Call of Duty - Stereotypes, Cyborg & Moral Panics - Essay Example

Moral Panic and Call of Duty Midnight. June 5, 1944. It was a full moon and all you have to do is find German soldiers and annihilate them so you can lay down the beacon for the paratroopers. The mission: start of the invasion of Normandy and the out come of that event lies in the performance of your duty. As you spot a German soldier near a tree, you decide to slash his throat so as not to call the attention of other soldiers. Violent ? Maybe not is one is in real war. The scenes described above illustrates the first mission in Call of Duty , the game developed by Infinity Ward in collaboration with Activision in 2003. Categorically, it is a first-person shooter video game released in different formats such as XBox, Wii and PC. Its theme is quite similar to another war simulation game known as Medal of Honor. However, Medal of Honor ( MOH) is played only from the perspective of an American soldier. The first Call of Duty gives the player two other perspectives: Soviet and British since the computer provides allies from these countries. In short, the game simulates the real allied forces during World War 2. According to Metacritic ( 2003), Call of Duty had a rating of 91 which is quite a feat since the 44 critic reviews were ravishing. Metacritic is website that publishes game reviews so that the gaming public would not waste their money and time on badly scripted games. Critic reviewers of video games are often harsh since the industry is filled with frustrating games. Luckily, aside from getting superb reviews from game sites, Call of Duty garnered awards such as “Game of the Year Award 2004 ( from the Academy of Interactive Sciences) as well as Computer Game of the Year . Because of its popularity, various spin-off of the game such as Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3 and the recent Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare has evolved. The most modern version, Call of Duty 4 : World at War 2 was released for different consoles such as Xbox360, PlayStation 3 and Wii; moreover, it also had a PC version for Windows and Mac OS X. However the most controversial version was that of Call of Duty : Modern Warfare ( CODMW) which was released last April 2007. According to gamepro.com, COD MW sold 7 million copies, however , that was as far as January 2008. News report of USA Today ( 2009 ) claims that the game has sold 11 million copies. Call of Duty and the Process of Moral Panic Aside from gaining sales and top video ratings, the game also earned a lot of controversy. For one, the game gives the player an option to play good guy by defending the capital. Conversely, the player can also be part of a terrorists group. The game caused a furor among moral crusaders as well general public since the games showed footages of a scene that showed killing so innocent and unarmed civilians inside an airport of “what looks like LAX airport in Los Angeles” ( telepgraphg.co.uk, 2009). An online media site gathered comments from people and as stated by Criscuolo’s report: Its a scene where they kill civilians and its a scene you can skip but thats where its getting all the buzz because the lawmakers and the people that want to ban games are having a field day with it," says Tim Manes, a Hastings employee in Pittsburg, Kansas.( koamtv. com, Nov. 11 2009 ). Another touchy scene in the game was portrayed in Lincoln Memorial in DC. It seems that the public dislikes using real places since it reminds them of the 9/11 event. Publisher Activision defended that by arguing that the game was rated for players 18 and above. Also, they claimed that establishing such a wicked scene helps emphasize the importance of a mission, plus, the player can skip the scene. The issue in this controversy regarding Call of Duty : Modern Warfare is the source of moral panic. The aforementioned comment of an ordinary employee reveals that lawmakers and people ( could be media ) would definitely ride on the issue. Ironically, the negative publicity would even generate sales as the public themselves would grab a copy of this game. Going back to the issue of moral panic, it would be helpful to discuss first what is moral panic. Sociologically, moral panic is a type of hysteria that the public goes through when it identifies something as deviant . In our case, the public perceives the game Call of Duty as threatening since it instigates acts of terrorism. To be more thorough in presenting this moral panic, it would be beneficial to go through the process of a moral panic by Cohen ( 1973, p.9). These are the six processes that Cohen cited in his book Folk Devils and Moral Panics: 1. A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; 2. Its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; 3. The moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people; 4. Socially accepted experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; 5. Ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; 6. The condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible; In analyzing the first process, it is evident that the game COD has become a threat to society since it seems to advocate terrorist acts. On top of this, groups argue that such games produce aggressive behaviour on young players. The game Grand Theft Auto was similarly subject to this moral panic as the media published a news report that links deviant behaviour of a group of teenagers were influenced by this video game. In fact, the article even recommended that : Police are asking parents to keep track of what their children are watching on television and on DVD, and what they are playing on game consoles ( Young, June 2008) When cases like these happen, the media immediately amplifies the situation and finds something to blame. This brings us to the second process of how a moral panic is processed. Indeed, the media plays a key role in creating such hysteria. An insightful article titled Young, Black (& Brown) and Dont Give a Fuck: Virtual Gangstas in the Era of State Violence written by David in 2009 criticizes the hypocrisy of those ( institutions ) that blame video games . Instead, David pose questions to these “blamers”( i.e . media): ....yet remain silent about institutions and cultural practices that expose children to violence and the failure of these studies and their proponents to consider a myriad of factors from class and upward mobility to divorce rates and school instability, much of literature scoffs at the mere premise of virtual play facilitating violence. ( David, 2009 , p.15 ) This is exactly what is consuming about moral panics, “ its usefulness lies in what it does not reveal” according to the report of Jessica Edwards. Behind the aggression of young people, many attributable factors such as personality, family background, psychological stability and education is not emphasized. Unfortunately, the public is not as discerning as scholar which leads them to relying on mass media to create “truths” or realities for them. It is a vicious cycle when the public is fed by the media with information and the social reaction of the public is influenced by the media’s packaging of a deviant. As the public clamor for more information, the media feeds the public and even suggests courses of action as in the case of the news article that reported the GTA inspired misdemeanor. This is where the Focault’s regime of truth sets in. As Hall ( 1997 , p.49) argues “ not of the truth of knowledge in the absolute sense, a Truth which remained so, whatever the period, setting , context- but of a discursive formation sustaining a regime of truth”. The media disseminates a certain truth that public unknowingly digests and accepts as valid. The third process which deals with moral barricades manned by rightist groups are also players in creating this regime of truth Indeed, this is a pathetic case when the public depends on the media when it is lazy to use its thinking process. Call of Duty was created by Activision to provide entertainment and portray real situations that would excite the player. Counter-arguments against terrorism in video games is given by Adam Sessler, a former co-host of cable channel G4 TV series when he asserted that ( for Call of Duty): "There is a helplessness for the player in that sequence and games, somehow, are not being allowed to go into that creative territory. Its always somehow supposed to be typified as fun. This will elicit a reaction and create a motivation for the successive events that happen in the rest of the game," he says. "Im not going to go so far as to say it is right or wrong. I feel that is really in the eyes of the beholder.( qtd from. Snider,T., 2009). This comment of Sessler as part of the news report by telegraph.co.uk is defensive of the game especially when it comes to its creative process. Creating a game for Activion is hard work that is intended to provide entertainment for a certain age-group ( ( 18 above). In fact, when one logs into the website of Call of Duty, it needs to validate the user’s age. Also, Sessler is concerned with the artistry and creativity behind a game that non-gaming people do not see. The game is like a book which is judged by its cover. The fourth process is fulfilled when studies made by “ socially acceptable experts” like Anderson and Dill ( 2000 ) conclude from their studies of college students “that exposure to violent video games can increase aggressive behavior” ( qtd. from mentahlhealth.com,2005 ).Because of these studies, educators, lawmakers and other rightist groups amplify the issue which leads us to the fifth process – coping. Again, David ( 2009 ) relates to us in his works the coping which society adopted in relation to the game GTA. The ghetto whether virtual or not is heavily policed in the effort to protect the White Youth. Legislators and even law-enforcers have a certain bias when dealing with stereotypes, detention can be longer when imprisoned. Historically, acts of lynching has shown what white groups can do to colored people. The last process is applicable to any controversy – it shines then eventually fades out and gets accepted by people. Doom 3, GTA, and other games had their share of controversy. Indeed, Call of Duty being so popular would not be spared by controversy. This controversy has made the producers very rich which is like showbiz propaganda. By this time, the most recent version of Modern Warfare 2 would definitely be having its own share of controversies too what with Japanese Banzai soldiers being pictured as suicidal and irrational. The public definitely needs