Volourn said:
ie. Turians based on Saren. Garrius is a greta counter exmaple about this.
actually saren and garrius are very much alike. both think the end justifies the means and are deluded by some notions of their personal definition of a "greater good".
and that pretty much fits the bioware generalisation of the turians:
"Turians are willing to do what needs to be done, and they always follow through."
aditionally, all but one of the turians in the game fail. for someone specializing on solo stealth runs, nihilus fucks up big time, gets killed as a result. garrius doesn't get his man, you do. saren doesn't stop sovereign, you do. the council fucks up big time, you and the rest of humanity straighten it out.
the only competent turian in the game is the cop who willingly endangers a civilian in order to "get his man", and that's a minor part of a short sidequest.
As for humans being shown as the shining beacon of enlightenment.
hope, not enlightment. enlightment would imply humanity being some kind of paragon of morality or wisdom, while hope only means all the other races are too incompetent to deal with the problem, which is pretty much the case.
That must explain the human ambassador. Let's not foeget Ashely, a human, a main character, a party member, and a potential romance who is protrayed as a racist. Not exactly showing humans in gthe best light.,
as i said, hope.
still, both those characters show what other races lack, namely texture.
(also, ashley is not a racist, just a nationalist)
Not to emention the humongous assholeness that Shepard (the PC) can act like.
which remains entirely without any consequence, if i'm not mistaken. also, such texture is only present within the human race, making the other races seem even more flat and textureless than they already are.
"the one chosen child that gets to decide the fate of everyone at the end"
That's bullshit. It's more like it's because the PC happens to be human. Dumbass.
no, actually it is because you happen to be human, but not because you
happen to be human. you happening to be human would imply chance, but this was a conscious design decision, both the fact that it's humanity who does or doesn't do the saving, and the fact that there even is someone who needs to be saved. there are many other possibilities, but obviously humanity has to be so awesome, because the player character is the chosen one, and so is his race. all those countless alien vessels fuck up, the flagship gets nearly blown up, but then come the humans to the rescue, and their insignificantly small force manages to turn the tide and save the council at great implied but meaningless expense.
there could be countless tie ins to the way you did the main plot or sub quests, like a corp fleet depending on what you did on noveria, or something through wrex, or tali, the council could simply not blow up when you decide to let them down, and survive in a rather poor and righteously pissed state, resulting in you being demoted, publicly shamed, your previous actions used against or for you in some kind of trial, and so on.
heck, the council could prove at least marginally competent and have a back-up plan you were not told about due to the high risk of your person ending in enemy hands, but no, they are at your mercy, just like the rest of the universe, and through you at the mercy of humanity's split personality.
either way, and
i'll put this in bold, so it's easier for you to read: none of this is even part of my argument of why the game is racist, only examples of what i called other traces of generalisation.
the game is racist because of the simple fact that the reapers try to blow you up in a rather stupid manner, the geth try to blow you up in a rather stupid manner, and most of all, both ai's in the game try to blow you up in a rather stupid manner.
all the inorganic sentients are generalised into stupid and unreasonable psychopaths, who lack any finesse, intelligence, or competence.
the inorganics are displayed without any texture, sense or reason. they aren't even remotely alien, only boring, and you are perfectly justified in your righteous anger against them.
at least there's some hope for the geth in future titles, since they might as well be controlled, but not so in this first game.
And, turians are NOTHING like elves.
depends on the elves. they reminded me a lot of the lotr elves with a touch of japanophilia.