It appears as if 55Pixels have completely ignored the email I sent them in my previous post as I have not got any response for the past 11-12 days. Today would have also been the eve of the Bin Weevils domain running out but they for whatever reason had insisted that the dead game just had to carry on however, this is not the main focus of this post so I must put that down to rest.
This post is an interesting filler regarding the character 'Weevil X' which in doubt works as a bit of an extra thought which somewhat attaches to a post I wrote sometime ago.
Weevil X came about during the third generation of Bin Weevils where the mission 'Raiders of the Lost Bin Pet' was released and has since been used as a form of evil character to add to the plot. So, let's first of all analyse his appearance:
Now I could go on and say that this is a bit offensive towards certain religions but being as the weevil doesn't portray any form of religious symbol, I have no right to make any assumptions along those lines.
Another thing regarding their appearance is that I am not entirely sure if its just me but doesn't some of the facial expressions that Weevil X sometimes makes look similar to the expressions made by Osama Bin Laden? I know this is a rather controversial topic to bring up on a site dedicated around a children's game but my thoughts just had to be expressed.
Moving on, the actions performed by this weevil are also the actions that I guess the average sort of terrorist would do. This is conveyed through firstly, the use of planning to 'destroy' Castle Gam:
However, this isn't all that Weevil X does. In fact, Weevil X has also carried another terrorist trait which is the whole concept of taking hostages as seen on two particular occasions:
And as a final note, Weevil X himself also tends to release a sort of stereotypical voice which is best heard in the 'Showdown at Tycoon Towers' mission which in itself, sounds rather suspicious.
But all in all, I overall don't think the actions carried out are necessarily bad to put into a scenario of an evil character but rather that the problem arises when you link the context in with a character that appears to look like a typical terrorist from the modern era and once linked together, it gives out a completely stereotypical image to a young audience.
I myself thoroughly enjoyed each of the SWS missions in the game and loved how the plot thickened mission by mission and I think it is great that you are trying to influence children in a way that they can get the clear impression as to how bad these acts of terrorism are which can overall contribute to a more peaceful future however, the use of the things done to present the character will simply result in children misjudging people of a particular culture that may wear these particular clothing items worn by Weevil X.
Overall, I think it would be okay to keep the actions such as the hostage taking and demolition as it is however, I think these actions need to have been done by an evil character who is presented in its own form of original appearance that isn't clearly inspired by people belonging to a particular terrorist organisation.
As an extra thought towards the storyline, I think it is rather stupid and insulting that Weevil X became this terrorist stereotype and started performing acts of terrorism as a result of the whole 'bin' hiding away from him. Don't you just think that it is a bit too far fetched? In terms of it being insulting, I think it is rather insulting to the people suffering in third world nations like Syria who have suffered a tremendous amount via bombs sent in by countries such as my home country of the UK but also other western world nations like the US and France. As a result of these bombs, innocent people have unfortunately died where relatives of those people have ended up joining terrorist groups due to the fact that they get the impression that these terrorists are the good guys being as they have just experienced the trauma of losing their loved ones. These are just a few of the reasons why I strongly oppose all forms of bombing nations when it comes to solving conflict. And from knowing the process of ordinary people joining terrorist groups in these countries and then seeing a fictional weevil joining one and becoming its very own terrorist as a result of what you would call a first world problem, it makes me absolutely sick at the entirety of Bin Weevils as a whole!
As of 2018, Weevil X hasn't been used in any way on Bin Weevils including their annual blog posts and from analysing the stereotype it presents, I do think its time that 55Pixels just stopped using the character completely in the future (that's if they even plan on doing so anyway being as Bin Weevils doesn't have anything else to even offer anymore).
But maybe I am just overthinking all of this and being a bit too strict? What are your thoughts on the whole character concept of Weevil X?
That's it for this post!