Cultural Identity Killed The Police: Resident Evil 2 Theory
Zombies, Lickers, Mr. X, and a plethora of other nightmares haunt the empty hallways of the Raccoon City Police Department (RCPD). But, these horrors pale in comparison to Chief of Police Brian Irons, the psychotic taxidermist secretly working for Umbrella. Under his rule, the police forces in Raccoon City were forced to take ludicrous measures to protect their cache of weapons and munitions. Strangely, the officers in the precinct simply followed his instructions with no indications of concern of dissent of any sort. But, is this a logical response from people trained to handle hostile situations on a semi-regular basis? Well, the answer might just be rooted in a few cultural aspects of our brothers in the far East.
However, before we get started let’s delve into some Resident Evil 2 lore. Those of you who’ve played the game extensively will remember Operation Report 1. This file provides Claire/Leon (and the player) with some key information regarding the situation within the RCPD. Primarily explaining the strange placement of munitions and weapons within the building, File 1 also gives the player clues regarding their next tasks within the locale. Furthermore, it’s the first time players receive word of Chief Irons within RE2.
While these minuscule details might somewhat justify the awful conditions in which our heroes find the police department, they do little to explain why anyone within the station would agree to place their weapons in hard to reach locations. Instead, we’re expected to believe that the officers simply complied with the instructions given out by their superior even if they were questionable at best.
Tactically speaking, splitting your weapons and munitions provides no additional advantages in an enclosed space such as a police station. Keeping them accessible in a known location is optimal due to the fact that at minimum a handful of officers will be armed during their shift as they leave for patrol. The policemen should have known this from the beginning, and if their ultimate goal was to prevent a terrorist attack, scattering their only puts them at a tactical disadvantage.
The city was also experiencing a heightened status of alert, which would typically translate to higher security measures in the nearby area. Placing the weapons in random arbitrary intervals only served to further disrupt the force’s overall efficiency and endanger lives. You might argue that this was the chief’s intention all along, but that’s not the problem… the issue is why nobody questioned it. The Raccoon City Police Department had to at least have some seasoned veterans that could see some flaws in these plans.
Who in their right mind would obviously follow the lead of someone whose logic has more holes than Swiss cheese on it? American’s are known for being loud and confrontational, questioning superiors is not outside the realm of belief, but in here they simply went with it. Did the officers just shrug and think “yeah, that sounds like a sound plan to me” while following instructions? Sounds a bit farfetched doesn’t it? Well, not if you were Japanese.
While Resident Evil is indeed conceptualized in the United States, it was still written by Japanese writers and developers. Indeed, their influence was so profound in the game that you can see aspects of it in almost everything about Racoon City. From the narrow street resembling the layouts of Japanese cities, to the Eastern concept of horror, it’s easy to see how their cultural identity shaped core ideas that would eventually lead to the game we know and love.
However, that also leads us to one slightly unnoticed fact about Japanese Culture. Namely, their approach to business and work ethic. In Japan, relations between superiors and subordinates is a one-way street. The boss is always correct, and lord forgive you if you voice any sort of dissent. Workers are expected to mindlessly obey their orders without questioning it, lest they be punished with additional work or shunning at best, and being “encouraged” to quit at worst.
Raising any concerns in their work environment is taboo in the Japanese society, to the point where there is a position known as the “Loud American” whose job is to bring up any potential concerns with the superiors decisions should they be necessary. But, while Racoon City was based in America, it’s pretty possible they forgot to hire a loud one to argue with Irons.
In the minds of the Japanese writers, this idea of dissent is something that simply was inconceivable in their minds, no policeman would ever dare to raise a complaint against their superior’s logic.
You might argue, they were under duress, but remember that the zombie hordes did not start attacking the place until the day after they moved the weapons. Even after the initial attack, they seemed calm enough to type not one, but two operational reports, so it’s fairly easy to assume, these guys could manage work while stressed.
On the other hand, some might argue that everyone knew of Chief Irons’ temper and were too afraid to disobey orders, but that’s also illogical seeing as they blatantly were plotting behind his back with their own ideas of how to escape the city. It’s fairly clear they weren’t afraid to think for themselves in private, but they opted to go ahead with his crazy ideas in fear of… what exactly, their paychecks? There wouldn’t be any of those if they are dead.
The whole city was in disarray at that point, and supplies were limited. Rather, than hunkering down and making a last stand, the policemen caused confusion among themselves, and costing them their lives.
In the end it wasn’t the zombies who annihilated Racoon City, but a bad script. Truly, man is the real monster of Resident Evil.
P.S.
I’ve been living in Japan for the last three years of my life, and have interacted plentifully with Japanese locals, who’ve shared work stories with me.