Diner Dash

Diner dash has been my favorite game since the beginning of time & I find it quite interesting that I have never realized the stereotypical images of women and people of color until it was brought to my attention during research for my augmentative essay.

“Business women are great tippers but do not make them wait!”

In Diner Dash Flo, a white woman has left the financial world to pursue her dream of running a restaurant. In each level players must learn to navigate the wants and various types of diners as Flo acts as hostess, takes orders, serves food, buses tables, and collects money. Diners must be kept happy or they leave without playing. All customers, staff, and Flo herself are represented as white. There is only one man of color in the series, as an Asian man who runs a sushi restaurant that Flo assists in revitalizing. Additionally, there are only two women of color represented in the entire game series: Barb, a businesswoman (a big tipper with a short temper), and Margarita, the other female culinary entrepreneur (who needs Flo’s help when her landlord raises the rent on her restaurant).

As a businesswoman, Barb is one of the most socially elite characters in the game. The only other characters with an equal class position are celebrities, so there is a self-made women quality to her. Both she and Margarita are displayed as women of color who are professionally successful. These two are counter-stereotypical regarding class however there are other stereotypes deployed in their characterizations. Barb is represented as an angry black woman- hotheaded, short tempered, and likely to cause a ruckus. Similarly, Margarita may own her own business but requires help from Flo to keep it going, playing on the common white-women saving brown women trope