I go completely cosplay in those worlds, hell yeah, xenophobia is part of the lore and it's fun to flip your usual behavior to let off some steam in a safe and gratifying way. I'll play the "Xeno-Scum!" screaming commissar as well as the medieval knight who thinks black people are naturally inferior. But every fucking time, there's some asshole in the fandom whose damaged brain thinks this somehow translates into acceptable behavior IRL.
No dude! How do the huge black, red and straight out Antifa-Flag hanging in the playroom, the dozens of stickers everywhere showing a fist destroying a swastika and the fotos from demonstrations showing us with the local democratic-socialist youth not give it away? Our clubhouse is not a safe place for fascists to be in!
I’ll play the “Xeno-Scum!” screaming commissar as well as the medieval knight who thinks black people are naturally inferior.
I get and agree with your overall point, but as a matter of petty pedantry (sorry) I have to point out that racism in that sense was pretty absent in the Medieval period, at least amongst Europeans, who saw Subsaharan Africans as more fascinating than inferior. "Black = Inferior" started developing with the slave trade in the 16th century, and didn't really hit full speed until the start of the 18th century.
History is funny like that. Not ha-ha funny, unfortunately.
Oh I am cognizant of the fact that not necessarily skin-color is the fulcrum of real, existing medieval racism (it's rather a different kind of racism/culturalism and it does declare for example jews and muslims to be subhumans (source)) but I'm talking completely RPG-worlds here, with all their baggage and misunderstandings.
I'm sorry but where does antifa come into play here. Like you can enjoy evil racist factions in fiction and still think that atifa has gone a little insane over the years. Hell you don't even have to enjoy villains while actively telling people you acknowledge the bad guy is bad.
Racist? Space Marines aren’t racist. We love all races. As long as they don’t have green skin. Or you know, belong to a different religion. I don’t know why anyone would call us racist. We don’t hate any races.
Except Orks.
And Eldar.
And Dark Eldar.
And Necrons.
And T’au. Because nobody likes dumbass weeaboo space communists.
But at least they don’t try to eat us like the Tyranids.
Or abhumans
Interesting article from Polygon on fascism in the 40k universe here: https://www.polygon.com/23414657/warhammer-40k-anti-fascism-space-marines-capitalism-leagues-of-votann-hate
That's actually a pretty great analysis, even if the writer shies away from outright stating that 40k, like all satires that go on too long, has become an earnest story instead of a critical comedy, which has certain implications when your property started out as being anti-fascist.
Yeah, I thought it was a good read. Glad you enjoyed it.
Accurate
