You Are Not Immune to Propaganda
A sociological analysis of the role video games play in political messaging, historical misinformation, and the messy relationships between games, the military-industrial complex, and the broader political media apparatus.
This paper was the synthesis of a few different concerns and interests of mine: tactical/military shooters, Hollywood, history, sociology, conspiracy, necropolitics, and the cultural, legal, and/or procedural norms associated with all of the above.
My interest in how games depict violence doesn’t come from a place of disdain for the content nor genre; it’s a conscious effort to question and critique games’ depictions and contextualizations of violence, so that future projects can be more emotionally resonant with audiences, more accessible to those suffering from PTSD/CPTSD, and more respectful of the subject matter which designers choose to adapt or pull inspiration from.
In summary, I’m not an outsider who’s disapprovingly wagging a finger at military shooters; I’m a genre aficionado who wants to see them evolve to fulfill their vastly untapped (and dare I say, pro-social) potential.
Image credits: 090606-N-6891S-102 U.S. Army soldiers with Echo Company, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade prepare to clear a staircase during a combined training exercise with Iraqi soldiers near Bahbahani, Iraq, on June 6, 2009. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kim Smith, U.S. Navy.