six men. Kevlar jackets. AK-47s in hand. elevator opens. silence comes over the atmosphere as innocent by-standers standing in the airport security line slowly turn to see the men surround them. Mind you, you are one of these six men holding an AK-47. My friend begins to jab at his controller and the next 3 minutes is full of dead bodies, yells, screams, blood splatting on your screen, and all over the walls, stairs and anything in site. The screams and yells were what I'd imagine Hell to sound like as people scream in terror as they helplessly try to flee from torture.
My friend's face was emotionless and had no expression of compassion. He shot these digital innocent people in the game with the same emotionless effort of shrugging your shoulders carelessly deciding whether to go to Taco Bell or Qdoba for lunch, as if neither held any weight of concern over the other. I couldn't believe it. I was kind of saddened, honestly. I sat there wondering, "What did these INNOCENT people do to you that you felt so COMPELLED to shoot them as if cans lined up in a row?"
My friend, K, told me the scenario is such, "I'm a deep undercover CIA agent who has to pose as a Soviet terrorist in order to find the head Soviet terrorist and kill him."
"Really? So that justifies your killing innocent people?" this was a reply I had but kept it to myself for lack of argument or care because i was ready to leave the room anyway and didn't want to see anymore horror or graphic violence, for my Spirit doesn't want to see that or absorb that...besides, you have to ask yourself, who's Spirit would? Wouldn't that tell you something about one's character and values?
Here's a fun question, What if these digital images of innocent people were actually real people and you had to actually do this? How or by what morals, beliefs or principles would you stand in order to DEFINE these people as innocent? Or better yet, define your means of killing them and justifying your means to do so. This brings me back to the video game we played in recitation. We as snipers had the option of shooting any of the "terrorists" but when doing so, more would appear therefore posing the question, "Who's the terrorist, honestly? Is it those we see or everyone we see, (since the by-standers turned into terrorists)?
The game in recitation posed an actual moral and lesson to the story whereas MODERN WARFARE, as far as I could see, had none. But I guess, that's what defines one's ability to pull the trigger on innocent people (or representations thereof) is their individual understanding and definition of morality, innocence, and their belief of whether or not the end does justify the means or not.
What is your reaction and personal response to this essay?
I have to say that I am somewhat biased because I love that level in that particular game. The separation for me is that I really like to get involved in video game story lines, and the more interesting the better. That storyline, literally started off with the best bang ever.
ReplyDeleteNow I may be fascinated with controversy a little more than normal, but my moral standing is still centered. Barring the exception of the death penalty in the due course of law, taking the life of another human being is absolutely intolerable.
I really enjoy video games, especially Wii ones, but the warfare could be a little more sparse in my opinion. It could be because I'm a girl? Or it could be because I find it a little gory at times. But my younger brother seems to really enjoy them, and after all, it is just a game?
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