[CW: violence/gore]. As the title suggests, is there a left case to be made against ultra-violence in video games? I’m thinking mostly about MK11 and MK1 fatalities, as opposed to less gratuitous and less hyper-realistic violence–in Dark Souls or something. Whenever this topic is brought up, other factors usually take up the oxygen in the room: People might immediately think of family-values conservatives, such as the Media Research Center, who act like wet-blankets towards entertainment. Or we think of nerdy Joe Lieberman, who showed the 1993 Sub-Zero spine fatality to Congress (lol). There was Hillary Clinton who decried the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and the host of rightwing politicians who blamed Doom for the Columbine shooting (clearly as a way to absolve gun legislation from any culpability). So this is what I mean when I say that the conversation on video-game violence has been ceded entirely to these dudes, as opposed to something left spaces can discuss without sounding like squares or censors. This came to mind after I was reading about the video game designer who developed PTSD after working on Mortal Kombat 11. His dreams became excruciatingly violent, and his day-to-day was interacting with coworkers studying medical anatomy and watching videos of slaughtered animals. That can’t be good for anyone. I guess what I’m asking is: should leftists see this as harmless fun, or something problematic? And, will photo-realistic Fatalities exist in the communist future?
No one should be subjected to real life (or fictional) gore if they cannot handle it. For some jobs such as movie/show production, you may not really get a choice in what your participate in because the studio decides based on various reasons. But some more specialized like video games, the studio will usually be known for specific genres or franchises. Like if you apply to Rockstar games, which is already very exclusive and famous, and you become shocked that you have to animate a horse’s head getting blown off, I’m not sure what to tell you.
Lol look at current communist history. A lot of it is bloody, and many of its commemorations and memorials involve some of the bloodiest wars against fascists and imperialists. Is Mortal Kombat insulting when placed alongside Come and See? Of course. But I imagine the Soviets would create their own Call of Duty letting players play as Red soldiers gunning down screaming Nazis, and it will be good. Violent media can be introspective, or it can simply reinforce the status quo. Also, much of the world plays violent games too, and they don’t end up psychopathic like American/western/white gamers.