Arthur doesn’t know why the doctor was treated the way he was because of his skin color. Arthur is from the north and has only been with the gang his whole life.
so basically because of woketards the character had to be written in an incredibly narrow window of possibilities to be "acceptable" and is effectively pre-ruined by SJW. don't worry, i'm sure art being unfairly rejected won't cause anything too awful to happen, right?
Arthur would see a missing poster for a cat, and somehow end up in a horse chase where he's killed thirteen men. But he's rescuing that cat so little Timmy can be happy
@@icetide9411 "This shouldn't be too hard." Twenty minutes later Arthur is standing up on a horse having a three way gunfight with a infamous bandit group and a bunch of foreign agents from Britain while trying to climb onto a armored train
so someone could say that this is an act of artistic liberty to make a character from the past virtuous for the present, but if a person of the time and place had spent the majority of their life outside of established society, bought up in a separated commune where racism has no place, it seems likely enough that by arthurs age they could still be baffled by that kind of nonsense
And it's not like literally everyone was racist back then. Of course it was much more exceptional, but plenty of abolitionists saw their fellow humans as equals, even with different cultures.
@@cabnbeeschurgr6440 never forget John Brown and his sons, crazy abolitionists and desperately good people, who died rather than spend another moment in a country that enslaved their fellow man. And that was before the civil war, while rdr is in the early 1900s
I love the dynamic of the conversation. The doctor immediately moves to avoid further confrontation, and Arthur genuinely cannot understand because to him the color of his skin never once mattered to him. When Arthur makes his confusion abundantly clear and treats the doctor with nothing but courtesy, the doctor relaxes, moves back to his seat and engages with Arthur more casually. Arthur takes off after them simply because it's the right thing to do, and the doctor even tries to dissuade him. Nice bit of writing.
I like how much more upbeat and sociable the dude was when he realized Arthur isn’t like the other people and that Arthur sees absolutely nothing wrong with him and to him he’s just another person
I think something that plagued Arthur is imposter syndrome. He does incredibly good deeds for people and is a victim of circumstance. He believes he doesn't deserve any praise for the things he does, but he goes out of his way to help people, even when he kills, it's usually for the sake of someone else, and he doesn't kill innocents.
There are Dialogue changes if you do this quest in chapter 6. There is also differnt dialogue for The random encounter With The Injured man if you come across it in chapter 6.
It's so wholesome, that as soon as he noticed how Arthur wasn't being aggressive, calling him names, or even just raising his voice, he got comfortable enough to tell him what was wrong, without being asked! 🥰
If you do this mission when Arthur is already sick, the dialogue is a little different, doctor saying he wishes he could help with the more pressing ailment.
When you play the game and then replay it immediately you really see how much subtle foreshadowing Rockstar put in this game. You don't connect the dots the first time around and you forget about those details but then the second playthrough shows you that the writing is 10 times better than you initially thought
Damn imagine a secret ending, were Arthur survives TB because of the doctors book. Would be cool a way to reward getting good karma throughout the game. Sadly that aint the case😭
One of the recurring themes of Arthur's personality was to sort of play dumb in casual settings. Maybe it was his way of disarming those around him. Let others feel free to explain whatever is on their mind.
I'm sure he developed a subconscious policy of seeming less intelligent than he actually is so people are less guarded about what they say to or around him. A useful little trait for a man whose livelihood sometimes depends on rumour, hearsay, conjecture and outright bullshit.
@@MrMortull I think a part of it too was that he internalized being stupid. In a camp event, Hosea asks for his thoughts on a subject and he goes, "I don't do much thinking, Hosea, killing's more my thing" before Hosea says, "I don't believe that for a second". So even around his best friends, he plays up the 'ignorant stupid gun' character, probably after years of being undermined, especially subconsciously from Dutch who always hid his insanity behind a thin veneer of pretty words and empty phrases he read in his books so as to appear like he was smart and had all the answers
Exactly, it's made clear throughout the story that he's perfectly aware of racism, he just doesn't understand why someone WOULD be racist and thus doesn't jump to the obvious assumption this was about race.
@@Jay123-yk4plhe's aware tough, in one of micah's dialogue micah makes a racist remark and arthur immediately gets uncomfortable, you can also ad some chats with lenny explaining his life before joining the gang. Arthur may be respectful to people independent of race or gender but he surely knows about bad actors
Man I love english for dialogue like 9:01. Those subtle and small clever replies like "something for your pleasure" instead of "something for your trouble" adds so much to character. It doesn't work the same way in Korean.
I like how most players treat their horses just like I do in this game. Every time it falls or gets hurt I have to feed, brush and pat it a few times before I even get back on it. Lol.
I was sad about my horse dieing towards the end. A Female White Arabian I named Pace. I loved that Horse so damn much I did all my best with the upkeep and sometimes spoiling my horse. But when I needed her the most she would always stay within. RDR2 Was something special I need to replay it again and do all the side quests before the main story as my first play through I just did the story and that’s it.
Does it happen? Yes. is it as common as it used to be? Absolutely not. Something that people have been fed over and over is that racism is running amok again in our society when it’s the freest and equal it’s ever been. We’re all equals and have been for a good while. The part that people seem to not understand is the difference in Equal Opportunity to Equal Outcome. The United States of America is a land of Equal Opportunity, where everyone has the same chances to do the same thing and if they follow the same steps can both do the same thing and this applies to practically everything. The problem I see that’s worse than racism is the lack of appreciation of how good we all got it compared to other parts of the world. A land we all share together and live on. Yet, somehow, despite its greatness, freedom and equality, the people who make the news claim everything about America to be wrong.
He may not understand why people are racist, but he certainly understands that racism exists and does NOT let it slide haha Prime examples are the slave-trader side quest where he tells him "some legacies are meant to be pissed on", and first encountering klan members (at least in my playthrough), he says after the shootout "Damn hooded rats, Ill slaughter you all." Damn, I love Arthur
Well it was because he was precisely uncivilized, as American civilization was built on racism and so to be well-adjusted in that civilization meant being racist.
@@DigitalWaqf Absolutely based opinion. A country that had to have a civil war over slavery simply because it was that ingrained of an economic institution... Is certainly one that wouldn't at all had been the same without it. And lets not forget how slavery never really ended in the US... The 13th amendment literally says... "unless as punishment for a crime" The fact more people didn't realise, surely must be shocking.
It actually makes sense that both John and Arthur are more or less tolerant of different ethnic races and unorthodox women. They were both raised by Dutch to be his ideal man for his savage utopia and he tried to instill in them his own philosophy based on 18th and 19th century Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers. It also explains why Bill has such an aversion, hatred and fear of native Americans since he is a veteran of the American Indian wars especially the Apache wars in which he served.
My wife’s grandmother grew up in a secluded town in Tennessee where nobody even had racism come across their minds. They are all beautiful people. I’m so glad to be apart of their family.
@@fxyo1368 Inherently no, outwardly though? Yes. I tend to call it the concept of “quiet bigotry” because even the smallest and “mildly” offensive of mindsets come from a bigger picture of ignorance set about by the powerful.
@@teritt I used to grow up with the actual belief that all white people never seasoned their chicken, that they couldn't dance, etc. Growing up I realized these weren't the case and that those stereotypes were borne of ignorance. How we break this unfortunate racist epidemic in our communities is by teaching our children from a young age to respect someone based on their character instead of what the media might portray or the ones around us might think.
@@GrimsinMingzhiI see where you’re coming from, but the “white people can’t dance” stereotype is nothing compared to the dehumanizing stereotypes black people have attached to them.
I appreciate the realism from rockstar here. Arthur not understanding racism and what it means makes sense as Dutch did not see race but only men. I also like how Arthur’s lack of knowledge about social issues of the day makes sense as he was raised as an outlaw in the country his entire life. He did not grow up in a society where racism was already prevalent but instead in a very inclosed group whose goal it was to make money. The best characters are flawed as it reminds us that they are human like us.
unironically i grew up homeschooled in alabama (27 now) with no outside contact besides being on a swim team and i only started public school at highschool and i deadass didnt know that racism was a thing and had never heard a slur before as u might imagine my reaction to ppl talking about racism just like arthur straight up didnt compute
@@tehonlynoobs5556 fuckin no, that's not every gonna work and I'm not social science expert but my opinion of that is just desensitizing the population of their difference and maybe letting each other know their struggles. Of course there are batshit insane and truly awful people who will not even try to do that so, eh, it's not for everyone
@@nonotanymore that’s the way it should be. Racism should be non existent and you shouldn’t have to know about it because it shouldn’t be there in the first place. While Dutch was a bit crazy, I love his view on people of all races just being people
Reminds me of a time when I was in school. On a fairly nice day in the middle of practicing for a school play, I in my spare time had done some scatting to keep myself entertained cause I was and still am the type that doesn't like to sit still. While scatting, I noticed everyone was looking at me with concerned looks, I had questioned "What's up?" and they had told me along the lines of "You said the N-word", "that was incredibly racist", and "I am getting the teacher". I simply asked "What is racist?", my school peers interrogating me after a bit realized I legit did not know what racism was and it did become extremely awkward. Of course, looking back it was a very cringe and embarrassing memory.
