Indie studio Big-O-Tree Games (clever, right?) has been getting heat for its debut project, Dirty Chinese Restaurant. The restaurant management sim, still in development, features a host of cringeworthy racist tropes, from hunting down dogs, cats and mice from the back alley for ingredients, to a ‘sweatshop’ mode, which makes your paddy-hat clad employees work faster.
In Dirty Chinese Restaurant, players become Wong Fu, a chef who inherits his brother Wang Fu’s restaurant. The sim allows players to host a “prestigious Oriental establishment” by paying your workers and gathering ingredients through legitimate means, or “a real filthy dive” achieved by gambling and evading taxes.
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The Ontario studio is fully aware of its overt racism, citing Family Guy and South Park as satirical references, but a New York congresswoman isn’t letting that fly.
Representative Grace Meng issued a statement on the game on Facebook this past Monday:
“I wish I could say that I was shocked that there is a new video game soon to be released called ‘Dirty Chinese Restaurant.’ This game uses every negative and demeaning stereotype that I have ever come across as a Chinese American. From the names used for the characters of the game, to the types of food they cook, to the disturbing depiction of their faces, this game epitomizes racism against Asian Americans. I fear that prejudice against and othering of Asian Americans remains a form of racism that is too frequently brushed off and tacitly accepted. Racism against Asian Americans is just as harmful and pernicious as racism against any other group, and we must call it out when we see it. How we portray people matters. I urge Google, Apple, Android, and any other platform to not carry the game Dirty Chinese Restaurant, or any other game that glorifies in hurting any community.”
Later in the week, Big-O-Tree issued a statement on the game’s intention and public outcry:
“It has come to our attention that our small, independent game, Dirty Chinese Restaurant, has upset some people due to its content. Our game is mainly satire and comedy influenced by the classic politically incorrect shows we grew up watching, such as: South Park, All in the Family, Sanford & Son, Family Guy, Simpsons, and Chappelle’s Show. We also listen to Jay-Z. Our game in no way is meant to be an accurate representation of Chinese culture.”
The satire defense is not only tired, but is never an excuse to create bigoted content that isn’t critical of the bigotry it portrays. What makes transgressive comedy successful isn’t just the presence of shocking stereotypes and themes, but the underlying criticism of those themes. The jokes land because they also show us how absurd they are. Satire requires a clarity of purpose, or it will be mistaken for that which it intends to criticize.
