Bob Whitaker
@whitakeralmanac.bsky.social
1.3K followers
340 following
240 posts
Professor of History. Empire, Crime, Policing, and Video Games. Creator and host of historyrespawned.com (history in video games). Not communicating on behalf of my employer.
https://linktr.ee/bobwhitaker
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![Existing academic work treats Red Dead as, to borrow Soraya Murray’s label, a “difficult object” (Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West [2023], 207). Red Dead’s History is largely positive about the way the games engage with and represent the diversity of Western history. The author praises the “pains that Rockstar [. . .] took to capture the world of the late 1800s,” and claims that “the video games frequently excel in showcasing the contours not only of outlaw life but also of American life” (2). This perspective is not without merit—the game is indeed impressive and richly detailed. Historians will naturally disagree when it comes to interpreting their sources, as the author notes. But claims that Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game that meaningfully engages with any other historical perspective than that of white men are at odds with existing critical writing on this game (popular and academic), particularly where the game deals with the presence and stories of women, Native Americans, and Black Americans. This is one area where, at the very least, acknowledging the existence of other work in this field was warranted.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7mpwyqkv2tdiho653oyczicd/bafkreickl2htheohnfajlomp4kpowipjc5apigmx6minm74rf7fy4ebxze@jpeg)
Reposted by Bob Whitaker
Evan
@evansmithhist.bsky.social
· Aug 29
Reposted by Bob Whitaker
Bob Whitaker
@whitakeralmanac.bsky.social
· Aug 25
Bob Whitaker
@whitakeralmanac.bsky.social
· Aug 13
Reposted by Bob Whitaker
