Particularly in 2016, when the internet provides such a cavalcade of information and opinion, we look to entertainment and art if not for answers then at least for qualified perspective. But surely we're capable of asking questions ourselves. On the other hand, when you replay BioShock Infinite and imbibe its evasive, watery politics, you cannot help but envy the right wing and its privilege of fierce, definite rhetoric.īioShock Infinite poses questions, and to that Alamo of self-justification the game can always fall back-like it or not, Infinite dared to ask. When the Republican candidate is as perilous as this year's, one is glad for a steadier, saner Democrat. If Clinton is struggling to ignite both young and floating voters, it's because, unlike the unpredictable, entertaining Trump, she's perceived like one of Curtis's managers, a president as usual. And in this election year, such a quotidian approach to real-world issues may prove costly. Such a managerial style is echoed by Infinite's refusal to take a side or make, concretely, any point-its politicizing may be visible, but it's always safe. Instead of expanding on what they can or can't, should or shouldn't talk about, BioShock Infinite does what video games have always done: try not to piss off any customers.ĭocumentary maker Adam Curtis describes how politicians today, rather than leaders are perceived as "managers of public life." His film The Trap scrutinizes a style of government, practiced by both the American neo-conversatives and British New Labour, which relies heavily on focus testing, statistical analysis, and constant canvassing of opinion. But this supposed balancing of perspectives betrays not BioShock Infinite's impartiality, or its writers' integral journalism, but an absence of conviction. As well as its picturesque welcoming center, you are taken to Columbia's slums. Of course, the façade is gradually removed. "Instead of expanding on what they can or can't talk about, BioShock Infinite does what video games have always done: Try not to piss off any customers." The reveal of the city, when players emerge through the clouds and gaze at it framed perfectly through a window, while serenaded by tender religious music, is undoubtedly ingratiating- BioShock Infinite wants us to think this place is beautiful. Imbued with what they perceive as a God-given right to rule all peoples, Infinite's ultra-American residents of the floating city of Columbia are racist, exceptionalist, and vehemently capitalist.
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