for me your post was timely - i saw full metal jacket last night. perhaps to offset the sameness of the military or stormtroopers and the tedium of combat in, say, vietnam, or iraq, we conjure up more exciting and diverse venues and enemies. and perhaps ultimately it's the same game except one is real and the other imagined, or vice-versa. happy vaca!
To L. - I think it's actually from this vast creative space called "The Extended Universe" in Star Wars mythology. There are hundreds of novels, comic books, video games, art, figurines, etc. It's extensive, and Lucas gets a cut of it all. Smart man. I think this image is from an actual comic book, with the text photoshopped in.
To 3hree - The job of any army is to train its soldiers to 1. Follow an order without question and 2. To dehumanize whomever is labeled the enemy, in order to kill them.
Dehumanizing is easy; following orders is the hard part. Thus, the existence of our absurd security state since 2001 - it's designed to be absurd, such that logic does not apply and all that matters is following orders.
Video games/role playing helps in the "following orders" part since each is defined by a set of rules you must follow. Once that becomes habitual, the work is done.
I've been stricken with a case of space ennui, alas! There's only one cure. Vacation. See ya on the other side!
3 comments:
Who's that bitching, Buck Rodgers? Enjoy your blogcation!
for me your post was timely - i saw full metal jacket last night. perhaps to offset the sameness of the military or stormtroopers and the tedium of combat in, say, vietnam, or iraq, we conjure up more exciting and diverse venues and enemies. and perhaps ultimately it's the same game except one is real and the other imagined, or vice-versa. happy vaca!
To L. - I think it's actually from this vast creative space called "The Extended Universe" in Star Wars mythology. There are hundreds of novels, comic books, video games, art, figurines, etc. It's extensive, and Lucas gets a cut of it all. Smart man. I think this image is from an actual comic book, with the text photoshopped in.
To 3hree - The job of any army is to train its soldiers to 1. Follow an order without question and 2. To dehumanize whomever is labeled the enemy, in order to kill them.
Dehumanizing is easy; following orders is the hard part. Thus, the existence of our absurd security state since 2001 - it's designed to be absurd, such that logic does not apply and all that matters is following orders.
Video games/role playing helps in the "following orders" part since each is defined by a set of rules you must follow. Once that becomes habitual, the work is done.
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