Pretty close to how I see it. (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, October 24, 2017, 19:14 (2632 days ago) @ Cody Miller

It ignores all kinds of reality. It's a city floating in the fricking sky. I sense that you want it to have a certain message, and I say it's better and more interesting piece of art because it does make us uncomfortable, and it doesn't provide a didactic message, except maybe that history presents us with certain patterns, and those patterns tend to repeat.

Right. How do you make a game about murder, guilt, racism, etc without a didactic message?! It's using serious themes to appear serious, while ultimately espousing a completely juvenile philosophy. That's why I dislike it.

I completely disagree. I can't help but suspect that the message you want it have is the simplistic juvenile one. Art isn't propaganda--that's why it doesn't have a didactic message. Art can have a greater impact than any explicit message could, though, because experiencing art mimics experiencing life. The game doesn't have to announce that segregation is bad. Regardless, that wouldn't have the impact as does noticing, for example, that different bathrooms are available to different groups. BioShock Infinite is a game that rewards knowledge of history from multiple perspectives, not just Howard Zinn's perspective. As I've stated, I've got my issues with the game and problems with the way it presents certain ideas, but I'll defend it against the juvenile charge any day of the week.

If all it does is imitate life, it's not very good art is it? Art adds understanding. And that means making bold statements about how you perceive things to be, or how they should be.

I never said that's all it does. If we can all agree on what the message of a piece of art is, it's not very good art. Art imparts understanding by making think about the world in new ways, but the bold statement is up for interpretation.

What understanding does Bioshock Infinite add to any of the themes it imports?

I've already stated some thoughts on this, when I said what I said about how the game explores the dynamics of racism and violence in history. To me this is bold in that it goes against what is popular currently. We're reverting back to racism and essentialism. Identity politics basically is a way a justifying bigotry behind the mask of fighting bigotry. I'll stop now because I don't think this is the place for this.