‘Call of Duty’ Doesn’t Just Depict Bad History—It’s Pro-War Propaganda
I just started playing COD Black Ops Cold War because I got it through my PlayStation Plus subscription and wanted to try it out. I've previously played some others like Modern Warfare (1 and 2) and WWII. While it always felt a bit over the top and propaganda-ish, I really liked it for the blockbuster feeling and just turning your mind off and enjoying the set pieces. However, Cold War has a section in Vietnam and I suddenly started feeling really uncomfortable and just turned the game off.
In WWII you can easily feel like the "defender", and even Modern Warfare felt like fighting a very specific organisation that wanted to kill millions. Here however it just becomes so hard to explain why I'm happily mowing down hundreds of clearly Vietnamese locals that I was unable to turn my mind off and just enjoy the spectacle.
I turned to the internet and started browsing and found this article and I really agree with what the author is saying.
I don't know if I will be continuing the campaign or not, but I just feel that I don't want to support these kinds of minimizations of military interventions.
I just wish there were more high budget / setpiece games that don't glorify real life wars. Spec Ops The Line was amazing in that sense, but it's also quite old already.
I would love to hear your opinions on this subject.
@knokelmaat As someone who used to play call of duty I don't think anyone plays the campaign and thinks its anything more than fantasy.
You forget that literal children play these games
And also US puts out enough propaganda about their role in wars that enough grown-ass adults have very idealized views about them.
The US Army would disagree, and I'm certain they know better than you. They literally use CoD in their recruitment campaigns.
@Silejonu @knokelmaat The article that you linked does not support your argument at all. It mentions that the US Army tried to make a video game to recruit people but its a game no one has heard of. Most of their budget is used to sponsor esports teams and streamers. That is not relevant to the propaganda in the CoD campaign.
Young and impressionable kids? I started playing the original MW2 when I was 11.
Did you think it was real?
You thought it depicted reality?
Even if you know it's fiction you get the feeling that you are on the "good" side, which may colour your perception on the US military interventions.
True. The teenage mutant ninja turtles colored my perception of giant crime fighting amphibious creatures when I was young...
Why are you giving an example that is not based on a real war or context?
Of course this doesn't influence your opinion of real life as the subject doesn't refer to real life (as you so clearly describe with the "giant crime fighting amphibious creatures").
Because it's the same thing.
Are you unable to distinguish fiction from reality? Do you also believe GI Joe was real? Does Grand Thieft Auto make you want to steal cars and beat up prostitutes?
It's a video game. You have much much bigger problems to worry about if you're having trouble disconnecting from it in your mind.
Are you saying that fiction has no influence on how we view the world?
I'm sorry, but that is just wrong. Using fictional works as propaganda is a thing, so it most certainly has an effect on the public.
Other research papers after a quick search, these indicate influence between fiction and beliefs/opinions of the consumers:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1532673X12453758
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/abs/its-the-end-of-the-world-and-they-know-it-how-dystopian-fiction-shapes-political-attitudes/3853105561CB840EAB79258DC2575849
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45847098_The_influence_of_television_fiction_on_political_attitudes
You're making a solid and valid point OP. The other guy is being a fuck. I wouldn't pay him much mind but I do admire your willingness to explain your angle!
Thanks, this message means a lot to me!
You still never answered my question.
You thought it depicted reality?
No I'm saying it's a videogame.
All this was hashed out 20 years ago, man. You're late to the party. Sorry.
Ok let me spell it out:
I know this is a videogame.
I know the difference between games and reality.
I do however know that people get indirectly influenced by the media they consume. (See my other comment for scientific sources on this).
Playing violent games does not make you violent.
It's the tone that matters. The Last of Us is very violent but never makes it feel cool. Uncharted is very over the top and enemies are just nameless, raceless grunts. The story in GTA often makes it clear how fucked up the crime world is.
That is my issue with the Vietnam scene I was playing earlier. This was not like Uncharted based in a completely fictional conflict. This was based in a real war that the US participated in, killing real people, and you're just there being the awesome hero killing locals by the dozens.
I know this will not change your mind.
This is my last attempt at being reasonable and trying to understand each other.
I know you will answer with some short personal remark or minimize all the points I have made instead of having an actual conversation.
I hope you prove me wrong, otherwise this will be my last response to you.
What a brain rot take. They are children, my guy. I know you think you're the smartest 12 year old in you class, but not everyone is as clever as you .
Or maybe this is just you telling everyone that you know don't know how propaganda works.
You apparently have much much bigger problems, my guy.
I'm not your guy, buddy.
I'm your buddy, pal!
You can't act like media doesn't help inform your biases. Sure, your opinion on nonexistent crime fighting turtles may not have changed, since that is complete fantasy. But your view on crime itself?
I saw Batman as a kid, and, though Batman obviously isn't real, crime certainly is, and so are urban decay and bad neighbourhoods in cities. Seeing Batman take out goons and thugs made be believe those goons and thugs existed, and that I'd be in danger if I went out at night. More scared, in fact, because I knew Batman wouldn't save me, since he isn't real. The Batman films made Batman feel necessary, and his absence made the world scarier.
That’s not incompatible with the thesis, fantasy can and does have a point of view
Exactly. For an extreme example, to "fantasise" about CSA requires a very warped POV.
I know people who thought the infamous "no russian" mission was based on a real thing.