At his core he’s good, but having lived with Dutch he’s become used to being a bit of a soldier without questioning orders. He does bad things if it’s for the benefit of his gang;family. Therefor it makes sense either way but it definitely doesn’t make sense for him to be ruthless or anything, like say, Micah. If he does bad things, it must be for a beneficial reason to the gang
@@MichaelLLloyd that's the reason I ended up doing that. Slowly but surely I couldn't justify Arthur being a huge prick and even at his worst, plated him as someone caring of his gang. At least a little later, I was surprised at how instead of being insulted by the antagonize people just say "fuck you arthur, talk to me when you're not like this". I felt too bad
if you've experienced all kinds of people, from just about every place you'll start to realize that they do shape how people generally view the world and what to expect from them in terms like behavior but, when push comes to shove, are really just surface-level differences
I don't know what game this is or anything, but I really liked how simple his responses were. The cowboy didn't go on some huge parade about how wrong racism is, because the doctor (and the audience) already knew that. I'm assuming this character doesn't know about the prevalence of racism, so a simple response "well that's not nice" felt heartwarming. It always annoyed me when media goes way too on-the-nose about it's messages, so seeing an interaction so human was a breath of fresh air.
Yeah the "cowboy" is named Arthur and throughout the game he's constantly surprised by how prevalent racism still is. He knows it exists and continues to exist (his black friends' parents were slaves and this was 1899 so not too long after the abolition of slavery in the US), but he grew up in an outlaw gang outside of society, living away from cities and was raised by a man who was a big fan of philosophers who wrote about the freedom and enlightenment of people. The people he spends the most time with is the gang he belongs to which are composed of men and women of different races and backgrounds. So to him, racism just doesn't make sense.
He knew what racism was because he knew what slavery was. I’m sure he grasped the concept. Just never occurred to him personally why the dude would’ve offended him.
He grasped the concept of it, but not the reasoning, which was all the more reason why Dutch and his band were outlaws. They didn't abide by the law of any state, that included slavery laws and the precursor to Jim Crow laws.
I think Arthur mostly grasped the definition of it. The concept of it. But not the practice of it. Its execution, its nuances. Remember his talk with Lenny about the Lemoyne Raiders. There's many microagressions you're simply not gonna pick up on if you don't know what to look for. Which Arthur shouldn't be able to pick up on, considering who he is and the company he keeps.
I had a great grandfather who during the late 1800's, never treated black people different from white folk. He once wrote how it wasn't right to treat em differently, and that as a collective we should just treat people fairly. It was an unpopular opinion obviously, but he passed that down our family line.
And opinions that are commonplace now and perhaps not even seen as a wrong might be seen in the exact opposite way like with hating hitler. You might ask why anyone would ever be not able, first off there's people that already are like this, and second there's people back then that would have questioned why people would not be treating anything differently. And they do it just like we would question not hating Hitler even if it seems like the right thing to hate hitler.
“This is one of the reasons why we all love Arthur. He’s equally annoyed with everybody until proven otherwise, no room for racism or sexism here. A true western king.” -Everyone
Lotta people have been crying about Rockstar going "woke" about the release of GTA6. But forget Rockstar had always been woke. They're one of the few companies that use those topics to improve a game, instead of using it as a shield from criticism or a checkbox quota to fullfil.
I really really love Arthur. I feel that goes without saying, because who doesn't, but among his other qualities, it's nice to see a character that genuinely sees to the heart of people and judges them by their character and actions (he himself acknowledges, in game, that he's a very good judge of character). And the writers never make it come across as being fake woke or some kind of fake, skin-deep veneer that crumbles on scrutiny. We need more characters with this kind of authenticity in every form of media. We need more writers like the ones who wrote RDR2.
Thats what makes Arthur a great character, he’s genuine. Unlike many other characters that tend to just fall into archetypes and tropes, Arthur feels like a real person who has an internal logic and way of thinking. Same with Dutch and other characters. They can be wildly different depending on context and situation while still being consistent in their actions.
He is realistic. Most of his life is spent growing up among all kinds of people, so stands to reason he can't understand why people would hate someone for such a simplistic reason as their gender or skin colour. Arthur hates people for specific reasons, like trying to kill him, or stealing his stuff.
I’m glad that people like Arthur are so ahead of their time, even if it is just a game. I’ve never played the game, but my friend sings it’s praises all the time, and how he loves it. Just goes to show that not everyone back in the early days of America was an asshole. There have been kind and compassionate people since forever.
Less a case of "ahead of their time" and more a case of "people have been anti racist and anti slavery for centuries." It's just that such ideas get buried because the old west gets whitewashed to fuck
I thought this interaction was amusing when it happened to me, Arthur is sitting there like "PEOPLE CAN DISCRIMINATE BASED ON SKIN COLOR????" Somehow Arthur is simultaneously the biggest badass of all time and as innocent as a newborn baby.
Sort of reminds me of "Black Sam" Bellamy, an infamous pirate from Cape Cod. He didnt care about race either, everyone on his ship got an equal share, if there werent enough hammocks for everyone, then everyone slept on the floor. Pirate ships of the late 1600s and early 1700s were facinating places, sometimes they were the only democracies for thousands of miles. That said not every pirate ship was as equal as Bellamys ship.
Definitely not all equal. When Bart Roberts captured and held slave ships for ransom in West Africa, he burnt any ship whose owner refused to pay up, including the ones with enslaved Africans in the hold, not bothering to release them or even help the few who made it out of the ship and into the shark infested water.
Historically, pirates in the Caribbean were happy to traffic slaves like captured cargo, assuming they didn’t die when their ships were captured… since plenty of pirated cargo was lost at sea in the raids rather than actually captured intact. Sure, some pirates were egalitarian, but that wasn’t the broader reality - the idea that pirate ships were bastions of then-progressive values toward race is the result of extreme romanticization.
@@Necroskull388 to be fair, democracy and progressiveness are far from the same thing. dan only really called them democratic bastions. not to say i think they were by any means very democratic either, but equating democracy to progressiveness is quite flawed. to the point of freed slaves joining crews, there is some suggestion by some historians that "black pirates" made up a significant portion of some crews during the golden age.
"Holier-than-thou" is not virtuous, but these modern writers don't get that. Their "heroes" are the "nice guys" of protagonists. They don't just do their good deed(s) and go, they must be showered with praise for it. They can't just hold the door for someone, they must be thanked, loudly and profusely.
Ya Arthur's stolen from people killed people strongarmed people for money but he has good qualities. He's kind to his gang would do anything for them. He will help people
In Eastern Bound, Arthur doesn’t know what happened to most of the Tribes of Native Americans. Arthur only knows what Hosea and Charles told them before meeting Rain Flies and Eagle Flies. Another sign of Arthur not understanding racism
People calling this “modern thoughts on race” as if decades before Arthur IN REAL LIFE, there weren’t white Underground Railroad operators who risked their lives and reputations to help slaves for barely any payment Compared to that, what Arthur does in this mission is literally just helping a dude out like he does essentially every other day if you did other side missions There’s nothing really modern about not being racist, it’s always existed, just not widespread
This isn't even a modern take on racism, it doesn't touch on the fact that whiteness is an ever changing category, and the fact that it only exist to exclude black people. The only people who'll never be able to be white are black people.
@@laisphinto6372 well yes but that’s besides the point of not being racist, you could’ve still not personally owned slaves and been incredibly racist. But the point is plenty of people verifiably existed that were not only not racist, but went out of their way to help black people, usually out of their own expense
Also it should be pointed to and kept in mind that most concepts of race are themselves inventions of the last few hundred years. There’s always been plenty of reason to dismiss it as the divisive nonsense it always have been.
