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Reconstitution: Tier One (Us vs. Them)
Web-based or dual-channel SD video, sound
1 minute and 36 seconds, loop
2010
The myth of a contemporary righteous war is now filtering through the machine of urban mass culture, manifesting itself as digital game environments, into the hands of consumers as entertainment products. Western (largely American) dominance of this section of the industry, and the general youth of it and the demographic it targets, more or less ensures that ideological bias which finds its way into such cultural experience goes largely unquestioned. This is of course nothing new to other forms of media, nor can I say that bias in itself is wrong, but as gaming continues to grow as a popular and lucrative subset of contemporary culture and commerce, should not the critical eye be trained on (and for) it? These products are global products, yet export a very specific and singularly narrow narrative – that is at once hegemonic and imperialistic. This combined with the fact of games being a uniquely interactive and highly visceral experience shall bear implications.
This is a response to a video game to be released by Electronic Arts in 2010 called "Medal of Honor". The game is set to feature players taking on the role of "Tier One operatives" and other elements of the US military in Afghanistan waging the "Global War on Terror". The suggestion that there is honour (and glamour) to be found and shared there in their actions as "experts in the application of violence" is highly troubling; that such a projection should not be taken seriously because "it's just a game", even more so. Even after having chosen a supposedly 'mature' or 'factual' setting, the medium will not be automatically propelled beyond the realm of child's play unless this subject matter is treated with rigour. This is confounded by how current and ambiguous the chosen setting is (as opposed to it being a past war, not that gravitas would be reduced in the latter). This response is centred on an overt and obvious displacement of reality – just as how such a product and its advertisement attempt (intentionally, ignorantly, or indifferently) to sway perceptions of reality – whereby audio from the original clip seemingly matches real visuals of armed action from reportage made in Afghanistan. In case it seems like my edit serves to confirm the product's supposed 'intensely accurate' depiction of reality, an additional layer of textual interference based on the trailer's contentious language serves to reinforce dissonance. All footage was shot with a video camera directly off a screen from various video content found on the web. The re-constituted video was then released back into the media stream via YouTube, and titled appropriately to "compete" with other "real" videos marketing and promoting the game. |