Do you think Square will add this in the remake

Possibly not.

This is the big question with the FFVII Remake: will they include scenes and dialogue which might today be considered politically incorrect?

Fiction as a whole should not be forced to avoid scenes like this entirely. People do use this term in real life, and there is nothing wrong with representing the reality of 'bad' language in fiction.

These days it might reflect poorly on the character to have a character make a comment like this, and so questions need to be asked about whether or not it is desired for the character to be viewed negatively (and to risk a backlash).

Given that it is Tifa who makes this comment in the game, and Tifa is one of the central protagonists of the game (and a kind-hearted girl), this line might be too much of a distraction for some people.

If Rufus said the line, or if the Turks said the line, or even Cid and Barret, then they should get away with it without issues as these characters are more clearly known for being naughty or for using 'bad' language.
 
No. The reason is really simple... replacing that word with something else like 'idiot' changes absolutely nothing about the scene, or the intent or the dialogue. As such, there's no reason not to change it. And that's assuming this scene even exists in the remake. I hope it does, but we don't know.
 
I'm not sure I agree, sure some of the basic meaning would remain unchanged but that doesn't mean that none of the meaning remains unchanged.

the use of the word "retard" was originally to simply describe someone who had a developmental issue in their brain. it was eventually used as a slur to said people and finally as a very strong insult. now some people might take offense to such a word being used (it wasn't exactly looked upon favorably in the 1990s to use this word) but that shouldn't mean that it gets changed as it was meant to be a large insult to Barret. you say there it no reason NOT to change it and i say there is no reason TO change it.
 
There is plenty of reason to change it, because as an insult it is intrinsically tied to comparisons between the person being insulted, and people with mental disabilities. We can argue all day that it's meant to be that demeaning (something I would adamantly disagree with, since it's a passive, nonchalant insult between friends at best), but the fact of the matter is that the word holds a lot more history and weight than just 'turning into a slur and then a strong insult'.

I would be interested in hearing exactly why it's worth keeping at the risk of alienating a large portion of their audience. Because from a business perspective, an in game culture perspective (FFVII doesn't take place on Earth in the 90's, so it's not like retaining that one word as part of the slang would keep it tangibly consistent with any of the lore or culture present in the game), and from a pragmatic writing perspective, it would only benefit them to change it to something less inherently offensive, and instead more generically insulting. As of now, I genuinely don't see what that specific word brings to the scene or the game that an alternative couldn't.
 
Tifa doesn't even call Barret the R word in the original Japanese. She says:

「ちょっと!
エンギでもないこと
言わないの!」
"Dont say something so ominous!"

So I doubt they'll make her say that because she just doesn't say it in JA version.
 
Back
Top