I like how Arthur's attitude, or lack thereof, towards racism not only makes perfect sense, but it presents a very interesting question about racism being taught vs being natural. In growing up outside society, he also grew up without it's baggage. Ironically it's the more "savage" life of Arthur Morgan that has allowed him to be free from the societal structures of racism, sexism, and the like. Makes wonder what Milton would have to say about that, tho he would probably rationalize it by saying society is worth its "flaws". Love how this game gets you thinking about where the line between "civilized folk" and "outlaws" is, as well as showing off the warts and imperfections found in both. Even in it's totally optional side missions.
Always worth remembering that our very early ancestors had sex with Neanderthals, a literal different species of human. Racism may be something that can naturally occur, but it's prevalence in our societies is totally manufactured.
I honestly only learned about racism until I started being active on the internet during highschool in 2009. One of the worst lessons to learn that some people are too bothered about peoples color where I just saw other people as people.
Something I think is overlooked is that Lenny will talk about how his father was once a slave being beaten by one of his owners and the slaver shot him dead because he actually cared for his slaves, and gave him a pocket watch. The slaver later set the rest of his slaves free and hung himself. It’s actually quite a sad story to me
Yeah he's got a few stories that are pretty brutal. I waited till I got the 500$ pocket watch from the gambling boat and gave it to Lenny. Unfortunately he didn't live too long after to enjoy it, but it just didn't feel right giving him any other run of the mill watch
I'd imagine coming across people like Arthur in that time were rare. I wouldn't say he doesn't understand racism like he doesn't know what that is, cuz he's been around alot of people who are racist. I think he doesn't understand why people are racist and why they can't just treat everyone the same like he does. Arthur doesn't care if anyone is black, white, asian, mexican, etc., he treats everyone the same and kicks everyones ass the same lol. He'll only take it personal if you piss him off enough. Gotta love Arthur man 👌🏽
Well, he is one of the true Americans that used to exist that lived equally from civilization and the wild, but mostly the wild before civilization grew and government stole their way of life.
This is one of the missions I liked a lot. It's really fun too when you come across some KKK in the forest. I'm always like " here's some dynamite for you, and some for you, and some for you".
I let them kill themselves. Good mockery, but you'd be a fool to actually go looking for trouble with them in real life back then. They were very organized and had political backing from the democratic party and I'm sure some establishment type Republicans as well. Now they're pretty much dead. Old foggies abandoned by the corrupt politicians. Left to be no more than old men wanting you off their lawn. It's a fitting end, really. Just like rhe plantation owner in the game. I let him live. Dying was too much of a mercy for him .
He didn't pet the horse, he only fed him three apples to recover his health (Arthur just put his hand there as he was feeding it). I was waiting for him to pet the horse at the end and was disappointed he didn't - especially after nearly killing the poor animal. I feel bad if I accidentally ride my horse over a ground cactus and it makes that sound of pain, and immediately have to pet or feed them to overcome the guilt. lol. Horses are the goodest bois and girls of the game and deserve all the love!
@@Erizedd Horses are indeed the best. I've had a horse once. It was so pure, so strong, so good. Almost like an Angel or something. Feeding a horse feels amazing tho, it's specially satisying to watch the horse as it eats knowing that this food will keep their body strong and healthy.
I was puzzled as to why this doctor wasn't the one who discovered Arthur when he had his first spell with TB. I was half expecting to see this doctor again.
Perhaps it would’ve been too coincidental? Rockstar really worked hard to make this world seem as large as possible, so maybe the likelihood that this doctor would’ve stumbled upon him at that exact moment was too small.
There's something about struggle that can instill a really good understanding of the human condition and of what each individual in this world must endure. Not saying it works for everyone, but struggle tends to create empathy. There's a reason for a general loyalty amongst thieves: they understand how someone reaches a point in their life where they resort to thievery. To these kinds of people, certain others can still be exceptional targets in their eyes, but the reasons tend to become more complex than race or lifestyle. Arthur treats everyone he encounters as a person he doesn't yet know. He allows the nature of their character to then dictate his response. He's ignorant to race relations, and oblivious that anyone could behave in any way other than how he himself acts, despite plenty of evidence to contrast this. Arthur is a wise, empathetic character with minimal knowledge and worldliness. Kind of refreshing when we so often see the opposite of that in media. Unless you play the character as a murdering racist, I guess. Ultimately, you are Arthur's actions, whether or not his words match.
we need more reminders like arthur; that intellect and wisdom are drastically different things. You may be the smartest guy in the room, but someone wiser may be just as valuable, we ultimately need both to be a better person
@@daskartoffel5505 I'd say wisdom, intellect, and knowledge are all different. Wisdom and knowledge are most closely related: wisdom is learned experience, knowledge is read experience. One is what you observe, one is what you study. I'm wise in a philosophical sense because I search for meaning and reason, but I'm not knowledgeable in it as I haven't studied my peers. Intellect is the ability to more rapidly ascertain or use wisdom or knowledge. It's the spirit of ingenuity that turns information into practice. It's the speed of the processor, essentially, as someone with low intelligence can come to the same conclusions with a longer time frame. Arthur is an intelligent character, but very unknowledgeable. He has developed wisdom through his experiences, but doesn't have much of a world view or deeper philosophical insights into the self. He's connected the dots of the world he knows and of himself - however far those threads go - and found how best to maintain a place within his own time. Had he been properly educated, he'd have been a good scholar, but instead he learned the hard life. You'll meet quite a few homeless people on the street with similar attitudes to Arthur; a good mind with a bad upbringing and the misdirection with which it comes. The misadventures that come alongside such a life are only as fun in fiction, though.
What sucks is this is the only time you get to see him and he has no other quests after this one. He just disappears from the game after that as far as I know
I think Arthur is a very interesting character. Naive and foolish a lot of the time, but still with a strong sense of justice despite his profession. I'll never forget the mission with the old slave hunter, how the man had destroyed his own life over the loss of his "career" but all Arthur had for him was visceral disgust.
makes sense he doesn't understand racism with how accepting his gang is and the fact they move so often that they probably haven't stuck around anywhere long enough to witness racism
Considering how common racism was in almost every gathering place of society, I'd say that's highly unlikely. It's much more likely that because Arthur has known and worked closely with people of different colors and races, and because he knew that being a shit person had nothing to do with race or skin color, he judged people on their actions instead. Arthur does admit that he's a very good judge of character, and we see as much throughout the story.
@@Erizedd Not really in the places they visited, though. The Midwest/Rockies were still mostly a frontier, so most of the racism didn't come until all the east-coast rich men arrived, as well as the military, which we start to see in chapter 6
What you mean Arthur literally found a slave catcher's shack among other encounters such as Javier being called a greaser on several occasions. He definitely witnessed racism and understood it he just isn't a racist so it's the last thing on his mind when he meets someone
@@Mizzle420420nah man the game definitely makes it very clear that Arthur is clueless as to what Racism is. This becomes very apparent when you talk to Lenny in some instances. Kinda silly to be honest.
I remember this mission. It felt good to do something morally bright like this in the game. There was plenty of dark stuff like the cannibalism and feeding people to alligators.
I visited him after Arthur got sick, dialogue was a little different at the end there, I forgot exactly how he worded it, but he definitely mentioned it’s lack of effectiveness on what Arthur had.
I don't understand the "woke" argument here for rdr2, I can understand it in many other games, just not this. Authur and John were raised in a community filled with diversity, which was common during these times at specific places and gangs if you'd like to include them. Assertive women and other races in a group weren't common to see, but there was a lot of evidence to show for it. This here is pretty damn realistic since he'd only hate the irrational folks rather than color or gender because he was raised around people who were all kinds of different, it makes sense and works here. The people who complain are usually the ignorant and "racially prejudice" when it comes to good games like this, Rockstar didn't even shove the "woke narrative" down our throats because THERE WERE NONE. Crazy huh?
