ATTACK OF THE UNDEAD LESBIAN
KILLERS
Here's an example of the semiotic questions applied to an image. You don't need
to type your answers to these questions (unless you want to share them with
others, and your handwriting is as bad as mine), or even write in complete sentences;
you just need to be able to decipher your own notes.
http://www.gamegirlz.com/screenshots/hellforces/hellforces002.jpg
1. Why did you choose this image? (This will help us understand your interest, purpose and point of view)
This image involves a number of issues related to games: violence, gender, the occult. Also, since it's a FPS (first person shooter, it's pretty typical/representative in some respects. Also resembles one of the image we looked at in class, so maybe some connections as well.
2. Does the game have a [back-]story or plot? Does the story itself matter? Is it creative or recycled?
"Games Description
Experimenting with alternative power sources, the biophysicist Henry Alfred Cole found a way to extract the soul from a human body and use it as a power source. The soulless bodies however turned into zombies. Hellish creatures started filling them to dramatically change the essence of the host body.
A daemon from a parallel world, Baphomet [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baphomet], installed himself in one soulless body and soon founded the cult of Lucifer. The aim of this cult was to open the gate for Lucifer to enter the human world. The number of followers of the cult increased at a catastrophic rate; Satanists all around the world were joining their ranks.
The main hero is concerned with the fate of his missing friend, who had had a meeting with the leader of a satanic sect just a day before his disappearance. His persistent investigations become a threat to the Satan worshippers and Satanists begin hunting after him. The terrifying truth about the fate of his friend will reveal itself in the mansion of the biophysicist..
Clean the earth from the heresy and the minions of Lucifer!"
Ok, so it's a basic Frankenstein plot, a human (hubris) messing with powers beyond his ability to cope. (of course, in the novel we pity the monster, who just wants to be human; even in the early movie versions, we have some empathy, though the monster was frightening [there's a good essay on 50-early 60's monster movies related to teen psychology--changing bodies, lack of control and connection]. I don't know how important the story is to player, my guess is not much and that it might vary with time and user). There's another big game (Halo? Half Life? which begins with an accident in a lab. Humans used as power source in matrix.
Dead people/zombies recruiting/proselytizing is sorta new spin on standard Body Snatchers/vampire fear of becoming one of Them. Lots of fear of cults and the occult in popular culture (70and 80's?). Satan/Anti-Christ coming to deceive the people and rule the world is a conventional story, i believe.
A friend finding the truth of a disappearance is standard film noir gambit (Maltese falcon, maybe Blade runner). Solving mystery also the point/goal of Myst.
3. To which class of paradigms (medium; genre; theme) does the whole text belong? (in semiotics, "text" is just a fancy word for whatever object you're trying to "read"). Does it allude to other or mix genres?
Hmmn, I'm not too up on recent horror films, but in recent classic "The Shining" the haunted hotel is built on Indian graveyard (sins of American past). Here is sin of hubris. Why is he looking for alternative power? to make the world a better place? to enrich himself? for the pure love of science/discovery? Doesn't matter, b/c apparently we're supposed to use oil and coal forever (according to the President, and in this game, the Almightily.)
In a standard slasher film (maybe that's only a sub-genre of horror?) there's a group of teenagers in a remote place who also sin? (often for women it's promiscuity?) In the end one escapes, through luck? virtue? ingenuity? brutality? In this game, of course we are not defenseless. In this image, the women zombies aren't even armed (there's another image of a large/fat old bald hulk of a man with a meat cleaver, but we have an automatic pistol (and " 24 weapons types and diverse special equipment, including night vision, binoculars, movement sensors and more... ")
An interesting aspect of FPS is that you're supposed to be afraid; if the enemy isn't scary or easily defeated, there's no thrill. In many movies, the lone hero overcomes tremendous odds to defeat the enemy and save the day (also many myths: Samson destroying the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass). So here i suppose the fear comes from the number of the enemy ALSO presumably we would join their number if we are killed, though the real practical effect of death is reset button and keep playing, so we get to constantly/symbolically triumph over fear/death).
Might be interesting to compare the ideology/politics/theology to Left Alone game, in which you get points for killing or converting unbelievers.
