I make good words.
Comedian, writer, blogger and occasional filmmaker/cartoonist.
WhackyWookiee is here to eradicate memes, buck trends, and wallow in self-pity.
There is no greater infringement on Human rights than War. Fighting, in all of its glorious forms, has plagued mankind since before there was a word for it. The inevitable truth of War is that somebody is going to die. Someone needs to make a rule. In every instance, War, not only gives death to both sides, but sadness. Orphaned children and childless parents, homes destroyed, all for the sake of arguments and/or taking what is not rightfully theirs; War is a merciless machine of death and destruction. War is not always fought with armaments, nor is the prize new land to rule; War for profit leaves many in its wake.
***Violent Video Game? Group Sex? Gluttony? Cannibalism?***
****This is the main menu and theme from Halo Towards the end is a short game-play demo****
Video games, and their evolved form, Real-Time Simulations, could not only be used to train soldiers, but should also decide the ultimate victor as well. Scholars theorize that wars will be fought by robotic soldiers soon. Why not “duke it out” over Pac-Man or Battle Chess instead? The entire World already meets at the Olympic Games every two years to compete physically and mentally. Political conflicts likewise could be settled, well…Politically, and with a series of fair and balanced competition.
The “Halo” universe is a perfect simulation of the futility of War; there is literally no way to win, without dying thousands of times. Firstly, there is the story mode, which details an Earth of the future, invaded by a race of fanatically religious aliens driven to destroy those that do not believe as they do. Similar scenarios have occurred numerous times in the real world, Hitler, Bin-Laden, the Medieval Crusades; the creators of “Halo” were apparently counting on history repeating itself in 500 years.Playing a game like “Halo” has always suited my tastes; I prefer my killing to have a Sci-Fi/Fantasy tinge. In recent years, perhaps due to the popularity of “Halo,” many similar games, like the “Call of Duty” series, have gained in popularity. Although they share fans and similar game play, a realistic presentation changes the ultimate effect, on me anyway. Games that are basically war simulators, are being, uh, “enjoyed” by millions. Sure one could argue that it is all a stylized game of tag; that it is no different than watching a film like “Platoon.” I play video games, I love video games, and I can tell you it is very different. Seeing a realistic weapon firing in your face, as blood splatters on the screen, and civilian non-player characters run in terror is a terrifying thing. I once viewed a play through of the “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” level entitled, “No Russian;” in it you play an undercover C.I.A. operative who has infiltrated a Russian terrorist group, in this level you slowly march through, slaughtering innocent civilians at a crowded airport; to protect your cover and get the leader’s trust. It was a nightmare in polygons.
****WARNING!!! VERY GRAPHIC!****
I’ll take magic flowers that make me shoot fire from my nose any day.
Secondly there is the Multiplayer Halo experience; all things considered, a flawless model of “Mutually Assured Destruction” and the “Domino Effect;” unfortunately in real war, combatants do not “re-spawn” ten seconds after a death. From playing “Halo” multiplayer online I have learned that in a real war, I would last approximately thirty seconds (at least that is what my game stats say my average life span is.) No matter how good you are, there is somebody better, luckier, or just in a better physical position; you will die, many times. The good players die less often; but they die. You may have a good team, but you will die; if one goes down the others will fall eventually. Often a player you have “killed” will get a new life, remember where you are and kill you a few seconds later; granted the least realistic part of the game. In the real world it might be your victim’s comrade that gets “revenge,” but it will happen.
****A Typical Halo Multiplayer Match****
Videogames have long been a controversial subject in regards to violence. Claire Suddath gives a few key highlights;
“The first major campaign came in 1976, over Death Race, an 8-bit arcade game in which a vaguely car-shaped blob runs over stick figures, turning them into tombstones. In 1993 two games--Mortal Kombat (with its hyper violent, torso-ripping "fatality" moves) and the lesser known Night Trap (in which a male protagonist protects a houseful of scantily clad women from vampires)--caused such a stir that a Senate hearing led by Senator Joe Lieberman proposed federal video-game regulations. In an effort to pre-empt congressional legislation, toy stores pulled Night Trap from shelves, and the video-game industry founded the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a self-monitoring panel that instituted a tiered rating system to track games' sexual and violent content.”
