As a lifelong Final Fantasy fan, I’ve explored many of its worlds, but I haven’t fully experienced Final Fantasy XIV, particularly the Dawntrail expansion. Recently, a friend brought to my attention the heated debate surrounding the song “Smile” from this expansion. Some players have voiced their dislike for the song, which has led to accusations that disliking it is rooted in racism, due to its Black Gospel music style. In this video, I break down why this claim is unfounded and why it’s okay to critique a song without it being about race. Join me as I share my thoughts on the “Smile” controversy in Final Fantasy XIV.
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Hey Jonahtahn. So great to see you so soon again. As an absolute uninformed and inexperienced about everything concerning games, I did a quick search for the song and found it on (i guess a niche channel) 'Realthetical'.
Anyhow, now I understand why you brought up the story about the sidewalk. You're right. The song isn't gospel at all. The claim is throwing spaghetti to the wall in hope it sticks. I hope the discussion will die out soon. It's a matter of taste if you like it or not. Idk what to think about it, i'm just glad it brought you back here. 😉
Heatwave is over. And you made my day.
Love from my little corner. 💜💞
And something I forgot to mention: I'm so glad you've found a new choir. 🎉🎶🎵🎶💜💞
This is VERY pathetic. As a girl gamer, i dont stream due to how disgusting the community is. It blows my mind people are still genuinely racist. Like dang i know i have something to say about EVERYONE…but Im not racist. Like imagine being so pressed cause of “black” gospel. Lmfaoooo just proves further why POC shouldnt be christian ESPECIALLY black folks. Smh
Hey, Johahsahn, long time FFXIV player here (not only as a tax, as you jokingly mention). Being an european and living with no "sidewalk policy", I admit that the notion itself made me chuckle a bit, but I do understand why you mentioned it and why it was important in the discussion. It was honestly a good example of "being the better person" when someone is trying to instigate conflict.
Something however you may not know about the song and why many didn't like it that much was the implementation of it in the game, where many people consider it "out of place". Now, I'm no musician, no singer and I'm literally your average consumer but I do understand that a weird implementation may change my appreciation of a certain music track. Shadowbringer is actually a good example where the implementation actually elevate the tracks in question (but you'll see that).
Another thing you might not know about the Sena Bryer drama is that she voices a controversial character that is featured HEAVILY in the whole of Dawntrail and that her performance was judged by the majority of player as way below the expected performance, expecially since we can compare it with the french, german and japanese performances that were top notch (although watching a video about it would help you greatly on knowing more about this part… I won't suggest it or you might face big spoilers).
I mention this whole thing because recently the moderators of Reddit made a post warning people that they would delete and ban everyone acting and making transphobic comments on Sena, but also warn people that they won't tolerate accusing other that they're transphobic only because they don't like her performance. Reddit being the shitty place that it is, I was actually quite pleased to see a similar post, expecially one that addresses both transphobic people and people pushing agendas and playing victim over something that is not connected in the slightest.
… Now, wouldn't be absolutely hilarious if the voice actor in question, a few days later, made the post that you so correctly commented in your video?
Returning to the matter at hand, my exposure to black gospel was only through films and, even just with that, I can tell you that I don't know if I'm more baffled by her saying that Smile is black gospel or by her accusing half the community of being racist because someone might not like a music piece. Expecially considering she's a public figure and already part of a huge drama.
All that being said, I'm 100% sure you will love both Shadowbringer and Endwalker to bits. And yeah, no big walk in Japan with crocks💀.
PS: I envy your Team Rocket jacket a lot.
The main issue with the song that I find is that it just doesn't fit with the moments in the game that they play it. They play the loud part of the song at 2 parts in the story and it doesn't fit at all and is extremely jarring and out of left field when it happens, and then we get the full version at the end credits which is technically the only "fitting" place to play it. Also, personally, I don't think the song fits with the game in general because that song is like you said, a theater song. That's something I'd expect to hear in like High School Musical or something made in a Disney movie, but not here.
The thing that gets me with this is, like you said, its almost like Sena Bryer hasnt heard either genres of music before. The thing that makes me really concerned about the future of the game is also like you said, Sena is trying to push an agenda with this. Part of the reason i like 14 so much is it tells a good story and brings up political issues without pushing an agenda. With this coming from one of the prominent voice actors for an expansion, im concerned that they might try to use the game as a platform to push their own political/social justice agenda all the while knowing nothing about the issues they're trying to bring up making themselves seem more ignorant than they were before.
Sena Bryer absolutely has an agenda. I have nothing personal against her but this is a regular occurrence.
The expansion is a South American and native North American themed expansion where the main city musical theme sounds like a mix of 20's swing and Dixieland in a city that looks like a Mayan metropolis. Then you get Smile played three times through the expansion. Once while building a giant bomb.
The problem isn't the specific tracks themselves, it's the pacing and musical themes matching the setting being an absolute mess.
I don't personally like Smile, it's just not my thing. To me it sounds like the third track that would play during the credits of a Disney movie. Also, it may just be my bad ears but almost all of the vocals are unintelligible.
Anyone who's labeled that song as "black gospel" has never heard a black gospel song on their life 😆 🤣 😂
It's not like they played a selection from the Mississippi mass choir at the ending. 😂
done claim.
Sena is getting on my nerves, and I've been someone that has been very quick to shut down people being transphobic towards her but she is just constantly adding fuel to the fire. She's being toxic in the opposite way. She's deflecting fair criticism in a disgusting way. If you say you didn't like her voice acting, it must be transphobia, not that her performance was bad and contrasts very noticeably to other regions. If you don't like Smile, it can't be because it's weird and pitchy with the singer pronouncing the verses like Peter Griffin, it must be that we're racist against Black people, blissfully unaware that it's not Black music at all. She's already been extremely hypocritical calling out others for taking minority roles they aren't a part of while she's White and played the role of a character based on a person of Latin descent(which is also why the accent was weird). I'm so tired of every criticism of anything in Dawntrail turning into a war on gender identity and race when most of us just care if the game is good, if the song sounds good, etc, nothing more, nothing less.
The cover you’re referring to is from Pealeaf? It was great
nary a thought about it being disliked the song itself. the implementation of it is fuckin bizarre. it quite literally BLARES/ERUPTS in a scene. Hence the souring of a moment. If you keep talking about racism then it will continue this is such a minuet thing to hyper focus on.
Lets just ignore that Scream exists. Which is like the most Soulful Rock song I've heard in a while and most people love it.
This song isn't really soul or gospel at all. It's a musical song. Another genre that often takes advantage of the harmonies and choral backing vocals found in Gospel music, especially Black Gospel. Its something that would appear in the Greatest Showman or a Disney movie that isn't Hercules since THAT movie did have actual gospel in it.
I finished the Dawntrail MSQ less a week after early access started. I feel like the song fits the scenes when they play it, but I don’t like it. Out of all of the songs in FFXIV, it’s the only one I will always want to skip when I listen to the OST.
It doesn’t sound like something you get from Final Fantasy, but it fits the Dawntrail vibe. I just really don’t like it. I have no idea what direction I would’ve preferred them to go instead, but I can’t really fault it for not fitting.
They’re right, though, Shadowbringers is amazing, Endwalker is great, and DT is a blast.