Gaming Reality

Sometimes science fiction movies may seem too far off from reality; but when you take a closer look you may discover that that is not always true.  The movie Gamer is one of those movies.  Video games have become an important part in many people’s lives.  Now-a-days they can create their own avatars and live in a fictional world through their video games.  According to a survey American gamers spent over 13 hours a week playing in 2010, and the average gaming time keeps rising. Americans are spending over 7% of their time living their own fictional reality.  The avatars people create and they themselves have a close relationship.  Avatars are like actors playing a script written by the player.

The movie Gamer aims to show a futuristic world where mind-controlling technological advancements allow people to control other people. In this movie death row inmates are given 30 sessions during which they are controlled and played by other humans; a game that very much looks like Counter Strike or Call of duty; except in this case they are not computer-made avatars, they are flesh-and-blood humans being played as avatars.  If they can survive these 30 sessions they would be set free.  Simple video games such as the ones mentioned above are taken to the extreme and turned into a reality in the movie.

The identity of these inmates, called “slayers”, is taken over by whoever is controlling them.  Technically the slayers have sold themselves and their identity in order to get their freedom back.  This is where the movie reflects a world that is very similar to ours. The slayers are somewhat like soldiers from the army.  The reason why the inmates decided to take part of this game was because they wanted freedom and a better lifestyle than the one they had in prison.  When the army recruits people they offer a lot of things, but most importantly they focus on your economic future.  So, when people sign up for the army one of the main reasons why they do it is to be economically stable.  “In March 2007, the overall unemployment rate was 4.4 percent.  In just 18 months it spiked to 9.8 percent, creating a boom for military recruiting… In the military... older recruits see ‘a stable job, stable income.  The younger generation [is] seeking a way to pay for college.’" (Weak Economy Draws Middle-Class Recruits.)   Army recruits and slayers decide to take part of this “game” for the same basic reason: to better their lives; even if it means running the risk of getting killed in the process.

Once the inmates in the movie sell themselves to be part of the game, they are in total control of the player.  The slayers are like puppets to the players.  They follow the orders and do as the player pleases.  Army soldiers are somewhat like slayers in that sense.  Once they are recruited they MUST do as their commander says.  In boot camp they have no other choice but to follow the rules and do as they are told.  They are being controlled.  In the battlefield they open fire only when they are given the order, they go where their commanders send them, and they kill who they are told to kill, just like the slayers.  They both are in danger of being killed, yet they can’t do anything about it but to follow orders.  They are the puppets playing the game.

In the movie Gamer there is also a thing called “society” which is made up of people who just like the slayers are being controlled and played by other people in exchange for money.  This society reflects the sexual fantasies, and wildest thoughts from a great amount of people in our own society.  In Gamer’s society women were seen as sexual objects, which is not too far from true.  Some women in our real society are in fact sexual objects. Just like the people in the society there are real people who sell themselves for money.  An example of this can be prostitutes.  They too sell their bodies and are at mercy and control of the buyer.  The relationship between the prostitute and the buyer is technically the same as the relationship between the player and the society person they play in Gamer. 

Other people in real life, just like in the movie’s society, are in a way being controlled by other people too, though not of course with controllers like the movie suggests.  We live in a society where since infants we were taught how to act, speak, and behave. We grow up thinking something is right or wrong according to what the standards say. And who makes up those standards? People of social high ranking class do, rich people, the ones in power.  Everyone in their own unique societies and cultures are in a way programmed to be the persons they grow up to be.  Social class in this world is very important.  In the movie Gamer the people that controlled and played the slayers and the people in society were rich people.  We all know if you have money in this world, you have power.  The rich class people are the ones that own the big companies, run the politics, and rule the world.  They make up the rules and standards.  Poor and middle class people just work for them to make a living; we follow their rules and their standards which is like being controlled by them.  Our identities are developed upon the rich’s view and ethic of right or wrong, and normal and deviant.  But we don’t usually realize this.  We just live as we were taught to.

This movie may be science fiction and it is supposed to be years from now, but despite the technological advancements, we can still relate what happens in the movie to today’s reality.  Playing videogames is a good distraction from the stress, but one has to be careful and make sure you can distinguish it from real life.  The real world may be hard and tough but is better than living a fictional one.  Gamer is a perfect example that shows how a video game can became a reality.

Works cited

Eddie Makuch. “Time spent gaming on the rise – NPD.” Gamespot.  N.P. May 27, 2010. Web. March 3, 2012 <http://www.gamespot.com/news/time-spent-gaming-on-the-rise-npd-6264092>

Tom Philpott. “Weak Economy Draws Middle-Class Recruits.” Military.com. N.P. October 22, 2009. Web. March 3, 2012. <http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,204238,00.html>

Waggoner. “Videogames, Avatars, and Identity.”  N.P. N.D. <http://moodle.csun.edu/file.php/30273/Waggonner_Videogames_Avatars_and_Identity.pdf>

Essay proposals

For this essay I want to Explore the socioeconomics and class structure of Gamer and/or The Surrogates which is essay topic number 5. Also I want to combine that with my last post about the movie the Gamer and elaborate a little more on how what happens in the movie is not too far from our own reality.