@@anthonycekic4509 he's just parroting the toxic content creators likes geeks and gamers and quartering who call everything with women and minorities in it "woke"
Arthur grew up in a gang where as long as you do your part your an equal and it doesn't matter race/gender xD ans not exactly in social areas often, so he doesn't get to see what everyone else sees
Arthur absolutely understands racism and what it is, he just isn't and hates those who are. He kinda disarms people with his nonchalant and clueless vibe, then increases the pressure when he really wants to press someone. Like with the two brothers fighting over the girl, he just kinda lets it all happen until someone is about to get hurt, and then he knocks some sense into both of them. Arthur is far from stupid; there's a difference between not knowing and not saying.
he definitely does understand that it exists, but I don't think he recognizes it very readily, especially in its more subtle and underhanded forms. this is why a specific conversation he has with lenny on the way to raid the confederate hideout really stood out to me, cause arthur admits that he doesn't often think about or notice racism in the same way that lenny does, and lenny points out this is because he's white. I really liked that conversation, it shows more of how arthur is humble and willing to listen to people he respects when it comes to issues he doesn't know much about. arthur is ignorant to many social issues that don't directly affect him, and he does show this at multiple points throughout the game, but it's his willingness to listen to the perspectives of others that makes him such a good man, his respect for peoples' freedom and right to live in the way that is best for them. this sets him apart from characters that are ignorant and *not* willing to learn, such as bill, dutch (somewhat), and worst of all, micah
Of course Arthur doesn't understand racism. He also doesn't understand sexism either. He kills everyone equally. A true humanitarian.
lol
SO BASED AND VALID LMAO!
so basically because of woketards the character had to be written in an incredibly narrow window of possibilities to be "acceptable" and is effectively pre-ruined by SJW. don't worry, i'm sure art being unfairly rejected won't cause anything too awful to happen, right?
@@Suiseisexy L brony pfp
@@Suiseisexy the hell are you talking about?
"How could you have offended me???"
"I HAVE NO IDEA."
I cannot have been the only one who read that in Medic’s voice
Twitter be like:
@@CoconutGaming41806DOCTOR! ARE YOU SURE THIS WILL WORK?!?
@@BananaHoovyJ.Rabbit I HAVE NO IDEA!!!
@@thefallensentinel3852RUclips commenters trying no to affiliate anything with twitter: impossible
"Don't go into trouble on my account!"
"mhm"
Arthur then got into trouble on that man's account
Arthur would see a missing poster for a cat, and somehow end up in a horse chase where he's killed thirteen men. But he's rescuing that cat so little Timmy can be happy
@@icetide9411 "This shouldn't be too hard."
Twenty minutes later
Arthur is standing up on a horse having a three way gunfight with a infamous bandit group and a bunch of foreign agents from Britain while trying to climb onto a armored train
Author eats several bullets on his account so he has some work to do too when he gets back lmfao
it's what he does best
He said himself it wasnt trouble, it was a pleasure
so someone could say that this is an act of artistic liberty to make a character from the past virtuous for the present, but if a person of the time and place had spent the majority of their life outside of established society, bought up in a separated commune where racism has no place, it seems likely enough that by arthurs age they could still be baffled by that kind of nonsense
I like this take
And it's not like literally everyone was racist back then. Of course it was much more exceptional, but plenty of abolitionists saw their fellow humans as equals, even with different cultures.
@@cabnbeeschurgr6440 never forget John Brown and his sons, crazy abolitionists and desperately good people, who died rather than spend another moment in a country that enslaved their fellow man. And that was before the civil war, while rdr is in the early 1900s
Become John Brown but without the religious fervour
@@JoseKobeC.SanchezJohn brown without religion is like a grilled cheese without cheese
I love the dynamic of the conversation. The doctor immediately moves to avoid further confrontation, and Arthur genuinely cannot understand because to him the color of his skin never once mattered to him. When Arthur makes his confusion abundantly clear and treats the doctor with nothing but courtesy, the doctor relaxes, moves back to his seat and engages with Arthur more casually. Arthur takes off after them simply because it's the right thing to do, and the doctor even tries to dissuade him. Nice bit of writing.
I also like that once the Doctor realizes that Arthur sees him just as another man, he lets his frustration and anger get through.
Ngl this guy kinda sucks at rdr2 LMAOO his shots are off he’s getting shot multiple times and not once did he use his deadeye. NOOB
Yes you thoroughly explained it didn't you, I'm sorry I just had to say it
@@ArthurMorgan1947BossHe’s just explaining what he liked about the interactions
Cool?
I like how much more upbeat and sociable the dude was when he realized Arthur isn’t like the other people and that Arthur sees absolutely nothing wrong with him and to him he’s just another person
it's sad how he was initially acting towards Arthur
@@PeptoAbismol Just self preservation. And that was America not even 60 years ago in some areas.
@@IncognitoSprax that’s exactly why it’s sad
@@IncognitoSprax 😭
@@IncognitoSprax it’s America today where I live.
"It wasn't a trouble now, was it?" "No, it was a pleasure." Damn, Arthur is one cool fella.
_"And I shall give you something for your pleasure"_
*Hol'up*
@@HANKSANDY69420 Glad someone said it.
@@nicobones9608 lmao no problem
@@HANKSANDY69420 went from RDR2 to Brokeback Mountain real fast
@@hasogon What's Brokeback Mountain tho
I love how comically cowboy-esque you made Arthur look
I think something that plagued Arthur is imposter syndrome. He does incredibly good deeds for people and is a victim of circumstance. He believes he doesn't deserve any praise for the things he does, but he goes out of his way to help people, even when he kills, it's usually for the sake of someone else, and he doesn't kill innocents.
Doesn't kill innocents?
Tell that to my Arthur Morgan
@@cupatea5972 😂
But he really is a murderer and a thief, he knows it
"Doesn't kill innocents."
So the bandit challenges just don't exist huh? XD
Lmao tell that to my Arthur Morgan. Mine is a certified serial killer.
"It wont work for anything chronic, but you might not need it to."
If only we knew...
If we only knew.
If you meet him after that, he’ll have a different response I think
@@DrHundTF2 yeah he will comment about Arthur tb
There are Dialogue changes if you do this quest in chapter 6. There is also differnt dialogue for The random encounter With The Injured man if you come across it in chapter 6.
@@Masquin__Indigoo yup. He says that he would like to help you with your sickness, but he can't.
"HOW, could YOU, have offended me?"
the sheer, genuine confusion in his voice is hilarious
“I DON’T KNOW.”
It's so wholesome, that as soon as he noticed how Arthur wasn't being aggressive, calling him names, or even just raising his voice, he got comfortable enough to tell him what was wrong, without being asked! 🥰
Totally agree 👌...
And also nice pfp 🤣
Two identical twins in the comments Is such a refreshing sight in the internet
"It wont work for anything chronic" Damn there is so much foreshadowing to Arthur's fate that is just so obvious the second time through
If you do this mission when Arthur is already sick, the dialogue is a little different, doctor saying he wishes he could help with the more pressing ailment.
😭😭
@@Kucza8 jesus christ thats amazing
When you play the game and then replay it immediately you really see how much subtle foreshadowing Rockstar put in this game. You don't connect the dots the first time around and you forget about those details but then the second playthrough shows you that the writing is 10 times better than you initially thought
Damn imagine a secret ending, were Arthur survives TB because of the doctors book. Would be cool a way to reward getting good karma throughout the game. Sadly that aint the case😭
One of the recurring themes of Arthur's personality was to sort of play dumb in casual settings. Maybe it was his way of disarming those around him. Let others feel free to explain whatever is on their mind.
I'm sure he developed a subconscious policy of seeming less intelligent than he actually is so people are less guarded about what they say to or around him. A useful little trait for a man whose livelihood sometimes depends on rumour, hearsay, conjecture and outright bullshit.
@@MrMortull I think a part of it too was that he internalized being stupid. In a camp event, Hosea asks for his thoughts on a subject and he goes, "I don't do much thinking, Hosea, killing's more my thing" before Hosea says, "I don't believe that for a second". So even around his best friends, he plays up the 'ignorant stupid gun' character, probably after years of being undermined, especially subconsciously from Dutch who always hid his insanity behind a thin veneer of pretty words and empty phrases he read in his books so as to appear like he was smart and had all the answers
@@Linnnaeus Well said. That's a very blunt explanation that I agree with. Well done.
@@Linnnaeus that is very well said
Kinda like GTA protagnists
Arthur is the byproduct of somone not exposed to twitter
No, he's the biproduct of a good and honest upbringing
How ?
@@GrimsinMingzhiAnd not being exposed to twitter
@@omegadaboinobody else in the game was exposed to twitter. What a braindead thing to say, i don't like the platform either but come on
@@rainbowsorceress2082are you joking too???
"It wasn't a trouble now, was it?"
"No, it was a pleasure."
I love Arthur.