As teenager, I personally remember entering in a special code to get the bloody graphics in the home version of Mortal Kombat for the Sega Genesis; while wishing the superior playing Super Nintendo version had one. Is it because I had an unquenchable thirst for gore and violence? Possibly; but my desire to play a decent conversion of a cool Arcade game was stronger. The violence in MK was pretty cartoonish, even though it was digitized photos of real people. Yes, the nine gallons of blood that would dip from the zipper-like spine of your defeated foe, as you tore the head from his torso, looked very unrealistic and so over the top that it really did not deserve the controversy; but it did help sales. Street Fighter II was way better anyway. As is often the case controversy breeds public interest; the best way to get somebody to do something is by telling them not to. Firing a weapon, hand-to-hand combat, and video games go together like flies on stink; there really is not too much else to do but squash, throw, or consume ravenously a spectral foe for the high score. Even puzzle games like Portal and Puzzle Fighter have shooting and hitting. There are sports simulations like…(A-hem)…Hockey. Driving games with fiery crashes, skateboard games with head-crushing wipeouts, and cooking games that involve sharp cutlery, giant horny primates fall and get their heads crushed, and I shudder to think of all of those poor frogs; violence is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. Many nursery rhymes and fairy tales involve murder, cannibalism, and broken skulls violence is engrained in our subconscious. Without the threat of an ending, a game could last indefinitely; getting shot is a definite end. One could argue that even the balls in PONG “died” when they left the screen.
Wars are not only being fought with guns, our stomachs and more specifically, who sells what goes in them is a new battlefield. Monsanto, the makers of fine stain resistant carpeting, is busy at work making financially profitable affronts to humanity, not far removed from the likes of “Soylent Green.” Citizens of this world are virtual guinea pigs to be used for experimentation and product research; when things go wrong, grease a few palms, then continue on. Corporate behavior of this sort is all too common in Modern Society.
****Trailer for documentary Food Inc.****
Monsanto, as detailed throughout her book, “The World According to Monsanto,” Marie-Monique Robin gives us a peek into the horrid business practices the makers of “rBGH” and “Agent Orange” make routine. Genetically modified crops, researched under the guise of ending world hunger, have invaded the food supply, mutating the existing strains to produce sterile offspring, forcing farmers to buy new seed every season; this sort of business plan would make a comic book super-villain shake his head in disgust.
****More of a music video; but a lot of Monsanto's deeds.****
History books report America suspending trade and hampering Japan’s oil supply as a primary reason for the attack on Pearl Harbor. In her book, The Gravedigger’s Daughter, Joyce Carol Oates spends a lot of time chronicling the hardships of a family of German immigrants trying to avoid the turmoil of WWII; she ignores the Pacific aspect like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the plight of Americans of Japanese decent and Asians in general. I assume because they did not have much to do with the core story.
In writing this paper I was drawn to Kevin Dockery’s book Future Weapons, mainly because of the strong resemblance between cover model the XM8 kinetic modular weapons system (page 96) and Halo’s Assault Rifle. Kevin’s book is more of a catalogue, listing rates of fire, size of rounds, range and such. Ralphie’s mom, from A Christmas Story, should be grateful that this book was not lying on her pillow. His book did provide some insight into the boundless potential for profit that weaponry affords. The XM8 itself proved troublesome, it was too heavy, expensive, had problems with overheating, and sparked controversy from companies not allowed to bid on the contract to develop them. Killing is always very profitable after all, everyone wants their “piece of the pie.”
In chapter 6 of her book “An Intimate History of Killing,” Joanna Bourke details several War atrocities committed by U.S. Soldiers and their allies in the Twentieth Century. First the slaughter of Son My (also known as My Lai,) a civilian village in Vietnam thought to be a secret Viet Cong base; 500 died. Lieutenant ‘Rusty’ Calley was the only man charged with a crime, more than one year after the event. He was tried and sentenced to Life in prison; two days later, through appeal, his sentence was reduced to house arrest by President Richard Nixon, he was paroled on September 10, 1975 after serving about three years.
