Is Shantae Racist?

The Shantae series is one of the best metroidvania series. Each game is full of charm, clean gameplay, and interesting, mind-boggling puzzles, but what I really wanted to talk about was the lead character: Shantae. Shantae is a belly-dancing genie that invokes middle-eastern imagery and is clearly based off of Arab culture. Maybe a little too much.

It’s pretty obvious that the Shantae series, even though it’s generally pretty wholesome and has pretty PG characters, each character is dressed really scantily. If this is normal cultural representation or oversexualization of an “exotic” culture is really up to the interpretation, but to me it looks as her design falls directly into the “Provocative Exotic Belly Dancer” stereotype. Shantae never outright does or says anything that is outright racist, but it’s her design that often comes into question if its over-exotifying Arab culture. While Shantae’s skimpy outfit, promiscuous camera angles, and other manner of sexualization in an overall kid-friendly game is an oversight at the least and a questionable design choice at most.

But overall, Shantae’s personality and character are really positive. Her appearance is never brought up except for maybe one or two jokes and the game entirely focuses on her bravery, resolve, and willingness to help others, being often viewed by other characters as a beacon of hope.

So while, in my opinion, Shantae is generally a pretty good depiction of the Arab culture. I think it does a good job of setting Shantae’s heritage up but casting it aside so it doesn’t influence writing or player perception is a good idea.

But orientalist stereotype or positive Arab representation? Ultimately, that’s for you to decide.

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