Machinima Spotlight: An American Baby in Iraq
Continuing with the theme of political applications of machinima from last week, I wanted to feature a film made within a military FPS. As a gamer, I particularly enjoy shooters, especially the Call of Duty franchise. However, as one who studies games, I find the manner in which the genre typically depoliticizes the military action and reduces it to a mere good vs. evil scenario rather troubling. This past April I had an opportunity to speak on a panel that touched upon this very issue at MIT’s Media In Transition conference. Joseph DeLappe also spoke on the panel about his work on the DEAD IN IRAQ series. Signing under the gamer tag of dead_in_iraq, he would join multiplayer games online in America’s Army and rather than fight with the other players he would just use the onscreen texting to write out the names of the most recent U.S. casualties. Part protest, part memoriam, DeLappe’s work attempts to appropriate a space where death is a mere inconvenience and give weight to the true consequences of being a member of America’s army. He described how the responses to what he does tend to vary. More often than not, he gets kicked out of the game because he does not fire a single bullet and becomes a defensive liability. However, he has also encountered other gamers who believed in what he was doing and have circled around his character and protected him while he continued to type the names of the dead. Aside from the short video he filmed to demonstrate his process, this exists largely as an online performance piece and thus would be hard to classify as machinima proper. Regardless, those who value the expressive capacity of gaming technologies should find his work inspiring.
In the spirit of DeLappe’s work, I want to focus on a film that was released a year ago that uses the Battlefield 2 engine entitled An American Baby in Iraq. If you have not seen this piece, it has a rather disturbing premise. Created by a machinimator who goes by the name of Smiley_ie, the film claims to be “based on a true story.” However, since it is about the U.S. military airdropping a seven-story giant baby into an Iraqi city to handle the insurgents, that’s highly unlikely. Despite the rather ridiculous notion of a giant baby, the tone approaches something far more dramatic than comedic. Watching this, you could easily laugh because the imagery is so bizarre and you are left with an uneasy feeling that laughter fills in to dissipate that tension; however, I want to believe that Smiley_ie was not trying to make people laugh so much as make them think. An abstract piece like this is always open to a range of interpretations, but I wonder if the use of the infant is a metaphor for the young faces who were shipped off to Iraq. The image of the child flailing forward and bellyflopping onto a tank could be a mere sight gag or could be a commentary on the naiveté of a young armed force whose notion of war has been shaped by America’s Army and Full Spectrum Warrior.
The sweeping camera moves and fast-to-slow motion zooms show a Tony Scott influence that further supports a dramatic read over a comedic one. It is hard to give too much credit to the sound design, which sounds amazing, due to the fact that most of the audio comes from the scores of other films like Team America, King Kong, and Hulk. Nonetheless, Smiely_ie brings them together along with amazing camera work to elevate the production value above typical machinima. Moreover, bringing in the customized 3D model of the baby and getting it to work with the engine is an impressive feat. Whether or not we should take this as serious as the DEAD IN IRAQ series is yet to be decided, but it definitely warrants respect as an inventive piece of machinima.
Wow :[
This authors “idea” of placing partisan politics in games is absurd.
While the author praises (American Baby) and its production values, the author of this article seems to belive that it is OK to bring politics into the online gaming world.
-It is not-
The author seems to feel that logging into a online game and texting the names of dead soliders during a game is a valid political practice, personally I feel its disgusting, offensive and dishonors those who served and gave their lives.
Let me be clear. While my son served 3 combat tours, I am not a supporter of the war, and while I do belive in speaking out and sharing ones political views with others, I dont belive that doing so in the gamming world is appropriate. Lets keep politics,race,national origin and sex out of games. Feel free to express yourself in your game tags, other than that… its about how good a player you are, and how much honor you play with. The world is full of things we all deal with day to day in real life, please allow me to escape the maddness in real life once and a while, by logging in and playing online games without it following me.
As for political viewpoints in Machinima,
-I feel that film producers should be free to create whatever they wish-
All subjects and political viewpoints are to be encourged, if you dont like something or are offended, dont watch it.
I for one think it is appalling, that he would ascribe somekind of “intent” to SmileyIE’s film without contacting him personally about it and then posting his reply!
MANIAC~VVV~
Maniac,
I want to first thank you for being one of the first people to actually respond to one of my entries. While I love the fact that a number of people read the posts, I had envisioned this site as a place for people to disagree with the things I say as well. So I appreciate your criticisms.
As for bringing “politics into an online gaming world,” that happens at so many levels already, not the least of which is the moment the US Army decided to use America’s Army as a recruiting tool. The danger of these sorts of games (Full Spectrum Warrior is another), as the work of Joseph DeLappe speaks to, is NOT that they train young men to kill, but rather they often oversimplify the politics of war.Reducing it to us versus them and not asking about the nature of human conflict. You sound like an avid online gamer, therefore you are very much aware of the fact that death means nothing in these environments. So while you may feel the DEAD IN IRAQ project is appalling, DeLappe finds it appalling that people play this game (which trivializes death in war) everyday with little knowledge or concern about the increasing death toll that continues even to this day.
