“We Need To Fix Black Hair In Video Games”, by Kinda Funny Games, is a video essay exposing the historically few hairstyle options for people of color in popular games. Using first hand accounts from video game consumers and creators alike, Kinda Funny Games explains the history of black hairstyles in video games, and how that connects to black representation in video development studios, as well as video game consumers of color. When I was watching this video essay, two questions struck me. First, I know that representation is important, however it isn’t clear to me why. Therefore, my first goal was to flesh out my understanding of that question: why is it important to have representation in video games?
The answer boils down to two perspectives: video games as a product, and video games as popular media. Viewing video games as a product, it's clear that video games that include black hairstyles (and minority representation in general) will have a much greater appeal to those minority groups as opposed to video games without them. Part of the appeal of today’s games is the ability to put yourself in the place of your character. If POC players don’t have the option to make their character look like them, they are going to feel excluded.
Secondly, looking at video games from a popular media perspective, games, like other media, have the ability to influence societal norms and ideas. Including minority groups is important for society - therefore including them in our games is just as important.