Response to Electronic Empire: Orientalism Revisited in the Military Shooter

Excellent article, very apropos. Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? Do we make video games about war with the Middle East or are we at war with the Middle East because we make video games about it?

I have many friends who are addicted to Call of Duty especially the newest release modern warfare 2 a series in the Call of Duty franchise. These games are nothing to take lightly, I was recently at a friends house when he showed me a level of modern warfare 2 in which the OBJECTIVE is to KILL CIVILIANS IN AN AIRPORT. I have not felt this disgusted in a long time, as my friend gunned down people exclaiming "oops missed one" or "head shot!". My friends and acquaintances do not necessarily play these games because they are sadistic or feel strongly about war, middle east politics, terrorism etc... they play because the games are extremely well made and offer intense and addicting online multiplayer.

The most chilling assertion of the article is not the fact that these games train soldiers or recruit people into the armed forces, but that it makes people accustomed to the idea of perpetual war with the Middle East or Neo-Orient. These games are very perpetual in and of themselves. People play for hours and hours on end continually participating in matches of good guys versus bad guys, the same maps of quasi-middle eastern terrain or Hispanic favela, over and over again, locked in a never ending battle, and of course you don't want the battle to end because no more war, no more game, no more fun. It's a war-mongering neo-conservatives wet dream.

When I asked my friend if he was disturbed by killing the civilians in Modern Warfare 2 he said "no, it's just a game; I would never do that in real life." I replied that "That's not the point, you've just experienced a first person, 60-inch high definition plasma screen, surround sound, simulation of killing innocent people; now in the future when real civilians are killed you've already mentally experienced this and been desensitized. You've now been conditioned that 'It's OK if these civilians are killed as long as the mission is accomplished'." Its really fucked up that this sort of stuff is allowed to pass as entertainment in our society.