Pew poll: On matters of faith, fully 62% of white evangelicals say the Bible is the actual word of God, to be taken literally....but "The survey also finds continuing tension in the public's views of science and religion, especially in opinions about evolution and the origins of life. However, there is broad agreement across the religious spectrum that scientific advances will help rather than harm mankind. Nearly two-thirds of all Americans (65%) express a positive opinion of scientific advances, compared with 19% who feel such advances harm mankind."...Finally, while an overwhelming percentage of Christians (79%) say they believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ, far fewer see Christ's return as imminent. Overall just 20% of all Christians expect Christ to return to earth in their lifetime; even among those who say that the Bible is the literal word of God, just 37% expect Christ to return to earth in their lifetime." http://pewforum.org/docs/index.php?DocID=153
4. What is the system within which these signs make sense? (this is in some senses a similar question to 3, but here we are more concerned with culture (or maybe even sub-cultures, like skateboarders or Goths). You might also get at the same idea by considering who has or could potentially NOT understand how to read the signs "correctly).
Culture:
The setting is dark (scary) modern/ urban, possibly industrial. Women do not belong here.
The monsters have no noses, very dark eyes and mouth, which gives them a skull appearance (naturally, since they are dead, and maybe even represent death). Of course women of color, foreign (esp Arab?) and highly sexually provocative women also have dark eyes. They are nearly identical (how does that work?), apparently mass-produced. They have no soul/identity/individuality, thus not human, thus ok to kill like cockroaches (which are also hideous). See "uncanny valley": the grotesque is the ALMOST human.
Odd mixes/paradoxes/tensions: they have a man's haircut, yet exposed midriffs and apparently see through brassiere (were they buried in these outfits? ). What are white disks at bottom of bra? pushup? the bra sorta looks like armor that many female characters in videogames often have (though one observer asks what good is a chain mail bikini?) The hair comes to a peak in front (you sometimes see hats/caps with that shape in medieval images? a widow's peak?) also satanic:
The hair is bloody in front (brain operation?) True to type in videogames, all women have more flesh exposed, but not cyberbimbo proportions of lara Croft.
why? Attractive women are to be desired, possessed and protected.
Internal organs removed or altered or replaced. The blood from operation was not removed (no vanity) Significantly, the heart and guts (possibly reproductive system?) The perfect woman is natural and flawless. and obedient. preferably with long blonde hair.
Something spiky hanging from left side of head? horns = evil? knife?
The arms have a robotic look, maybe crudely attached in Frankenstein fashion; they are also long, especially the hands (classic ET alien look). Black fingernails certainly vampish. They have been stapled back together (really big ones, metallic, like a zipper). The gut incision is apparently sutred or left open? See the Star trek movie in which Data the android is seduced/tempted by Borg queen cyborg who is both beautiful and hideous (we see her head and chest and spinal attached to a beautiful/sexy body by hooks into the flesh)
http://www.starbase8.de/startrek/toy-store/playmates/latinum/data_borg-queen_diorama_detail-queen.jpg
Belt buckle on left figure is oddly white, and resemble angel wings? (though too elongated). Exact opposite of staple. Resembles a natural shape, maybe Asian dragon? nope, on the zoom in definitely wings, but w/ spikes (see Satan images, a fallen angel, formerly God's favorite actually, but hubris). There may be a bird's head, but also horns. Phoenix, rebirth?
The right buckle is an oval with two wedges left and right (remove the right one to get an icthus/fish, the symbol of Christ; no idea what's up w/ that). oh wait, the buckles are identical, and thus so are the monsters. ok, that makes more sense in one way.
The monsters wear black skirts?
They have multiple wounds? which don't bleed much? We can see blue veins in the chest, a characteristic of old people.
5. What kind of power is represented? How is power valued? Who has it? (do they hold it legitimately? By what means did they get it?)
All we can see of ourselves is the gun, which is square, black, powerful, hi-tech. It'd be interesting to know how the hero gets the weapons, and why he is skilled with them (anyone know?). The enemy has the power of words/deception, but the hero does not talk ("we do not negotiate with terrorists"), he acts/shoots. I wonder how much strategy is involved. Are the weapons real ones? futuristic?
