culture jam

In my Culture Jam project I am exploring the influence video games have on society. Specifically, I am trying to “jam” my audience into thinking about video games from a different perspective. In order to do this I have created five different flyers that each bring up a thought provoking question in the realm of videogames. I plan to spread this paraphernalia around the UTD campus where it will be seen on poster boards, etc., and hopefully make people think outside the box. My first flyer addresses the commonplace presence of violence in videogames while linking it to the real violence happening everyday. Secondly I reference classical heroes in comparison to video games. The third flyer tackles the idea of classic literature and videogames beginning to approach the same status. Fourthly I bring up the growing connection between art and videogames. Lastly I question where we find entertainment today, videogames being one of the growingly common answers. Hopefully these five simple flyers will bring up some interesting questions for people and perhaps change the way some people think about how videogames are affecting society today.
My first flyer has a picture of a soldier from a popular war videogame, Call of Duty. Underneath the picture reads the question, “An American soldier died today. What did you do?” By using the picture of the soldier I will hopefully address the concept of violence as entertainment in videogames. In times past gladiator fights were commonplace entertainment and that same concept has begun to resurface under a different disguise today. Countless people, myself included, play games such as this one where your goal is to kill the enemy troops and protect your own. This game however attempts to portray real military violence occurring today as opposed to outlandish space battles or epic monster fights. Although I am not here to debate the morality of violence as entertainment, I am here to point out that people tend to forget what is going on in the real world when games such as this are commonplace diversions. This game depicts soldiers killing each other on realistic battlefields mimicking real life conflicts and places. Although this is definitely very entertaining for numerous people we should stop and recognize what is being represented. There are brutal sacrifices being made by real soldiers around the world everyday. Maybe if somebody sees this flyer they will give a thought to the real troops sacrificing their lives daily. The next time tehy have another frag-fest with their buddies perhaps they will stop and think about what this game is ultimately representing. The point of this flyer is to point out the desensitization games can have on people. We tend to forget that real soldiers don’t get a respawn point and they are not fighting in the comfort of their own home on a television screen.
My second flyer has an image from the popular game Halo. Above the image reads, “Odysseus invented legendary mode.” Here I am trying to draw a connection between the epic stories and heroes which are present in videogames today and those in classic legends such as The Odyssey. Even in ancient times people were dazzled by fantastical stories of mighty men who accomplished impossible feats. Odysseus conquered numerous beasts and obstacles in his amazing tale just as Master Chief overcomes countless odds to save the world. Today we loved to be dazzled by impossible tales just like people thousands of years ago and this happens commonly in the medium of video games. By establishing this similarity between ancient epics and videogames I hope to make people stop and consider the evolution of videogames as a respectable form of storytelling. Videogames are the evolution of the spectacle today. In the past we were dazzled by amazing stories (we still are) and now we are able to interact and watch them.
The third flyer has a similar criticism to address. However, instead of addressing the amazing “spectacle”, it addresses the question of what should be considered a classic. In the flyer I have a picture of some old classical looking books and then among the stack is a copy of a videogame. Above reads, “Caught up on your classics?” By putting this game together with these respected books I am suggesting that games have the ability to be considered classics but why are they not? If they are evolving as a storytelling medium with dazzling, artful visuals, then why can’t they attain classic status? Videogames are a medium that take countless hours of work to create so when will they be respected and gain their own “classic” status? Perhaps this will cause people to stop and question the standards in place to judge what is or is not a “classic” piece of work.
Fourthly I have a flyer with a humorous edited picture of the Mona Lisa with Mario’s head replacing hers. The caption reads, “What is Art?” Since the beautiful paintings that have been created throughout time are regarded as “art” without debate, why aren’t videogames? They have amazing visuals that take painstaking skill and effort of countless artists, and yet they are considered the playthings of children and not an accomplishment worthy to be considered art. People need to see that videogames are an extension and evolution of art by the human race. We as a race have taken still images and learned how to create moving images which we can electronically control. This idea would have been ludicrous a hundred years ago but now it has become a reality. Despite this great technological accomplishment people are quick to dismiss games because society tells them they are frivolous. Trough this flyer I want people to question this biased standard of society.
The last flyer addresses videogames in a broad sense. It has a picture of a movie theater that says “arcade” in glowing neon lights and different game titles listed where movie titles would normally be. Underneath a simple question reads, “Entertainment Today?” (Not the magazine). In today’s society, if you asked someone what constitutes as “real” entertainment they probably would not reply by saying videogames. Acceptable answers would most likely include movies, books, sports, etc. However what is the distinguishing factor between these things and videogames? All of these things are just different forms of the “spectacle”. Each one is “dazzling” its audience with exciting new sights and ideas. If we find enjoyment from a trip to the movie theater then why can we not acknowledge that the same thing is to be gained from playing a game? The amount of entertainment to be found in videogames in today’s society is becoming more and more substantial and should be recognized as such.
In this Culture Jam experiment I hope to show people how videogames are pervading our society in a huge way which becomes larger everyday. Even though we refuse to acknowledge it on a general level, they are affecting our society everyday. Our children play them, countless adults play them, our bosses play them, our teachers play them, yet society as a whole refuses to accept them as a respectable medium. They recreate our battlefields with startling realism. They invent epic heroes that carry out grand adventures too fantastical for the real world which dazzle and delight. They tell intricate stories just like those stuck on the unmoving pages of a book. Visually they can be as magnificent and stunning as a painting, sculpture, or a movie. Videogames have become the evolution of art and entertainment in our world today and hopefully these pieces of propaganda will make people stop and think the next time they try and dismiss them as a silly child’s plaything.