - Listen for it at around 20 seconds or so.
As ive stated earlier - this is merely an unstructured post to create debate and introduce people to issues of censorship in gaming. As with all my posts, you are welcome to disagree with me, however - construct an argument and i'l respond to it. If you agree with anything, let me know (because sometimes I fear that my concerns are a bit left field).
I'l pick this up in my next post where i look at Aladdin etc.
MJ