"Don't go through any trouble on my account"
Arthur in his Way to get in trouble on his own for his sake:
*LETS BE HONEST WE ALL REMEMBER THIS RECORD:*
ruclips.net/video/ifidIi7su8c/видео.html
me on my way to smoke 40 cigars to get enough deadeye to complete the story:
@letters just use chewing tobacco every horse or bounty hunter has like 5 on them
My brain on its way to do extreme mental gymnastics to understand this post:
@@theyellowman9625 my posts, like Racism, are kinda hard to understand.
It's not that arthur doesn't understand racism. it's just that he isn't racist and sees this man as an equal
Exactly, it's made clear throughout the story that he's perfectly aware of racism, he just doesn't understand why someone WOULD be racist and thus doesn't jump to the obvious assumption this was about race.
@@flippantieshe really just doesn’t understand racism if you think about it you need to be tought racism and Dutch didn’t teach him that at all
Which horse is that ?
@@Jay123-yk4pli think he does, or else he wouldn't be so angry at that side mission slaver (if that's how to spell it)
@@Jay123-yk4plhe's aware tough, in one of micah's dialogue micah makes a racist remark and arthur immediately gets uncomfortable, you can also ad some chats with lenny explaining his life before joining the gang. Arthur may be respectful to people independent of race or gender but he surely knows about bad actors
"It wont work for anything chronic, but you may not need it to"
God the foreshadowing...
Man I love english for dialogue like 9:01. Those subtle and small clever replies like "something for your pleasure" instead of "something for your trouble" adds so much to character. It doesn't work the same way in Korean.
I like how most players treat their horses just like I do in this game. Every time it falls or gets hurt I have to feed, brush and pat it a few times before I even get back on it. Lol.
Same😅
Its just too real
So am I the only one that purposefully hit rocks and stuff to see the funny ragdolls?
When he fucking bulldozed his horse I started laughing but I felt bad at the same time
I was like that then I played too much red dead online and became a ruthless capitalist.
I appreciate this person taking the time to heal and feed their horse
You don’t do it?
@@V1ncenz010 many do not
I was sad about my horse dieing towards the end. A Female White Arabian I named Pace. I loved that Horse so damn much I did all my best with the upkeep and sometimes spoiling my horse. But when I needed her the most she would always stay within.
RDR2 Was something special I need to replay it again and do all the side quests before the main story as my first play through I just did the story and that’s it.
@@V1ncenz010 bro, I love my horses like they were my own children lol
@@eric6rock best horse
Racism is a blight on our society. The world needs more people like Arthur.
Racism is one of the walls that limit us, which we build ourselves
Hard to see that future when people keep talking about it..
@@CommissarChaoticbecause it still happens
@@quebenusa That is fair.
Does it happen? Yes. is it as common as it used to be? Absolutely not. Something that people have been fed over and over is that racism is running amok again in our society when it’s the freest and equal it’s ever been. We’re all equals and have been for a good while. The part that people seem to not understand is the difference in Equal Opportunity to Equal Outcome. The United States of America is a land of Equal Opportunity, where everyone has the same chances to do the same thing and if they follow the same steps can both do the same thing and this applies to practically everything. The problem I see that’s worse than racism is the lack of appreciation of how good we all got it compared to other parts of the world. A land we all share together and live on. Yet, somehow, despite its greatness, freedom and equality, the people who make the news claim everything about America to be wrong.
He may not understand why people are racist, but he certainly understands that racism exists and does NOT let it slide haha
Prime examples are the slave-trader side quest where he tells him "some legacies are meant to be pissed on", and first encountering klan members (at least in my playthrough), he says after the shootout "Damn hooded rats, Ill slaughter you all."
Damn, I love Arthur
Hopefully the KKK will get that soyboy arse one day.
fuckin legend
Modern "racism" such as reparations is about stealing from the successful people.
The K K K part was hilarious
It's one of the biggest ironies in this game that a "savage" criminal like Arthur is more well-adjusted and human than many of the "civilised" folk.
All this "civilized men" bullshit is just an excuse from the europeans to justify neocolonialism
Well it was because he was precisely uncivilized, as American civilization was built on racism and so to be well-adjusted in that civilization meant being racist.
@@DigitalWaqf Absolutely based opinion.
A country that had to have a civil war over slavery simply because it was that ingrained of an economic institution... Is certainly one that wouldn't at all had been the same without it.
And lets not forget how slavery never really ended in the US...
The 13th amendment literally says...
"unless as punishment for a crime"
The fact more people didn't realise, surely must be shocking.
Savage isn’t a word to describe him..
@@captain-chair was the civil war really just and only over slavery? I feel like theres definetly more to it than that but im not american so
It actually makes sense that both John and Arthur are more or less tolerant of different ethnic races and unorthodox women. They were both raised by Dutch to be his ideal man for his savage utopia and he tried to instill in them his own philosophy based on 18th and 19th century Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers. It also explains why Bill has such an aversion, hatred and fear of native Americans since he is a veteran of the American Indian wars especially the Apache wars in which he served.
The downtrodden and subjugated always make good ally’s for folks like Dutch. For better or worse.
R* did it to make Arthur and John more likeable xD
@@sazanja That too, would suck if they were racist
@@AzathothTheTrueGod based Mississippi pfp
@@dogo523 Would've made them a little bit interesting or feel like they are apart of the world. Like Vito from Mafia 2 for example.
Arthur: Aright time to kick some ass.
Me: You kicking the right asses my friend.
My wife’s grandmother grew up in a secluded town in Tennessee where nobody even had racism come across their minds. They are all beautiful people. I’m so glad to be apart of their family.
I don't think people sticking to certain stereotypes are inherently evil.
@@fxyo1368
Inherently no, outwardly though? Yes.
I tend to call it the concept of “quiet bigotry” because even the smallest and “mildly” offensive of mindsets come from a bigger picture of ignorance set about by the powerful.
@@teritt I used to grow up with the actual belief that all white people never seasoned their chicken, that they couldn't dance, etc. Growing up I realized these weren't the case and that those stereotypes were borne of ignorance. How we break this unfortunate racist epidemic in our communities is by teaching our children from a young age to respect someone based on their character instead of what the media might portray or the ones around us might think.
@@GrimsinMingzhiI see where you’re coming from, but the “white people can’t dance” stereotype is nothing compared to the dehumanizing stereotypes black people have attached to them.
I appreciate the realism from rockstar here. Arthur not understanding racism and what it means makes sense as Dutch did not see race but only men. I also like how Arthur’s lack of knowledge about social issues of the day makes sense as he was raised as an outlaw in the country his entire life. He did not grow up in a society where racism was already prevalent but instead in a very inclosed group whose goal it was to make money. The best characters are flawed as it reminds us that they are human like us.
unironically i grew up homeschooled in alabama (27 now) with no outside contact besides being on a swim team and i only started public school at highschool and i deadass didnt know that racism was a thing and had never heard a slur before
as u might imagine my reaction to ppl talking about racism just like arthur straight up didnt compute
so the real fixing about racism is by isolate people so they didnt know what racism is
@@tehonlynoobs5556 fuckin no, that's not every gonna work and I'm not social science expert but my opinion of that is just desensitizing the population of their difference and maybe letting each other know their struggles. Of course there are batshit insane and truly awful people who will not even try to do that so, eh, it's not for everyone
@@tehonlynoobs5556 It's not the best solution in my opinion. Sadly, there's no better alternative.
@@nonotanymore that’s the way it should be. Racism should be non existent and you shouldn’t have to know about it because it shouldn’t be there in the first place. While Dutch was a bit crazy, I love his view on people of all races just being people
One of the most beautiful things. A man not knowing what racism is.
This is what I imagine the American dream as, with a little less killing but hey you can’t have your cake and eat it too
Reminds me of a time when I was in school. On a fairly nice day in the middle of practicing for a school play, I in my spare time had done some scatting to keep myself entertained cause I was and still am the type that doesn't like to sit still. While scatting, I noticed everyone was looking at me with concerned looks, I had questioned "What's up?" and they had told me along the lines of "You said the N-word", "that was incredibly racist", and "I am getting the teacher". I simply asked "What is racist?", my school peers interrogating me after a bit realized I legit did not know what racism was and it did become extremely awkward. Of course, looking back it was a very cringe and embarrassing memory.
