One time or another we all encounter a strong black woman in our lives and we may remember it or not. One time we were close to having a black woman be the face of a video game was, but sadly “the man” said no! With the closing of Lionhead, the game developers who made the Fable series, we are hearing more and more stories of their struggle with developing a game under the Microsoft umbrella. John McCormack, former lead art director for Lionhead wanted to have a black woman on the cover of Fable 3 box art. This would have been dope to me because now my sisters can get some representation in a video game. To me this would have been dope, however, Microsoft on the other hand, said “hell to the naw. Here are a few exerts from the original article that stand out and hold weight as to how black woman are seen”.

“They were going, ‘You can’t have a black person on the cover, and you can’t have a woman. And you want a black woman.’ And I was like, ‘Yes, I do, because it’s about be whatever hero you want.’ [According to McCormack, Microsoft said] ‘No. It’s a white guy. That’s just the way it is. We know what sells and that’s f**king it. Stop the arguing.’ I was like, ‘F**k you!’ That was a huge fight.”

“They said, ‘What’s the most unsuccessful Disney film? I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ They went, ‘Princess and the Frog. Work it out.’ I was like, “F**k you, man.’ I hated it.”

John McCormack, was focusing on the fact that Fable is meant to tear down the normal and break barriers but the good ol’ boys at Microsoft couldn’t see that.

“I was screaming at them in conference calls,” he said. “I lost it at that point, because they just weren’t getting the game. Especially because we were the first ever game that had gay marriage, we were about breaking down walls. It was meant to be funny and mature. They just took none of it and just did the usual white guy with a sword on the front. Damn it! You missed the point!”

Sadly, black women aren’t marketable enough for “the white man”. Moral of the story is society has come a long way from where we were but we have SO MUCH further to go.

I’m a young videographer with an ambition to be the very best, that no one ever was. To record them is my quest to upload them is my cause!