The internet loves a goth girl, as we already know, but now we know that they apparently love them so much that they are willing to excuse outright racism.
The UK government has released Pathways, an anti-extremist video game and visual novel that was meant to teach the younger generation about the dangers of radicalisation and extremism online and in real life.
Unfortunately, they seemed to have forgotten how the Internet works, and now a game that was meant to fight anti-immigrant extremism now has its own (very cute) pro-right-wing, racist symbol.
Move Over Queen Elizabeth, We Have a New British State Waifu
Created by U.K. media company Shout Out UK in collaboration with the Home Office’s Prevent programme, Pathways sees players take on the role of Charlie, a young impressionable boy who has a real bad habit of finding himself in examples of extremism that the average person may run into in their lifetime… Apparently.
However, one scenario in particular has caused quite some controversy.
Advert
It features a character called Amelia who is presented as a strong advocate for anti-immigration.
Depicted as a “goth girl”, meaning that she has brightly dyed hair and a choker (because apparently these are the telltale signs these days), Amelia is what we would call pretty darn racist.
Luckily, the game presents Amelia as an antagonist and not somebody who we're supposed to agree with (thank goodness for small mercies). Unfortunately, this is not what the internet thinks, seeing as her gothy attire and dyed hair have gained her a few... Admirers as our next “goth girl waifu”.
Amelia Has Become a Right-Wing Symbol
Since the launch of Pathways, Amelia has become the subject of memes and praise, especially since the game was recently reported on over at Kotaku.
As you can imagine, there is a certain group of people praising Amelia’s characters and as a result, the far-right have begun to use her as a symbol of anti-immigration within the U.K.
"Wait, are you telling me they made the cute goth e-girl the 'racist'? Do they understand how the internet works?" One Reddit user asked, referring to the fact that the stereotypical 'dyed hair gothic alt chic' vibe usually isn't what you'd picture when you think 'anti-immigration' or 'racist'. In fact, quite the opposite.
With memes and fanart depicting Amelia racking up thousands of likes and reposts, this is perhaps not what the U.K. government or Shout Out UK anticipated, but I have simply been on the internet for too long to not have seen this coming.
“Casting the antagonist as a purple haired e-girl with a choker was a bold move. Anyone who has been on the internet for a while would know the gooners love this,” another Reddit user shared.
Is this an example of the government being out of touch as usual, or was this an “inside job” as some people have put it? It's such a specific design, the creators must've known what they were doing.
We simply do not know but, put simply, if you see Amelia on your internet travels, she probably does not represent anything worthwhile.
Topics: PC