Call of Duty's Propaganda Machine
Last month, the US Army offered recruits four days off to play GTA 6 if they reenlist for another two years of service. Nothing like some escapism from your day job committing war crimes and shooting innocent people by playing a game where you do digital war crimes and shoot fake innocent people! Now, four days off for 2 years of service sounds like a pretty crappy deal (not that the military is particularly known for fairness or equity), but more importantly it lays bare the importance of video games in growing and maintaining American militarism. First-person-shooter war games like last year’s Battlefield 6 or the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 play a key role in shaping our collective narratives around war, ones where America is the hero and gets to pick the villain. Because despite how many metal songs they play in their trailers, these games are not subversive; they exist as tools of American Imperialism and military propaganda. ...