In Bioshock Infinite, at the start of the game, you have to go through a baptism to proceed.
Shortly after the game’s release, a news story cropped up about how a devout Christian, when presented with that moment in the game, was so uncomfortable, he stopped playing and demanded a refund. He got it.
When Fox heard of this, she was a little bothered – and when she watched the scene in question, she was distinctly uncomfortable.
The question that’s been lurking in my mind since then is, if I had asked for a refund; if Fox had asked for a refund, not as Christians, but as people made uncomfortable by a scene of religious expression, would we have been granted it, without that weight of ‘devout faith’?
If I had wanted a refund due to the gross way the game makes me kill slaves in a warzone rebelling against their former owners, would I have been granted it? I very much believe slavery is an evil, after all.
If I had wanted a refund due to the way an adolescent girl’s toiletries were put on display and experimented on, would I have been granted it? I know a number of religious groups for whom even the notion that a woman is going through that period of the month leads to segregation.
If I had objected to the game based on what was on the game, and how that reflected on my moral and ethical beliefs, would Valve have refunded it to me?
I’m guessing no.
This news story still bothers me.
And I feel like I can’t really talk about why.