During World War II U.S. troops of the 45th Infantry murdered about seventy prisoners of war, at the trial of those accused of ordering the mass executions, the blame was laid on Lieutenant-General George S. Patton, who in a speech to the 45th said amongst other things:
“…We will show him no mercy…when you get within 200 yards of him, and he wishes to surrender, oh no! You must kill him. Stick him between the third and fourth ribs. You will tell your men that. They must have the killer instinct…We will get the names of killers and killers are immortal.”
Some in charge at the 45th thought this sounded like orders coming from a superior officer for some reason.
In War, it is sometimes difficult to tell who the good guys are; any survivors of the village of “Son My” might have a different opinion than the standard history book offers. Lieutenant Calley may also have been a victim; his reputation, career, and name forever tarnished by bad Intel and a blind devotion to orders.
In her book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, Fannie Flagg also mentions little, if any about the Japanese or the fiduciary aspects of WWII. She does discuss how the character Big George’s son, Willie Boy, joins the military and meets an untimely end. I discussed this myself in a previous paper;
“One set of opposing views of freedom, taken from the novel and erroneously left out of the movie, is the story of Willie Boy, Big George’s son. Willie Boy was smart and a good person, Mrs. Threadgoode states the community had hoped he would become a civil rights lawyer; Willie Boy was murdered by a fellow soldier after defending his father’s good name. Willie Boy felt it was his right to smash a bottle into the face of one Winston Lewis, who had called Big George an “Uncle Tom” for working for white people. Winston Lewis then felt it was his right to murder Willie Boy in his sleep as retribution; he then realized it was the Army’s right to prosecute him for the crime of murder, so he exercised his rights again and ran away. The problem is; that the first one to have had any rights violated, Winston Lewis, took matters into his own hands. If he had reported the assault, Willie Boy would have been prosecuted, possibly squashing any hope for a career as an attorney. The dilemma; Willie Boy responded to harsh words with violence, violence begets violence. Did Winston go too far? Yes, but Willie Boy went too far first. Words can never be answered with force in a truly free world.”
In War, the opposing side is not always the only enemy. ***For this section I thought it pertinent to imbibe you with the wisdom of this man...***
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is indicative of what happens when people feel it is one of their Human Rights, to impose their will upon other’s Human Rights. Tying it in with Video Games and War might sound odd; a collection of tales told by an elderly woman, from the 1980s, about her life from the 1930s, mostly. Sure some minor characters go to war, and Human Rights violations abound; perhaps, making a “First-Person Adventure” game, solving the murder, experiencing the pain and suffering through the characters eyes, with a slant towards education and empathy. It could help show young bullies that suffering, begets more suffering. It would need a government grant to get off of the ground as I would expect sales to be slow; if it were free to schools perhaps, it would get played.
***WAR! At it's finest.****
The pure silliness of the very real possibility of sending robots to “Duke it out” over oil and fertile farm land is laughable, and scary at the same time. One man with a gun can do a whole lot of damage. There is no telling how much damage one man in control of a thousand walking, invulnerable guns can do. When all is said and done, whoever has the biggest gun will win most Wars (barring political handicapping,) hopefully the one with the biggest gun is a good guy. Ultimately, if it were possible to get all the World’s Presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings, Queens, Self-appointed Dictators for life, Warlords, Drug Czars, Sea-Pirates, Michael Foucault, Illegal-Arms Dealers, and the United Nations to agree to settle any disputes over Pac-Man and Chess; then it probably wouldn’t be too hard to get them to a treaty signing anyhow.
Works Cited
Fried Green Tomatoes. Dir. Jon Avnet. Prod. Jon Avnet. By Fannie Flagg. Perf. Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, and Mary Stuart Masterson. Universal Pictures, 1991. DVD.
Dockery, Kevin. Future Weapons. New York: Berkley Caliber, 2007.
Bourke, Joanna. An Intimate History of Killing: Face-to-face Killing in Twentieth-century Warfare. [New York, NY]: Basic, 1999.
Flagg, Fannie. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. New York: Ballantine, 2000.
Oates, Joyce Carol. The Gravedigger's Daughter. New York: Harper Perennial, 2008.
Wookiee, Whacky.MyFreedom Is More Important Than Yours. Unpublished student essay. Kent State University, 2011.
Robin, Marie-Monique. The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World. New York: The New Press, 2009.