@@desktechies2175 you gave me a chuckle sir. have a fine day
@@icezak4964 You too
@@desktechies2175 So you must've had the single most sheltered upbringing ever
the doctor really said
"buy a man eat fish
he day
teach fish man
to a lifetime"
"Don't think that carrot big because carrot big leaf because small leaf carrot big not leaf big size."
@@wirathe_normalguy2721huh😭
I like how he calms down and starts explaining his situation when he realizes Author isn't like those people.
Scenes like this proved that at his core, Arthur is actually a good guy. In that sense, the path of low honor never made any sense to me.
At his core he’s good, but having lived with Dutch he’s become used to being a bit of a soldier without questioning orders. He does bad things if it’s for the benefit of his gang;family. Therefor it makes sense either way but it definitely doesn’t make sense for him to be ruthless or anything, like say, Micah. If he does bad things, it must be for a beneficial reason to the gang
Play with low honor until the beginning of chapter 6. Makes his redemption more satisfying imo.
Idk, I try to have high honor because I like helping people, if someone is bit by a snake I’ll give medication and help them in other ways
@@MichaelLLloyd that's the reason I ended up doing that. Slowly but surely I couldn't justify Arthur being a huge prick and even at his worst, plated him as someone caring of his gang. At least a little later, I was surprised at how instead of being insulted by the antagonize people just say "fuck you arthur, talk to me when you're not like this". I felt too bad
if you've experienced all kinds of people, from just about every place
you'll start to realize that they do shape how people generally view the world and what to expect from them in terms like behavior but, when push comes to shove, are really just surface-level differences
They should have revisited him in the game.
Fax
If you do his side mission while diagnosed with TB, he’ll say something about it
Absolutely, would of been very nice
Maybe even have a mission for John after a few years.
imagine if he was the Doctor that diagnosed Arthur.
I'm just glad he took the time to feed and comfort his horse.
I don't know what game this is or anything, but I really liked how simple his responses were. The cowboy didn't go on some huge parade about how wrong racism is, because the doctor (and the audience) already knew that. I'm assuming this character doesn't know about the prevalence of racism, so a simple response "well that's not nice" felt heartwarming. It always annoyed me when media goes way too on-the-nose about it's messages, so seeing an interaction so human was a breath of fresh air.
The Game is Read Dead Redemption 2 from Rockstar Games
And I agree.
Show. Don't tell.
Yeah the "cowboy" is named Arthur and throughout the game he's constantly surprised by how prevalent racism still is. He knows it exists and continues to exist (his black friends' parents were slaves and this was 1899 so not too long after the abolition of slavery in the US), but he grew up in an outlaw gang outside of society, living away from cities and was raised by a man who was a big fan of philosophers who wrote about the freedom and enlightenment of people. The people he spends the most time with is the gang he belongs to which are composed of men and women of different races and backgrounds. So to him, racism just doesn't make sense.
He knew what racism was because he knew what slavery was. I’m sure he grasped the concept. Just never occurred to him personally why the dude would’ve offended him.
He grasped the concept of it, but not the reasoning, which was all the more reason why Dutch and his band were outlaws. They didn't abide by the law of any state, that included slavery laws and the precursor to Jim Crow laws.
I think Arthur mostly grasped the definition of it. The concept of it.
But not the practice of it. Its execution, its nuances.
Remember his talk with Lenny about the Lemoyne Raiders.
There's many microagressions you're simply not gonna pick up on if you don't know what to look for. Which Arthur shouldn't be able to pick up on, considering who he is and the company he keeps.
@@Jamushu 'microaggressions'
Bro, what?
@@Jamushu
Ah yes, because in modern times everything is fuckin racist.
slavery doesn't equal racism... its dehumanising a human which everyone of every single race throughout human history has been through
I had a great grandfather who during the late 1800's, never treated black people different from white folk. He once wrote how it wasn't right to treat em differently, and that as a collective we should just treat people fairly. It was an unpopular opinion obviously, but he passed that down our family line.
I have a little saying I think fits just right. "If everyone was a product of their time, times would never change."
@@johkupohkuxd1697 exactly.
@@johkupohkuxd1697 That's a good saying
@@johkupohkuxd1697 inspired
And opinions that are commonplace now and perhaps not even seen as a wrong might be seen in the exact opposite way like with hating hitler. You might ask why anyone would ever be not able, first off there's people that already are like this, and second there's people back then that would have questioned why people would not be treating anything differently. And they do it just like we would question not hating Hitler even if it seems like the right thing to hate hitler.
"May not work for anything chronic, but you may not need it to"
I think he needed it
I really wish we saw this guy more. Liked the way he talked and the interaction
“This is one of the reasons why we all love Arthur. He’s equally annoyed with everybody until proven otherwise, no room for racism or sexism here. A true western king.”
-Everyone
Bro what is wrong with you, just say your comment normally instead of this weird quote nonsense
@@littlemoth4956it's not hurting anybody, is it?
"Y'know, I'm working on a medicine for tubercolosis-"
"I'll take your entire stock."
Lotta people have been crying about Rockstar going "woke" about the release of GTA6. But forget Rockstar had always been woke. They're one of the few companies that use those topics to improve a game, instead of using it as a shield from criticism or a checkbox quota to fullfil.
They cry woke all they want as they try their best to ignore Rockstar never went to sleep in the first place.
"Go woke go broke" mfs when woke games sell like hot cakes
This is not woke. You do realize you are using the same talking points as those getting offended by RDR2. Maybe you did get offended by the game.
“Please don’t go to any trouble on my account”
Arthur visualizing all the racists he gets to kill:
*”Mhmm.”*
I really really love Arthur. I feel that goes without saying, because who doesn't, but among his other qualities, it's nice to see a character that genuinely sees to the heart of people and judges them by their character and actions (he himself acknowledges, in game, that he's a very good judge of character). And the writers never make it come across as being fake woke or some kind of fake, skin-deep veneer that crumbles on scrutiny. We need more characters with this kind of authenticity in every form of media. We need more writers like the ones who wrote RDR2.
Thats what makes Arthur a great character, he’s genuine. Unlike many other characters that tend to just fall into archetypes and tropes, Arthur feels like a real person who has an internal logic and way of thinking. Same with Dutch and other characters. They can be wildly different depending on context and situation while still being consistent in their actions.
@@kingcyclops4079Name some other characters then.
@@koibitothescrublord4977 what do you mean? In the game or to compare Arthur too?
He is realistic. Most of his life is spent growing up among all kinds of people, so stands to reason he can't understand why people would hate someone for such a simplistic reason as their gender or skin colour. Arthur hates people for specific reasons, like trying to kill him, or stealing his stuff.
@@koibitothescrublord4977 "Oh, you consider yourself a critic, then? Fine. Name every character."
I’m glad that people like Arthur are so ahead of their time, even if it is just a game. I’ve never played the game, but my friend sings it’s praises all the time, and how he loves it. Just goes to show that not everyone back in the early days of America was an asshole. There have been kind and compassionate people since forever.
Less a case of "ahead of their time" and more a case of "people have been anti racist and anti slavery for centuries."
It's just that such ideas get buried because the old west gets whitewashed to fuck
I thought this interaction was amusing when it happened to me, Arthur is sitting there like "PEOPLE CAN DISCRIMINATE BASED ON SKIN COLOR????" Somehow Arthur is simultaneously the biggest badass of all time and as innocent as a newborn baby.
“oh it’s a toy boat!”
You get shot for him and he rewards you with the recipe for Tylenol.
You only get shot if you're bad at the game
@@Rapture__1234 pretty sure even super good players still get shot at least 36 thousand times a time per gun fight
@Da Bobuduk not me. I've never been shot once
@@Rapture__1234Do a One Hit KO mod play through and upload it to your channel
@@Rapture__1234 sure you didn't sweetheart
*ARTHUR* “Okay c’mon, let’s get you back to the doctor.”
*HORSE* “Gee thanks mister, I’m gonna need a doctor after you SHOT ME!”
4:42
I saw this happen and then I’m like oh no what if he killed it, mission failed!
LOL'D
Good ending: he gives you the cure for tuberculosis
"Don't get into any trouble on my behalf"
"Mmhm" (Arthur, moments before trouble)
Sort of reminds me of "Black Sam" Bellamy, an infamous pirate from Cape Cod. He didnt care about race either, everyone on his ship got an equal share, if there werent enough hammocks for everyone, then everyone slept on the floor.
Pirate ships of the late 1600s and early 1700s were facinating places, sometimes they were the only democracies for thousands of miles.
That said not every pirate ship was as equal as Bellamys ship.