6. Why do you think each signifier (that is, a part of the overall image that can make sense on its own: a star, a color, a gun; maybe think of it as a letter that combines to make words) was chosen from the possible alternatives within the same paradigm set? What values does the choice of each particular signifier connote?
Blackness=dark=fear=chaos=evil
We could sympathize with slightly different monsters? put them out of their misery?
As in the game we say in class, they could be much more similar to hero, muscled, thus more of a threat. What's the attraction of killing women/lesbians?
7. What tropes (e.g. metaphors and symbols) are involved? How are they used to influence the preferred reading? Do any of them have multiple possible meanings?
the symbols seem to have single meanings individually, but where it gets complicated is the mixed messages/symbols above.
Is there any group that would prefer/see one over another?
Would women players see them differently? lesbian players? (are there any masculine looking lesbians in popular culture? How presented? someone not accustomed to such images from other games/media? Conservative ideology holds lesbians unnatural if not evil?
Is that important, and why? Have you seen any of these symbols used elsewhere? Used the same or differently? How do these reflect or reject cultural values? Who is the game targeted to? Who or what are excluded/absent?
audience is presumably young, male, middle class white heterosexual? (as is the hero). Western? conservative? religious? If there are people of color, they are zombies? (does the hero have any allies?)
8. What references are made to an everyday experiential world?
The world is our world, though gritty? (there is another image that takes place in an abandoned elegant building of some kind).
9. To whom might it appear realistic?
the left behind fans?
10. How might a change of medium affect the meanings generated? For example, what if the same material were put into a movie, a novel, a comic book etc
Can easily imagine it a movie or comic book in a novel the story would have to be denser, but not terribly different from a common kind of pulp novel in which a lone vet (or small band of resistors) defend white civilization from an invasion barbarian minorities (in one, Asian shock troops arise en masse from their disguises as Mexican house servants (i kid you not; I haven't read any of the Left Behind books, but they are quite popular).
11. What signifiers from the same paradigm set are noticeably absent?
the fair damsel to be rescued? the wise (old) helper? (Gandalf, Ben Kenobe)
o What contrasted pairs seem to be involved (e.g. nature/culture)?
life = go(o)d = light male action technology order heterosexual status quo
---- ---- ----- ------ ----- ------ ------ ------------ ---------------
death evil dark female talk nature chaos homosexual alternative energy
What is the status of science? hmmnnn.....
o Which of those in each pairing seems to be the 'marked' category?
see bottom row above
o Is there a central opposition in the text?
life/death?
o Apply the commutation test in order to identify distinctive signifiers and to define their significance. This involves an imagined substitution of one signifier for another of your own, and assessing the effect.
hero acts on his own initiative to find out about friend. would it be different if he were under orders?
Change setting to Disneyland? Change hero to woman? Change biophysics to corporation? ...
12. What other strategies might you need to employ to balance any shortcomings of your analysis?
Class? the biophysicist lives in a mansion? (so does Bruce Wayne) Henry Alfred Cole, an old fashioned Waspish kinda name?
CONCLUSION: I wouldn't argue that this game is designed to make people think any differently (you're not supposed to think at all, only feel/react). The videogame genre (and movies etc) require enemies that it's ok/even required to kill. This means they must be Other, not us (sub-human, soulless, dangerous, freedom-hating etc) . I would argue that the choices made here about how to portray the enemy are not accidental or arbitrary (though they may be partly unconscious), but are reflective of the culture. That does not mean they are insignificant. Look at how we portray/demonize our enemies in the real world in order to make it ok to kill them, the techniques are the same (well, this recent example is not terribly sophisticated:
http://www.jtf.org/america/ooo.02012006.muslim.terror.danish.cartoon.turban.bomb.175.jpg ) and historically (the further back you go, the more obvious it is b/c we are more sophisticated (in some ways) but also our codes/cultures are different enough that old propaganda looks funny/primitive: http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/pics/post-propag-us_destroythismadbrute.jpg
This was (presumably) a very effective message at getting men to enlist in the military in WWI.
