So, here it is. Another piece about textured hair in video games. Are you tired of this yet? I’m pretty tired of it. And no, not tired of talking about it, because it’s important. Rather, I’m tired of once again having to go digging for solutions to problems that in all actuality, shouldn’t exist anymore.
This week, while browsing through Facebook, I came across this hilarious meme from well-known cosplay and content creator Venture Bros Cosplay. In it, the author is once again lamenting the fact that Hollywood— in this case, a catch-all phrase for modern media production, from shows to video games—has yet again proven that once they have found a singular hairstyle for their characters with textured hair.
They–
are–
like–
a–
dog–
with–
a–
bone–
with it.
In the image, Venture Bros Cosplay uses a picture of one of the newest characters to the Star Wars universe, a Jedi named Yord Fandar, who has been given an oddly familiar hairdo. Along with the picture of Yord (played by Charlie Barnett), the creator opts in to combine healthy collage of popular characters of the last ten years and their movement towards having what commenters of the original meme call the “Killmonger” (referencing the Disney Marvel character of the same name, the eponymous villain of the first Black Panther film) be the default hairstyle for modern Black character as well as characters of color.
In fact, many of the comments in the original post on Facebook list the “eras” of singular Black and textured hairstyles that have been media focuses over the years, beginning with cartoons in the 1970s and 1980s—the Afro—to the shift in the 1990s—the high top fade—bringing us full circle to the Killmonger.
Of course, this isn’t to say that every Black and textured hairstyle in modern video games and entertainment is this exact hair cut, but the problem of a lack of diversity in Black and textured hair has long been an industry issue.
Back in 2023, Dove launched the Code My Crown initiative, a website and promotional campaign meant to bring attention to the eponymous guide the company had put together. Gathering and collaborating with both game creators as well as real-life hairstylists, Dove’s 226-page Code My Crown is a healthy sized launching point for those looking to include more than just a few tokenized hairstyles for their characters with textured hair.
“There so many different kinds of Black hairstyles,” says Jeffrey Rousseau, a freelance journalist (formally of GameIndustry.biz) when I asked him about the meme. “Why is that we continue to see the one from one movie from 2018? It’s 2024.”
“I’m not saying that Black people don’t have it, for real, but it’s a running joke now,” he continued. “When I see it in media, in video games, whatever: I laugh. Y’all couldn’t do better? Go to Instagram.”
Ultimately, his commentary, the meme, and for all intents and purposes, this editorial, are all humorous but ultimately exhausted commentaries on the lack of representation in video games and across mainstream media that can only seem to give Black people and people of color a preselect variety of hair. Critics of this point of view will invariably come back with retorts and evidence about the sameness of video game hair for many different characters of different races. Yet, with ongoing efforts to make video games more diverse in all aspects, and the easy ability to rectify the mistakes of the past, it seems imprudent for studios to continue to ignore clear signs of audience fatigue. All in all, I know that I am not first person to pen and publish commentary to this effect, but I have to wonder, how long will we have to wait for someone to be the last?
(And here, one more for the road:)
Featured Image: Marvel Entertainment (via Star Wars)
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