Returning fire [videorecording] : interventions in video game culture / a Roger Stahl production in collaboration with the Media Education Foundation ; written, directed & edited by Roger Stahl.
Includes both edited and unedited versions. "Fair use notice: The use of the following media material is protected by the Fair Use Clause of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, which allows for the rebroadcast of copyrighted materials for the purposes of commentary, criticism, and education." Narrator, Roger Stahl ; participants, Joseph Delappe, Anne-Marie Schleiner, Wafaa Bilal.
Contents:
Introduction (4:18) -- Dead in Iraq (13:08) -- Velvet-Strike (7:42) -- Domestic tension (18:20) -- Conclusion (1:00)
Summary:
"Video games like Modern Warfare, America's Army, Medal of Honor, and Battlefield are part of an exploding market of war games whose revenues now far outpace even the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. The sophistication of these games is undeniable, offering users a stunningly realistic experience of ground combat and a glimpse into the increasingly virtual world of long-distance, push-button warfare. Far less clear, though, is what these games are doing to users, our political culture, and our capacity to empathize with people directly affected by the actual trauma of war. For the culture-jamming activists featured in this film, these uncertainties were a call to action. In three separate vignettes, we see how Anne-Marie Schleiner, Wafaa Bilal, and Joseph Delappe moved dissent from the streets to our screens, infiltrating war games in an attempt to break the hypnotic spell of "militainment." Their work forces all of us -- gamers and non-gamers alike -- to think critically about what it means when the clinical tools of real-world killing become forms of consumer play."--Container.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.