It’s been a hallmark plotline in the “Scooby-Doo” show and franchise for nearly five decades: The Mystery Inc. gang solves a crime and alerts the police to the bad guy. And in the new Warner Bros. fighter game “MultiVersus,” that theme lived on — as a move by Velma Dinkley, the squad’s bespectacled problem solver.
If Velma collected enough evidence while fighting an opponent, she could hold up a wanted poster, point in her opponent’s direction, and a police car would come and whisk away her foe. Velma’s character has been praised as one of the best in the crossover fighting game for her unique skills. But having a White woman call the police on Black characters such as LeBron James of “Space Jam”?
That gave some players “Karen” vibes.
Now, the game has changed: Velma has been stripped of her police-calling powers. Instead, the Mystery Squad responds in their van and takes away Velma’s adversaries. The change was announced Thursday amid a host of other tweaks to the game, which was released in July to much fanfare. The free-to-play game, which features characters from various Warner Bros. Discovery-owned properties fighting each other in the style of “Super Smash Bros.,” surpassed 20 million users in its first month, VentureBeat reported.
Warner Bros. Games did not give a reason for the change to Velma’s move, and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Sunday.
But the update comes after some “MultiVersus” players criticized the Scooby-Doo character’s move as being tone-deaf to ongoing concerns about police brutality, as well as instances in which Black people doing ordinary activities — such as watering flowers, barbecuingor requesting that a dog be leashed — have the police called on them.
Some White women who have been recorded making such calls have been pejoratively dubbed “Karens.” The term is also used to describe a woman feeling entitled to get her way, such as sternly asking to speak to someone’s manager.
I am enjoying Velma in Multiversus but maining a character who's special move is calling the police on her enemies definitely don't sit right with me as a black man lol pic.twitter.com/kvtfHwM3OC
— he who vibes (@NgObscure) August 1, 2022
There is even a Change.org petition to have the move changed. It recognizes that, traditionally, the Scooby-Doo characters turned people in to the authorities but argued that the police car wasn’t necessary in the video game.
“For decades, and especially in recent times, Black & Indigenous people of color around the world have suffered under police brutality and this cop car is ignoring the problem of police brutality in this day [and] age,” the petition reads.
Renata Price, who writes about the gaming community for Vice’s Waypoint, wrote that while the change to Velma’s character is small, it “highlights the developer’s willingness to respond to player feedback.”
“And the game is better for it,” Price added.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/12/velma-multiversus-police/
2022-09-12 11:14:21Z
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