Definitely not all equal. When Bart Roberts captured and held slave ships for ransom in West Africa, he burnt any ship whose owner refused to pay up, including the ones with enslaved Africans in the hold, not bothering to release them or even help the few who made it out of the ship and into the shark infested water.
@@ThejollyFrenchman id say most pirates werent like Black Sam haha
Historically, pirates in the Caribbean were happy to traffic slaves like captured cargo, assuming they didn’t die when their ships were captured… since plenty of pirated cargo was lost at sea in the raids rather than actually captured intact. Sure, some pirates were egalitarian, but that wasn’t the broader reality - the idea that pirate ships were bastions of then-progressive values toward race is the result of extreme romanticization.
@@Necroskull388 to be fair, democracy and progressiveness are far from the same thing. dan only really called them democratic bastions. not to say i think they were by any means very democratic either, but equating democracy to progressiveness is quite flawed. to the point of freed slaves joining crews, there is some suggestion by some historians that "black pirates" made up a significant portion of some crews during the golden age.
John Paul Jones is another pirate worth mentioning.
I like that they made Arthur virtuous, but not in the annoying over-the-top Netflix kinda way
Fr
On god
"Holier-than-thou" is not virtuous, but these modern writers don't get that. Their "heroes" are the "nice guys" of protagonists. They don't just do their good deed(s) and go, they must be showered with praise for it. They can't just hold the door for someone, they must be thanked, loudly and profusely.
Ya Arthur's stolen from people killed people strongarmed people for money but he has good qualities. He's kind to his gang would do anything for them. He will help people
@@Bowiiihowdy I like heroes that own flaws but still have characteristics like loyalty and kindness
In Eastern Bound, Arthur doesn’t know what happened to most of the Tribes of Native Americans.
Arthur only knows what Hosea and Charles told them before meeting Rain Flies and Eagle Flies.
Another sign of Arthur not understanding racism
0:40 the way he just plainly says that always gets me 😂
People calling this “modern thoughts on race” as if decades before Arthur IN REAL LIFE, there weren’t white Underground Railroad operators who risked their lives and reputations to help slaves for barely any payment
Compared to that, what Arthur does in this mission is literally just helping a dude out like he does essentially every other day if you did other side missions
There’s nothing really modern about not being racist, it’s always existed, just not widespread
This isn't even a modern take on racism, it doesn't touch on the fact that whiteness is an ever changing category, and the fact that it only exist to exclude black people. The only people who'll never be able to be white are black people.
also not every White person owned slaves. it is a landowner thing
Reminder that John Brown was a white guy who fought (and killed) for the rights of black folks.
@@laisphinto6372 well yes but that’s besides the point of not being racist, you could’ve still not personally owned slaves and been incredibly racist. But the point is plenty of people verifiably existed that were not only not racist, but went out of their way to help black people, usually out of their own expense
Also it should be pointed to and kept in mind that most concepts of race are themselves inventions of the last few hundred years.
There’s always been plenty of reason to dismiss it as the divisive nonsense it always have been.
I like how Arthur's attitude, or lack thereof, towards racism not only makes perfect sense, but it presents a very interesting question about racism being taught vs being natural. In growing up outside society, he also grew up without it's baggage. Ironically it's the more "savage" life of Arthur Morgan that has allowed him to be free from the societal structures of racism, sexism, and the like. Makes wonder what Milton would have to say about that, tho he would probably rationalize it by saying society is worth its "flaws". Love how this game gets you thinking about where the line between "civilized folk" and "outlaws" is, as well as showing off the warts and imperfections found in both. Even in it's totally optional side missions.
You should read "The not so wild, Wild West" it's really interesting.
Cheers to a well written comment on a well written story. 🍻
This is closer too the racisim of the 1930's than the 1880's when this was supposed to happen. That man would have been hung.
It’s been scientifically proven that babies are racist. It’s innate.
Always worth remembering that our very early ancestors had sex with Neanderthals, a literal different species of human. Racism may be something that can naturally occur, but it's prevalence in our societies is totally manufactured.
I love how it’s on a “young child can’t comprehend/understand” level because Arthur is initially so confused. It’s adorable
I honestly only learned about racism until I started being active on the internet during highschool in 2009. One of the worst lessons to learn that some people are too bothered about peoples color where I just saw other people as people.
Something I think is overlooked is that Lenny will talk about how his father was once a slave being beaten by one of his owners and the slaver shot him dead because he actually cared for his slaves, and gave him a pocket watch. The slaver later set the rest of his slaves free and hung himself.
It’s actually quite a sad story to me
Yeah he's got a few stories that are pretty brutal. I waited till I got the 500$ pocket watch from the gambling boat and gave it to Lenny. Unfortunately he didn't live too long after to enjoy it, but it just didn't feel right giving him any other run of the mill watch
@@Mizzle420420 shut up, boy
@@Mizzle420420I tried doing this too, but it just gave him a silver pocket watch. Should I sell them first before giving him the Reutlinger?
"It won't work for anything chronic, but you may not need it to." Little did he know...
I'd imagine coming across people like Arthur in that time were rare. I wouldn't say he doesn't understand racism like he doesn't know what that is, cuz he's been around alot of people who are racist. I think he doesn't understand why people are racist and why they can't just treat everyone the same like he does. Arthur doesn't care if anyone is black, white, asian, mexican, etc., he treats everyone the same and kicks everyones ass the same lol. He'll only take it personal if you piss him off enough. Gotta love Arthur man 👌🏽
Well, he is one of the true Americans that used to exist that lived equally from civilization and the wild, but mostly the wild before civilization grew and government stole their way of life.
Yeah, he’s just gonna have a classic Arthur Morgan talk 1:47
I was playing this mission yesterday, I love how Arthur is during this entire interaction. The turn in of his wagon is great too.
This is one of the missions I liked a lot. It's really fun too when you come across some KKK in the forest. I'm always like " here's some dynamite for you, and some for you, and some for you".
Yeah I made a vid about that too lol
That bowie knife got a nice workout when I found my first bunch of Klanners.
@@sethmiller2532 lol the personal touch eh?
I let them kill themselves.
Good mockery, but you'd be a fool to actually go looking for trouble with them in real life back then.
They were very organized and had political backing from the democratic party and I'm sure some establishment type Republicans as well.
Now they're pretty much dead. Old foggies abandoned by the corrupt politicians. Left to be no more than old men wanting you off their lawn. It's a fitting end, really. Just like rhe plantation owner in the game. I let him live. Dying was too much of a mercy for him .
@@jasonalbran376 They couldn't have been too tough, since they were effectively broken in one fight against two dudes.
Arthur is one of the very few actual “good ole boys” in this game and he doesn’t even realize it .
Damn, is this what the whole game is like? Just being a cool dude, having a conversation and then just fucking off on horseback?
5:45 You even petted him nice, +honor
He didn't pet the horse, he only fed him three apples to recover his health (Arthur just put his hand there as he was feeding it). I was waiting for him to pet the horse at the end and was disappointed he didn't - especially after nearly killing the poor animal. I feel bad if I accidentally ride my horse over a ground cactus and it makes that sound of pain, and immediately have to pet or feed them to overcome the guilt. lol. Horses are the goodest bois and girls of the game and deserve all the love!
@@Erizedd Horses are indeed the best. I've had a horse once. It was so pure, so strong, so good. Almost like an Angel or something. Feeding a horse feels amazing tho, it's specially satisying to watch the horse as it eats knowing that this food will keep their body strong and healthy.
@@athos9293 Your comment was really sweet, and true - they truly are amazing creatures. :)
@Erized he didn't try to kill the horse. lmao, the game bugged out and flung the horse.
Next time use your eyes and brain you have them for a reason
@@athos9293i appreciate your comment but I have to say that some horses are little bastards lol
I was puzzled as to why this doctor wasn't the one who discovered Arthur when he had his first spell with TB. I was half expecting to see this doctor again.
He probably would've if the narrative didn't demand that it be a shocking and dramatic moment
Perhaps it would’ve been too coincidental? Rockstar really worked hard to make this world seem as large as possible, so maybe the likelihood that this doctor would’ve stumbled upon him at that exact moment was too small.
Also dude was probably 4 states over trying to put as much land between him and racist shit swamp land as possible,
Is no one going to question how Arthur's moustache is exactly like Micah's?? XD
“Please, don’t go to any trouble on my account”
Arthur : what? Couldn’t hear you over the sound of my 15 reloading guns, sorry
"It might not work for something chronic, but i hope you wont need it to" - Only if he knew.. only if he knew
Dr. just had to jinx/foreshadow it, didn't he?
