It’s a story that has become sadly common. A very bad sector of the ‘gamer’ community has a problem with a video game and decides to directly attack a person related to it. These victims are often women and people of color. On this occasion it happened to the actress Lily Gao, who was cruelly insulted on social networks by critics of her interpretation of Ada Wong in the ‘remake’ of Resident Evil 4.
While some may have fair criticisms of the actress’s work, these attacks came from those who felt that “it’s an unsexy performance” and who objected to Capcom removing sexist jokes and comments from the game. The situation became so ugly that Gao was forced to deactivate her Instagram account and temporarily leave social media.
This character had been played by Jolene Andersen, a white actress, in the ‘remake’ of Resident Evil 2. Some of the people who insulted Gao are demanding Andersen’s role be returned.
But Lily Gao has already returned to her networks and has a message for both fans and detractors.
“It’s an honor to be the first Asian actress to play Ada Wong in the games of Resident Evil and will always be grateful to our director and producer for making the decision to do authentic representation. It’s unfortunate that with the release of the game also comes the familiar feeling that “I don’t belong.” Although the criticism is expected, it is not the first time that an actor of color has faced racist and sexist harassment simply for participating. Inauthentic casting perpetuates an unhealthy image that continues to dehumanize the community it seeks to represent. It’s time we stop capitalizing on the “sexualized, erotic, mysterious” Asian woman and make room for all kinds of Asian women. My Ada is a survivor. She is kind, fair, smart and funny. She’s unpredictable, resilient and definitely not a stereotype.”
Data miners have found information in the game’s code that suggests that ‘Separate Ways’, the adventure that the spire lives in parallel to Leon’s in the game, will become a reality as DLC. That means we’ll be hearing more from Lily Gao as Ada Wong in the future ‘remake’ of Resident Evil 4 no matter what a few nasty gamers think.