Call of Duty and its Falsehoods of War
The popular video game franchise "Call of Duty" creates games of war, some based off of real wars and others off of near future advanced weaponry battles. The goal of this franchise is to provide entertainment for people who like the adrenaline that comes with the animated killing of their friends, strangers and the game's CPU (Central Processing Unit, computerized enemies.) Now I do not believe that these games will cause people to become violent and go on a murderous rampage, but I do believe that they glamorize war to an extent that it should not be.
In Call of Duty you can run around killing and dying with the only punishment being to press a button to respawn to kill some more "enemies". The games show war as a fun point system of how many lives can be taken in a short period of time. I know that no one thinks war has points or that you can respawn in real life, but these games just do not depict the hardship our countries soldiers have to go through in these firefights. One murder of a "team mate" in real war can scar a man for life to the point where he cannot go a day without thinking about what he'd just scene.
The world should know the violent memories men have to live with when coming home from the front lines of protection our country needs so much. "Call of Duty's" are not bad games, but just unrealistic, which is by no means any type of moral crime. I believe our America needs to be educated on the terrible effects war can inflict on our soldiers. When a man is killed one foot to the left of you on a ridge in "Call of Duty" you think, "better go somewhere else or I might get sniped," in real life you may break down crying or totally give up, your memories could be haunted forever.
I am not claiming these games are harmful to our population besides the ignorance of
the horrors that war can inflict on a man or woman. I myself play "Call of Duty," though I try my best not to forget how real men and women preform what is being done in these games (loosely), and respect the horrors war can bring.
Great post Luke. I also agree with you that war games like cod glamourize the war experience/desensitize it to many. Second to last paragraph is great!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your message. I think the system of getting rewards for streaks of kills makes real war seem more like a game where soldiers are in a constant firefight. After playing this game for a while, people start to forget the horror of war and the fear that comes with being a soldier on the front lines.
ReplyDeleteThese types of games are obviously fun for many people but the root of them is horrible and definitely desensitizes those who play them. The real war experience is a lot different than what is portrayed in these games and people don't understand that what they are doing is what people have to do in real life
ReplyDeleteIve had three older cousins go and fight in Iraq and they find it very offesive when someone thinks war video games are fun. Only two of my cousins came back, and when they came home they were totally differnt, more disiplined and more focused. But its really no joke when video games try to portray what war really is like. You can actually die in war, where as in the games you just respawn and keep shooting again. KM-Period 1
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