Honoring the Stonewall Rebellion's 39th anniversary ... with a video game
by
Lyle Masaki
http://www.afterelton.com/blog/lylemasaki/stonewall-riots-39-years-ago-today-stonewall-brawl-video-gameOne website is celebrating Pride with a webgame inspired by the Stonewall Rebellion. Stonewall Brawl takes designs from gay cartoonist Eric Orner (creator of The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green) and turns them into a Streets of Rage-style side-scrolling fighting game, where you play a character that fights police officers, collects martini power-ups and unleashes a superpower based on disco fabulousness.
When news of Stonewall Brawl first came out reaction was pretty mixed. Critics wondered if the game would reflect the diversity of the Stonewall Revolution's participants (the Stonewall Inn's patrons were mostly Black and Hispanic, and the uprising probably wouldn't have happened if not for the drag queens and transgenders who were a key part), asked if the game could be taken out of context to make the gay community look bad (after all, it is a game about violence against the police) and worried that turning the Rebellion into a game would trivialize a key event for gay rights.