As for politics in games, I would hope as a person who takes games very seriously, as you seem to be, you can appreciate that as a medium, videogames offer tremendous storytelling abilities. And as just with other forms of storytelling (film, novels, comic books), you can ALSO use that tool to influence ideas both socially or politically. I believe videgames can be about MORE than just fun.
Lastly, as for ascribing an intent to Smilely IE’s work, I reserve that right as a member of the machinima audience. Machinima is an art form I hold dear, and as with ANY art form it is open to interpretation. I could have completely misread Smiley’s intentions, but that’s the great thing about art. It allows for so many reads and speaks to people in different ways. I’m not suggesting my read is the RIGHT one, in fact I resist the very notion of RIGHT reads or WRONG reads of art. I just wanted to offer the read that stood out most to me.
Again, I’m being sincere when I say that I appreciate your comments. We can respectfully agree to disagree. And if you choose to comment on future observations, I welcome the much needed counterpoint.
Very well spoken Stranger109, I stand corrected in a few areas (more about that later).
Avid and involved gamer is correct. I have been fortunate enough to have been involved in computers/video games from day one.
I was lucky enough to have been a very, very young mainframe geek in the late sixties and got invited by John McCarthy to visit SRI, where I got a chance to play “Space War” (the first true video game). Since then, there is very little software/hardware wise that I have not been involved in or personally exposed to. From 4k Hex/toggle to today’s powerhouses, I have owned, used and played with almost every possible config there is…
About Mr. Joseph DeLappe:
You cited Joseph DeLappe speaks to “Reducing it to us versus them and not asking about the nature of human conflict.” That is a very correct statement that holds many clues inside it, to yesterdays, today’s and tomorrow’s games. One must not forget the origin of “Games”. All games since man devised them are contests of one sort or other, be it skill, chance or competivness. The concept is by itself one of “me or us vs them” or even “me vs myself”. From chess to a crossword puzzle or a video game.. all the same. So why should video games be any different? And how could -any- “game” effect the syndrome differently. I fail to see how a graphic video game is any different than a game of Hide and go Seek with a “gotchya!” In terms of social effects and the syndrome he cites.
Attempting to link a video game to the real world, is invalid on its merits. Saying that violence in video games ” trivializes” real world violence and death is a delusion, though understandable given the permeation of media violence in today’s world. I have over 1,000,000 “kills” in my various stat accounts since late 2000 when it became possible to record in-game stats, the vast majority against very good friends and fellow players who I respect… I neither see or feel any adverse effects, in or around my life, nor am I any more prone to violence than anyone else. Man by nature, is controlled by his brain chemistry and these “reinforcements” during gameplay in video games are the same as any game, or other reward based activity. To my brain, a “frag” is the same as ordering a big steak or winning a chess game. The studies have been done over and over, there is very little to debate. This -may- change in the near future for video games as they push against the limits of realism and begin to approach television in its real world violence.. which I would argue is a much more serious hazard to mental health and “trivialization”. But at this time video games are just violent cartoons and nothing more.
You state that Mr DeLappe finds it appalling that people play this game “which trivializes death in war”. I find it interesting that he buys and then plays the game, and thus supports that which he finds objectionable. I also take issue with the fact, that he feels that by sitting at his computer inside his home (yes I viewed Dead in Iraq) and acting in such a way as to disrupt the game by texting, he is somehow making a meaningful statement. I believe it is -he- who is trivializing death by acting in such a manner. A careful look at the demographics of who is playing video games would be enough to deter most people from thinking it would be acceptable. His actions speak more to attention getting, than meaningful protest or respecting those who have died.
I stand corrected:
“the moment the US Army decided to use America’s Army as a recruiting tool..” as politics being involved in video games. You are correct. In fact DOD and DARPA have had a huge influence in video games going back to late 60’s and 70’s. Very few people really understand who developed the early videogames and where they got their experience.
You spoke of videogames as “being a tool to influence ideas both socially or politically” you are again correct. But until the effort, money and devotion of talent is directed towards that creative and lofty goal, I fear that the market and today’s software publishers will ignore that vision… let us hope I am wrong. As programming tools and hardware become more powerful, there is much to look forward to, as the costs and manpower needed to produce meaningful new game directions decline.
For my attack about Smiley_ie’s work:
I was wrong and I am sorry. He is a personal friend and I overreacted to what I felt was “ascribing or intent” to his film. You are 100% correct that it is up to “you” the viewer to feel or take whatever interpretation you choose from his work. Please feel free to visit GamerzTheatre.com where Smiley_ie has posted his personal comments on “Baby in Iraq” and where I post often and my Machinima is on display.
I greatly appreciate the chance to have this discussion here at stranger109.org and with you personally, I also will be keeping I eye on your site from now on.. I find it both refreshing and difficult :]
MANIAC~VVV~
Anyone notice that battlefield 2 is set in a war created by politics?