You can do this mission after getting TB, and the doc says he wished he could have helped more.
There's something about struggle that can instill a really good understanding of the human condition and of what each individual in this world must endure. Not saying it works for everyone, but struggle tends to create empathy. There's a reason for a general loyalty amongst thieves: they understand how someone reaches a point in their life where they resort to thievery. To these kinds of people, certain others can still be exceptional targets in their eyes, but the reasons tend to become more complex than race or lifestyle.
Arthur treats everyone he encounters as a person he doesn't yet know. He allows the nature of their character to then dictate his response. He's ignorant to race relations, and oblivious that anyone could behave in any way other than how he himself acts, despite plenty of evidence to contrast this. Arthur is a wise, empathetic character with minimal knowledge and worldliness. Kind of refreshing when we so often see the opposite of that in media.
Unless you play the character as a murdering racist, I guess. Ultimately, you are Arthur's actions, whether or not his words match.
we need more reminders like arthur; that intellect and wisdom are drastically different things. You may be the smartest guy in the room, but someone wiser may be just as valuable, we ultimately need both to be a better person
Well said
@@daskartoffel5505 I'd say wisdom, intellect, and knowledge are all different. Wisdom and knowledge are most closely related: wisdom is learned experience, knowledge is read experience. One is what you observe, one is what you study. I'm wise in a philosophical sense because I search for meaning and reason, but I'm not knowledgeable in it as I haven't studied my peers. Intellect is the ability to more rapidly ascertain or use wisdom or knowledge. It's the spirit of ingenuity that turns information into practice. It's the speed of the processor, essentially, as someone with low intelligence can come to the same conclusions with a longer time frame.
Arthur is an intelligent character, but very unknowledgeable. He has developed wisdom through his experiences, but doesn't have much of a world view or deeper philosophical insights into the self. He's connected the dots of the world he knows and of himself - however far those threads go - and found how best to maintain a place within his own time. Had he been properly educated, he'd have been a good scholar, but instead he learned the hard life. You'll meet quite a few homeless people on the street with similar attitudes to Arthur; a good mind with a bad upbringing and the misdirection with which it comes. The misadventures that come alongside such a life are only as fun in fiction, though.
I have killed every black in my playthrough
What sucks is this is the only time you get to see him and he has no other quests after this one. He just disappears from the game after that as far as I know
Arthur is such a well written character
Something cool. If you do this side mission after Arthur is diagnosed with TB, the guy who owns the wagon will give him some medicine for his illness
I think Arthur is a very interesting character. Naive and foolish a lot of the time, but still with a strong sense of justice despite his profession. I'll never forget the mission with the old slave hunter, how the man had destroyed his own life over the loss of his "career" but all Arthur had for him was visceral disgust.
"Naive and foolish" yeah you missed the mark completely
"It won't work for anything chronic..."
Well, that's some foreshadowing right there
Why must you remind me 😢😢
"Don't go to any trouble on my account!"
Arthur: immediately sends them to hell
makes sense he doesn't understand racism with how accepting his gang is and the fact they move so often that they probably haven't stuck around anywhere long enough to witness racism
Considering how common racism was in almost every gathering place of society, I'd say that's highly unlikely. It's much more likely that because Arthur has known and worked closely with people of different colors and races, and because he knew that being a shit person had nothing to do with race or skin color, he judged people on their actions instead. Arthur does admit that he's a very good judge of character, and we see as much throughout the story.
I think being raised by Dutch and Hosea made Arthur the way he is.
@@Erizedd Not really in the places they visited, though. The Midwest/Rockies were still mostly a frontier, so most of the racism didn't come until all the east-coast rich men arrived, as well as the military, which we start to see in chapter 6
What you mean Arthur literally found a slave catcher's shack among other encounters such as Javier being called a greaser on several occasions. He definitely witnessed racism and understood it he just isn't a racist so it's the last thing on his mind when he meets someone
@@Mizzle420420nah man the game definitely makes it very clear that Arthur is clueless as to what Racism is. This becomes very apparent when you talk to Lenny in some instances. Kinda silly to be honest.
Dr. King Schultz wagon from Django Unchained hahaha
The entire opening cutscene also looks like it was taken from The Hateful Eight. Many Tarantino fans on Rockstar.
Well to Arthur, everyone looks the same when they are dead.
Be understands racism, he just doesn’t understand why people are racist, which I loved with the Van Der Lin Gang in they had all types of people
Shieeeeeeet
I remember this mission. It felt good to do something morally bright like this in the game. There was plenty of dark stuff like the cannibalism and feeding people to alligators.
I visited him after Arthur got sick, dialogue was a little different at the end there, I forgot exactly how he worded it, but he definitely mentioned it’s lack of effectiveness on what Arthur had.
When I play this game Arthur knows all about racism
And now I wanna play Red Dead again
When you ran your horse over dude I couldn’t stop laughing 😂😂
😂
Same, ol boy went flying!
I don't understand the "woke" argument here for rdr2, I can understand it in many other games, just not this. Authur and John were raised in a community filled with diversity, which was common during these times at specific places and gangs if you'd like to include them. Assertive women and other races in a group weren't common to see, but there was a lot of evidence to show for it. This here is pretty damn realistic since he'd only hate the irrational folks rather than color or gender because he was raised around people who were all kinds of different, it makes sense and works here. The people who complain are usually the ignorant and "racially prejudice" when it comes to good games like this, Rockstar didn't even shove the "woke narrative" down our throats because THERE WERE NONE. Crazy huh?
In reality this game was a criticism of how we think the west was vs. the reality.
Woke game
@@vorlodgigi3528 define woke
@@anthonycekic4509 he's just parroting the toxic content creators likes geeks and gamers and quartering who call everything with women and minorities in it "woke"
@@anthonycekic4509 You're delusional.
I think that Arthur knows what racism is, he was just reacting to how weird that guy was being.
Arthur: "Oh, some people who think they are dangerous? Where they go?"
"It wont work for anything chronic, but you might not need it to."
So, it cant cure lumbago?
Nothing can cure lumbago. It's terminal. It just takes a few years to reach the final stage. The best way to slow it down is a lot of rest.
Lumbago is just how people used to call (some people actually still do) chronic "lower back pain".
I wish all men were like Arthur. A true sigma male.
Thanks
Arthur grew up in a gang where as long as you do your part your an equal and it doesn't matter race/gender xD ans not exactly in social areas often, so he doesn't get to see what everyone else sees
*Finds a man victim of bigotry*
*Finds and kill his attackers*
*Leave*
This is during jim crow era, if this game was more realistic there would be Hella slurs everywhere and signs that say blacks only or white only
" I am Jim Crow and I shall live forever "
wouldnt be allowed for fear of mass media slander on it.
There'd also be quite a bit of prejudice against the Irish.
Mafia III exists, by the way.
@@therealblackcerberus2371
Unfortunately.
This is why Arthur was a great protagonist the whole game was a master piece
HE JUST SIDE SWIPED HIS HORSE!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Arthur absolutely understands racism and what it is, he just isn't and hates those who are. He kinda disarms people with his nonchalant and clueless vibe, then increases the pressure when he really wants to press someone.
Like with the two brothers fighting over the girl, he just kinda lets it all happen until someone is about to get hurt, and then he knocks some sense into both of them.
Arthur is far from stupid; there's a difference between not knowing and not saying.
Well said
he definitely does understand that it exists, but I don't think he recognizes it very readily, especially in its more subtle and underhanded forms. this is why a specific conversation he has with lenny on the way to raid the confederate hideout really stood out to me, cause arthur admits that he doesn't often think about or notice racism in the same way that lenny does, and lenny points out this is because he's white. I really liked that conversation, it shows more of how arthur is humble and willing to listen to people he respects when it comes to issues he doesn't know much about.
arthur is ignorant to many social issues that don't directly affect him, and he does show this at multiple points throughout the game, but it's his willingness to listen to the perspectives of others that makes him such a good man, his respect for peoples' freedom and right to live in the way that is best for them. this sets him apart from characters that are ignorant and *not* willing to learn, such as bill, dutch (somewhat), and worst of all, micah
Man you did PhD on Arthur
Arthur: I can't be racist... I don't even know what that means... We racing horses?