to see something negative in videogames so it can be a scapegoat for people’s behaviors. While Call of Duty may not be focused on the issue of racial discrimination as the case of GTA where blacks are portrayed as muggers equivalent to “folk-devils” ( Hall et.al, 1978) still, there are stereotypes created In Call of Duty. For one, people in the Middle East are portrayed as inherently evil and irrational. There are scenes where one is slapped by a Middle East officer and an execution is carried by shooting prisoners in the head. Everywhere one goes in the game, Iraqi people are blood-thirsty snipers eager to bring down an American marine. However, these stereotypes are necessary to emphasize the brutality of war. All soldiers in times of war think only of their survival. It is either they kill or get killed. It is also an option to kill oneself rather than get captured and undergo extreme torture. The game would not titled Call of Duty if it did not portray the gruesome realities that characterize wars. From the way I look at it, Call of Duty is anti-war. It is an antithesis of war since it presents the gore and cold-blooded killings that happen in an actual situation. If it were a film, it would be like Saving Private Ryan or Platoon. Playing Call of Duty as a Marine would make one shiver at the thought of not surviving a gunfight in a deadly zone. This portrayal of a real situation makes one realize the value of freedom and the beauty of peace. No one sane enough would want to be engaged in a cross-fire somewhere in the Middle East. The difference between Modern Warfare and the first version would only be plot. Still, both games deal with the harsh realities of war- torture, imprisonment, death, and fear. The difference would only lie in the set of antagonists. If the antagonists of yesterday were Germans, then the favorite “folk-devil” of the international scene would be people from the Middle East. Sadly, a lot of innocent people from these places are suffering from discrimination. Everyone becomes a suspect in terrorism. My personal viewpoint is this: 1. Call of Duty was created to satisfy gamers who need an interactive game inside a war plot. Creativity and very good programming was done to mimic the real combat. The makers of this game are not irresponsible since they classified this game for adults only. 2. Playing such games do not breed aggressive behavior. There is a difference between imagining things and acting out our thoughts. Each person has a moral compass and the fabric of values that one possess would guide him in his actions. Playing video games alone does not make one shoot other people. Indeed, David ( 2009 ) was very perceptive of the role of video games in our lives, he stressed: The stakes are certainly high, and the challenges are immense given that although video games and popular culture in general are sources of entertainment, they are sites of education, where common sense ideas of race and dominant discourses of racism are constructed and disseminated for mass consumption.( p.251) This paper taught me to change my perspective when accepting information. Information much be discerned and filtered for it to be productive. Mass media and popular culture can be used for education or for propaganda. It all depends on how we want to see things and how we must use them. Bibliography: Criscuolo,N.. (Nov 11 2009). "Call of Duty" controversy comes to 4-States and may drive up sales of the game. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/ 6454298/Call-Of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-2-leaked-footage-set-to-ignite-controversy.html. Last accessed 03 Jan 2010. Cowen,N.. (OCt 28 2009). Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 leaked footage set to ignite controversy. Available: David,L. (April 2009). Young, Black (& Brown) and Dont Give a Fuck: Virtual Gangstas in the Era of State Violence. Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies. 9 (2), 15. Editor. (2003). Call of Duty. Available: http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms /pc/callofduty?q=call%20of%20duty. Last accessed 7 Jan 2010. Hall S, Critcher C, Jefferson  T, Clarke J, Roberts B  (1978) Policing The Crisis: mugging, the State and law and order . London: Macmillan Hall,S. (1997). Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. New York: Sage Publication. 49. Holmes, L. ( 2005)Violent Video Games Produce Violent Behavior. Nov 9 2005.http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/vidgameviolence.htm Snider,T. (Nov 20 2009). Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 : Creativity and controversy4395/call_duty_4_named_best_selling_game_2007/. Available: http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-11-10-callofdutyinside_ST_N.htm. Last accessed 01Jan 2010. Staff. (Jan 25 2008). Call of Duty 4 Named Best Selling Game. Available from http://www.gamepro .com .au/article/204395/ call_duty_4_ named _best_selling_game_2007/. Available: http://www.gamepro.com.au/article/ 204395/ call_duty_4_named_ best_selling_game_2007/. Last accessed 03 Jan 2010. Young, L. (June 2008). Grand Theft Auto-Inspired Crime Spree Rocks L.I.States and may drive up sales of the game. Available: http://wcbstv.com/entertainment/grand.theft.auto.2.758102.html. Last accessed 03 Jan 2010. Read More