This week we watched eXistenZ, a movie by David Cronenberg. It focused on the idea of virtual reality gaming - specifically gaming inside a game. The surreal feeling implemented in the game created an eerie setting. Real, but contrived in its most basic binary state. This perceived realism creates an abundance of ethical and social issues that challenge the normal rules and principles that govern our society. Killing is acceptable in the sense that their are no repercussions to the user of such a game. Likewise, immorality, loose conduct and other vices and unacceptable practices are allowed by a game that might admittedly have rules to counter such things, but cannot inflict severe penalties on those who engage in such.
Fortunately these issues and themes should help me greatly in my essay about the issues concerning the virtual reality medium.
The reading this week was interesting. Apparently not all we see on the news regarding wars is unsanitized and unedited. Journalists may be the messengers of such wars, but they are fed a relatively small amount of information from the military, and thus are limited in the amount of fair and balanced information they can transmit to the media.
Entertainment too warps the view of war. War's realism is someone plasticized by the demands of the entertainment industry. Certain advantageous maneuverers by the army are scheduled to take place in the prime time for TV. Entertainment and military interests have become synonymous with each other. Gaming especially has created a new medium for the military to spread its propaganda and has gone some way to desensitizing the common public who play such games.
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