It seems there's no shortage of drama triggers these days.
Gaming isn't immune to this and what starts out as a minor
inconvenience can quickly blossom into a full blown meltdown.
Thing is, most of the ranting and raving is little more than
hollow click-bait. Faux outrage followed
up by faux activism.
So it is with Battlefield 5.
A game that I've spent a few hours with albeit in BETA form.
The initial "outrage" against the game was sparked
by a less than informative trailer whereby the protagonist just so happened to
be female. To some this was too far a
stretch for artistic license. Most of
what we know about World War 2 these days comes from movies like Dunkirk and Saving Private Ryan. Films
that maintain a firm hold on historical accuracy and traditional roles even if
offensive to a modern audience.
Movies that are fictionalized representations of historical
events. Movies that have colored our
expectations of anything regarding that war.
These have created an expectation when viewing anything with a explicit
historical claim. Expectations are
unspoken demands. Run counter to them
and don't be surprised to come out with a few bruises.
Nobody really knows if there were any women in
"official" combat roles in World War 2. As far back as World War 1 there were women
that posed as men to serve in the military.
It seems unlikely, however, given that it's a fairly recent and limited development to have
women in such roles and if so that there were many. That's not to demean or minimize women in
military service it's just simple history.
We often forget that gender roles have only recently become more
fluid. As such it's an untenable
position to portray such fluidity from a society 2 generations past.
But Battlefield 5 is not about history, it's about a video
game in a historical context. As such
there is an expectation that traditional roles of the time should prevail in the
depiction of World War 2.
But it seems that there's a strong desire in these times of
"Fake News" and "Social Justice" to rewrite history
according to whatever agenda is being pushed.
That women served in World War 2 is not in question. What is goes directly to the motivation of an
company like EA.
In a purely fictional entertainment product, gender should
have no relevance. You can be a badass
regardless of what box was ticked on the character's birth certificate ( or
pod, test tube, whatever.)
But in EA's case, it seems they've yielded to a social
justice agenda that seeks to quietly rewrite history for its own ends using
popular media.
This is a problem two-fold.
First, it ignores the societal norms, good or bad of the time
period. As such the very foundation of
gender equality is eroded by denying that a problem existed. Second, it clouds historical fact. Considering that many glean their historical
knowledge from popular media historical accuracy is often sacrificed for
entertainment.
If all you knew about the Vietnam War came from Rambo Movies you would have a very
limited and skewed understanding of the conflict. In the times we live at this moment we are
constantly in danger of fiction being given the same weight of fact and that's
dangerous.
I've long said that video games are the rival if not the
superior medium to motion pictures. Many
of which have become cinema franchises in and of themselves. Not to mention comic book characters from the
likes of Marvel and DC that find their fortunes with them.
But...
Do we accept Captain America as a historical figure?
Of course not. He's nothing more than a larger than life
fictionalized character and propaganda device created in the early days of
World War 2 as a kind of flag waving Superman competitor.
This is the real issue with Battlefield 5. To overtly admit to a social justice agenda
even if it distorts history can have serious repercussions. Given an intellectually lazy consumer with
accompanying short attention span we could conceivably find the next generation
ignorant and disinterested in actual history or anything for that matter that
doesn't fit somebody's populist agenda.
A society based on shiny objects and dull minds.
Hey, it's just a video game, who cares right?
You should whether you're Alt-Right or SJW, to deny REAL
history and push a political agenda to rewrite it via popular media is to deny
the foundations of your own cause.
That's the problem here.
Not conservatism, misogyny or any of the other convenient barbs thrown.
Think first.