When a videogame becomes reality

 

The movie "Gamer" shows and sends a message that is relatively close to reality. In this movie today's popular video games such as Call of Duty or Modern Warfare are a thing from the past. In the future, according to the movie, people will be playing RPGs but not with computer-made avatars but with actual real people.
Call of duty is a popular game that reflects a reality. You control what happens in the video game. You give orders to the avatar about when and who to shoot. The Army works in a similar way. The high-ranking officials control the rest of the soldiers; tell them who to kill and when they can start fire. Being a soldier in the Army is somewhat like being a slayer. The system controls them by giving them orders.  
"Society" in the movie is made up of people who sold themselves and were being controlled by other people. This is somewhat actually true. People ARE controlled by other people in a way, though not of course with controllers like the movie suggests. We live in a society where since infants we were taught how to act, speak, and behave. We grow up thinking something is right or wrong according to what the standards say. And who makes up those standars? People of socially high ranking class. They say "money runs the world", and the people with the money control the ones without it.
Women in the movie were seen as sexual objects. That is not far from true. In the "society" some women were controlled by men who did whatever they wanted with them. The males behind the screen dressed the females however they wanted and controlled their actions. The females were only free in their own thoughts. This reminds me of prostitutes, who are just like the women living in the "society." Prostitutes sell their bodies and are in complete control of the buyer. They may not want to do what they do with whom they do it, but yet they still do it. Alot of times, and it's sad, girls are kidnapped and forced into prostitution. These girls are like puppets to their "owners" just like the women in Gamer's society. 
People who play videogames excessively are somewhat being controlled by their videogames. They could spend entire days playing and living in a virtual world. What happens in the Gamer is not too far from our reality. It shows how what happens in video games can happen in real life too.

                                            

Fantasy and Reality

Playing video role-playing games (v-RPG's) is a good way to pass the time and entertain yourself, but it can get addicting.  For many people this is more than just a pass time or hobby; it's a lifestyle.  There are people who would spend entire days playing a video game. According to Waggoner in his essay, "Videogames, Avatars, and Identity" the heavy use of RPGs can blur one's ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
I'm not a big fan of modern video games. I grew up playing games such as Mario, Donkey Kong, bomberman and such. I loved playing these games because passing the levels was a challenge, and each time it got harder and harder. I could spend hours and hours in my cousin's computer playing these games because it was so entertaining and in a sense additing. I still play Mario every now and then, (that game never gets old) but in no way have I ever mixed the fantasy of the video game with reality. It would be impossible for me to break bricks with my knuckle or spit fire balls, and most certaintly I wouldn't die if a turtle touched me.
FIFA has always been a game that I actually enjoy playing. Even though I don't play as much, whenever I do I could spend hours trying to improve and win championships with my team. A few years ago my parents bought me a PS2 with the FIFA 06 game along. FIFA was the only game I ever had but it was enough for me to kill some time and enjoy myself. I created my own player and I named him after myself. This, I believe, prompted me to play even more, because my player was doing what I always wanted to do. Play professional Football for the club I like the most, Real Madrid. I lived through him when I played FIFA. He was "living" the life I wanted for myself. He was living my dream. But, this NEVER blured my ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality. I always knew that was just a video game and that the reality was another. I love playing football and still hope to someday play professionally, but this takes REAL sweat and effort. I would always rather though, play football for real than play it as a video game. I can't improve my skills by sitting down and pressing bottons.
The reason why some people get addicted to video games, I believe, is because they get to do what they can't in real life. The get to live the lives they want without effort, but most importantly, they never really live but they never really die.

Ghetto Myspace vs. Classy Facebook?


Implications of user choice: The Cultural Logic of "Myspace or Facebook?" by Danah Boyd is an article that treats the Myspace vs. Facebook dilemma.  She claims, based on her data, that Myspace was more "ghetto" and Facebook was a classier social website, mostly for educated people.  There are many reasons why teens chose to use Facebook over Myspace and vise versa.  Some chose Myspace because it is more complex. Others chose Facebook because apparently it was for people of "higher class." Kids and teens chose to be where their friends were. Basically what is being said here is that Facebook was a place for high school honors kids and college students, while Myspace was, well, for "chunts."
Myspace came out first, and it became very popular fast. Almost everyone in my school and in other schools had a Myspace account and went on it daily. It became the sensation among middle, to high scholars. I noticed that at one point, after Facebook came out, a lot of my friend's statuses were like, "Myspace sucks.. I want the old Myspace back.. and, Catch me at Facebook." Rumors were that Tom -the Myspace website creator- had sold the website to another person, (up to this date I still don't know if that was true or not) but since that point on, it seemed like everyone started switching from Myspace to Facebook.
The three main reasons why I switched websites and went to Facebook were:

• Myspace got too complicated to use; too many new features and way too many adds.
• Most of my friends stopped using it and switched as well, so I had not many friends to talk to. It got boring.
• And the main reason is because after a while, I could not longer sign in; either someone changed my password or Myspace just simply wouldn't let me log in.

Facebook does look and sound classier than Myspace, but that doesn't mean that only ghetto people use Myspace or that only high class people use Facebook. Facebook is very diverse; and I see every kind of people using it: from poor to rich, from ignorant to educated, from ugly to pretty. It doesn't matter; kids, teenagers, adults, almost everyone is on Facebook now-a-days, and Myspace seems to be a thing from the past.